Mutual funds need a good governance system: Sebi

The mutual fund industry, which is witnessing record growth, needs a good governance system, markets regulator Sebi said today.

The statement was made after Sebi chairman Ajay Tyagi, its whole time member Madhabi Puri Buch and senior officials met more than 80 independent trustees of mutual funds today.

There have been concerns in certain quarters about some industry players not following best practices.

Apart from the interactive session, discussions were held on issues like role of trustees, investor relations, technological advancements, among others.

Noting that the role of trustees being critical, Sebi said it was considered important to reach out to the independent trustees of mutual funds, to interact with them, sensitize them on the significant role played by them and seek their feedback.

"Mutual Fund is a significant industry with the recent times witnessing record growth. Therefore, there is a need to have a good governance system in place" the regulator said.

The country's 42 mutual fund houses have seen multi-fold growth in the assets managed by them in a span of 10 years. The asset under management of the industry has grown to over Rs 23 lakh crore in June-end this year from Rs 5 lakh at the end of March 2008.

The asset management company (AMC) manages operations of mutual funds and the trustees act as supervisors.

Under the norms, every fund house need to have at least four trustees, of these, two-thirds should be independent.

The concept of appointment of trustees on the asset management company's board was introduced by Sebi in order to ensure a first-level regulator for firms that manage investors' money.