UK's Absolute agrees India hedge fund joint venture

LONDON, Apr 11 (Reuters) UK-listed Absolute Capital Management Holdings Limited said on Tuesday it has agreed a joint venture to launch an equity hedge fund in July to take advantage of strong growth opportunities in India.

The Absolute India Fund Limited will use the stock picking skills of ASK Raymond James Securities India Private Limited, which currently manages more than 0 million, to trade Indian equities.

Absolute Capital has 800 million euros under management.

''In our opinion, India is poised to embark on a long period of sustained economic growth,'' Florian Homm, chief investment officer at Absolute Capital Management, said in a statement.

''Fundamental economic reforms and major investment are producing fantastic investment opportunities.'' Absolute said India is the world's fourth largest economy, it has 15 percent of the world's population and 30 percent of the world's youth -- under 25s.

India also has an expanding middle class, an improving infrastructure and gross domestic product growth of 7 percent for 4 consecutive years, it added.

''Having managed money in India for a number of years, I am convinced that India will add more wealth in the next ten years than it has added in the last fifty,'' said Bharat Shah, chief executive at ASK Raymond Securities.

''It is now perfectly placed to provide robust market growth for the next few years.'' REUTERS CS