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Edelweiss Asset Management Raises Rs 6,600 Crore For Latest Credit-Focused AIF

The disruption in India’s credit market gives AIFs an opportunity in the long-term credit space, Edelweiss CEO Rashesh Shah says.

Rashesh Shah, chairman and chief executive officer  of the Edelweiss Group. (Photo: BloombergQuint)
Rashesh Shah, chairman and chief executive officer of the Edelweiss Group. (Photo: BloombergQuint)

Edelweiss Alternative Asset Advisors, a division of Edelweiss Asset Management, raised Rs 6,600 crore in its latest close-ended credit opportunities fund.

Edelweiss Special Opportunities Fund Series III, a seven-year close-ended fund, raised all of its capital from global overseas investors, according to a statement. The investors include Canadian Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, Florida’s State Board of Administration, and the Swedish Pension Fund.

The fund will look to provide credit to mid-market companies that are looking for growth capital, Hemant Daga, president and head at Edelweiss Asset Management, said at a virtual press conference.

Rashesh Shah, chairman and chief executive officer of Edelweiss Group, said the fund has been launched keeping in mind the opportunities in the long-term credit space, which needs patient, flexible capital.

“In the last two years, India’s credit market has seen huge disruption,” Shah said. “A lot of the players have been beset by asset-liability mismatch issues. Meeting redemption and repayment pressures has driven a lot of their actions and thinking.”

This, according to Shah, provides alternative investment funds with an opportunity in the long-term credit space.

The first two in the series of Edelweiss Special Opportunities Fund were launched in 2010 and 2015, respectively. These gave average returns of 15-17%, said Daga. Based on the experience of the first two in the series, Edelweiss Asset Management is anticipating returns of 16-18% in ESOF III, he said.

The company sees significant opportunity in the credit space over the next year and expects to deploy as much as 30-35% of the assets under management over the next six months, said Daga.