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Bengaluru innovating for itselfIn this edition:

> How India is growing and improving its appeal?

> What are the challenges and opportunities facing the country?

> What’s new in distressed debt and the special investment sector?

> India’s young and thriving tech VC landscape

> Trends and potential future of impact investing

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SANNEGROUP.COMIssue 19 | February 2020

MAKING THE DIFFERENCE FOR OUR CLIENTS

2 / 18

SANNEGROUP.COM

Welcome to our 19th issue of Connect,

SANNE’s regular, technical bulletin for

fund managers, their intermediaries and

investors.

Together with leading industry experts, SANNE hosted a

technical roundtable to explore emerging thoughts and

developments in the alternatives sector, both in India

and abroad, including the impact of regulatory changes,

Government incentives and the challenges of external

disturbances.

India was hit with slow economic growth in 2019,

however, low global growth rates have caused investors

to start looking for returns in emerging markets like

India. India remains a magnet for foreign direct

investment and the country has taken numerous steps to

improve its attractiveness as an investment centre. In

addition, Bengaluru has become India’s technology hub

and consequently attracted good venture capital inflows.

In light of recent changes, the themes discussed by our

expert panel included:

How is India growing and improving its appeal?

What are the challenges and opportunities facing the country?

What’s new in distressed debt and the special investment

sector?

India’s young and thriving tech VC landscape

The current trends and potential future of impact investing

In this special edition of SANNE Connect we hear the latest

insights affecting the industry, its practitioners and their

clients. We do hope you find the read insightful.

Peter NagleCountry Head — Mauritius

e. [email protected]


The Bengaluru panel gathered leading industry professionals

and was Moderated by TR Srinivas, Managing Director at

o3 Capital.

Our panel included the following experts:

> Dr Rama Sithanen – Chairman at SANNE in Mauritius

> Himanshu Mandavia – Partner at PWC

> Richie Sancheti – Head of Investment Funds at Nishith

Desai Associates

> Kartik Ganapathy – Partner at Induslaw

> Ajay Mittal – Founding Member and Partner at Ascent

Capital

> T C Meenakshisundaram – Managing Director at Chiratae

> Jyotsna Krishnan – Managing Director at Elevar Equity

Panelists (above): pictured left to rightKartik Ganapathy, Jyotsna Krishnan, TR Srinivas, T C Meenakshisundaram, Dr Rama Sithanen, Peter Nagle,

Richie Sancheti, Himanshu Mandavia and Ajay Mittal

SANNEGROUP.COM

India successful in sharpening its global position

KEY TOPICS

> How has India’s global perspective towards investing changed?

> How has India’s regulatory, tax and legal framework impacted investing?

MAKING THE DIFFERENCE FOR OUR CLIENTS3 / 18

The global environment is witnessing rapid economic, political and environmental changes. These changes affect India as a country, but how will it influence the Indian investment sector?

India hit with a double whammy

Looking back some 20 years ago when the private equity

industry started in Bengaluru, a US$1 million deal was a big

event. Fast forward to 2020, the amount of money flowing

into the Indian VC market is phenomenal. With the massive

increase in flows, the Government had to change its policies

around the rules and regulations governing investment.

As one of India’s fastest growing cities, Bengaluru has been

drawing a significant level of interest from global investors.

The city is starting to see the benefits of Government

reforms on infrastructure and policy, despite a slowing pace

of economic growth.

“If you look at the main drivers of growth, namely exports, private consumption and investment both globally and in India, these are all down compared to previous years. When you consider Government expenditure, both in terms of investment and consumption, it’s on the rise. There are however pressures on the level of debt that a country can sustain.” DR RAMA SITHANEN

These reforms are bringing more market transparency and

investment into the country.

Since 2018, India has been experiencing a tough economic

environment. Global growth has not materialised as predicted by

the IMF and the World Bank. Trade has slowed and this has a big

impact on exports from India. Coupled with a liquidity squeeze

and slowing domestic demand, the Indian economy has been hit

with a ‘double whammy’.

