Mutual funds in India: complete guide

A mutual fund in India is a SEBI-registered trust that issues units to investors against money received and invests the pooled corpus in securities according to a published scheme objective, with a trustee company holding the assets and an Asset Management Company (AMC) managing them. The industry has grown from a single state-controlled trust in 1963 to 1,985 schemes holding Rs 87,07,888 crore in net assets under management (AUM) on 31 August 2026, spread across 28.35 crore folios, of which 21.62 crore sit in equity, hybrid and solution-oriented schemes (AMFI Monthly Report, August 2026). SEBI’s register of mutual funds carried 60 entries on 20 September 2026, a figure that counts dormant registrations alongside the fund houses running schemes. The industry is regulated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India under the SEBI (Mutual Funds) Regulations 2026 , in force since 1 April 2026 in place of the 1996 regulations , with industry codes published by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) .

The defining features of the Indian mutual fund regime are the SEBI-fixed category menu, set by the October 2017 categorisation framework at 36 categories and revised by SEBI circular of 26 February 2026, the direct-plan regime introduced in January 2013 that gives investors a lower expense ratio when they bypass distributors, the SEBI-mandated six-level Risk-O-Meter (Master Circular para 6.16), and the SEBI capped total expense ratios (TER) that constrain AMC charges.

This article serves as a cornerstone editorial hub on the Indian mutual fund industry. It is structured around the questions a serious investor needs answered: who regulates the system, who runs the funds, how the AMC roster has evolved through mergers and new licences, what fund categories exist, how distribution works, what charges apply and how mutual fund returns are taxed. Per-AMC details, per-scheme analyses and operational how-to guides live on the linked spoke articles.

Regulatory framework

The Indian mutual fund regulatory framework rests on four pillars: SEBI as statutory regulator, the trustee structure of each mutual fund, AMFI as the industry self-regulator, and the depositories and registrars that operate the back-office infrastructure.

SEBI as the statutory regulator

SEBI , established under the SEBI Act 1992, is the apex regulator for all Indian securities markets including mutual funds. The SEBI (Mutual Funds) Regulations 1996 codify the registration, governance, investment-restriction, valuation, disclosure and termination rules for every Indian mutual fund. Major regulatory milestones include the October 2017 scheme-categorisation circular that defined 36 standardised categories, the September 2020 multi-cap reclassification , the April 2023 amendment that removed indexation benefit on debt mutual funds covered under debt mutual fund taxation 2023 , and the July 2024 capital-gains rate increases under Sections 111A and 112A .

SEBI’s mutual fund function is housed in the SEBI Investment Management Department which handles AMC registrations, scheme approvals, and enforcement actions. The SEBI SCORES portal is the public complaints-handling channel for mutual fund grievances. SEBI also operates the B30/T30 incentive framework that subsidises distribution into smaller cities, and the SEBI advertisement code for mutual funds governing marketing content.

The trustee structure

Every Indian mutual fund is structured as a trust under the Indian Trusts Act 1882. The mutual fund is sponsored by a sponsor entity (typically a bank, financial-services group, foreign asset manager or founder-led firm), which constitutes a trustee company that holds the assets on behalf of unitholders, and appoints an AMC that does the investment management for a fee. The trustee company is independent of the AMC and has fiduciary obligations to unitholders, including approving new schemes, reviewing AMC performance and ratifying investments that exceed prescribed limits.

This three-tier structure (sponsor, trustee, AMC) is designed to prevent the conflict of interest that would arise if the sponsor or AMC directly held investor money. The trustee role on Indian mutual funds is examined in detail under the PPFAS example. The custodian, registrar and auditor relationships are covered under PPFAS custodian, RTA and auditor relationships and the broader mutual fund custodian function. SEBI’s sponsor eligibility regulations prescribe net-worth, track-record and integrity requirements for new sponsors.

AMFI as industry self-regulator

AMFI is the not-for-profit industry body to which all SEBI-registered AMCs are members. AMFI publishes industry data (the monthly AUM disclosures , the AAUM data , industry composition ), administers the AMFI Registration Number (ARN) system that licenses mutual fund distributors, sets best-practice standards through the AMFI Best Practice Guidelines and the AMFI Code of Ethics , and runs investor-education and grievance-handling support through the AMFI Investor Grievance Matrix .

AMFI is not a statutory body. Its rules are binding on members through industry-association obligations rather than law, but SEBI typically endorses or mandates AMFI standards through subsequent circulars, making them effectively binding across the industry.

Depositories, registrars and transaction platforms

Mutual fund operations rely on two depositories (CDSL and NSDL ) for dematerialised unit-holding, and on Registrar and Transfer Agents (RTAs) for folio-level recordkeeping. The two principal RTAs are CAMS (Computer Age Management Services), serving roughly two-thirds of industry AUM, and KFin Technologies (formerly Karvy Computershare) serving the remainder. The Karvy Stock Broking pledge-misuse case of 2019 prompted the broader RTA-governance reforms documented in the SEBI margin pledge rules of September 2020 .

The exchange-operated mutual fund platforms (BSE StAR MF and NSE NMF II ) and the AMFI-promoted Mutual Fund Utility (MFU) act as transaction-processing infrastructure, routing orders from distributors and direct investors to AMCs and RTAs. The 2022-launched MF Central is the AMFI-promoted consolidated investor-services platform, and the MITRA initiative covers forgotten-folio retrieval across CAMS and KFin.

Industry structure and the AMC landscape

SEBI’s register of mutual funds listed 60 entities on 20 September 2026, spanning entities that run schemes, entities licensed recently that have not yet launched a full range, and registrations that survive on the register after the business behind them stopped. Assets are concentrated at the top of that list. For the quarter ended March 2026, AMFI put SBI Mutual Fund at Rs 12.50 lakh crore of quarterly average AUM, ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund at Rs 11.04 lakh crore, HDFC Mutual Fund at Rs 9.27 lakh crore, Nippon India Mutual Fund at Rs 7.24 lakh crore and Kotak Mutual Fund at Rs 5.81 lakh crore. Those five sum to Rs 45.86 lakh crore against industry quarterly average AUM of Rs 79.42 lakh crore for the same quarter, which is 57.7 per cent of the industry in five names. Every other fund house divides the rest, and the sponsor mix behind them (bank-sponsored, insurance-affiliated, foreign joint venture, founder-led, broker-aligned) is what produces the spread of scheme philosophies and pricing tiers below.

