i Develop Stocks Advisory

JP Morgan invests $450mn of $1bn fund across sectors JP Morgan India, which plans to invest USD one billion across sectors in the country, has so far committed USD 450 million in real estate, infrastructure, manufacturing and financial sectors. "We have a fund of USD one billion to invest in Indian companies. We have committed nearly half the money in real estate, infrastructure, manufacturing and financial sectors," JP Morgan India CEO Kalpana Morparia told reporters. "These investments are opportunistic," she said, adding there was no time-frame for completing investments as the money belonged to the company itself. JP Morgan, which started operations in 2001 in India, has approached the Reserve Bank for licences to set up four more branches in the country. The branches would be in Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore and one more destination in the south, she said. Apart from its branch in Mumbai, the company presently also has back-offices in Mumbai and Bangalore with a headcount of 11,500. Notwithstanding the global financial crisis, JP Morgan will increase its headcount in India. "Headcount will grow," Morparia said. "JP Morgan is focused on increasing its footprint across corporate and investment banking, transaction banking and asset and wealth management segments in Asia," Morparia said. JP Morgan is a US-headquarted bank that has weathered the credit turmoil in its home country. Outside the US, JP Morgan does only corporate and investment banking business.