After NJ India applied for the mutual fund licence with SEBI, the former fund manager of Axis Mutual Fund Pankaj Murarka has shown interest in floating a mutual fund business.
SEBI’s latest data shows that Pipal Securities, promoted by Murarka, applied for an MF licence on April 12, 2019.
Murarka told Cafemutual that he is optimistic about the growth of the mutual fund industry. “I have been part of asset management business for the past 23 years. I am very optimistic that the mutual fund industry will grow going forward.” He further said that his company would look at adding value for investors through their offerings if they get the licence.
With this, four new players (including Pipal Securities) have shown interest in MF business in the first four months of CY 2019. The other three players are SREI, Karvy Stock Broking and NJ India.
Apart from these three companies, Geojit Financial Services, Samco Securities and Equity Intelligence India applied in 2018 for SEBI’s nod to get into the MF business.
Last year, Trust Investment Advisors and Muthoot Finance got SEBI in-principle approval to start their asset management business.
SEBI rules say that the sponsor applying for a mutual fund licence must be in the financial services business for five years and needs to have a positive net worth for five years. The sponsor should have earned profits in three of the previous five years, including the latest year. SEBI conducts an on-site due diligence of sponsors before granting approval.
