Leo Puri, Imtaiyazur Rahman in race for post of full-time UTI AMC chief

A selection panel will meet tomorrow the candidates for the post of full-time chief of leading mutual fund house UTI Asset Management Company, a position lying vacant for nearly two years.

The panel is likely to interview at least seven people, including the fund house's acting CEO Imtaiyazur Rahman, as also Leo Puri, who was last year selected for the post but could not be appointed due to some opposition, sources said.

The interviews follow a fresh search process initiated by the board of UTI AMC in October last year to fill the position of its Chairman and Managing Director.

The decision was taken by the board after a previous search process failed, as two of the short-listed candidates could not muster the required support of either the board

members or the shareholders.

The fund house became headless in February 2011, when its then chief U K Sinha left to become capital market regulator Sebi's Chairman. It has been trying to appoint a full-time chief since then, but has not been able to do so for one or the other reasons.

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In its last attempt, the board proposed the name of Sunil Mehta, global insurance giant AIG India's country head, as the new chief of UTI AMC, but his nomination was shot down by some of the shareholders.

Prior to that, another short-listed name, Leo Puri, consultancy major McKinsey's senior adviser in India, was also red-flagged after complaints about his qualifications not meeting certain criteria mentioned in the job advertisement.

UTI AMC shareholders include four public sector financial entities – LIC, State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank and Bank of Baroda with 18.5 per cent stake each, while 26 per cent holding is with US-based fund house T Rowe Price.

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