AMFI announces initiatives to deepen mutual fund participation

Mumbai: The Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI), at its 31st Foundation Day held in Mumbai, announced a slew of investor education initiatives under its flagship ‘Mutual Funds Sahi Hai’ umbrella. The initiatives are aimed at expanding awareness and participation across diverse segments, including women, first-time investors, households in smaller towns and cities, members of SHGs and microfinance communities, while strengthening professionalism and ethical standards within the mutual fund distribution ecosystem.

The initiatives were announced in the presence of Tuhin Kanta Pandey, Chairman, SEBI; Amarjeet Singh, Whole-Time Member, SEBI; Manoj Kumar, Executive Director, SEBI; Sundeep Sikka, Chairman, AMFI; and Venkat N. Chalasani, CEO, AMFI, along with members of the AMFI Board, AMC CEOs and senior industry representatives.

The initiatives form part of AMFI’s broader endeavour to take investor education beyond traditional segments and geographies, with a focus on making investing simple, accessible and relevant to everyday financial needs.

Speaking on the occasion, Tuhin Kanta Pandey, Chairman, SEBI, said mutual funds play a dual role by enabling households to participate in India’s growth while channeling savings into the productive economy. He stressed that the industry’s growing scale makes strong governance, oversight and fiduciary responsibility essential. He also highlighted the need to reach first-time investors, smaller towns and under-represented groups. Pandey commended AMFI’s ‘Mutual Funds Sahi Hai’ campaign and its support for Project Jagrook, SEBI’s investor awareness initiative.

Sundeep Sikka, Chairman, AMFI, said the industry must extend disciplined, long-term investing to a wider section of society by improving awareness, access and confidence among women, young people, first-time and underserved investors.

Venkat N. Chalasani, Chief Executive, AMFI, said the initiatives aim to make mutual fund investing simple, accessible and trustworthy. He stressed that distributors remain central to expanding participation and that professionalism, ethics and responsible conduct must grow alongside the industry.

Under the AMFI-NISM partnership, around 20 workshops will be held across 10-12 cities, covering about 10,000 mutual fund distributors on ethics, compliance, fiduciary responsibility, mis-selling, churning, data privacy and succession.

The AMFI-Sa-Dhan initiative will conduct 500 Investor Awareness Programmes across five states, reaching around 25,000 participants and creating 100 ‘Nivesh Sakhis’.

AMFI also announced the Bharat Nivesh Mela for Tier-II and Tier-III cities, covering SIPs, compounding, asset allocation and fraud prevention.

Its partnership with Pinkathon, led by Milind Soman, will promote women’s financial awareness across 15 cities and Pinkathon Day events in 52 cities.

AMFI also launched the AMFI-Crisil Fact Book 2025-26, released in the presence of Priti Arora, President – Global Capability Centre, CRISIL. The initiatives underline AMFI’s focus on widening mutual fund participation through education, inclusion and stronger industry standards.

The AMFI-NISM agreement was formalised in the presence of Sashi Krishnan, Director, NISM, while the AMFI-Sa-Dhan MoU was signed in the presence of Kiran Kumar, Treasurer and Director, Sa-Dhan.