True Beacon, the hedge fund founded by star Indian startup entrepreneur Nikhil Kamath, is set to woo cash-rich investors from the Middle East as it gears up to raise $100 million for its maiden wealth fund.
Kamath’s hedge fund will also be eyeing investment opportunities in the UAE, including in the much sought after real estate assets in Dubai, in a big way with a investment vehicle to manage pooled funds from residents allowed for overseas investments under the South Asian country’s amended liberalised remittances scheme (LRS).
India last month allowed automatic approval for individual and corporate investors’ overseas direct and portfolio investments – up to $250,000 for individuals and up to 50 percent of net worth for companies – as part of its ongoing ‘ease of doing’ business policies.
Kamath, along with True Beacon chief executive officer Richard Pattle and a team of fund managers, will be holding road shows in Dubai and Abu Dhabi this week to rope in investors from the country.
The team also plans to travel to Saudi Arabia next month to meet up with prospective investors there.
“We expect that a good part of investments – [of the proposed $100 million] – could come from the Middle East region, considering their growing appetite for the Indian market which is doing well compared to many other global markets,” Nikhil Kamath, co-founder of True Beacon, told Arabian Business.
“Besides the portfolio investments, sectors such as financial, healthcare and real estate in India also offer major investment opportunities for overseas investors,” said Kamath, who has shot into global fame with his equity retail startup Zerodha becoming a unicorn without a single penny of external investment.
The $100 million fundraising, targeted to be completed by March next year, is for True Beacon’s maiden wealth fund, launched in June last year.
The fund, registered in India’s international financial centre – GIFT city in Gujarat – offers significant tax advantages to overseas investors.
The depreciating rupee value will be another major advantage for Kamath and his team to woo the Middle East and other overseas investors to invest in India.
Kamath’s team also expects to sew up partnership deals with some of the leading firms in the UAE to manage their investments in India.
“We are in discussions with some of the Family Offices and their responses are very encouraging. We hope some partnership deals could fructify soon,” Pattle told Arabian Business.
Pattle, who is already in Dubai ahead of the roadshows, also indicated that the fund was also actively exploring possibilities for striking a deal with one of the leading sovereign funds in the UAE to manage part of their investment portfolio in India.
“True Beacon already has good traction with the Middle East investors with our track record of high returns on investments in our existing funds and this, we hope, works to our advantage in attracting investors from the region in large numbers,” Pattle said.
True Beacon’s wealth fund will have a minimum investment level of $1 million for overseas investors.
He, however, declined further details on the partnership deal talks because of confidentiality reasons.
Of the 200 or so international investors in Kamath’s hedge funds, a good number are said to be from the Middle East.
Kamath also revealed True Beacon’s plans to set up an office in Dubai soon as part of the venture’s strategy to focus more on the region for raising investments on a continued basis, besides being available to its customers from the region for any assistance.
“We will be opening an office in DIFC (Dubai International Financial Centre), the leading international financial hub there,” he said.
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