Caledonia to launch India fund after boutique buy

Investment trust giant Caledonia Investments plans to launch an Indian-focused Oeic into the UK after completing the acquisition of Old India Partners (OIP).

Caledonia, which had held a 40% stake in OIP, has bought the entire share capital of the boutique. Following the purchase OIP will be restructured as Ocean Dial Asset Management with an initial focus on India where Caledonia has strong historic links.

Ocean Dial manages the India Capital Growth fund, which is a mid-cap focused closed ended investment company listed on AIM. It also recently launched a large-cap domestically focused India fund, which is in the process of being converted into an Oeic to be launched into the UK later in the year.

Caledonia said it plans to use Ocean Dial to offer a range of niche investment products in the future.

Jamie Cayzer-Colvin, who joined the Caledonia group in 1995 will chair the Ocean Dial Group board. He said: 'We are very pleased to be backing Ocean Dial at what we believe is an exciting and dynamic time for the Indian economy. 

'Caledonia has considerable expertise in the investment sector and has been a long term investor in a number of successful asset management boutiques.  We have approximately 10% of our £1.2bn of assets invested in India and have shown true commitment to this market.'

Caledonia's eponymous £1.2 billion fund is one of the UK's largest investment trusts. The company has stakes in a number of other investment boutiques, including Polar Capital and Close Brothers.