Japan based Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank announced on 29 October 2026 that it has acquired a minority stake in Mumbai based One Planet Partners, an asset management company in India. The bank will anchor a dedicated fund managed by the firm. The fund will deploy more than ₹3000 crore in energy transition, mobility and manufacturing.
What Is an Asset Management Company?
An asset management company is a firm that pools money from investors and invests it in shares, bonds, real estate and other assets to earn returns. The firm charges a fee for selecting investments, managing risk and handling daily operations on behalf of its clients.
In India, the term asset management company is most familiar in the context of mutual funds. A mutual fund asset management company collects savings from lakhs of small investors and builds a portfolio of stocks and bonds. The same structure is also used in private equity. A private equity asset management company like One Planet Partners collects larger sums from banks, insurers and wealthy investors and buys stakes in unlisted mid-sized companies.
Asset management in banking has a wider meaning. Banks with trust and investment arms manage pension funds, corporate treasuries and private wealth, apart from running mutual funds. Fee income from this business is stable and uses little capital, which is why large lenders are expanding it.
What Did Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank and One Planet Partners Announce?
Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank announced the deal on 29 October 2026. The bank said it has made a strategic equity investment in One Planet Partners Private Limited and entered a long term partnership with the firm. The exact size of the minority stake was not disclosed. A minority stake means the buyer takes a holding below 50 percent and does not get full control of the company.
The announcement has two parts. First, the bank becomes a shareholder in the asset management company itself. Second, the bank will anchor a dedicated private equity fund managed by One Planet Partners and set up a Separately Managed Account (SMA). An SMA is an investment account owned by a single investor but run by an outside manager as per agreed goals.
| Element of the deal | Detail |
|---|---|
| Buyer | Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Tokyo |
| Target firm | One Planet Partners Private Limited, Mumbai |
| Type of deal | Minority stake acquisition plus strategic partnership |
| Fund to be anchored | Maiden private equity fund of One Planet Partners |
| Fund size planned | More than ₹3000 crore, about $315 million |
| Investment period | Deployment over five years |
| First close target | By mid 2027 |
| Additional structure | Dedicated SMA to be managed by One Planet Partners |
The bank said the SMA will help it expand equity investment and raise its presence in energy and manufacturing linked sectors. The fund will also seek money from other Japanese and Asian investors along with Indian institutions.
Who Leads One Planet Partners and Where Will It Invest?
One Planet Partners is a Mumbai based asset management group set up in 2024. Its registered office is at One World Centre in Lower Parel. The firm was started by four founding partners with long experience in Indian industry and finance.
| Partner | Background |
|---|---|
| Mukund Rajan | Former Tata Group executive, chairperson of the firm, helped launch Tata Capital private equity business |
| Bobby Pauly | Former Tata Group executive, managing partner, helped lead Tata Capital private equity business |
| Mrinalini Mirchandani | Former Senior Partner at McKinsey India, led its private equity practice |
| Sheetal Thakkar | Worked with Blackstone and Tata Capital on investments |
The firm focuses on growth capital for Indian mid-market firms. It plans to back companies with annual revenue between ₹200 crore and ₹2000 crore. It will invest between ₹100 crore and ₹500 crore in each company, equal to about $25 million to $75 million.
The investment theme is companies that gain from energy transition, energy security and the Make in India programme. Make in India is the central government initiative launched in 2014 to raise domestic manufacturing and attract factories to India. Target areas include electric mobility, energy equipment, transmission parts and industrial firms that improve energy use and cut pollution.
The firm calls its space the missing middle. Venture capital funds back young startups. Large buyout funds write very large cheques. Many profitable mid-sized firms in between struggle to raise equity. One Planet Partners aims to fill this gap with active ownership and help on climate performance.
Its first investment is already made. In August 2026, the firm joined the $93 million Series C round of Bengaluru based Yulu Bikes, an electric two wheeler rental platform for delivery workers. The round included $63 million in equity led by GEF Capital Partners and $30 million in debt. Regulatory filings show One Planet Partners put in about ₹91 crore and now holds a 6.13 percent stake in Yulu. Yulu runs about 50000 vehicles, handles more than 750000 deliveries a day and plans to expand to 200000 vehicles.
