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By Vivek Kumar M
June 9 (Reuters) – Jio BlackRock Asset Management plans to launch its first exchange-traded funds in India by August, seeking to replicate BlackRock's global success in passive investing in a market where ETFs are still nascent.
The joint venture between Mukesh Ambani's Jio Financial Services and the world's largest asset manager has amassed about 180 billion rupees ($1.9 billion) in assets under management in roughly a year since its launch by building a base in cash, debt-index and active equity funds.
It plans to start with equity-focused ETF strategies.
BlackRock oversees about $5.1 trillion in ETF assets globally, more than a third of its total assets under management, underscoring the importance of the product line to its franchise. Jio BlackRock currently ranks as India's 29th-largest asset manager.
"ETFs are a long-term play. While it is a predominantly institutional heavy market (in India), retail are starting to get more involved in ETFs. And we can see from global trends how well ETFs have been adopted as a choice for investing," Sid Swaminathan, managing director and chief executive officer of Jio BlackRock Asset Management, told Reuters.
ETF INNOVATION COULD BOOST LIQUIDITY
Passive mutual fund assets in India stood at 15.20 trillion rupees in April, or about 18.5% of the industry's 81.94 trillion rupees in average assets under management, according to data from the mutual fund industry association.
By comparison, equity index funds and ETFs account for about 45.3% of long-term mutual fund and ETF assets in the U.S.
Swaminathan said tighter bid-offer spreads and more innovative strategies could help improve liquidity and boost retail participation in Indian ETFs.
The company also plans to launch products in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City), India's low-tax financial hub competing with centres such as Singapore and Dubai, within the next couple of months.
COMPLEX PRODUCTS PROMPT PIVOT TO DISTRIBUTOR-LED MODEL
For more complex offerings, including special investment funds and GIFT City products, Jio BlackRock has adopted a distributor-led model rather than a digital-first approach, reflecting the continued role of advisers in selling higher-ticket products.
Swaminathan said the decision to prioritise those launches was partly shaped by market conditions. India's benchmark Nifty 50 is down 11.1% so far in 2026 amid foreign outflows, higher oil prices and moderating earnings growth, while MSCI’s Asia-Pacific ex-Japan index is up 18.2%.
($1 = 95.3500 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Vivek Kumar M in Bengaluru. Editing by Mark Potter)
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