Waterfield Advisors is looking to raise about $250 million (about Rs 2,000 crore) for its second fund of funds, even as the Mumbai-based wealth advisory firm is planning to launch a new segment exclusively for its celebrity clients.
Further, the Mumbai-based firm is close to launching a Portfolio Management Service (PMS), for which it has already received a licence. Waterfield Advisors, which has a little over $5 billion (Rs 40,000 crore) of assets under advisory, also intends to double this in the next five years.
“The second fund of funds would be a $250-million fund, for which have already received approvals from Sebi and GIFT City,” Soumya Rajan, founder and CEO at Waterfield Advisors, said.
“Unlike in the first fund, we will be roping in global investors as India is now an attractive global destination. We want to channelise global investors to come into India through this vehicle. We intend to do the first close of the fund by September or October this year,” Rajan said.
Some of the anchor commitments are expected to come in the next couple of months, she said, adding that now th02ere are “many more” home-grown wealth managers in India.
The multi-family office and wealth advisory firm had raised Rs 550 crore for its first fund of funds, which was closed last year, and the proceeds were allocated to five different funds.
Separately, in a first for the country, Waterfield Advisors is readying to launch a separate segment for media, sports and entertainment to advise its celebrity clients on managing their wealth.
“We have many celebrity clients and we have noticed that a lot of these clients have a limited earning life and they need to plan for the future. So, whether it is in terms of their own businesses, what businesses they get into, how can we support them and help them as they think about life after their professional careers,” Rajan added.
There are a lot of families and franchisees that are created such as the Indian Premier League (IPL) who would be interested in this segment.
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“Our client base is exactly sitting there,” Rajan said.
Waterfield Advisors, which already has a licence and regulatory approvals, will launch PMS formally in another two-three weeks. The firm, which had applied for the licence in August last year and received approvals this year, has been in the process of setting up its digital infrastructure. It will also launch an ‘Outsourced Chief Investment Officer’ service for clients who don’t have time.
The ‘Outsourced CIO’ service is for its multi-asset class portfolio clients. “The clients are too busy with their day jobs or businesses, here we step in to manage their money as our own,” Rajan said.
On International Women’s Day, Waterfield launched its HERitage programme, a segment for women, which has already added Rs 200 crore assets under advisory. Further, it also launched Bespoke Wealth, a platform for high networth individuals.