Where the money sits, August 2026

The category split matters more than the AMC ranking for an investor deciding where to put money, because it shows what the industry actually holds rather than who manages it. Figures below are net AUM as on 31 August 2026 from the AMFI Monthly Report for August 2026, with the share of total industry AUM derived by webnotes.in from the same table.

Two readings follow from that table. Passive money, meaning index funds and exchange-traded funds together, held Rs 15,41,732 crore, or 17.7 per cent of industry assets across 735 schemes, which is more than the whole hybrid group. And gold exchange-traded funds alone held Rs 1,91,166 crore across 1.25 crore folios, against Rs 85,488 crore in silver exchange-traded funds, so the commodity ETF book is now larger than the entire solution-oriented category.

Systematic investment plans

Recurring retail money arrives through systematic investment plans rather than lump sums. AMFI recorded Rs 32,297 crore of SIP contributions in August 2026, taking the cumulative figure for April to August 2026 to Rs 1,58,108 crore. Outstanding SIP accounts stood at 1,075.32 lakh, of which 1,001.79 lakh were contributing, with 66.4 lakh new registrations in the month against 53.82 lakh discontinued or completed. SIP assets were Rs 18,61,652 crore on 31 August 2026, which is 21.4 per cent of total industry AUM by the same derivation as the table above.

Top tier: ten largest AMCs by AUM

The largest AMCs by AUM, ranked on AMFI quarterly average AUM for the quarter ended March 2026 for the top five and on order of magnitude below that, are:

1. SBI Mutual Fund (the industry leader since 2020).
2. HDFC Mutual Fund .
3. ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund .
4. Nippon India Mutual Fund (formerly Reliance Mutual Fund).
5. Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund .
6. Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund .
7. Axis Mutual Fund .
8. UTI Mutual Fund (the historical industry pioneer).
9. Mirae Asset Mutual Fund .
10. DSP Mutual Fund (post-2018 BlackRock exit).

The top five of these alone held 57.7 per cent of industry quarterly average AUM in the March 2026 quarter, on the derivation given above. Their scale advantages include distribution reach (especially the bank-sponsored quartet of SBI, HDFC, ICICI and Axis), brand recognition, sponsor-balance-sheet support, and the ability to maintain larger investment and operational teams.

Mid-tier: eleventh to twenty-fifth ranked AMCs

The mid-tier of Indian AMCs includes long-established houses with substantial but not market-leading AUM:

• Tata Mutual Fund .
• Franklin Templeton India Mutual Fund (post the 2020 debt-fund crisis).
• HSBC Mutual Fund (post the 2022 L&T MF acquisition).
• Bandhan Mutual Fund (post the 2023 IDFC MF acquisition).
• Edelweiss Mutual Fund .
• Motilal Oswal Mutual Fund .
• PPFAS Mutual Fund (the value-investing specialist).
• Canara Robeco Mutual Fund (Canara Bank + Robeco JV).
• Baroda BNP Paribas Mutual Fund (post the 2021 merger).
• Sundaram Mutual Fund (post the 2021 Principal MF acquisition).
• Invesco Mutual Fund India .
• Mahindra Manulife Mutual Fund (post the 2020 Manulife JV).
• LIC Mutual Fund .
• Quant Mutual Fund (the actively-traded equity manager).
• Bajaj Finserv Mutual Fund (operationalised 2023).

Long-tail and specialist AMCs

The long tail includes smaller-AUM AMCs that operate in niche, specialist or recently-licenced positions:

• PGIM India Mutual Fund (the rebranded Prudential Financial India operation).
• Quantum Mutual Fund (research-driven, smaller specialist).
• WhiteOak Capital Mutual Fund .
• 360 ONE Mutual Fund (formerly IIFL Mutual Fund).
• Groww Mutual Fund (post the 2023 Indiabulls MF acquisition).
• Union Mutual Fund .
• Bank of India Mutual Fund (post the 2022 AXA exit).
• JM Financial Mutual Fund .
• Trust Mutual Fund (debt-focused specialist).
• NJ Mutual Fund (distributor-sponsored factor investing).
• ITI Mutual Fund .
• Samco Mutual Fund (broker-aligned).
• Old Bridge Mutual Fund (Kenneth Andrade).
• Unifi Mutual Fund (Sarath Reddy / Unifi Capital).
• Capitalmind Mutual Fund (Deepak Shenoy).
• Helios Mutual Fund (Samir Arora).
• Abakkus Mutual Fund (Sunil Singhania).
• Angel One Mutual Fund (broker-aligned, passive focus).
• Zerodha Fund House (pure passive).
• Jio BlackRock Mutual Fund (Reliance + BlackRock JV).
• Shriram Mutual Fund .
• Taurus Mutual Fund .
• Navi Mutual Fund .
• Choice Mutual Fund (registered 1 August 2025, index-fund launches).
• ASK Mutual Fund (registered 16 February 2026).
• AlphaGrep Mutual Fund (registered 11 March 2026, quantitative house).
• Carnelian Mutual Fund (registered 20 July 2026).
• The Wealth Company Mutual Fund .

Sponsor categories

Indian AMC sponsors fall into seven recognisable categories:

• Public-sector bank-sponsored: SBI Mutual Fund, Canara Robeco, Union, Bank of India, Baroda BNP Paribas, LIC Mutual Fund.
• Private-sector bank-sponsored: HDFC, ICICI Prudential, Axis, Kotak, IDFC First (legacy in Bandhan).
• Insurance-affiliated: HDFC Life and SBI Life cross-link with their group AMCs; the LIC Mutual Fund is the direct LIC-sponsored vehicle.
• Foreign joint venture: Mirae Asset (Korean Mirae), HSBC, Franklin Templeton, Mahindra Manulife (Canadian Manulife), Baroda BNP Paribas, PGIM India, Invesco, Canara Robeco (Dutch Robeco), Jio BlackRock (US BlackRock).
• Founder-led independent: PPFAS, Quantum, Quant, Old Bridge, Unifi, Capitalmind, Helios, Abakkus.
• Broker- or fintech-aligned: Zerodha Fund House, Angel One, Samco, Groww, Bajaj Finserv, Navi.
• Distributor-sponsored: NJ Mutual Fund (sponsored by India’s largest mutual fund distributor NJ India Invest).

