Vivriti Asset Management (VAM) has appointed former Aditya Birla Group executive Mohamed Irfan as Fund Manager of its credit funds, the company said in a statement.
“In his new role, Irfan will be instrumental in building and managing investments in both VAM's existing and proposed credit funds. He will be based out of the firm’s Mumbai office and report into VAM’s Chief Investment Officer, Soumendra Ghosh,” the statement said.
Prior to this, Irfan worked as a portfolio manager at Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund, where is joined as an analyst in 2016. He started his career with the Aditya Birla Group in 2012.
Irfan brings more than eight years of experience across finance, strategy and credit investing in multiple sectors. He has successfully managed several high-yield exposures and is experienced in negotiating, structuring, and post-investment management of credit.
He holds a Bachelors in Engineering and an MBA from Indian Institute of Management - Bangalore.
“We are excited to have Irfan on board. He has a clear vision around fund structuring and we are confident that his proven skillset in managing the entire credit lifecycle will be of immense value add as VAM pioneers the performing credit space in India,” said Soumendra Ghosh, Chief Investment Officer.
On his appointment, Irfan said, “I am delighted to join VAM with some of the industry's best professionals as we tap into the multi-billion dollar performing credits opportunity. The Group's proven track record, long-standing investor confidence, and tech backbone gives the AMC some natural advantages.”
Chennai-based Vivriti Group, which also runs non-bank lender Vivriti Capital, was set up in 2017 to make debt markets efficient, transparent, and add value to both issuers and investors alike by leveraging technology to discover, execute, and monitor debt investments.
VAM is a private investment firm sponsored by Vivriti Capital, which provides capital to companies operating in India.
In July this year, it had launched two alternative investment funds (AIFs) – Alpha Debt Fund and Alpha Debt - Enhanced Fund.
The asset manager is a fixed-income fund manager focusing on Indian performing credits and has gathered traction from domestic and foreign investors alike with commitments crossing Rs 1,500 crore across its funds from international and domestic investors interested in investing in the performing credit space in India. It intends to scale this up to Rs 4,000 crore by the end of FY22.
It offers debt of Rs 25-75 crore to companies for a two-four year tenor. The funds target yields between 8-16%.
In June this year, VAM partnered with Swiss impact investment firm Enabling Qapital Ltd to invest up to Rs 375 crore ($51.4 million) in the United Nation’s sustainable development goals (SDGs).
VAM builds on Vivriti group’s sectoral expertise to provide a stable and predictable risk-adjusted return on its fixed-income focused funds.