UTI mutual fund reinvites application for top post

Sneha PadiyathK. Raghavendra Rao Updated - November 26, 2012 at 09:54 PM.

Relaxes eligibility criteria to accommodate erstwhile rejected applicants

The appointment of UTI AMC Chief is getting muddled. Essential qualifications sought in an earlier advertisement have now become ‘desirable’ so that more candidates could apply for the position.

The fifth-largest fund house in the country, has issued yet another advertisement on Monday calling for applications from candidates for the post.

UTI AMC had earlier in the year issued a similar advertisement in June. The fund house is yet to find successor to U.K. Sinha who became Chairman of SEBI in February 2011.

Fund house officials said that the new advertisement issued by the fund house could lead to the reconsideration of those candidates who had earlier been disqualified. Two candidates Leo Puri of Mckinsey and Sunil Mehta of AIG were among the candidates who were under consideration, but did not make it, according to market sources.

It is learnt that their candidature did not meet the requirements put out by the AMC. The earlier advertisement released had compulsorily sought an MBA/ CA/ ICWA. The advertisement released on Monday has relaxed this requirement.

“Those who had missed the bus last time could now reapply,” said another fund house official. “Earlier the above qualification was essential but now it is desirable,” said a senior employee of UTI.

UTI officers spoken to said that the AMC is open to looking at either a bureaucrat or a market practitioner to head the fund house. “However, the final nod has to come from the sponsors and the government,” they said.

Egon Zehnder, a global headhunter, has been given the mandate to look for suitable candidates for the post, said the officials.

UTI AMC manages assets worth Rs 70,782 crore as of end September.

sneha.p@thehindu.co.in

raghavendrarao.k@thehindu.co.in

Published on November 26, 2012 16:24