Page 24 - Banking Finance February 2026

MUTUAL FUND

mental allocation that strengthens According to the fund house, the index HDFC Mutual Fund re-
existing portfolios rather than replac- represents market leaders from 21
ing long-term equity holdings. sectors within the broader BSE 500 shuffles fund managers for
universe. It comprises the top three three equity schemes
Axis Mutual Fund launches companies from each sector, selected HDFC Mutual Fund has announced
based on average six-month daily to-
BSE India Sector Leaders tal market capitalisation. This method- changes in fund management across
three of its equity schemes following
Index Fund ology ensures exposure to established the exit of Roshi Jain, with the revisions
Axis Mutual Fund has launched the Axis businesses with significant scale, liquid- effective from December 8, 2025. The
BSE India Sector Leaders Index Fund, ity and sectoral leadership. fund house informed unitholders
an open-ended index fund that seeks The fund is designed to provide diversi- through a notice-cum-addendum.
to track the BSE India Sector Leaders fied sectoral exposure through a single Under the new arrangement, HDFC
Index. The new fund offer (NFO) will passive investment, allowing investors Flexi Cap Fund will be managed by
open on January 23 and close on Feb- to participate not only in dominant sec- Chirag Setalvad, HDFC Focused Fund
ruary 6. tors but also in emerging and niche seg- by Gopal Agrawal, and HDFC ELSS Tax
ments of the economy. By focusing on
The scheme will be managed by Saver Fund by Amar Kalkundrikar.
Karthik Kumar, with a minimum invest- sector leaders, the scheme seeks to Dhruv Muchhal will continue as the
ment amount of Rs. 100. The fund aims balance stability with growth potential. dedicated fund manager for overseas
to provide long-term wealth creation Axis Mutual Fund said the offering is investments across all three schemes.
by offering exposure to leading compa- suitable for investors looking for broad- All other terms and conditions of the
nies across key sectors of the Indian based equity exposure through a trans- schemes remain unchanged.
economy. parent, rules-based index strategy. Roshi Jain, who joined HDFC Mutual
Fund in December 2021, had taken
Sebi lowers mutual fund fee cap, set to reduce costs charge of the Flexi Cap Fund in 2022
following the exit of veteran fund
for investors manager Prashant Jain. She previously
Mutual fund investors are set to benefit from lower costs after markets worked with Franklin Templeton,
regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) reduced the maxi- Goldman Sachs and Wipro Ltd., and is
mum fee that fund houses can charge in select mutual fund schemes. The a CFA charterholder and alumna of IIM
regulator has cut the fee cap by up to 15 basis points, a move expected to Ahmedabad.
directly lower the expense burden on investors over the long term.
HDFC Flexi Cap Fund is the second-larg-
In addition, Sebi has reduced the maximum brokerage that mutual fund est flexi-cap scheme in the category,
houses can pay to brokers for transactions across equity, futures and op- with assets under management exceed-
tions, and debt markets. Industry participants believe this measure could ing Rs. 94,000 crore, making the tran-
further compress operating costs for asset management companies, with sition closely watched by investors. T
potential spillover benefits for investors through lower total expenses.
However, Sebi clarified that statutory charges such as GST, exchange fees Join
and securities transaction tax (STT) will now be levied separately and will no Online Certificate Course on
longer be included within the fee charged to investors. Earlier, these statu-
tory levies formed part of the overall expense ratio borne by investors. Artificial
The Sebi board also approved a series of broader regulatory changes for Intelligence in
stock brokers and mutual funds. According to the regulator, these updates
aim to streamline regulations, remove redundant provisions, improve clar- Insurance
ity, and align compliance requirements with evolving market practices,
thereby enhancing ease of doing business while safeguarding investor in- For details please visit
terests. www.smartonlinecourse.co.in

BANKING FINANCE | FEBRUARY | 2026 | 21