Offering digital-first investment solutions will be the key focus area for the Jio Financial Services (JFS)-BlackRock joint venture in India, said Larry Fink, Chairman and CEO of the global asset management company.
Fink was addressing shareholders at the Reliance Industries (RIL) annual general meet on Monday. “JFS and BlackRock together aim to transform through digital-first offering and democratisation of access to affordable investment solutions throughout India,” he told shareholders.
He highlighted the massive opportunity to offer affordable and transparent investment products to Indian consumers by way of a full service tech-enabled asset manager. This, he said, has to potential to transform the asset management industry in the country.
“We see growing financialisation and a shift from unmanaged and physical assets to saving and investing; we expect this to increase as per-capita GDP continues to rise and technology advances digital inclusion,” said Fink.
JFS and BlackRock had last month announced a joint venture to launch an AMC. Called ‘Jio BlackRock’, it will be a 50:50 partnership and entail an initial investment of $150 million each.
Both companies seek to create a better financial future, added Fink, saying that they would leverage upon the combined expertise and scale to introduce more investment avenues for millions of Indians.
Industry experts had said the partnership is likely to launch passive products, and will rely heavily on BlackRock’s iShares model that houses its index funds.
BlackRock, the world’s largest asset management player, had an AUM (assets under management) of $9.42 trillion as of June 30, 2023. The global investment giant, which has 2,400 employees in India, is gearing up for its second innings in the Indian asset management industry.
Jio Financial was the top loser among the Nifty50 pack, declining 2.05%. RIL was second among laggards, down 1.27%.