India's Bajaj Finserv gets regulatory license to start mutual fund business

BENGALURU (Reuters) -India's Bajaj Finserv said on Wednesday it has received the market regulator's license to start its mutual fund business.

Bajaj Finserv Mutual Fund, with Bajaj Finserv Asset Management as investment manager, will soon offer mutual fund products including equity, debt, and hybrid funds in the active and passive segments, Bajaj Finserv said in a regulatory filing.

"A resurgent India, rising investor confidence and digital access to financial services is leading to high adoption of mutual funds," said Sanjiv Bajaj, chairman and managing director of Bajaj Finserv.

Inflows into Indian equity mutual funds jumped nearly 72% to 125.47 billion rupees ($1.52 billion) in January, their highest in four months, offsetting some heavy selling by foreign investors, data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India showed last month.

Nimesh Chandan is chief investment officer at the mutual fund.

Bajaj Finserv is a holding company for financial services businesses including non-bank lender Bajaj Finance. Both firms are listed on the blue-chip Nifty 50 index.

($1 = 82.4250 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Chris Thomas and Anuran Sadhu in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)