The Bombay High Court adjourned the hearing of the petition filed by T Rowe Price International to August 28 after the U.S.-based shareholder of UTI Mutual Fund sought more time saying that it is talking to government officials for an out-of-court settlement of the matter.
T Rowe Price had filed a petition seeking an extension of the term of the managing director and chief executive officer Leo Puri, whose tenure came to an end on Monday. It also wanted the other government-owned promoters of the fund — State Bank of India (SBI), Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Bank of Baroda (BoB) — to pare their stakes to 10% each as per new norms.
Honesty stressed
Separately, Mr. Puri stressed on the principles of honesty and ‘doing the right thing’ in his farewell letter to the employees of the country’s oldest fund house on Monday.
While highlighting the strong foundations, strategy and financials of UTI Mutual Fund, Mr. Puri said it would be best for the fund house to remain independent and a professionally-managed listed entity.
“I am confident that UTI’s future is to remain a leading, independent, Indian asset management company. I also believe it will prosper as a listed company, meritocratic and professionally-managed,” he said in the letter.
The Hindu has seen a copy of the letter.
An alumni of Oxford and Cambridge, Mr Puri was named the head of UTI MF in 2013 – more than two years after his predecessor U K Sinha left to become the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India – and since then has regularly faced queries over whether the fund house would be listed or merged with one of the four promoters that each have their own mutual fund business.
Incidentally, Mr Puri, in an earlier interaction with The Hindu, had said that a public issue was the best way to “resolve and reward” the shareholders and that a merger with any of the fund houses of the promoters would not be a healthy proposition.
Apart from T Rowe Price International that has a 26% stake in UTI MF, government-owned SBI, LIC, PNB and BoB each has 18.24% stake in the fund house.
Mr Puri concluded the letter with a famous quote of Shakespeare: “To thine own self be true. And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man.”