Radhakrishnan to take over as Sundaram Mutual CEO

Franklin Templeton India’s Chief Investment Officer, Anand Radhakrishnan, is set to join Sundaram Asset Management Company. He is expected to replace Sunil Subramaniam who is likely to step down by April. Subramaniam, 62, will step down after completing 19 years in Sundaram Mutual, sources said.

During his tenure Subramaniam had handled various roles including Vice-President (Retail Distribution), Executive Director (Sales and Marketing), Director (Sales and Global Operations), Deputy CEO and CEO before being elevated to his current role as Managing Director. Sunil is also on the Board of Directors of Sundaram Asset Management Singapore Pte Ltd.

“With the intense competition and stringent regulations, the pressure on top executives of mutual funds is getting intense and they are finding it difficult to prolong due to fatigue. This apart, the pressure is also building on to deliver industry beating returns,” said the CEO of a top fund house.

Second stint

Interestingly, it will be the second stint for Radhakrishnan in Sundaram Mutual. He was a fund manager at Sundaram AMC between 1996 and 2004.

Franklin Templeton has already elevated Janakiraman Rengaraju, Deputy CIO & Senior Portfolio Manager as Chief Investment Officer, Emerging Market Equities — India following Radhakrishnan’s resignation last November. Radhakrishnan will leave Franklin Templeton on Thursday.

In a bid to grow business, Sundaram AMC acquired Principal India AMC in January 2021. Ravi Gopalakrishnan, who was earlier the head of equity funds at Principal AMC, has been heading the equity funds team at Sundaram MF (CIO-equity) ever since.

FT India AMC has just come out of its debt fund crisis, after it wound up six of its debt funds in April 2020. With payments being made to investors whose money was stuck in all of those six funds over around three years, the fund house launched its first scheme, Franklin India Balanced Advantage Fund, in September, 2022.