Prior to joining Peerless, Shastri was the Director & Business Head – Portfolio Management Services and Products at Pramerica Mutual Fund.
Muthoot Mutual Fund, which received SEBI's in-principal approval to launch mutual fund operations, has appointed Rajiv Shastri as the CEO.
When Moneycontrol reached out to Shastri, he confirmed his appointment, adding that the fund house is in the process of getting final approval from SEBI.Shastri comes from Essel Mutual Fund (now Peerless Mutual Fund) where he was the chief executive officer.
Prior to joining Peerless, Shastri was the Director & Business Head – Portfolio Management Services and Products at Pramerica Mutual Fund.
Rajiv has over 25 years of experience in the mutual fund industry. He has also worked with Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund, ABN AMRO (now BNP Paribas Mutual Fund) HDFC, DSP Merill Lynch (now DSP BlackRock) and Sahara Mutual Fund.
As per SEBI rules, the proposed fund house is required to appoint the CEO and chief investment officer (CIO) before securing a final nod for starting mutual fund operations.
Muthoot Finance had approached SEBI for seeking asset management company licence in March 2017, and had received the regulator’s in-principal nod in July 2018.
Currently, Muthoot Finance is listed on BSE and NSE as gold financing NBFC and also has a mutual fund distribution arm.
According to the latest data on 'Status of Mutual Fund Applications' on SEBI website, Trust Investment Advisors has received in-principal in July 2017 and awaiting final nod to start operations.
Meanwhile, Frontline Capital Services, Samco Securities, Geojit Financial Services, Karvy Stock Broking, NJ India Invest P Ltd, and Pipal Securities are awaiting approval from SEBI to launch mutual fund business in India.
As per SEBI rules, sponsors applying for a mutual fund license requires the sponsor company to be in the financial services business for five years and should have positive net worth for five years.
It further states that the sponsor should have earned profits in three of the previous five years, including the latest year. SEBI conducts on-site due diligence of sponsors before granting approval.