The bank-sponsored category dominates AUM because of the distribution muscle that affiliated bank branches provide. The founder-led and broker-aligned categories have grown rapidly in the 2020s, reflecting the broader Indian retail shift toward digital direct-plan distribution.

Mergers, acquisitions and new licences

The Indian mutual fund industry has undergone substantial structural change since 2018, with multiple major M&A events alongside a wave of new licences issued from 2020 onward. The combination has reshaped the AMC roster materially. SEBI registered Bajaj Finserv Mutual Fund in March 2023, Helios Mutual Fund in August 2023, Angel One Mutual Fund in November 2024, Capitalmind Mutual Fund in April 2025, Choice Mutual Fund in August 2025, Abakkus Mutual Fund in August 2025, ASK Mutual Fund in February 2026, AlphaGrep Mutual Fund in March 2026 and Carnelian Mutual Fund in July 2026, and a comparable number of established names changed owner or brand over the same period. The churn runs back two decades, though: at least a dozen foreign managers entered the Indian market between 2002 and 2016 and then sold out to domestic houses, and the resulting entity map is why an AMC’s current brand often tells you little about its lineage. This section covers the full arc: the 2002 to 2017 foreign-exit wave, the post-2018 deals, the new-licence wave, and the broader pattern.

Timeline of ownership changes

The timeline below plots every major acquisition, merger, JV exit and wind-up in the industry from 2002 to 2023, colour-coded by transaction type. The 2016 cluster is the single busiest year in Indian mutual fund M&A history, with five foreign managers exiting inside one 12-month window.

The 2002 to 2017 foreign-exit wave

Before the post-2018 deals, the industry ran through fifteen years of foreign managers entering and then selling to domestic houses. The pattern set in early. Franklin Templeton acquired Pioneer ITI Asset Management , the Kothari Pioneer lineage, effective 30 August 2002, creating what was then the largest private-sector Indian mutual fund with a combined asset base near Rs 8,035 crore; the merged operation runs today as Franklin Templeton India Mutual Fund . HDFC Mutual Fund followed in 2003, buying Zurich India Mutual Fund to become the country’s second-largest fund house at roughly Rs 10,237 crore in assets. Principal Mutual Fund, the US Principal Financial Group’s Indian arm, acquired the Rs 500 crore Sun F&C in 2004 for around Rs 15 crore. Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund , then Birla Sun Life, bought the Indian schemes of Alliance Capital Mutual Fund in September 2005.

The 2008 credit crisis forced two more transfers. IDFC acquired Standard Chartered Mutual Fund in 2008, the deal that seeded the AMC later sold to Bandhan Mutual Fund . Religare took over Lotus India Mutual Fund the same year in a distressed sale as the fund faced acute redemption pressure. Goldman Sachs bought Benchmark Asset Management in 2011, India’s ETF pioneer and the originator of the first domestic index and gold ETFs. L&T Mutual Fund acquired Fidelity’s Indian mutual fund business in 2012, one leg of the chain that ended at HSBC Mutual Fund in 2022.

The exits then clustered. HDFC Mutual Fund absorbed Morgan Stanley’s Indian schemes in a deal signed on 23 December 2013 and valued above Rs 3,090 crore; Morgan Stanley had been the first foreign firm to offer mutual funds in India, running from 1993. Birla Sun Life completed its takeover of ING Investment Management India , with the schemes transferring on 11 October 2014. Then 2016 became the single busiest year in Indian mutual fund M&A. Reliance Mutual Fund, now Nippon India Mutual Fund , took over Goldman Sachs Mutual Fund India , including the government’s CPSE ETF mandate. Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund acquired PineBridge’s local schemes (Rs 660 crore in assets), the third foreign exit inside a year. Edelweiss Mutual Fund executed an agreement on 22 March 2016 to buy JPMorgan Asset Management India , lifting the combined book to about Rs 8,757 crore. DHFL Pramerica took over Deutsche Mutual Fund (DWS) , adding roughly Rs 24,786 crore in assets, the operation now branded PGIM India Mutual Fund . Invesco Mutual Fund bought out its partner’s stake in the Religare Invesco joint venture. Union Bank of India acquired KBC Asset Management’s 49 per cent holding in Union KBC, renaming the house Union Mutual Fund after regulatory approvals in 2016.

Major mergers and acquisitions since 2018

Nippon Life acquisition of Reliance Mutual Fund (2019)

In 2019, Japan’s Nippon Life Insurance acquired the entire shareholding of Reliance Mutual Fund from the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG), in what remains the largest single ownership transition in the industry’s history. The AMC was rebranded as Nippon India Mutual Fund. The transaction followed material credit stress at the ADAG holding entity Reliance Capital and was approved by SEBI under conflict-of-interest provisions. The post-acquisition Nippon India Mutual Fund has remained in the industry top-5 by AUM. Coverage: Nippon Reliance MF acquisition 2019 .

Bandhan acquisition of IDFC Mutual Fund (2023)

In 2022-2023, IDFC Limited sold IDFC Mutual Fund to a Bandhan Financial Holdings-led consortium (including private-equity co-investors) for approximately Rs 4,500 crore. The transaction transferred a top-10 AMC by AUM (approximately Rs 1.15 lakh crore at the time of the sale) under the Bandhan Mutual Fund brand. The pre-acquisition history of IDFC Mutual Fund (which itself originated as Standard Chartered Mutual Fund from 2000-2008) is covered under IDFC Mutual Fund historical . The IDFC era featured the notable Kenneth Andrade investment leadership phase (2005-2015) before Andrade subsequently founded Old Bridge Mutual Fund .

