Bajaj Allianz Life CIO Sampath Reddy steps down, to start own fund

After a 17-year-long tenure, Sampath Reddy stepped down as the Chief Investment Officer of Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance to set up his own alternative investment fund. Reddy, a veteran in India’s financial markets, is launching Azurean Investment Managers, with its flagship Azurean India Equity Fund set to debut in mid-September.

While over the past decade, quite a few mutual fund managers and CIOs have ventured out on their own, Reddy’s instance is of the first CIO from the insurance industry to have stepped down to start a fund of his own. Srinivas Rao Ravuri, who was the CIO at PGIM India Mutual Fund, is the new CIO at Bajaj Allianz Life.

During his time as CIO, since 2011, Reddy generated 300-400 bps returns on the insurer’s key flagship portfolios, significantly outperforming the benchmark CAGR of 12%. As CIO, Reddy was instrumental in shaping Bajaj Allianz's equity strategy across multiple platforms, covering large-cap and small-cap investments. Before his long stint at Bajaj Allianz, where he managed an equity portfolio of ₹50,000 crores, Reddy’s extensive experience spanned across top firms such as ABN Amro Asia Equities (1997-1999), HSBC Securities & Capital Markets (2000-2004), Voyager (2004-2006), and Principal PNB Asset Management (2006-2007).

Sharing insights about his new endeavour with Fortune India, Reddy says the India Equity Fund is structured as a Category III Alternative Investment Fund (AIF). The fund will be sector-agnostic and market cap-agnostic, offering a flexible investment approach across the Indian equity market.

Reddy’s decision to leave a stable, high-profile role reflects a broader trend where seasoned professionals are increasingly seeking entrepreneurial paths, especially in the alternative investment space, which has gained significant momentum in India. The rise of Category III AIFs highlights the growing demand for innovative investment strategies beyond traditional mutual funds and portfolios. These funds offer more flexibility in investment style, allowing managers to focus on public market strategies that can outperform in volatile conditions.

"Azurean stands for blue, which symbolises reliability and responsibility — values we want to bring into investing," says Reddy’s, emphasising that the fund aims to seek value wherever it is found. “We want to be sector- and market cap-agnostic," explains Reddy.

Co-founding Azurean Investment Managers is Reshma Banda, a long-time colleague who had worked alongside Reddy for 16 years at Bajaj Allianz as the head of equities. "She stepped out five months ago to help set up the fund," reveals Reddy. The duo will manage operations, raise funds, and oversee investment decisions, though Reddy will take the lead role in portfolio management.

Azurean has already secured Sebi approval and is targeting an initial corpus of ₹100-200 crore, drawing investments from co-founders’ own savings, as well as contributions from friends, family, and former colleagues. "We’ve been working on the idea for the past six to seven months, and we’ll be opening the fund for investor subscription by mid-September," says Reddy.

On the market environment, Reddy remains cautious but optimistic. "If the market corrects, it could be a great opportunity to buy stocks—but you never know when the market will behave," says Reddy.