Investors favour fund houses with strong processes and consistent philosophy, says Sundaram AMC MD

From Left: Anand Radhakrishnan, MD and CEO of Sundaram AMC, Saurabh Nanavati, MD and CEO of Invesco Mutual Fund, Jatinder Pal Singh, CEO of ITI Mutual Fund and Vaibhavv Chugh, CEO of Abakkus Mutual Fund

• Mutual funds now offer wider asset classes beyond fixed income
• Industry shifts to solution-oriented, merit-driven portfolios
• Experts emphasize trust, simplicity, and wider investor involvement

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In the 1990s and early 2000s, the financial playbook for most Indian households, particularly salaried and middle-class families was straightforward, that is, park savings in fixed-income instruments and stay the course. That model is now being steadily rewritten. From equity and debt to gold, silver and even real estate exposure, a growing range of asset classes is finding its way into the mutual fund wrapper, driven by lower costs, sharper transparency and far wider access for investors.

Against this backdrop, industry leaders gathered at the Moneycontrol Mutual Fund Summit in Ahmedabad on February 17 to map the next phase of the ‘Har Ghar Mutual Fund’ journey. The conversation has begun to move beyond selling products to building solution-oriented portfolios aligned with real financial goals.

Anand Radhakrishnan, MD and CEO of Sundaram AMC, Saurabh Nanavati, MD and CEO of Invesco Mutual Fund, Jatinder Pal Singh, CEO of ITI Mutual Fund and Vaibhavv Chugh, CEO of Abakkus Mutual Fund, spoke about the industry’s shift towards understanding investor behaviour, risk appetite and long-term financial security.

The panel highlighted that the next wave of growth will depend on trust, simplicity, and outcome-oriented offerings that make mutual funds relevant for every household, beyond urban centres and across different income segments.

Vaibhav Chugh, CEO of Abakkus Mutual Fund, said, "While investors earlier preferred large brands, distributors now focus on how money is managed. The playing field has levelled, making the industry more meritocratic.

Experts believed that the investment process and risk-control policies will define meritocracy. Anand Radhakrishnan, MD and CEO of Sundaram AMC, said, "The industry is meritocratic in the sense that fund houses that have grown in size have done so by delivering consistent returns over long periods. To that extent, you can clearly say it is merit-driven. The question is how investors, advisers and distributors identify a meritocratic fund. Broadly, they look at two things — whether the fund house is driven by a star fund manager or by a robust investment process. Both approaches are valid.”

Radhakrishnan further said, “If I trust a particular fund manager and consider him or her an expert, I may want to allocate a part of my money to that individual. But the more enduring approach is the process-led one. Investors tend to prefer fund houses that follow a consistent philosophy, stay on the right side of their investing style, maintain regulatory hygiene and are backed by well-documented investment frameworks, risk controls and internal policies. Over the long term, this is what will define meritocracy.”

Even as the conversation moved to future growth and headline AUM projections, the emphasis was not merely on how large the industry can become but on how broad its investor base can be. With the mutual fund industry having crossed Rs 81 lakh crore in assets, the narrative is gradually shifting from scale to depth of participation and quality of outcomes.

Jatinder Pal Singh, CEO of ITI Mutual Fund, said, "On the broader question of growth, I think there is too much focus on the AUM number — Rs 80–90 lakh crore. That is an outcome, not the starting point. If you ask me where I would like to see the industry in the next five to ten years, the number of investors should rise from about five crore today to 15–20 crore. If that happens, AUM will be beyond our current imagination."

Highlighting the rise in gold allocations and the shift in investor behaviour, Saurabh Nanavati, MD and CEO of Invesco Mutual Fund, pointed to a global template that is now beginning to influence India.

“In the US, for nearly four decades, advisers typically recommended a 60:40 equity–debt allocation. For the first time in the past year, because of concerns around US debt, advisers are asking investors to allocate a portion, 5 percent, 10 percent or even more to gold. That shift is now playing out in India as well,” he said.

What should the industry do reach the next level?

"We have only about five to six crore investors today. To reach 20 crore, we must cater to different aspirations. Someone wants an FD alternative, we must offer it. Someone wants gold, we have it," said Nanavati.

"Someone wants to invest abroad for a child’s education — we should provide that pathway. Retail investors also want access to pre-IPO opportunities; today that sits in AIFs, but can we create mutual fund structures over time? The goal is simple, from cradle to grave, a mutual fund should be able to offer a solution for every financial need an investor has," added Nanavati.