CalPERS invests $100 M in India since April

By siliconindia   |   Tuesday, 02 November 2004, 20:30 IST
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MUMBAI: Top US pension fund CalPERS, which picked India as an investment destination in April, has invested about $100 million in the country so far and expects more pension funds to show an interest, an official said. "It has been a pretty good experience and we are at about $100 million in India," CalPERS' vice-chair, investment committee trustee, Priya Mathur told reporters on the sidelines of a securities market conference in Mumbai. The $165 billion-plus pension fund California Public Employees' Retirement System, known as CalPERS, had just under $2 billion invested in emerging markets last year. The fund had invested in pharmaceuticals, manufacturing and information technology in India, but Mathur did not indicate how much more the fund was likely to invest in the country. Indian shares have attracted foreign fund investments worth nearly $5 billion so far in 2004 from 622 registered funds -- more than 100 funds than there were in January. "We are pretty favourable and we see other investors beginning to invest in India," Mathur said. "We are speaking to other (pension fund) investors and we are expecting quite a bit of interest." CalPERS would be happy to invest in local corporate debt if the market developed, but it was an immature market right now, she said. Daily volumes in the Indian corporate debt market average about Rs 1 billion ($22 million). CalPERS also has $10 million invested in private equity in India, Mathur said.

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