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Investments drive action

While the pace and timing of a recovery is not yet clear,

some still see more downside risks. This is largely due to

trade tensions between China and the US, the Brexit

uncertainty for the UK and Europe and geopolitical tensions

in some regions. The high levels of public and corporate

debt are also of concern.

“Growth can be much stronger than most people think, and while in the short term it might be a bit tough, in the medium to long term, with the reforms taking place in India, coupled with a more favourable global environment, there will be huge opportunities for attracting investment into India.”

TR SRINIVAS

Reversing slow economic growth

Growth in India in 2019 was significantly lower than

forecasted, and the declining trend is expected to continue.

While some view this as a challenge, others see

opportunities for India. When returns on investment in the

developed countries are low, investors look for returns in

emerging countries like India, which remains a magnet for

foreign direct investment (FDI). The Reserve Bank of India

(RBI) capitalised on this by reducing interest rates on

multiple occasions to stimulate the economy, in addition to

fiscal measures.

Is this downturn cyclical or does it require structural

reform?

While growth in India is slowing, it is still higher than many

markets. FDI was up in 2019 which is promising, but the

impact of fiscal and monetary policy will only be

experienced in 2020.

Notwithstanding the global picture, India is likely to remain

a major magnet for FPI and FDI. At a global level policy

makers should do their best to prevent protectionism from

taking over multilateralism both domestically and

internationally, and coordinate monetary and fiscal policy to

stimulate growth.

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Changes in tax and the legal framework

KEY TOPICS

> Moving toward India’s 2025 goal –what’s new?

> Is there a big change in India’s tax regime?

> What is the role of start-up companies?

> Mauritius vs. Singapore

Considering the major reforms taking place within the legal environment, India is well on its way towards its goal of reaching a US $5 trillion economy by 2025.

Industry driving India’s 2025 goal

Laws are being modernised with the aim of accommodating

more FDI, although there is still resistance towards certain

types of capital and vehicles used, the alternatives market in

general and changes within GIFT (the Gujarat International

Finance Tec-City) set up in Gujarat.

“This is the first region where we have seen agents of the Government, RBI and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) working together. Regimes are shaping up very well towards GIFT. Despite several funds being set up with similar investment strategies and a common fund manager, each structure is treated like a bespoke fund so there are still challenges to overcome for the fund management industry. ” RICHIE SANCHETI

India’s changing tax regime

Changes in the India-Mauritius / India-Singapore treaties and

an introduction of anti-avoidance regulations have

significantly changed the way transactions are viewed from

an overseas investment perspective. Both entry and exit

strategies need to be considered, especially when set against

the anti-avoidance regulations and whether terms can be

justified before the tax office, now and in future.

“The treaties have standardised terms across commonly used jurisdictions, but centres like Mauritius can still give some benefits when investing in an indirect transfer structure or a debt instrument. Many Indian portfolio managers still have headquarters overseas that can take advantage of these structures.”

HIMANSHU MANDAVIA

A positive change is the simplification of India’s tax regime.

There is a clear tax pass through for FDA regulations when

investing in domestic funds. This has simplified things,

leading to more stability and corresponds with the GIFT City

developments as it offers increased tax advantages for

funds based there.

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This also aligns with the incentives Government offer to

companies and improving tax regimes through reductions in

corporate tax rates. India will also benefit from the

implementation of an electronic assessment mechanism

which has been introduced recently.

“From an entry perspective, the one thing that changed over the last couple of years is the introduction of pricing guidelines. For every transaction, whether you are investing in fresh capital or buying secondary shares, we now need to consider the pricing guidelines as prescribed by the new tax rules. That is playing a big role in the way transactions are structured.” HIMANSHU MANDAVIA

The role of start-up companies

The start-up culture is BOOMING and India is playing a

vital role as a growth engine for young entrepreneurs.

The Government has provided limited tax concessions for

investing in start-ups. There are however still issues to be

resolved around the general funding structure, not just for

start-ups but across all types of companies and incentives.