HSBC acquisition of L&T Mutual Fund (2022)

In December 2021, L&T Finance Holdings announced the sale of its mutual fund AMC subsidiary to HSBC Asset Management India for approximately USD 425 million. The transaction was completed in 2022. The pre-acquisition L&T MF had been built from the 2010 L&T Finance acquisition of the DBS Cholamandalam Mutual Fund AMC, itself a Murugappa Group + DBS Bank JV. Coverage: L&T Mutual Fund historical , with the post-merger operation under HSBC Mutual Fund .

Groww acquisition of Indiabulls Mutual Fund (2023)

In 2023, the Indiabulls Group sold Indiabulls Mutual Fund to Groww Asset Management, the asset management arm of Groww , India’s largest retail mutual fund distribution platform by user count. The acquisition allowed Groww to enter the AMC business through an existing SEBI-licenced entity rather than the multi-year approval process for a new AMC. Coverage: Indiabulls Mutual Fund historical , with the post-acquisition operation under Groww Mutual Fund .

Baroda + BNP Paribas Mutual Fund merger (2021)

In 2020-2021, Bank of Baroda and BNP Paribas Asset Management merged their separate Indian mutual fund operations into the combined Baroda BNP Paribas Mutual Fund. The transaction combined Baroda Mutual Fund (Rs 12,000 crore AUM, est. 1994) and BNP Paribas Mutual Fund India (Rs 6,000 crore AUM, est. 2004) into a single entity with approximately Rs 18,000-20,000 crore AUM. Coverage: Baroda Mutual Fund historical , BNP Paribas Mutual Fund historical , with the post-merger operation under Baroda BNP Paribas Mutual Fund .

Sundaram acquisition of Principal Mutual Fund (2021)

In 2020-2021, Principal Financial Group sold its Indian mutual fund AMC subsidiary to Sundaram Asset Management, a subsidiary of the Sundaram Finance group. Principal Mutual Fund had been operationalised in 1994 as one of the early foreign-asset-manager Indian market entries. Coverage: Principal Mutual Fund historical , with the post-acquisition operation under Sundaram Mutual Fund .

PGIM India transition (2019)

In 2019, Prudential Financial Inc. bought out DHFL’s stake in the DHFL Pramerica Mutual Fund joint venture (operational from 2015-2019), amid the broader DHFL insolvency proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. The AMC was rebranded as PGIM India Mutual Fund, aligning with Prudential Financial’s global asset management brand. Coverage: Pramerica Mutual Fund historical , with the current operation under PGIM India Mutual Fund .

DSP BlackRock joint-venture dissolution (2018)

In 2018, BlackRock Inc. exited the DSP BlackRock Mutual Fund joint venture, with the DSP Group repurchasing BlackRock’s stake. The AMC was rebranded as DSP Mutual Fund under DSP Group sole ownership. The pre-2018 history of the AMC included the original DSP Merrill Lynch JV (1996-2008) before BlackRock’s global acquisition of Merrill Lynch Investment Managers brought the Indian operation under the DSP BlackRock banner. Coverage: DSP BlackRock historical . BlackRock subsequently returned to the Indian market in 2024-2025 through the Jio BlackRock Mutual Fund joint venture with Jio Financial Services.

Bank of India AXA exit (2022)

In 2022, AXA Investment Managers exited the Bank of India AXA Mutual Fund joint venture (operational 2008-2022). Bank of India repurchased AXA’s 49 per cent stake, restoring full ownership, and rebranded the AMC as Bank of India Mutual Fund .

IIFL to 360 ONE rebrand (2024)

In 2024, IIFL Wealth and Asset Management rebranded itself to 360 ONE WAM, with the mutual fund subsidiary consequently renamed from IIFL Mutual Fund to 360 ONE Mutual Fund . The pre-rebrand history is covered under IIFL Mutual Fund historical .

Quant acquisition of Escorts Mutual Fund (2018)

Quant Money Managers acquired the sub-scale Escorts Mutual Fund in 2018 and rebranded it Quant Mutual Fund. Escorts, the mutual fund arm of the Escorts Group, had struggled to build assets for years. Quant kept the December 1995 SEBI registration and rebuilt the franchise into one of the fastest-growing active houses of the early 2020s. Coverage: Escorts Mutual Fund historical , now Quant Mutual Fund . This is a common point of confusion: Escorts was not wound up, it became Quant.

Navi acquisition of Essel Mutual Fund (2021)

Navi, the fintech founded by former Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal through BAC Acquisitions, entered asset management by buying Essel Mutual Fund rather than applying for a fresh licence. SEBI approved the acquisition in December 2020 and the house was rebranded Navi Mutual Fund in May 2021. Essel itself was the former Peerless Mutual Fund: Peerless General Finance and Investment Company sold the AMC to Essel Finance in November 2016. The Peerless to Essel to Navi chain is one of the longer ownership sequences in the industry. Coverage: Peerless Mutual Fund historical and Essel Mutual Fund historical .

White Oak Capital acquisition of YES Mutual Fund (2021)

White Oak Capital, through its GPL Finance and Investments subsidiary, completed the acquisition of YES Bank’s mutual fund operations on 1 November 2021, a deal first announced in August 2020. YES Bank exited asset management as part of its post-2020 restructuring. The house now operates as White Oak Capital Mutual Fund , the AMC of the global equities firm founded by former Goldman Sachs Asset Management CIO Prashant Khemka. Coverage: YES Mutual Fund historical .

LIC Mutual Fund merger with IDBI Mutual Fund (2023)

LIC Mutual Fund acquired the schemes of IDBI Mutual Fund from IDBI Asset Management, with the scheme merger effective 29 July 2023. The transaction followed LIC’s group-level proximity to IDBI Bank and consolidated two public-sector-linked fund houses. Coverage: IDBI Mutual Fund historical , with the surviving operation under LIC Mutual Fund .

