MUMBAI: Sam Ghosh, a veteran of the Indian financial industry, is entering the mutual fund industry with his own venture. Market regulator Sebi on Monday gave the go-ahead to Cosmere Investments, the holding company for Ghosh’s financial business, to launch a mutual fund business.
The company had applied for a MF license in May 2024. It will take around six months to start the business, Ghosh told TOI. The group initially aims to invest Rs 200 crore in the fund management business. The proposed fund house will include products from both active and passive industry sub-segments. The group currently has Sebi approval to operate Portfolio Management Services (PMS) and Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) businesses. The group manages around Rs 170 crore under its PMS division. AIF is a relatively new business and is just getting off the ground, Ghosh said. We have also obtained a license to operate a fund management business in Gift City.
Cosmea’s Capital Markets division provides services such as intermediation and distribution, asset management, and advisory. All its capital markets businesses collectively manage/advise assets worth approximately Rs 1,000 crore.
In early 2000, Ghosh headed Bajaj’s insurance business in India, where global giant Allianz was a partner. He then moved to Anil Ambani’s Reliance Capital in 2008 to lead the financial services entity that has emerged as a major player in the mutual funds, brokerage and commercial finance sectors over the years. He left the group in 2017 to head the financial services business of the Bharti (Airtel) group. After a few years, he quit that and started his own venture.
