As the Indian mutual fund industry is turning 36, the country’s leading financial news platform, Moneycontrol, hosts its first-ever mutual fund (MF) summit in Mumbai on December 14. "There has never been a better time to talk about the future of the Indian mutual fund industry," Binoy Prabhakar, Editor, Moneycontrol said as he welcomed the guests at the event.

The Summit's keynote address was delivered by Chief Guest Ananta Barua, Whole Time Member, SEBI.

During his address at the Moneycontrol’s Mutual Fund Summit, Barua said, "There is a lot of thrust by SEBI that there are no asset management liabilities, and mutual funds are required to meet redemption obligations.”

In her keynote address, Usha Thorat, Chairperson of the SEBI Mutual Funds Advisory Committee and former RBI Deputy Governor said household investments in mutual funds have grown at over 32 percent CAGR. "The number implies our fiduciary responsibility is now more important," she said.

"It is the role of independent directors to ask the right questions so that possible sources of conflicts of interest are addressed," Thorat added.

Through the Summit, Moneycontrol, India’s largest financial news platform and the flagship digital platform of the Network18 group, aims to raise vital issues, trigger conversations, encourage debate, and share knowledge from some of the industry's marquee leaders, chief executive officers and fund managers.

The MF industry's top executives, CEOs and fund managers are present at the summit.

Marzban Irani, CIO of LIC Mutual Fund gave his two cents. He said that the investors should look at investing in fixed-income funds in 2023. He also shared his investment mantra: SLR -- Safety, Liquidity and Returns. "Once you make money, share your wealth with others," he added.

Pankaj Mathpal, Optima Money Managers, said that the next one year is the time for gold. He said that sovereign gold bonds, and gold ETFs are a good choice. "Equity has always yielded better returns for me," he added as his investment mantra.

Vishal Dhawan of Plan Ahead Advisors talks about his Money Mantra. "India has outperformed this year but rebalancing your portfolio will be key in next year. The money mantra is to have a mix of active and passive strategies," he said.

'Yours Financially' Author Kalpesh Ashar said, "We are on the brink of debt cycle turning." He suggests that we give prominence to equity in asset allocation in 2023 and invest in companies that we understand.

Moneycontrol's first Mutual Fund Summit gets underway: See pics