What Is Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank?
Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank is Japan’s largest trust bank. A trust bank takes custody of assets, manages pensions and property, and also conducts normal lending. The bank has its head office at Marunouchi in Tokyo and is led by President Manatomo Yoneyama. Its origins go back to 1925 with the Sumitomo Trust Company. The present bank was formed in 2012 through the merger of Sumitomo Trust, Chuo Mitsui Trust and Chuo Mitsui Asset Trust.
The bank is the core of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group, which held about 170 trillion yen in assets under management at the group level in recent reports. The group describes itself as one of the largest asset management groups in Asia. It manages public pensions, corporate pensions and funds for financial institutions in Japan.
The name often causes confusion in India. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank belongs to the Trust Group. Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) belongs to a separate group called Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group. Both groups trace links to the old Sumitomo and Mitsui business houses of Japan, but they are different listed groups today.
Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank is now pushing private assets such as infrastructure, energy, real estate, shipping and aircraft. These are called real assets because they are physical assets that generate steady cash flow and help solve social needs. The group has set aside up to 500 billion yen for strategic investment in asset managers by fiscal year 2030. The stake in One Planet Partners fits this plan to build a network of affiliated managers across Asia.
Why Energy Transition, Mobility and Manufacturing Matter for India
Energy transition refers to the shift from coal and oil to cleaner sources such as solar, wind, green hydrogen and electric transport. For India, the shift matters for climate action and for energy security. India imports a large share of its oil and gas, so domestic clean power and efficient transport can cut import bills and pollution together.
Demand for capital is large. Power use is rising with economic growth, cities and air conditioning. Factories that supply solar parts, transmission equipment, batteries and electric vehicles need land, machines and working capital to scale. Mid-sized suppliers often have orders and profits but lack long term equity to expand.
Policy support adds momentum. Make in India encourages domestic production of goods that were earlier imported. Production linked incentives, clean energy tenders and support for electric mobility have improved returns in these sectors. Stricter emission rules in export markets such as the European Union also push Indian suppliers to upgrade plants and track carbon data. Growth funds that bring both money and operating help are in demand for this upgrade.
How the Deal Fits Into Japan’s Larger Investment Push in India
The One Planet Partners deal is part of a wider rise in Japanese finance in India. In March 2022, India and Japan set a target of 5 trillion yen in public and private investment and financing from Japan to India over five years. Leaders later said this goal was met in three years. In August 2025, the two countries adopted a joint vision for the next decade and set a new goal of 10 trillion yen in private investment from Japan to India.
Other deals show the same trend. The National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) joined with the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) to launch the India Japan Fund with a corpus of about $600 million. The fund has backed electric mobility firms such as Mahindra Last Mile Mobility and Ather Energy. Large banks such as Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and Mizuho Financial Group have also bought stakes in Indian financial firms over the past year.
Cooperation now covers clean energy and mobility in a direct way. The India Japan Clean Energy Partnership supports work on solar, green hydrogen and waste to energy. The Next Generation Mobility Partnership announced in 2025 covers high speed rail, metro systems, electric vehicles and logistics. A Japanese trust bank taking a stake in an Indian manager focused on energy and factory growth follows this policy direction and gives Japanese savers a route into Indian real assets.
Key Takeaways
- Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank acquired a minority stake in Mumbai based One Planet Partners on 29 October 2026 and agreed to anchor its maiden fund through a dedicated account.
- The maiden fund plans to deploy more than ₹3000 crore, about $315 million, over five years in energy transition, mobility and manufacturing, with first close by mid 2027.
- One Planet Partners, set up in 2024 by Mukund Rajan, Bobby Pauly, Mrinalini Mirchandani and Sheetal Thakkar, will back firms with revenue of ₹200 crore to ₹2000 crore.
- The first investment of the firm was in Yulu Bikes, as part of its $93 million Series C round with $63 million in equity and $30 million in debt.
- The deal supports the India Japan goal of 10 trillion yen in private Japanese investment over the next decade, after the earlier 5 trillion yen target was met early.