New AMC licences since 2020

SEBI issued registration numbers MF/078 through MF/094 between February 2023 and July 2026, which is seventeen serials in under four years, against seventy-five issued across the thirty years from MF/003 in October 1993 to MF/077. The new entrants span broker-aligned, founder-led, distributor-sponsored and digital-native categories:

• 2020: Mahindra Manulife Mutual Fund (Manulife joining as 49 per cent JV partner with M&M Finserv).
• 2020: Trust Mutual Fund (founder Sandeep Bagla, debt-focused).
• 2021: NJ Mutual Fund (sponsored by NJ India Invest, the country’s largest mutual fund distributor; factor-investing focus).
• 2022: Samco Mutual Fund (broker-aligned, sponsored by Samco Securities).
• 2023: Zerodha Fund House (pure passive index-only AMC, sponsored by Zerodha Broking).
• 28 February 2023: Bajaj Finserv Mutual Fund (sponsored by Bajaj Finserv group, registration MF/078/23/04).
• 10 August 2023: Helios Mutual Fund (founder Samir Arora, Singapore-based Helios Capital, registration MF/079/23/05).
• 2023: Groww Mutual Fund (via acquisition of Indiabulls Mutual Fund; it still holds the Indiabulls registration MF/068/11/03 of 24 March 2011, which is why its licence predates the platform).
• 2024: Old Bridge Mutual Fund (founder Kenneth Andrade, ex-IDFC).
• 2024-2025: Unifi Mutual Fund (Unifi Capital, founder Sarath Reddy).
• 25 November 2024: Angel One Mutual Fund (broker-aligned, sponsored by Angel One Limited, registration MF/083/24/09).
• 11 April 2025: Capitalmind Mutual Fund (founder Deepak Shenoy, registration MF/084/25/10).
• 1 August 2025: Choice Mutual Fund (sponsored by Choice International, registration MF/087/25/13; launched Nifty 50 and Nifty Next 50 index funds in the June 2026 quarter).
• 29 August 2025: Abakkus Mutual Fund (founder Sunil Singhania, ex-Reliance Mutual Fund CIO Equities, registration MF/088/25/14).
• 2024-2025: Jio BlackRock Mutual Fund (50-50 JV between Jio Financial Services and BlackRock Inc.).
• 16 February 2026: ASK Mutual Fund (registration MF/089/26/15).
• 11 March 2026: AlphaGrep Mutual Fund (quantitative trading firm AlphaGrep, registration MF/090/26/16).
• 20 July 2026: Carnelian Mutual Fund (Carnelian Asset Advisors, registration MF/094/26/20).

The Wealth Company Mutual Fund also began operations in this window, launching a large and mid cap scheme that raised Rs 87 crore during the quarter ended June 2026 (AMFI Quarterly Report, April to June 2026).

Navi Mutual Fund is sometimes grouped with this wave, but it entered by acquiring Essel Mutual Fund in 2020-2021 rather than on a fresh licence, so it sits under the acquisitions above.

The new-licence wave reflects four converging trends: the maturation of India’s retail mutual fund investor base (creating commercial space for new entrants), the rise of digital direct-plan distribution (lowering customer-acquisition barriers), the success precedent of PPFAS Mutual Fund and similar founder-led houses (proving that smaller specialist AMCs could build sustainable franchises), and the broader Indian fintech and broking expansion that has produced large captive customer bases ripe for cross-sell into mutual funds.

Significant exits and wind-ups

Alongside the new entrants, the industry has seen meaningful exits:

• Franklin Templeton six debt schemes wind-up (April 2020): under Franklin Templeton winding-up 2020 , the AMC suspended redemptions on six debt schemes citing pandemic-era liquidity stress, ultimately winding them up over a multi-year payout process. The episode triggered substantial SEBI regulatory reforms on debt-fund liquidity, side-pocketing and disclosure.
• Sahara Mutual Fund registration cancellation (2015): SEBI cancelled Sahara Mutual Fund’s certificate of registration in 2015 on fit-and-proper grounds tied to the Sahara group, directing the transfer of its schemes to another AMC. It was among the first times the regulator revoked an AMC’s registration rather than the AMC exiting by sale. Coverage: Sahara Mutual Fund historical .
• Daiwa Mutual Fund: Daiwa Securities exited the Indian retail mutual fund market in the early 2010s after a brief operational period. Coverage: Daiwa Mutual Fund historical .
• Escorts Mutual Fund was often listed among wind-ups, but it did not close: Quant Money Managers acquired it in 2018 (see the acquisitions above), so it survives as Quant Mutual Fund.
• Various 1990s-2000s small AMCs: that wound up or were absorbed into other AMCs as part of the broader first-wave private AMC attrition.

Ownership changes at a glance

The table lists the major transactions in chronological order, with the entity each one resolves to today. It reads from the same data as the timeline above, and every column sorts: click a heading to reorder by year, acquired house, acquirer, current owner, or deal type.

Consolidation at the top, fragmentation at the entry layer

The two structural movements run in opposite directions at the same time. Five AMCs held 57.7 per cent of quarterly average AUM in the March 2026 quarter, while SEBI issued seventeen fresh registrations between February 2023 and July 2026. The reconciliation is that incumbents grow through scale economics and distribution moats, while new entrants serve differentiated niches (passive index, value investing, factor investing, broker-aligned, digital-native) that incumbents cannot easily capture. The pattern is likely to continue: BlackRock’s return through Jio BlackRock, the founder-led wave (Andrade, Reddy, Shenoy, Arora, Singhania), and the broker-aligned subset (Zerodha, Angel One, Samco, Groww) all illustrate distinct strategic positioning that does not directly compete with the top-10 incumbents.

Scheme categorisation

SEBI circular SEBI/HO/IMD/DF3/CIR/P/2017/114, dated 6 October 2017, fixed 36 scheme categories and bound every AMC to them. Before that circular each AMC named its own schemes, so two funds with the same label could hold different things. An AMC may now run only one scheme per category, with index funds, exchange-traded funds, fund of funds and sectoral or thematic schemes outside that limit. The framework defines four broad classes with detailed sub-categories.

