Name: Salma Begum & Karan Sharma
Country: India

Year: 2026
Volume: Volume No: 13, Issue No: 1, Year: 2026
Page Number: 181-191
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19495665

ABSTRACT
The mutual fund sector in India has experienced an impressive transformation in the last decade, and it has not only outgrown into an institutional product with a relatively smaller footprint, but also as a mass-market savings product, with Assets under Management of more than ₹82 trillion at February 2026. It is in this backdrop that the Jio-BlackRock joint venture warrants attention by serious scholars. This is not just another entry into an already overcrowded market as announced in July 2022 and officially registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India in May 2025, this partnership between Jio Financial Services of Reliance Industries and BlackRock, the largest asset manager in the globe, with around 10 trillion dollars under its management around the world. The analytical model is based on the Eclectic (OLI) Paradigm of Dunning, the Dynamic Capabilities theory presented in works of Teece, Pisano, and Shuen (1997), and the Five Forces framework presented by Porter. In addition to the strategic analysis, SWOT and PESTEL frameworks are related to the environment the JV operates. The study adds to the rather scanty academic literature on a crossover place of joint venture strategy, financial market evolution, and digital distribution in large, demographically diverse emerging economies.