For instance, the Government is scrutinising several

companies to identify their sources of funding.

Whether India can afford to give tax concessions and what

the mindset of the Government is in doing so, is up for

debate, however, this along with the scrutiny of funding

would appear to be a deterrent to investors.

“The tone of discussion with the Ministry is that they want to encourage ease of doing business, while at the same time eliminating bad sources of income. The Government has not been able to instruct the bureaucracy on how to distinguish between good and bad sources of money. They are treating everyone the same as there is no existing set of guidelines. Therefore, all capital coming into the country is scrutinised.” HIMANSHU MANDAVIA

There is a general feeling that the system may kill the golden

goose, but at this point there is no clear solution.

The FPI regime has opened up in a major way with the

relaxation of the broad-based criteria. After several rounds

of consultation, the industry has come up with a solid legal

position that should bring stability for the years to come.

“There is a lot of growth in the Alternative Funds (AF) channel with a significant explosion of funds coming through this route, both from domestic and overseas investors who are making allocations to India. The AF regime has encouraged creativity and adopted a sort of modular approach for investing in AF vehicles. This is part of a range of laws that have come through, including the Bankruptcy Code and the relaxation of sectorial situations but this seems to have peaked now.” RICHIE SANCHETI

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Mauritius v. Singapore

When discussing preferences between Mauritius and

Singapore as an investment platform, our expert panel

was of the view that it is too early to gauge the effects

of the treaty modifications from 2017, and investors

should focus on what each jurisdiction does best.

For Mauritius, the strategy would be a combination of

leveraging what the country does best to serve the

market whilst at the same time reinventing itself to

enhance its competitiveness and relevance.

Mauritius boasts expertise, experience and knowledge

accumulated over the past 25 years. This is extremely

beneficial when coupled with a deep understanding of

the investor community requirements.

What is the competitive advantage of using

Mauritius?

How Mauritius remains relevant and competitive is

dependent on a number of criteria. Highest among these

are the benefits it provides to the investor community.

While tax is an important consideration, Mauritius must

continuously display its other attractive qualities in order to

get the major players to come and do business in the IFC.

Singapore is attractive in terms of its infrastructure while

Mauritius is constantly improving its infrastructure.

Mauritius has an incentive framework to attract regional

headquarters, international law firms and family offices. In

addition, Mauritius is diversifying and is an extremely

attractive and efficient route for investing into Africa.

Access and flexibility of set up is key and Mauritius offers

both. Substance requirements in Mauritius are easier to

satisfy and costs are more competitive when compared to

Singapore.

Mauritius must sharpen its competitiveness while remaining

relevant for investors to grow further, and this is very much

a work in progress.

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India innovating for itself: India’s growing appealas an investmentcentre of choice

India as an investment centre of choice

India is in the early stages of VC investing with Bengaluru

being the technology capital of India. Many tech start-

ups have moved to Bengaluru over the last three to four

years to find the right talent, and there is a lot of

excitement in this space. Looking back 20 years, India

started by copying the US model and 10 years later

adopted the Chinese model. Now India is innovating for

itself. The quantity of deals have increased, and the

average age of the entrepreneur has decreased from the

mid-30s to mid-20s.

“We have young people leaving college saying, ‘I want to change the world.’ What defines this is very important. Someone in their mid- 30s comes with 10 years of experience and although having experience has many advantages, one of the biggest disadvantages is that they know what is not possible. Someone who comes out of college with the aim of changing the world is completely fearless. They believe they have nothing to lose and that is what enables them to do substantially different things. That really excites us in terms of technology VC and these youngsters are at the forefront of technology.” T C MEENAKSHISUNDARAM

> What is the advantage of using India as an investment centre?

> India vs China – where is the benefit?

> What changes are to come in India’s private equity landscape?

KEY TOPICS

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A new generation of debt funds have now come into play,

which are not necessarily looking at the asset base of the

company but rather the overall business model and its

potential.

