Leo Puri ropes in McKinsey to advise on revamp of UTI MF

According to sources,the decision to appoint McKinsey was arrived at after a close scrutiny of proposals submitted by various entities.

There were other entities in the fray,but the kind of homework and background check that McKinsey did tilted the balance in its favour. McKinsey consultants spoke to many UTI staffers to understand the issues being faced at various levels across verticals and,then,submitted the proposal, said a person on condition of anonymity.

While it could not be independently verified,it is believed that Boston Consulting Group (BCG) was also interested in the mandate. BCG was given a similar mandate by UTI MF a couple of years ago when current Sebi chairman UK Sinha was heading the fund house.

Responding to a detailed email query,Puri said that McKinsey was selected by the board of UTI AMC based on the experience that the consulting firm has in handling similar exercises.

This is actually a management-led exercise to look at ways for UTI MF to take advantage of opportunities like opening up of the pension sector and emergence of newer distribution channels beyond the top-15 cities and providing stronger customer service and staying ahead of the industry benchmarks, said Puri over the telephone.

The restructuring exercise being comes at a time when UTI MF has seen its rankings slip in the assets league table. From being the number one fund house in 2006,it has slipped to fifth with an AUM of around Rs 70,000 crore at the end of September. FE