With Bharti AXA Investment Managers failing to make much of an impression in the market, Bharti Enterprises is working its way out of the mutual fund joint venture with the French biggie AXA, almost after a year of the registering of the asset management company. The fund, which started its operations in July 2008, had assets under management of Rs 186 crore as of February 2009.

The Bharti decision to exit Bharti AXA Investment Managers - in which Bharti Ventures has a 25 percent stake, while AXA Investment Managers Asia Holdings holds the remaining 75 percent - will not affect its affiliation with AXA in the sphere of life insurance and general insurance.

While a Bharti spokesperson said the company intends either reducing its stake or exiting the venture "at an appropriate time," the fund house plans to bring in a bank to fortify its distribution arrangement. With the fund's close links with banks, the provision of a wide range of financial products is quite likely.

Talking about the Bharti decision, a company executive said: "It is nothing special. It's an AXA-led venture. We have only 25 per cent, with an investment of a few crore rupees. It's better to have a financial partner in the venture, as Bharti is not managing the money. We may dilute or exit, depending on the new partner."