UTI Capital’s (subsidiary of UTI AMC) first Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) fund UTI Structured Debt Opportunities Fund I closed for subscription on November 15. The category II AIF has a target corpus of Rs 750 crore (and an additional green shoe option of Rs 250 crore). The capital commitments in the fund currently stand at more than Rs 480 crore.
In a press release, Rohit Gulati, Managing Partner of UTI Capital said that this fund aims to fill a void in the mid-market, where traditional capital sources may not be readily available to many high quality and creditworthy borrowers due to various constraints. The fund will seek to identify and create a portfolio of such borrowers through active origination, underwriting and monitoring.
AIFs are fast gaining popularity among HNIs in India which is evident by the rapid growth in assets. As on September 2017, AIFs raised commitment or assets worth Rs 1.16 lakh crore. Of this, 61% or Rs 70,498 crore came in category 2 AIFs.
AIFs fall into three main categories. Category 1 funds include infrastructure funds, social venture funds, venture capital fund and small and medium enterprises (SME) funds. Real estate funds, private equity funds (PE funds), funds for distressed assets are registered as Category 2 AIFs while Category 3 AIFs include private investment in public equity (PIPE) and hedge funds.