Moneycontrol successfully hosted the Moneycontrol Mutual Fund Summit in September 2026 in New Delhi, bringing together senior government officials, policymakers, AMC leaders and market strategists to examine how mutual funds can support India’s next phase of growth and long-term wealth creation.
Held under the theme ‘Powering Viksit Bharat Through Mutual Funds’, the summit examined how taxation, economic policy, household savings, financial inclusion, technology and evolving investment strategies are shaping India’s investment landscape and its journey towards becoming a developed economy by 2047. The summit featured Dr. Arunish Chawla, Secretary, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management, Ministry of Finance, Government of India; Dr. Saurabh Garg, IAS, Secretary, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India; Sanjay Bahadur, Member, Central Board of Direct Taxes; Navneet Munot, MD & CEO, HDFC Asset Management Co.; Nilesh Shah, MD, Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company; Radhika Gupta, MD & CEO, Edelweiss Mutual Fund; Sid Swaminathan, MD & CEO, JioBlackRock Mutual Fund; Anish Tawakley, CIO, DSP Mutual Fund; Rishi Kohli, CIO, JioBlackRock Mutual Fund; Naveen Kulkarni, CIO, PMS and Listed Equity Alternates, Axis AMC; Deepak Shenoy, CEO, Capitalmind Mutual Fund; Sachee Trivedi, Founder & CIO, Trident Capital Investments; Pratik Oswal, Director – Motilal Oswal Financial Services; Chandraprakash Padiyar, Senior Fund Manager, Tata Asset Management; and Rajat Chandak, Senior Fund Manager – MF Equity, ICICI Prudential AMC, among others.
Opening the summit, Sanjay Bahadur, Member, Central Board of Direct Taxes, said, “Mutual funds are the go-to sector, especially for the young who want to invest their surplus money. The focus is shifting from parking surplus in physical assets or FDs increasingly, the young are professional, qualified, and very alert about the use of their money. These investors are pooling resources for the nation so India can move towards Viksit Bharat 2047. From a taxation standpoint, the approach should not look at individual transactions. Tax policy should be simple to understand and comply with.”
Speaking at the summit, Dr. Saurabh Garg, IAS, Secretary, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India, said, “Female labour participation, which used to be around 30%, has now crossed 40%, and that is a very good sign. The earnings by women have also increased at a slightly higher rate than men. On household savings, households prioritise capital preservation over higher returns, and we need to financialise savings currently locked in physical assets.”
Adding to this, Dr. Arunish Chawla, Secretary, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, said, “Saving and investment are the growth engine of the Indian economy. From 4 crore demat accounts six years ago, we are now at 24 crore demat accounts. The share of the financial sector in household savings is increasing, and the largest share of that belongs to the mutual fund industry. Public asset management is an important area of public finance, and we have established a meaningful bond between retail investors and asset managers.”
Sharing his perspective, Navneet Munot, MD & CEO, HDFC Asset Management Co., said, “When people say financialisation of savings, I say a large part of what we are seeing is equitisation of savings, but we also need more fixed income funds to grow. Fund managers who use AI better can win over those who won’t use it. But markets are a collection of individuals expressing views every second, and there will always be a scenario which will be very difficult for the machine to predict. Contrarian thinking won’t come easily to the machine.”
Also speaking at the summit, Sid Swaminathan, MD & CEO, JioBlackRock Mutual Fund, said, “When you think about democratising investing, it is more than just access, ultimately, what we want to get to is outcomes for all investors. We are at six crore investors; we need to get to 60 crore. But let us also think about keeping those six crore people invested, not just when markets are up. With Viksit Bharat, they need to have an outcome at the end of that journey that is in line with what they want. That, to me, is true democratisation.”
Reflecting on the investment landscape, Naveen Kulkarni, CIO, PMS and Listed Equity Alternates, Axis AMC, said, “Crude is a challenge in the short term, not the long term. With the market correction, valuations have already become more reasonable. Growth backed by quality, or growth at a reasonable price, are both good themes to look at any investor who follows these themes will definitely do well.”
The Moneycontrol Mutual Fund Summit – Delhi Edition was presented by HDFC Mutual Fund, co-presented by JioBlackRock Mutual Fund, and powered by Axis Mutual Fund. Motilal Oswal Mutual Fund and Tata Mutual Fund were the Event Partners, and Reliance Industries Limited was the Associate Partner. The summit reaffirmed Moneycontrol’s commitment to creating a platform where policymakers and industry leaders can engage on the issues shaping India’s mutual fund industry and financial future.