Investors are willing to take a risk on getting faster equity

returns at the end of their tenure. This has been one of the

challenges, as the money previously available for a growing

company has gone away temporarily, but sentiment needs

to improve. Recently, the Government has taken some

substantive strategic decisions to the benefit of India but

now it needs to focus on the economy.

Government should introduce qualitative reforms and this is

the right time to do it. There are huge opportunities for

investment in growth stage companies, in addition to start-

ups.

Ajay Mittal stated that Ascent Capital does not derive too

much comfort from the asset part of the balance sheet but

rather focus on the intrinsic value of the business and

whether it has potential to grow and become a market

leader.

T C Meenakshisundaram observed that the same models

that work in America and China cannot be implemented in

India. There are certain Indian homegrown models that have

the potential to become global and therein lies the

opportunity.

It is important to work alongside those companies and not

just expect the CFOs to do all the hard work. All resources

should work together and provide liquidity where it is

required. We are in tough times and the industry must work

hard to rise to the challenges.

India vs China

A major challenge experienced today is that India is often

compared to China as an emerging market, but China’s

returns are higher in US dollar terms.

India’s growing private equity landscape

Opportunities and challenges have risen on the private

equity side of the investment world, particularly regarding

exit strategies. If we look broadly over the past few years,

while the underlying story of both exports and domestic

consumption have not changed, sentiment has certainly

decreased in recent years.

A lot of money has flown into real estate and loans are less

accessible for the companies requiring capital.

Consequently, these growing companies end up in rounds of

fund raising. Funds need to show growth rates of 30-40% to

be successful and that only comes if you infuse technology

into a firm.

“Other challenges facing India includes the penalty on depreciation compared to China and the depth of the technology opportunity. With over 400 million internet users in India, only 60-100 million transact on tech platforms. Herein lies a big opportunity and firms are looking for new models or technologies to encourage online transactions. While this is a great opportunity, only a few will succeed. It is therefore both an opportunity and a risk.” TR SRINIVAS

We see things differently

New tech developments

There are companies that started in India, developing

devices and software, which are now going global like

Lenskart, FirstCry, and Curefree. There is a lot of excitement

around the technology industry, but it is a highly

competitive market. LPs keep saying that India has not

generated sufficient exits apart from one very large

transaction last year. A substantial portion of that went to

offshore investors, except for one founder who got capital.

Thus, Indian investors got very little out of that deal.

The market is dominated by investors wanting more

returns. If this trend continues it will generate excitement

and more investors.

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A new line of business is emerging in the shape of distressed debt with new vehicles ready to invest. Some of the largest deals today are in the distressed space. While there is currently a lack of capital, India is also experiencing an increase in venture debt.

There were more than 47 deals in 2017 valued at over US

$1.2 billion in India and the figures continued to rise over

the past three years. More and more companies are

accepting venture debt, in order to give managers an

extended runway.


“It doesn’t work to go through the traditional bank route where you attach assets and get a personal guarantee. By monetising the cash flows of the company, the investor gets an interest return as well as an equity kicker. This is increasingly happening, and venture debt is therefore an area of investment that is seriously increasing in India.” KARTIK GANAPATHY

The regulatory framework for distressed debt

After SICA was introduced, India implemented steps to

rehabilitate companies that were not performing

economically. The country went through a large churn of

various measures and preventative steps to identify defaults

at an early stage and put a resolution plan in place and if not

identified early, to have a compelling and effective system

in place to deal with the recovery of monies.

The chain of laws began with SICA in 1985, the Debt

Recovery Tribunals (DRT) Act in the early 2000s, the Cash

Deposit Ratio (CDR) Schemes, and the Securitisation and

Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of

Securities Interest (SARFAESI) Act in 2002.

There were also additional resolution schemes including the

Strategic Debt Restructuring (SDR) Scheme, the CDR

Scheme and the S4A Scheme (Scheme for Sustainable

Structuring of Stressed Assets). These have all set the stage

for the current environment.

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) was introduced

in 2016 and it seemed to work very well.

