India is among the most promising markets in the world for asset managers and a young population, increasing financialisation of savings among other things present huge growth opportunities, and the fund manager doesn't want to leave India, according to Denys De Campigneulles, the executive director and deputy CEO of SBI Funds Management. 

Campigneulles is the representative of French asset manager Amundi in SBI Funds Management, which is a joint venture between India's largest lender State Bank of India and Amundi.

"India has all the ingredients to be one of the most promising markets in terms of asset management for very simple reasons. You have got scale, you have got a young population, you will have retirement needs and financialisation is not yet over. So in front of us, you have got so many elements, which are positive to support the industry that for us, European firm, it wouldn't make any sense not to be present in India," he said on Thursday. 

SBI Funds Management is going public in a close to Rs 11,693 crore IPO. The issue is completely an offer for sale with State Bank and Amundi, both, reducing their stake in the company, although none of them is completely exiting. 

SBI will sell around 6.3 per cent stake in the company and Amundi will offload around 3.7 per cent. 

Post listing SBI will still hold 55.46% and Amundi will have 32.56% stake.

SBI Funds Management manages the country's largest mutual fund with quarterly average assets under management of Rs 12.50 lakh crore in financial year 2026. It is also among the largest portfolio management services (PMS) provider in India with about Rs 16.50 lakh crore in AUM. 

India's mutual fund industry is seeing rapid growth in the last few years as more Indians haven taken to equity market investing. 

The net AUM of the mutual fund industry touched Rs 81.58 lakh crore as of May 31, 2026. 

The AUM of SBI Mutual Fund has seen a 19.9 per cent compounded annual growth between March 2021 to March 2026 and it's market share in FY26 stood at 15.3 per cent. 

The mutual fund industry AUM could grow to around Rs 155 lakh crore by financial year 2030, PMS should be around Rs 72 lakh crore and AIF (alternative investment funds) should be around Rs 42 lakh crore, Debashish Mishra, the MD and CEO of SBI Funds Management said citing data from Crisil. 

The growth potential is in contrast to markets like Europe, which are already highly matured and population is ageing. 

"This is a hugely potential business that is available to us. SBI MF already manages Rs 30 lakh crore (across MF, PMS). Obviously, headroom for us to grow is very, very high and we think we are going to be able to capture a big chunk of this headroom," Mishra said. 

Amundi is the largest asset manager in Europe. On the one hand Amundi helps bring international reach and helps promote SBI Funds Management expertise globally, pointed Campigneulles. On the other hand, the two also work together in areas of technology. 

Campigneulles said Amundi and SBI are in an "active, evolving, and living partnership," and Amundi doesnt want to divest from India.

"We strongly believe in the strength of the Indian asset management industry for the next decades and we will actively contribute to this partnership over the next few years," he said. 

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Published on: Jul 9, 2026 7:58 PM IST