Rajeev Misra’s new fund marks first close at $7 billion, invests in SP Group through debt

Rajeev Misra, CEO, SoftBank Investment Advisers

SoftBank veteran Rajeev Misra’s new fund One Investment Management has raised $7 billion in the first close and made an early investment in Shapoorji Pallonji through high-yielding debt, marking its initial foray into the Indian market.

Last week, Shapoorji Pallonji raised Rs 14,300 or close to $2 billion from private credit investors and high networth individuals, Mint reported, pledging its Tata Sons shares as collateral. In an interview with Moneycontrol on July 2, Misra said that One Investment Management was one of the investors.

One Investment Management invested in the Shapoorji Pallonji debt that is secured by Tata Sons shares, according to Misra. He said that the investment conglomerate is getting 20 percent Indian Rupee interest for two years on the debt, and if it is to be hedged back into dollar, the rate is 17 percent.

“It is very important for you to be multi-asset. Because there will be cycles, sometimes it will be important to invest in early-stage tech, sometimes like today, my fund has a first close of $7 billion and we hope to go two-three times of that, so it makes sense to be in credit where I am getting 15 percent returns,” he added.

Misra, in an hour-long chat with Moneycontrol, explained how One Investment Management plans to deploy capital across the globe and how different it will be from SoftBank’s strategies. He said while the US and Europe will be One Investment Management’s primary geographies, the fund would look to invest in markets like India in avenues that are best adjusted for risk-return.

“To me, this is a better risk-adjusted return where my downside is protected. There are many other investment opportunities here. So it is very important as an investor to have a view of where one can get the best risk-adjusted return, in what geography and in what asset class. You can’t go on investing in debt in Latin America. Then you might have to sit quietly for a while," he said.

"In India, our focus will be on the next layer of conglomerates and tech companies with reasonable valuations. We take a holistic approach and believe that India's per capita GDP will double along with the overall GDP growth," he added.