Looking at the distressed debt space, it is an interesting

perspective of how India dealt with insolvency and

distress. It started in 1985 with the Sick Industrial

Companies Act (SICA) and then the Special Provisions Act.

KEY TOPICS

> What is the current regulatory framework for distressed debt?

> Why are we seeing restructuring of debt?

> Asset reconstruction – what’s new?

The distressed and special investment landscape

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“The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code is not prescriptive, but it gives companies the ability to go through the insolvency process. The easiest way to think about it is the three R's –rectify, restructure and recover.

If you identify very early on that something could go wrong, you have a chance to rectify it. If you can't rectify it, you have a chance to restructure the company structure or the way the way company is set up. If restructuring does not work you go into recovery. This is where the IBC steps in and offers a process through which you can recover all the money in a distressed sense.”

Distressed debt is becoming a more active sector in India

due to the IBCs. Regulatory changes have made distressed

debt very compelling from an Indian perspective. In

addition, giving foreign investors the ability to invest in asset

reconstruction companies, to buy secured notes, has also

been a positive move. The regime is determined to look at

distressed assets and find ways to monetise these assets.

Restructuring debt

Induslaw was fortunate enough to do one of the first

restructurings with Agritrade, a large transaction that

involved a lot of special circumstances, evidencing that a

big amount of debt can be restructured effectively. When

SARFAESI came into effect in 2002, it created opportunities

for asset reconstruction companies in India. These

companies only had to adopt very minimally to be able to

take this bad debt and find a way to work through it.

“The S.R. case that has been in the press recently, was around how the RBI came up with one set of potential norms. Those potential norms were struck down and another set of potential norms were introduced. Now the case seems to give some parity between equity, financial creditors and operational creditors. It talks about how the National Company Law Tribunal and National Company Law Administrative Tribunals cannot meddle with the commercial decision that the Committee of Creditors make.”

This gives some clarity with respect to the timelines that the

IBC prescribes and there is an expectation that the

distressed space in India will take off.

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“This upturn is about to happen. Part of the uptick in our economy would be led by the distressed space. Particularly when banks and lenders are sure that they have some security and they can get back their assets. That's when the money inflows will start.”

“KKR took over RJR Nabisco and 30 odd years later that same story is playing out again. At this moment there are about 29 ARCs registered in India. They know and can identify the debt. These ARCs were set up with SARFAESI but are now working in the IBC context and have therefore adapted to figure out ‘this is how I got rid of debt, here's the debt that we can take and here are the various things that we can do with these assets.’ The case studies that we have will be very interesting.”

Whether the Government and the courts will continue to

give foreign investors what they seek is yet to be seen.

“In our experience, two things that foreign investors seek is certainty with respect to timelines and clarity on taxes. India provides that certainty. We spent the last 70 years experimenting and the next 70 we will do something with that experience.”

Asset Reconstruction

Using an ARC (Asset Reconstruction Company) can be very

effective. This is when a Chief Restructuring Officer is

appointed to sit within the company, oversee processes and

encourage a professional management team to turn things

around.

ARCs are growing by about 10-15% year-on-year. With the

wealth of money that sovereign funds and insurance firms

are targeting for India, a turnaround is possible.

SANNEGROUP.COM

KEY TOPICS

> Why is there a global push to make an impact?

> The importance of governance.

> Singapore based variable capital company structures – is this the best route?

KEY TOPICS

Current trends and the potential future of impact investing

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MAKING THE DIFFERENCE FOR OUR CLIENTS13 / 18

A global push for impact investing

The swell of opinions around impact investing is on the rise.

Globally, voices are growing louder across the spectrum -

from sources within US politics on redistribution of wealth

through to climate change. Considering how businesses

should work with underserved communities is now

beginning to seep into the consciousness of fund investors,

the ultimate sources of capital that backs these businesses

and also corporates and CEOs. Everyone is waking up to this.

The term impact investing has only recently become

mainstream. In India, the example of non-profit

microfinance organisations transitioning into commercial

entities indicates the potential here. India has one of the

largest consumer bases globally, and has barely scratched

the surface as far as low-income communities.

