Business briefs

Axis AMC appoints B Gopkumar as CEO & MD * Axis Mutual Fund on Thursday said it has appointed B Gopkumar as Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) after Chandresh Nigam decided not to continue as MD & CEO.

Gopkumar is currently the MD & CEO of Axis Securities.

Nigam had joined Axis AMC in July 2009 as head of equities and assumed the role of MD & CEO in May 2013 and led the fund house for two terms spanning 10 years.

The board accepted Nigam's request not to renew his appointment after April 30, and appointed Gopkumar to head the organisation, the fund house said in a statement.

Gopkumar had joined Axis Securities as the MD & CEO in October 2019, and has over 28 years of experience in financial services industry in areas of sales and distribution, managing large teams, marketing and branding and also building of digital eco-system.

Meanwhile, the company also appointed Ashish Gupta as the chief investment officer. *** FedEx to open first advanced capability community in Hyderabad * Global logistics major FedEx has announced plans to open its global first advanced capability community in Hyderabad in the second half of the year Fedex plans to set up such advanced capability communities in different parts of the world in the future. Each community is planned to be staffed by full-time FedEx team across many functional areas which will provide shared services to support the technological and digital requirements of the entire FedEx enterprise, it said without disclosing more details. The Hyderabad centre is anticipated to launch in the second half of 2023, Raj Subramaniam, FedEx president and chief executive officer, said.

*** Reinsurance broker Gallagher Re takes over Willis Towers Watson India * Global reinsurance broking and advisory firm Gallagher Re has agreed to acquire the treaty reinsurance broking operations of Willis Towers Watson India Insurance Brokers.

Following the deal, the acquired team will join Gallagher's existing Indian reinsurance team, which currently sits within the Gallagher business in India, and will create a single Gallagher Re treaty reinsurance operation. This will enable the entirety of Gallagher Re's global service offering to be delivered to clients across the region.

The company also announced that Vinod Krishnan will lead the Gallagher Re India with immediate effect. But Gallagher India business will continue to be led by CEO Vinay Sohani, it added.

*** Mahindra, SBI tie up for tractor, farm machinery financing * Mahindra's farm equipment arm has tied up with State Bank of India to provide easy loan options on tractors and farm machinery products.

SBI said it has been a pioneer and a market-leader in agriculture-financing with a portfolio of over Rs 2,45,000 crore in agricultural advances that covers over 1 crore farmers.

Hemant Sikka, president of farm equipment sector, said Mahindra has been the number one tractor brand for more than three decades. *** Vivriti Asset Management invests Rs 50 crore in fintech platform Zaggle * Vivriti Asset Management, which is a fixed-income alternative investment fund, has invested Rs 50 crore in a debenture issue of SaaS-based fintech platform Zaggle.

The investment made through purchase of debentures will amortise over the next 40 months, paying interest quarterly.

The startup said the proceeds will be used for its products and working capital and business growth.

The fintech claims to serve around 1,900 customers and close to 2 million users on its platform. Zaggle has tied up with banks such as NSDL Payments Bank, Yes Bank, and IndusInd Bank for issuance of co-branded prepaid cards.

*** Kinara Capital plans Rs 400 cr biz loans to women in FY24 * Kinara Capital, fintech driving financial inclusion of small businesses, plans to disburse Rs 400 crore loans to women entrepreneurs in FY24 in discounted business loans. It has disbursed Rs 414 crore of such loans in FY23, 38 per cent more than it had initially planned for the year.

The special drive is available for MSME women entrepreneurs in over 100 cities across Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Puducherry.