The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) overhauled its Advisory Committee on Mutual Funds on December 20, adding The Hindu Business Line consultant editor Aarati Krishnan and Morningstar India managing director Aditya Agarwal to the 24-member panel.
SEBI also included Navi Asset Management Company MD and CEO Saurabh Jain in the committee. Navi is not a large mutual fund firm, but it is a buzzing mutual fund house with plans to create a slew of passive funds. Therefore, Saurabh Jain’s inclusion speaks volumes.
Sundaram Asset Management Company MD Sunil Sundaram, Tata Asset Management MD and CEO Prathit D Bhobe, SBI Mutual Fund MD and CEO Vinay Tonse and Mirae Asset Investment CEO Swarup Mohanty are amongst the other new entrants in the committee.
Usha Thorat, a former deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India will chair the committee.
Franklin Templeton CEO Sanjay Sapre, Kotak Mahindra AMC MD Nilesh Shah and Canara Robeco MF CEO Rajnish Narula are some of the renowned committee members who could not be a part of it any longer.
The committee will advise SEBI on matters concerning the regulation of mutual funds so that the rights of the investors are protected.
Besides, the advisory committee is entrusted with the task to share views with the market watchdog on matters related to the development of the mutual fund industry.
According to the terms of reference stated on the regulatory body’s website, the panel will also advise SEBI on disclosure requirements and steps that need to be “taken for a change in the legal framework to introduce simplification and transparency in the mutual fund”.