As there is so much opportunity in main cities with middle

income and higher income earners, few have bothered

going deeper to build businesses that work with lower

income consumers as equal business partners.

“It's almost like discovering a new trade route or a new market that you can do business in. We soon realised that there are millions of customers in the low income segment who are very eager to pay on a commercial basis for high quality services and products. They're demanding like any other customer. My first question when I transitioned out of banking was, is there a conflict between impact and commercial returns? And honestly, there is that very mystical interim zone where the two come together beautifully.” JYOTSNA KRISHNAN

When you bring the customer’s interests to the centre of

everything you do and design everything by keeping the

consumer base in mind, there is no conflict between impact

and commercial returns. Similar to the way Apple designs its

products.

It is a huge opportunity and investors have not fully

understood the potential of this market. Ultimately it

involves taking smaller ticket size products and services,

building deeper distributions and scaling, because we're not

talking about thousands of customers. Companies in this

space have gone on to serve more than 25 million

customers globally.

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The key difference between impact investing and

commercial investing is the different consumer base.

It is also a different space in terms of how to approach

these business models and the DNA of these

organisations. It’s about combining the best of

commercial talent, which is repurposed to think about

this customer segment, and seeing how to build long-

term sustainable businesses at scale.


“We've seen the entire journey of microfinance go from non-profit operations to getting small finance banking license and witnessing really successful IPOs in the market. When we meet the teams and the talent out there, we are amazed. We look for a couple of decades of experience, because that experience is useful in working in emerging markets like India. Ultimately, we're multiple states within one country and you need to know a lot of things.” JYOTSNA KRISHNAN

Currently, there is a lack of social and impact capital to help

these businesses scale up. Investors have to look at

companies and entrepreneurs who are capable of attracting

commercial capital because these businesses will require

capital to scale. It is about establishing credibility to prove

they can deliver well-rounded businesses. This means

establishing a focus on governance and quality standards

very early on in the journey.

This is important because when building rapidly at scale and

working with underserved communities, there are multiple

stakeholders to take in consideration. Commercial interests

can compromise customer interests and that’s when things

fall apart.

Starting with the right DNA, that is focused on the customer

segment and aligning teams, processes, systems and

governance structures around it, ensures that there is no

compromise of the core principles and value systems.

“That’s a really core part of the DNA because when you start scaling and attracting more capital, you need to have the credibility to ensure that you stay the course. It's great to see some of our entrepreneurs who may or may not have substantial ownership in companies, but are able to call the shots and lead discussions across a board full of multiple private equity investors and senior professionals. They've established the credibility, they know the client segment and are doing the right thing.” JYOTSNA

KRISHNAN

Ajay Mittal, Founding Member and Partner at Ascent

Capital commented that when they began investing 10

years ago, they never considered the impact that

companies are creating.

“We have seen instances where a commercial investor took the most customer centric decision, whereas an impact investor did not. It is more about finding aligned partners rather than how to classify them. Ultimately, it comes down to people who understand good business, who understand the right thing to do and are aligned with the long-term visions of the companies concerned.” JYOTSNA KRISHNAN

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“Back then, the fact that we were backing entrepreneurship, which is creating jobs, was the impact created. The amount of impact those companies are creating in the supply chain is phenomenal. One company over the last two years has come close to US $3 billion of financing - it really is amazing. We've started to reflect on this and realised you can create impact even when you are not focusing on it. When you do focus on impact, it can be far more valuable. Now we started counting and evaluating impact. We had no-one going anywhere near this originally, but LPs are definitely looking at this segment now.”

AJAY MITTAL

Governance

Investors are increasingly concerned about governance and

compliance in companies, especially large companies. In early

stage investing governance can be difficult to ascertain and it

is said that investors prefer to influence governance through

majority control, however, how investors influence

governance depends on how they view it.

T C Meenakshisundaram stated that Chiratae has a policy of

taking a seat on the boards of the firms they invest in, and

often add additional committees in areas like compensation.