Equity-oriented schemes

The equity bucket includes large-cap mutual funds (invest in the top 100 listed companies by market capitalisation), mid-cap mutual funds (101st to 250th), small-cap mutual funds (251st onwards), multi-cap mutual funds (mandatorily 25 per cent each in large, mid and small caps after the 2020 reclassification), flexi-cap mutual funds (managers have full freedom across market caps), sectoral and thematic mutual funds , value mutual funds , contra mutual funds , dividend yield mutual funds , focused equity mutual funds (concentrated portfolios of at most 30 stocks), and ELSS mutual funds (equity-linked savings schemes with a three-year lock-in offering tax deduction under Section 80C of the old tax regime).

Debt-oriented schemes

Debt fund sub-categories track duration and credit-quality profiles: liquid mutual funds (instruments up to 91 days), ultra short duration mutual funds , low duration mutual funds , money market mutual funds , short duration mutual funds , medium duration mutual funds , medium to long duration mutual funds , long duration mutual funds , dynamic bond mutual funds , corporate bond mutual funds , credit risk mutual funds , banking and PSU debt mutual funds , gilt mutual funds , and floater mutual funds .

Hybrid schemes

Hybrid schemes combine equity and debt: aggressive hybrid mutual funds (65-80 per cent equity), balanced hybrid mutual funds , conservative hybrid mutual funds (10-25 per cent equity), arbitrage mutual funds (cash-futures arbitrage, taxed as equity), equity savings mutual funds , multi-asset allocation mutual funds , and balanced advantage mutual funds (dynamic allocation managed against valuation signals).

Solution-oriented and other schemes

Retirement mutual funds and children’s mutual funds carry a five-year lock-in or until retirement / age of majority. Index funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) replicate published benchmarks at typically lower expense ratios than active funds. Fund of funds invest in other mutual funds, and the SEBI categorisation framework treats their taxation by the predominant underlying. Specialised investment funds (under the SIF framework ), smallcase-style thematic packs, and PMS-adjacent structures sit outside the standard 36 categories.

Distribution channels

Indian mutual fund distribution is bifurcated between regular plans (sold through SEBI-registered distributors and brokers, embedding a commission in the expense ratio) and direct plans (sold without distributor intermediation, at a lower expense ratio). The SEBI direct-plan regime introduced on 1 January 2013 mandated that every AMC offer a direct variant of every scheme.

Direct-plan platforms

Zerodha Coin is the broker-aligned direct-plan platform that holds units in the investor’s demat account through Zerodha as the depository participant. Groww operates as a SEBI-registered investment platform with both direct mutual funds and equity broking. Kuvera is a fee-free direct-plan platform owned by CRED. ET Money is the discovery-and-tracking direct-plan app published by Times Internet. INDmoney and Paytm Money extend the direct-plan ecosystem. The Mutual Fund Utility (MFU) is the AMFI-promoted shared transaction platform. The direct mutual fund portals comparison article covers these in detail.

AMC-direct routes through the CAMS Online portal and the KFinKart portal allow investors to transact across AMCs served by each RTA, accessing a single statement and unified KYC.

Regular-plan distribution

Regular-plan distribution runs through banks (whose branch networks remain the largest single-channel route), Independent Financial Advisors (IFAs) , wealth-management arms of brokers, the historical national distributors including the NJ Wealth network and Prudent network, and increasingly open-architecture digital distributors . The commission embedded in regular-plan TER is paid by the AMC to the distributor as trail commission, typically ranging from 0.5 to 1.0 per cent annualised depending on AMC, scheme category, and distributor tier. The Execution-Only Platforms (EOP) regulation 2023 introduced a separate regulatory category for digital execution-only platforms.

Direct vs regular

The direct-vs-regular TER differential is the structural advantage of direct plans for a self-directed investor. The annualised difference is roughly 0.5 to 1.0 per cent across major equity categories, which compounds materially over multi-year holding periods. The direct-to-regular and regular-to-direct switch implications cover the operational consequences of converting between plan variants.

KYC, onboarding and folio mechanics

Indian mutual fund investing requires KYC compliance under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002. The KYC process is centralised through the KRA (KYC Registration Agency) ecosystem so the same KYC document set serves transactions across AMCs.

KYC infrastructure

The KRA ecosystem for MF KYC defines the centralised KYC repository accessed by AMCs and distributors. Aadhaar-based e-KYC is the dominant onboarding route, requiring an Aadhaar OTP, PAN linkage and a bank-account verification. Video KYC provides an alternative for cases where Aadhaar e-KYC is unavailable. The CKYC (Central KYC) framework operates as a parallel repository administered by CERSAI.

Folio mechanics

Each mutual fund investment creates a folio at the AMC, identified by a folio number. The folio holds units across schemes within the same AMC. The Statement of Account (SOA) is the canonical confirmation of any transaction. The Statement of Additional Information (SAI) and Scheme Information Document are the AMC’s structured disclosures about each scheme. The Consolidated Account Statement (CAS) consolidates units across AMCs into a single statement for an investor.

Nomination and transmission

Every folio carries nomination details that govern unit transmission on the death of a holder. The mutual fund transmission process and the nomination opt-out option under the SEBI 2024 amendments are the operative reference points. The MITRA Initiative is AMFI’s framework for tracing forgotten or unclaimed folios.

Investment routes and charges

Lump sum, SIP, STP, SWP

A mutual fund investment can be made as a lump sum or as a Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) with recurring contributions on a fixed schedule. The SIP growth story in India documents the industry’s shift toward SIP-led retail participation. A Systematic Transfer Plan (STP) moves units from one scheme to another at a regular cadence, while a Systematic Withdrawal Plan (SWP) redeems units on a fixed schedule to generate cash flow. The step-up SIP variant increases the contribution amount annually, useful for income-following investors. The SIP pause and cancellation process covers operational continuity. The SIP discontinuation persistence data tracks how durable retail SIP commitments are in practice.

