HDFC Mutual Fund Announces New Fund Managers for Schemes Previously Managed by Prashant Jain

1) HDFC Balanced Advantage Fund

HDFC Balanced Advantage Fund, the largest scheme in Mr Jain's portfolio, will be managed by three fund managers. The equity portfolio will be handled by Mr Gopal Agarwal and Srinivasan Ramamurthy, while Mr Anil Bamboli will oversee the debt portion of the scheme.

Mr Gopal Agarwal is Senior Fund Manager - Equity at HDFC Mutual Fund. He has work experience of over 16 years in fund management and 2 years in equity research. Before joining HDFC Mutual Fund in July 2020, Mr Agarwal was associated with DSP Investment Managers, Tata Asset Management Company, and Mirae Asset Global Investments (India). He currently manages HDFC Large and Mid Cap Fund, HDFC Multi Cap Fund, HDFC Capital Builder Value Fund, and HDFC Dividend Yield Fund.

Mr Srinivasan Ramamurthy is Fund Manager - Equity at HDFC Mutual Fund. He has a collective experience of over 14 years in equity research and fund management. Mr Ramamurthy joined HDFC Mutual Fund in October 2020; before this, he was working with Mahindra Manulife Investment Management, IDBI Federal Life Insurance, and IIFL Securities. He currently manages HDFC Retirement Savings Fund (Equity, Hybrid Debt, and Hybrid Equity plan), HDFC Equity Savings Fund, HDFC Dynamic PE Ratio Fund of Funds, and HDFC Asset Allocator Fund of Funds.

Mr Anil Bamboli is Senior Fund Manager - Fixed Income at HDFC Mutual Fund. He has over 27 years of experience in fund management, research, and fixed income dealing. He joined HDFC Mutual Fund in 2003, before that, he was working with SBI Funds Management. Mr Bamboli currently manages HDFC Overnight Fund, HDFC Multi-Asset Fund, HDFC Banking & PSU Debt Fund, HDFC Ultra Short Term Fund, HDFC Gilt Fund, HDFC Arbitrage Fund, and HDFC Dynamic Debt Fund, among others.

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2) HDFC Flexi Cap Fund

HDFC Flexi Cap Fund will be managed by Ms Roshi Jain. She has a collective experience of 16 years in fund management. Ms Jain joined HDFC Mutual Fund in December 2021 as Senior Vice President - Equity Investments. Before joining the fund house, she was working with Franklin Templeton Asset Management (India) as Vice President and Portfolio Manager. At present, Ms Jain manages HDFC Tax Saver Fund and HDFC Focused 30 Fund.

3) HDFC Top 100 Fund

HDFC Top 100 Fund will be managed by Mr Rahul Baijal. Mr Baijal, who joined HDFC Mutual Fund as Senior member - Investment team (Equity) earlier this month, will now be redesignated as Senior Fund Manager - Equities. He has over 21 years of experience in fund management and equity research. Before joining the fund house, Mr Baijal was working with Sundaram Asset Management Company and Bharti AXA Life Insurance Company.

Apart from these fund managers, Ms Priya Ranjan will be the dedicated fund manager for overseas investments of the schemes, if any.

The revised responsibilities of the scheme will be effective from July 29, 2022. HDFC Mutual Fund has already announced that Mr Chirag Setalvad (Senior Fund Manager - Equities) will be taking over as Head - Equities, while Mr Shobhit Mehrotra (Senior Fund Manager - Fixed Income and Head of Credit) will be taking over as Head - Fixed Income.

Should the change in fund managers impact your investment decision in the schemes

A change in fund manager does not warrant any portfolio action. Over the years, many celebrated fund managers have moved on to other AMCs or roles. Despite this, most AMCs and the mutual fund industry, in general, have grown from strength to strength in the last decade.

Therefore, you should only look for alternatives if you find the performance of a fund unsatisfactory over a longer duration compared to the peers and the benchmark, based on qualitative and quantitative parameters. Further, you can consider switching to another fund if the scheme's investment objective and/or investment strategy undergoes changes and is no longer in congruence with your investment objectives.

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Warm Regards,
Divya Grover
Research Analyst