There is a significant premium, even in the private market, for

good governance. If a company eventually wants to bring an

IPO, good governance must be in the DNA of the organisation,

or it will be very difficult to implement. It is an important

aspect, but the promoters don’t always see eye to eye on the

definition of governance.

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Singapore based variable capital company structures

There is certainly appetite for structures with different

compartments and ring-fenced liabilities. Singapore is likely

to see the first batch of variable capital companies coming

in the first or second quarter of 2020. Hong Kong already

has come out with an open-ended company regime, which

is similar to Singapore’s VCC. Mauritius has brought in

protected cell company structures some time ago.

It is often easier if the venture entity is a tech firm where the

founder is young. They usually look at the big picture to scale

the company, sell it in five years and then move on.

Conversely, when founders and their promoters who run a

company as a family business are involved, it is more

complicated. It can result in arguments at every board

meeting and harm the relationship. The other alternative is to

go through the issues, be patient and implement whatever

incremental change you can to achieve your objective in a

year and a half.

“There are the standard procedures that should be evaluated such as how the financial accounts have been stated, are there any leakages, are there cash transactions, what kind of auditors does the firm have and what kind of people are in the finance department? All this is done thoroughly but the real action takes place when we have invested, and that's why I say that the definition of governance by the promoter and the investor needs to be aligned.”

“While a VC firm may have a 100-day programme in mind post investment, in reality it is about changing mindsets and that can take longer, even if promoters see the benefits. It is also important that independent directors play their roles effectively. Founders do appreciate the governance aspect and this is vital, especially if you are looking to an IPO and you have to present your story to an incoming investor. Investors will judge you based on how clean your reputation is in the market. And this is reflected in the value of your company, so it is very important, but it is easier said than done.”

“There are already structures out there that investors could have used in Cayman. The industry will have to see how much new demand there will be for VCCs in Singapore. Nonetheless, the Singapore VCC allows one to distribute profits and dividends from the capital of the company. This is something that was always seen as a challenge given the solvency test requirements, which otherwise applies to funds and holding companies. So this definitely caters to a different class of investors and funds.” T C MEENAKSHISUNDARAM

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AMERICAS

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GuernseyJersey

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ASIA-PACIFIC

Hong Kong

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More than 1,800 people worldwide

FTSE 250 listed business

In excess of £250bn AUA

Established for over 30 years and listed on the Main

Market of the London Stock Exchange, SANNE has more

than 1,600 employees worldwide and has in excess of £250

billion assets under administration. Our network of offices

provide global managers with highly skilled and director-led

teams of asset class specialists.

As a leading global provider of alternative asset and

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have further extended our global reach with the opening of

our new office in Mumbai, India. With existing offices in 19

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local presence in one of the world’s fastest growing

alternative markets.

Global alternative asset and corporate administration done differently

Should you wish to find out more about our services and operations please speak to us, we would be delighted to hear from you.

“We have been providing high quality alternative and corporate services to clients in India for more than 28 years, this next phase of evolution in the region is an exciting one for us.” PETER NAGLE


RUBINA TOORAWAChief Operating Officer

Mauritius

t. +230 4671300


VAROUNEN GOINDENDirector, Head of Business Development

Mauritius & India

t. +230 4671300


KHUSHBOO CHOPRAHead of Business Development

India

t. +91 (0)22 4445 1064


PETER NAGLECountry Head — Mauritius

t. +230 4673000


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SANNEGROUP.COM

To find out more about SANNE, please email Varounen Goinden, our Director, Head of Business Development – Mauritius & India, [email protected] or alternatively visit us online, sannegroup.com

Information on Sanne and its regulators can be accessed via sannegroup.com


EDITORS: Rene Engelbrecht – Assistant Manager, Digital Media & Marketing and Sivani Pillay – Marketing & Communications Manager

DESIGN: Lorna De Freitas – Marketing & Communications AdministratorILLUSTRATION: Kieran Blake – Marketing Administrator

bengaluru innovating for itself - sanne group · markets. fdi was up in 2019 which is promising,...

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