Madhabi Puri Buch, the chairperson of Sebi, stated on Friday that the capital markets regulator intends to sachetize investments in mutual funds going forward.
Speaking at a Business Today event, Buch stated that while monthly investments of ₹500 in a systematic investment plan are considered viable by the mutual fund industry, monthly investments of ₹250 are not, and the goal going forward will be to find ways to make these investments profitable.
In order to bring that viability down to ₹250 per month the equivalent of what Hindustan Lever did with shampoo sachets we are working with them (the MF industry) to determine where the cost is and what Sebi can do to facilitate that. You simply blow up the market,” Buch remarked.
The remarks are made on the same day that the mutual funds sector announced that November saw its largest-ever monthly SIP investments of over ₹17,000 crore. It also coincides with anticipations of a forceful Reliance Group company, Jio Financial Services, entering the mutual fund industry.
According to Buch, this kind of sachetization will benefit both the Indian capital markets and the goal of financial inclusion.
According to Buch, who cited the past year’s experience, foreign investors sold Indian stocks as a result of the developed markets’ hardening interest rates, but India was spared as much damage as other emerging markets because local investors held their ground and also persuaded the foreign investors to return due to the attractive yields the market was offering.
“The advantages of both our domestic and retail flows really had a twofold effect. They couldn’t afford to miss the Indian story, so they brought in money, and that had an impact as well,” she continued.
In addition to stating that she will concentrate on this issue in the final year of her three-year term, Buch said that she plans to institutionalize the reforms and initiatives implemented in the previous few years to ensure their longevity.
She reaffirmed that hiring women across the hierarchy from top-level key personnel to lower-level employees is essential for companies to achieve gender parity. She also mentioned that Sebi’s focus on requiring the top 1,000 listed companies to reveal the proportion of their wage bills that go to women stems from this belief.
Buch claimed that she uses data and technology in her work and that she is extremely passionate about both.
The former investment banker who is now a regulator claimed that her understanding of how the market functions and the tricks that professionals employ improves her performance in her role as Sebi chair.
She referred to herself as fortunate, stating that she had not received any special treatment because she is a woman during her career, starting with the ICICI Group and continuing with Sebi.
