Corporate Amundi launches Amundi Funds - India Equity Contra fund in partnership with State Bank of India

Amundi, the largest European asset manager^[1], and State Bank of India Funds Management (“SBI FM”), the leading and largest Mutual Fund player in India^[2], announce the launch of a new sub-fund of Amundi Funds^[3] (the “SICAV”) Amundi Funds – India Equity Contra fund (the “Fund”).

This new Fund by Amundi and SBI FM reflects their long-term commitment to the Indian market and will combine the strength of Amundi’s disciplined top-down approach with SBI FM’s extensive bottom-up analysis of the Indian equity market.

With this Fund, Amundi and SBI FM offer a unique, contrarian Indian equity strategy targeting Indian value stocks, with a focus on companies trading below their intrinsic value. The unbiased equity strategy offers the portfolio management team the flexibility to invest in overlooked opportunities, including stocks that are neither part of the main indices nor covered by sell-side research. This high conviction Indian equity fund complements the existing Amundi Funds SBI FM India Equity strategy, providing investors with access to a unique, value-driven Indian equity strategy to gain exposure to the rapidly growing Indian equity market.

Created in 1987, SBI FM is a joint venture between Amundi and State Bank of India and manages over $300 billion of assets^[4], providing investment opportunities to both retail and professional investors in India and internationally. State Bank of India is the largest commercial bank in the country, serving over 500 million clients through a vast network of over 22,500 branches^[5], with a focus on innovation and customer centricity.

Amundi Funds – India Equity Contra fund will be managed jointly by Thomas Yeung, Senior Portfolio Manager at Amundi, Gwendolen Tsui, Senior Portfolio Manager at Amundi, and advised by Dinesh Balachandran, Head of Equity at SBI FM. The portfolio management team is built on the combined resources of Amundi’s successful Emerging Markets platform and SBI FM’s dedicated Indian investment team, one of the largest in the country.

This Fund is classified an Article 8 Fund under the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (“SFDR”)^[6] ,and is currently registered in 20 countries, including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and other major European and Asian markets with plans to extend the launch of the fund to other countries in those regions.  

Olivier Mariée, Head of Amundi's International Partner Networks & Joint-Ventures, said: “Following the launch of our India bond fund last year, we are delighted to offer our clients a new investment product that will enable them to gain exposure to India’s strong economic growth and help them diversify their exposure to the region. This actively managed strategy leverages upon a USD 4.9 billion India-domiciled 25 year track record, which has delivered an average outperformance of 2.0% per annum^[7] over the past decade.”

Dinesh Balachandran, Head of Equity at SBI FM, said: “We are excited to strengthen our partnership with Amundi, the largest European asset manager, through the launch of our latest fund. India’s economic landscape is undergoing a massive transformation, with new technologies disrupting traditional business models. Additionally, with easy access to capital, companies are investing in their businesses to make them future-proof. This environment presents a unique opportunity for bottom-up investors to exploit valuation discrepancies, being able to identify companies that are facing temporary headwinds versus those expected to lose their competitive edge over time.”