Celebrating 25 glorious years of mutual funds in India

You don't have to be a financial pundit to know that mutual funds have revolutionised the way we invest. Their low cost of entry and diversified nature have allowed the layman to reap the rewards of the market, while mitigating its risks. And while they have made waves across the world, mutual funds' impact in India has been especially profound.

Their surging popularity has quickly made the portrait of the conservative Indian investor, who only dabbles in gold and real estate, obsolete, and democratised the process of wealth generation. What's even more impressive, though, is the fact that all this change has been wrought in just 25 short years, before which public players made up the country’s entire mutual fund market.

To celebrate the remarkable growth of mutual funds, and the prosperity that they have ushered in, CNBC-TV18 and CRISIL recently hosted the Mutual Fund Awards. There, they rewarded 21 of the most noteworthy funds in the country, handpicked by Sandeep Parekh, Managing Partner, Finsec Law Advisors; Shailesh Haribhakti – Managing Partner at Haribhakti & Co.; KN Vaidyanathan, Chief Risk Officer, Mahindra & Mahindra; and Rajendra Chitale, Managing Partner at Chitale & Associates, and M. P. Chitale & Co.

Kicking off with a rousing address from CNBC-TV18 Executive Editor Latha Venkatesh, the event played host to esteemed executives from the nation's top fund houses, wealth management firms and fund distributors, along with former SEBI Chairman, U. K. Sinha. This congregation of great minds gave birth to a wealth of ideas that will help sustain and possibly increase the growth of the assets under management in India.

The highlight of the evening, however, was the award distribution, which recognised the doyens whose hard work, business acumen and passion has helped take individuals, businesses and the national economy to new heights. The eminent jury went beyond just net asset values, as they pored over the performance of each fund, and handpicked some of the best performers on the market.

The big winner of the night was L&T Mutual Fund, which bagged six awards, including Best Small Cap Equity Fund, Best Mid-Cap Equity Fund and the coveted Equity Fund House of the Year. Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund was close behind with 5 awards, including two of the night's biggest honours - Debt Fund House of the Year and Mutual Fund House of the Year. IDFC Mutual Fund, Tata Mutual Fund, Canara Robeco Mutual Fund, Principle Mutual Fund, Reliance Mutual Fund and India's very first fund house, UTI Mutual Fund, were among the night's other winners.

As always, the Mutual Fund Awards were a veritable fount of knowledge and information for potential and existing investors everywhere. Bringing together some of the most trustworthy experts in the field, they also led to open discussion and an exchange of ideas that is bound to lead to even greater achievements in the next 25 years.

In the meantime, here are all the winners of the 2018 edition: