As we bid farewell to 2015, it is time to pause and look back at people who shaped the mutual fund industry last year as their actions and decisions are keenly watched by distributors and investors alike.
Here are some personalities who made headlines in 2015.
Anoop Bhaskar
After winning many accolades for his equity funds, the star fund manager of UTI MF Anoop Bhaskar quit the fund house recently. The buzz is that he is set to join a fund house sponsored by a leading NBFC.
C.V.R Rajendran
The former Chairman and Managing Director of Andhra Bank took over as the Chief Executive Officer of AMFI after H.N. Sinor retired in September. As the head of AMFI, he has to deal with many challenges and responsibilities and ensure the industry balances the interests of all stakeholders – SEBI, AMCs, investors and distributors.
H. N. Sinor
The former Chief Executive Officer of Indian Banks Association succeeded A.P. Kurian who retired in 2010. While Sinor’s original term had ended in December 2014 he was given an extension of one year. The mutual fund industry has had to deal with sweeping regulatory changes and a challenging business environment during Sinor’s tenure. Among other initiatives, AMFI had initiated investor awareness campaign, IMFI (SRO body for distributors) and MF Utility during his tenure. Most recently, he made the industry come to a consensus on capping the upfront commissions at 1%.
Kenneth Andrade
Kenneth made headlines after he announced that he is leaving IDFC MF after serving the fund house for a decade. Kenneth had built a formidable reputation for his funds and is known for his knack for picking up quality mid-cap stocks. Till the time of writing, we could not ascertain Kenneth’s current plans.
Nandan Nilekani
The co-founder of Infosys and most recently the Chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), Nandan Nilekani became the talk of the town when U.K. Sinha announced that he is heading a committee which is tasked with recommending measures to reduce costs in mutual funds. He is also working towards facilitating mutual fund sales on e-commerce platforms. He has recently recommended to SEBI to allow Aadhaar as valid KYC to invest (on the spot) in mutual funds through the online route.
Nilesh Shah
It was homecoming for the former Deputy MD & CIO of ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund after he left the MF industry to join Axis Capital. After heading Axis Capital’s investment banking arm for over four years, Nilesh made a comeback in MF industry by joining Kotak MF as its Managing Director.
Parag Parikh
The news of Parag Parikh’s demise in a car accident came as a shock to the industry. The late Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of PPFAS Mutual Fund was known for his bold and forthright views on the asset management industry. He often stressed the need for having skin in the game. Parag Parikh started his career as a stock broker in 1979 and later launched his wealth management business, which he later converted into PPFAS AMC. He was a follower of value investing philosophy and known for his stock picking abilities and long term outlook.
Sumit Bose
The former Union Finance Secretary shot to fame in the MF industry after a panel headed by him released its report on rationalizing commissions across financial products in August 2015. The committee recommended a host of sweeping changes for mutual funds. Some of the most talked about recommendations were reducing trail commission, abolishing upfronting of commission and lowering TER.
U.K. Sinha
In various public forums, SEBI Chairman U.K. Sinha has urged the industry to reduce costs, adopt technology, grow B-15 market and promote direct plans. Most recently, Sinha said that he will intervene if the industry does not come to a consensus on following a uniform commission structure. Recently, he has been advocating allowing mutual fund sale through e-commerce platforms.
