By Nesil Staney
India’s crowded mutual funds industry has gone through many challenges. Yet another looms large – a potential disruption caused by the entry of JioBlackRock which brings in scale, digital reach, and global credibility. With the sheer size of BlackRock and the large customer base of Jio, peers will have look deep within in terms of digital strategy and the rest, experts said.
“The fear of industry disruption from JioBlackRock is real,” said Alok Ranjan, a senior fund manager, who heads equity investments at ITI Mutual. “The market however, is so underpenetrated,” he said.
JioBlacRock is a 50:50 venture between Reliance’s Jio Financial Services and US-based BlackRock, which has $11.58 trillion assets, mostly in passive exchange-traded-funds (ETFs).
“If you look at the evolution of mutual funds in the US, the growth is massively in passive segment. It will be the same in India,” said an executive director at markets regulator Sebi. Currently, ETFs represent only a small fraction of the Indian investment market, and within that, most of these assets are concentrated in traditional index ETFs. The entry of JioBlackRock, and much anticipated rollout of more sophisticated products like actively managed ETFs, the landscape is poised for a shift.
Nikhil Rungta, Co-CIO Equity, LIC Mutual Fund Asset Management, said JioBlackRock will trigger greater digitisation, sharper pricing, and heightened customer expectations.
“We see this as a moment to sharpen our own digital strategy – not just from a distribution lens but in terms of simplifying investor journeys, deepening engagement, and enabling informed decision-making. While we are not positioning ourselves as a discount-led platform, our focus remains on delivering value – through strong fund performance, trust, and transparency,” he said.
Large mutual fund houses such as SBI Mutual, HDFC Mutual, Kotak Mahindra AMC and Mirae Asset refused to comment on Jio BlackRock. They, however, are keenly awaiting the product, pricing and digital marketing strategies of the new entrant.
The going certainly wouldn’t be easy for the new entrant. Distributors and fund researchers said, for a big start, JioBlackRock will need to first gather investor interest in passive products. “Basic passive products, at low cost, for the huge wireless customer base of Jio, is the initial strategic advantage, alongside BlackRock’s expertise and its Aladdin software,” said Dharan Shah, CEO of Tradonomy, part of Jamnadas Virji, one of India’s oldest brokerages.
“To gain mass investor base, JioBlackRock will have to first educate unsophisticated investors about passive products,” said Ritu Poddar, head of fund research and products at Nirmal Bang, a brokerage and distributor.
BlackRock being the global leader in exchange traded funds (ETFs), the initial focus of the joint venture will be on launching passive funds, said fund managers. ETFs are direct investment products that do not rely on traditional distributor networks, as a result JioBlackRock will have lower costs. This structure aligns well with Jio’s digital-first approach and could help accelerate retail adoption, said experts.
“Index ETFs are a segment that is already competitive and relatively saturated. Leveraging Jio’s platform and Reliance’s proven track record of rapidly achieving market leadership across sectors, the Jio-BlackRock venture is likely to not only secure a significant share of the ETF market but also drive broader growth in the overall industry,” said Raghvendra Nath, Managing Director, Ladderup Asset Managers