Charges

The principal charge on a mutual fund is the Total Expense Ratio (TER) , capped by SEBI by scheme category. From 1 April 2026 the cap is set by Regulation 66(7)(c) of the SEBI (Mutual Funds) Regulations 2026, notified on 15 January 2026, which replaced the slabs in circular SEBI/HO/IMD/DF2/CIR/P/2018/137 dated 22 October 2018: the base expense ratio of an open-ended equity scheme is 2.10 per cent on the first Rs 500 crore of daily net assets, stepping down in slabs to 0.95 per cent on the balance, and 1.85 per cent on the first slab for schemes other than equity-oriented. Regulation 67 defines the TER as the base expense ratio plus brokerage, transaction costs and statutory levies, and Regulation 66(9) caps the brokerage chargeable above the base ratio at 0.06 per cent of trade value in the cash market and 0.02 per cent in derivatives. Direct plans carry a lower TER because the distribution commission is absent from it. The full slab table is in the article on SEBI .

The exit load applies on redemptions within a specified period (commonly 1 per cent within the first year on equity funds; on liquid funds a graded load from 0.0070 per cent on day 1 to 0.0045 per cent on day 6, compulsory under SEBI circular SEBI/HO/IMD/DF2/CIR/P/2019/101 of 20 September 2019). The stamp duty on mutual fund units is 0.005 per cent on purchases. Transaction charges of Rs 100 to Rs 150 apply on first-time investments above Rs 10,000 routed through distributors registered under the AMFI ARN system.

Taxation

Mutual fund taxation in India varies by scheme category, holding period and the investor’s tax-residency status.

Equity-oriented schemes

A scheme is treated as equity-oriented for tax purposes when at least 65 per cent of its corpus is invested in listed Indian equity. Such schemes attract short-term capital gains tax under Section 111A at 20 per cent for holdings up to one year (raised from 15 per cent in the July 2024 Budget) and long-term capital gains tax under Section 112A at 12.5 per cent (raised from 10 per cent in the July 2024 Budget) on gains above Rs 1.25 lakh per financial year. The grandfathering of LTCG on equity MFs of 31 January 2018 preserves NAV-based cost-basis for pre-Budget holdings.

Debt-oriented schemes

Following the debt mutual fund taxation reform of April 2023 , all gains on debt mutual funds purchased on or after 1 April 2023 are taxed at the investor’s slab rate as short-term capital gains, regardless of holding period. Indexation benefit was removed. Units purchased before that date continue to enjoy the pre-2023 LTCG treatment with the four-per-cent annual indexation benefit.

Hybrid schemes

Hybrid mutual fund taxation follows the equity-oriented rules where the scheme maintains the 65 per cent equity threshold, and the debt-oriented post-2023 rules otherwise. Specific sub-categories carry nuances: arbitrage mutual funds are equity-oriented (taxed favourably) despite their cash-futures arbitrage strategy.

TDS and reporting

TDS on mutual fund dividends (IDCW ) applies under Section 194K. The TDS on MF dividend for residents and the parallel rules for NRI mutual fund investing cover the reporting framework. The Annual Information Statement (AIS) for mutual funds and AIS-TIS reconciliation are the income-tax reporting channels.

Investor protections

Risk-O-Meter and disclosures

Every mutual fund scheme carries a SEBI-mandated AMFI Risk-O-Meter labelling on a six-level scale from low to very high risk. The SEBI advertisement code for mutual funds regulates marketing content, particularly performance representations. The AMFI Investor Education programme is funded by a notional set-aside within the TER and runs sectoral campaigns on mutual fund literacy.

Grievance redressal

Investor grievances are routed through SEBI SCORES and the AMFI investor grievance matrix , with further escalation through SEBI SMART ODR for arbitration. The SEBI Investor Protection Fund for mutual funds compensates defrauded investors in specific cases.

Insider-trading and fund-manager governance

Recent SEBI reforms have tightened insider-trading rules applicable to AMC employees , fund-manager qualification and scheme limits , and the SEBI MF skin-in-the-game rule that requires AMC officers to invest a portion of their compensation in the schemes they manage. The SEBI MF designated employee rule extends pre-clearance requirements to a broader staff cohort. The SEBI MF stress testing framework introduced in 2024 requires AMCs to publish monthly liquidity stress-test results for mid-cap and small-cap equity schemes.

See also

• SEBI
• SEBI (Mutual Funds) Regulations 1996
• Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI)
• Mutual fund industry in India
• SEBI October 2017 categorisation circular
• Direct mutual fund portals comparison
• Direct vs regular plan TER differential
• Mutual fund vs PMS vs AIF
• Active vs passive equity in India
• Debt mutual fund vs bank fixed deposit (post-2023 tax regime)
• Equity-oriented mutual fund taxation in India
• Debt mutual fund taxation (post-2023)
• SIP in mutual funds
• AMFI Risk-O-Meter
• SEBI multi-cap reclassification (September 2020)
• Franklin Templeton winding-up (April 2020)
• Nippon Reliance MF acquisition (2019)
• CAMS
• KFin Technologies
• Mutual Fund Utility (MFU)
• Zerodha Coin
• MF Central
• Mutual fund total expense ratio in India
• Mutual fund exit load
• Stamp duty on mutual fund units
• ELSS mutual funds
• Index funds in India
• Exchange-traded funds in India
• Large-cap mutual funds
• Mid-cap mutual funds
• Small-cap mutual funds
• Flexi-cap mutual funds
• Multi-cap mutual funds
• Liquid mutual funds
• Arbitrage mutual funds
• Balanced advantage funds
• Fund of funds in India
• Retirement mutual funds
• Children’s mutual funds
• Hybrid mutual fund taxation
• Section 111A: short-term capital gains
• Section 112A: long-term capital gains
• IDCW and dividend distribution
• Annual Information Statement for mutual funds
• NRI mutual fund investing and DTAA
• Consolidated Account Statement
• Transmission of mutual fund units
• SEBI nomination opt-out for mutual funds
• KRA ecosystem for mutual fund KYC
• Central KYC for mutual funds
• Video KYC in India
• SEBI SCORES complaints portal
• SEBI Investor Protection Fund for mutual funds
• AMFI Registration Number for distributors
• AMFI Best Practice Guidelines
• AMFI monthly AUM data
• SEBI advertisement code for mutual funds
• SEBI B30 and T30 incentive framework
• SEBI skin-in-the-game rule for AMC staff
• Stress testing of mutual funds (2024)
• Side-pocketing in debt mutual funds
• Mutual fund custodian
• SEBI Investment Management Department
• Unit Trust of India
• SIP growth story in India
• Systematic Transfer Plan
• Systematic Withdrawal Plan
• Step-up, flex and smart SIPs
• Direct to regular plan switch implications
• Execution-Only Platform regulations 2023
• BSE StAR MF
• NSE NMF II
• CAMS Online
• KFinKart
• Specialised Investment Fund framework
• SEBI fund of funds taxation harmonisation
• Nifty 50
• Jio BlackRock Mutual Fund
• Zerodha Fund House
• Quant Mutual Fund

