Date:28/04/2005 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/04/28/stories/2005042802061500.htm

Back Birla MF makes CAMS its transfer agent

Nilanjan Dey

Kolkata , April 27

BIRLA Mutual Fund has snapped ties with Citibank, its registrar and transfer agents for long, and has instead mandated Computer Age Management Services (CAMS).

Three reasons have been cited officially to anchor the fund's decision in favour of CAMS: The experience that the Chennai-based outfit has gained so far, its pioneering status in the business and its leadership position in terms of servicing.

Birla MF, which had used Citibank's services for several years, has also advised its investors to take note of the change. The fund's latest move marks a shift to a service-provider that is said to command roughly more than 50 per cent of the market.

CAMS, which originally came up as a software developer, moved over from capital market transaction processing to transaction processing for MFs. It currently caters to more than a dozen fund houses. The HDFC group owns a critical share of the company's equity.

CAMS, sources in the asset management industry mentioned, had stepped into the business of transaction processing and customer care in the mid-1990s, when private-sector asset management companies were just taking off in the country.

Its activities are rooted in the use of modern technology, sources said, adding that the company, quite correctly, places stress on disaster recovery systems.

The company currently caters to asset management companies, distributors and investors. Its service package for distributors, for instance, is aimed at intermediaries that operate through retail sub-agents.

The package enables, inter alia, maintenance of primary brokerage structures for receivable brokerage, maintenance of secondary brokerage structures for payable sub-brokerage and maintenance of investor details.