PGIM India Asset Management announced the launch of Category III PGIM India’s Alternative Investment Fund. The fund plans to raise ₹500 crore with the possibility of collecting an additional ₹500 crore through the green shoe option this financial year.
Chief executive Ajit Menon said, “With the launch of AIF, we have expanded our offering to more segments of investors, especially in the higher wealth tiers, including family offices.”
The Category III AIF will adopt PGIM India’s proprietary philosophy of ‘Growth at Reasonable Price’ (GARP) and will be defined through the Price/Earnings to Growth (PEG) model. The AIF Funds will be helmed by Aniruddha Naha, who has been appointed as the CIO – Alternates since April 2023.
Aniruddha Naha, CIO, Alternates, PGIM India Asset Management Company, said, “The endeavour is to create investment portfolios focussing on opportunities across segments that may command faster-growing profit pools triggered by the changing nature of the economy, while keeping a tight discipline of buying strong balance sheets and cashflows in business and focussing on strong capital allocation ethics by the companies. The outcome is high-conviction portfolios representing broader, stronger, and durable themes, agnostic of popular benchmarks.”
The total industry size of the AIF sector in India is about ₹8.44-lakh crore in terms of commitments raised as of June 2023. The Category III AIF has an industry AUM of ₹85,057 crore in terms of commitments raised during the same period.