Bajaj Finserv shares surge as NBFC firm gets final SEBI nod to foray into mutual fund business

Shares of Bajaj Finserv – a non-banking finance holding company – pared gains made in the early session on Thursday, March 2. Bajaj Finserv stock jumped more than 3 per cent to touch a day’s high level of Rs 1,388 apiece on the BSE as the finance firm gets SEBI license to commence mutual fund business.

Bajaj Finserv Limited on Wednesday received the final registration from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to commence its mutual fund operations. The company would operate the business under the Bajaj Finserv Mutual Fund banner, the Pune-based firm said in a statement.

The company further said it will soon offer a range of mutual fund products including equity, debt, and hybrid funds, both in the active and passive segments, to investors under Bajaj Finserv Mutual Fund, with Bajaj Finserv Asset Management Limited (BFAML) as the Investment Manager.

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Sanjiv Bajaj, Chairman & Managing Director, Bajaj Finserv, said, the approval from SEBI is strategically important for the company as it enables the firm to complete its suite of financial solutions for retail customers.

At around 10:30 AM, Bajaj Finserv shares quoted Rs 1,350.9 per share, up Rs 8.30 or 0.6 per cent, from Wednesday’s closing price of Rs 1,344.60 per share.

Bajaj Finserv’s share price has grown nearly two times in the past five years, Vishal Narnolia, an analyst at ICICI Direct said. The brokerage upgraded the stock to ‘buy’ from a ‘hold’ rating given the recent correction in the stock.

“Healthy pick-up in lending asset under management (AUM) and selective approach in insurance business coupled with a focus on digitisation remains positive,” the analyst said while valuing the stock at 28x FY25E EPS with a target price of Rs 1,625 apiece, which implies an upside of 21 per cent.

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Bajaj Finserv Ltd is an unregistered Core Investment Company (CIC) under Core Investment Companies (Reserve Bank) Direction, 2016.

Bajaj Finserv holds a 52.49 per cent stake in Bajaj Finance Ltd, a listed non-bank with the strategy and structure of a bank. It holds a 74 per cent stake each in Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company Ltd and Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company Ltd. Subsidiaries of Bajaj Finance Ltd include Bajaj Housing Finance Ltd.

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