Goldman Sachs India AMC is typically credited for the idea of the hugely successful CPSE exchange-traded fund (ETF), which provides investors with a basket of 10 public sector companies. But that attribution isn’t going down well with the folks at ICICI Securities (I-Sec) who believe they were equally instrumental in the conceptualisation of the fund that received bids worth Rs 4,400 crore in its initial offer which closed on March 21. (It reopens on April 4.)
Andrew Sheng, the author of %u2018FROM ASIAN TO GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS\', was in Delhi in connection with some meeting of SEBI on 28th January 2012. During the post dinner chitchat two of us lingered on and happened to discuss informally the Indian Disinvestment challenge at that point of time. Especially the supply hangover playing tricks with the share prices of listed CPSEs and in view of %u2018not so healthy\', rather bearish capital market, its consequences on the morale of existing retail shareholders of the CPSEs. He encouraged me to have a look at the Hong Kong\'s Hang Seng Tracker Fund as an option. Next day, Disinvestment Department\'s Team headed by Alok Tandon was ferreting all the information available on the Internet. Pramit Jhaveri of City Bank, on being approached at a personal level, was kind enough to find it an interesting option to be tried and the same day committed resources and spare his enthusiastic colleague to help in doing the necessary homework. Goldman Sachs India deserves credit for helping the idea take shape and make it possible for me to access the intellectual resources in Boston and New York. ICICI Securities (I-Sec) if they believe they were instrumental, their claim need not be treated as misplaced.
on Oct 5, 2014