External references

Statutory and self-regulatory bodies

• Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)
• Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI)
• SEBI SCORES portal
• Mutual Fund Utility India
• MF Central

Registrar and Transfer Agents

• Computer Age Management Services (CAMS)
• KFin Technologies

Active SEBI-registered AMCs (alphabetical, official websites)

• 360 ONE Mutual Fund (formerly IIFL Mutual Fund)
• Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund
• Abakkus Mutual Fund
• Angel One Mutual Fund
• Axis Mutual Fund
• Bajaj Finserv Mutual Fund
• Bandhan Mutual Fund (formerly IDFC Mutual Fund)
• Bank of India Mutual Fund
• Baroda BNP Paribas Mutual Fund
• Canara Robeco Mutual Fund
• Capitalmind Mutual Fund
• DSP Mutual Fund
• Edelweiss Mutual Fund
• Franklin Templeton India Mutual Fund
• Groww Mutual Fund (formerly Indiabulls Mutual Fund)
• HDFC Mutual Fund
• Helios Mutual Fund
• HSBC Mutual Fund
• ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund
• Invesco Mutual Fund India
• ITI Mutual Fund
• Jio BlackRock Mutual Fund
• JM Financial Mutual Fund
• Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund
• LIC Mutual Fund
• Mahindra Manulife Mutual Fund
• Mirae Asset Mutual Fund
• Motilal Oswal Mutual Fund
• Navi Mutual Fund
• Nippon India Mutual Fund (formerly Reliance Mutual Fund)
• NJ Mutual Fund
• Old Bridge Mutual Fund
• PGIM India Mutual Fund (formerly DHFL Pramerica Mutual Fund)
• PPFAS Mutual Fund
• Quant Mutual Fund
• Quantum Mutual Fund
• Samco Mutual Fund
• SBI Mutual Fund
• Shriram Mutual Fund
• Sundaram Mutual Fund
• Tata Mutual Fund
• Taurus Mutual Fund
• Trust Mutual Fund
• Unifi Mutual Fund
• Union Mutual Fund
• UTI Mutual Fund
• WhiteOak Capital Mutual Fund
• Zerodha Fund House

Depositories

• Central Depository Services Limited (CDSL)
• National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL)

Exchanges (MF distribution platforms)

• BSE StAR MF
• NSE NMF II

Other relevant authorities

• Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
• Income Tax Department of India
• Ministry of Finance
• Central KYC Records Registry (CKYCR)

References

1. Securities and Exchange Board of India, SEBI (Mutual Funds) Regulations 1996 and subsequent amending circulars, sebi.gov.in, accessed May 2026.
2. Association of Mutual Funds in India, Monthly Report for the month of August 2026: scheme counts, folios, funds mobilised, redemptions and net assets under management as on 31 August 2026, amfiindia.com.
3. Association of Mutual Funds in India, SIP contribution and SIP AUM data for August 2026, and the Quarterly Report for April to June 2026 (new schemes report), amfiindia.com.
4. Securities and Exchange Board of India, Recognised Intermediaries: Registered Mutual Funds, listing 60 registered mutual funds with registration numbers and validity dates, sebi.gov.in, retrieved 20 September 2026.
5. SEBI circular SEBI/HO/IMD/DF3/CIR/P/2017/114 dated 6 October 2017, Categorization and Rationalization of Mutual Fund Schemes.
6. SEBI circular SEBI/HO/IMD/DF2/CIR/P/2018/137 dated 22 October 2018, Total Expense Ratio of Mutual Fund Schemes.
7. SEBI debt-mutual-fund taxation circulars following the April 2023 Finance Act amendment.
8. Finance Act 2024 (July 2024) amendments to Section 111A and Section 112A capital-gains tax rates on equity-oriented schemes.
9. AMFI Risk-O-Meter framework circulars, amfiindia.com.
10. AMFI Investor Grievance Matrix and ARN distributor framework, amfiindia.com.
11. SEBI orders approving major Indian mutual fund ownership changes since 2018, including the Nippon-Reliance acquisition (2019), DSP-BlackRock dissolution (2018), L&T-HSBC acquisition (2022), IDFC-Bandhan acquisition (2023), Indiabulls-Groww acquisition (2023), Baroda-BNP Paribas merger (2021), Sundaram-Principal acquisition (2021), Pramerica-PGIM rebrand (2019), Bank of India-AXA exit (2022), and IIFL-360 ONE rebrand (2024).
12. SEBI new AMC registration orders covering the 2020-2025 wave of operationalisations: Mahindra Manulife (2020), Trust (2020), NJ (2021), Samco (2022), Zerodha Fund House (2023), Bajaj Finserv (2023), Helios (2023-24), Groww (2023, via acquisition), Old Bridge (2024), Unifi (2024-25), Capitalmind (2024-25), Angel One (2024-25), Abakkus (2024-25), and Jio BlackRock (2024-25).
13. SEBI Franklin Templeton orders relating to the April 2020 winding-up of six debt schemes, sebi.gov.in.
14. AMFI monthly AUM disclosures and industry composition data, amfiindia.com.
15. SEBI margin-pledge framework circulars of September 2020 following the Karvy Stock Broking pledge-misuse case.
16. SEBI Investor Protection Fund (Mutual Funds) Regulations, sebi.gov.in.
17. Reserve Bank of India circulars on KYC and PMLA compliance applicable to mutual fund onboarding.
18. Income Tax Act 1961, Sections 111A, 112A, 94(7), 194K and related provisions on mutual fund taxation.