Do your mutual funds (MFs) come cheap or are they expensive? We are not talking about the net asset value (NAV) at which you get to buy them. That moves up and down depending on markets. We’re talking about charges that every MF scheme charges you. That’s the question that the capital market regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is asking these days. On 23 August, at the annual summit organised by Association of Mutual Funds of India (Amfi), Sebi chairman Ajay Tyagi said that the regulator is examining the expense ratios that MFs get to charge. “The current slab structure and limits were fixed many years ago (in 1996 when Sebi MF guidelines were framed). We are now in 2018 and industry has also grown (₹23 trillion, as per June 2018-end figures); there is merit in re-looking at the expenses,” said Tyagi to reporters at the summit’s sidelines.
