Moneycontrol hosted the Moneycontrol Mutual Fund Summit in September 2026 in New Delhi, bringing together senior government officials, policymakers, asset management company leaders and market strategists to discuss the role of mutual funds in India’s next phase of economic growth and long-term wealth creation.

Held under the theme ‘Powering Viksit Bharat Through Mutual Funds’, the summit, as stated in the press release, examined how taxation, economic policy, household savings, financial inclusion, technology and changing investment strategies are shaping India’s investment landscape and its journey towards becoming a developed economy by 2047.

The summit brought together several senior policymakers and industry leaders, including 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; 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, among others.

Opening the summit, Sanjay Bahadur, Member, Central Board of Direct Taxes, said mutual funds have increasingly become an important investment avenue, particularly among young investors. He noted that younger investors are becoming more aware of how they use their surplus money, with a shift from parking savings in physical assets or fixed deposits towards financial investments.

Bahadur also highlighted the need for a simple and easy-to-understand taxation framework. He said that from a taxation standpoint, the approach should focus on making tax policy simple to understand and comply with rather than looking at individual transactions.

Dr. Saurabh Garg, IAS, Secretary, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, highlighted the changing role of women in the economy, noting that female labour force participation, which was earlier around 30 percent, has now crossed 40 percent. He also pointed to an increase in women’s earnings and stressed the need to financialise household savings that are currently held in physical assets.Dr. Arunish Chawla, Secretary, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management, Ministry of Finance, described saving and investment as key growth engines of the Indian economy. He pointed out that the number of demat accounts has risen from around 4 crore six years ago to 24 crore, reflecting the growing participation of retail investors in financial markets.

Chawla also said that the financial sector’s share in household savings is increasing, with the mutual fund industry accounting for a significant part of this shift. He further highlighted public asset management as an important area of public finance and the growing connection between retail investors and asset managers.

The discussion also touched on the growing role of artificial intelligence in investment management. Navneet Munot, MD & CEO, HDFC Asset Management Co., said that while the financialisation of savings is an important trend, a large part of what is happening can also be described as the equitisation of savings. He emphasised the need for fixed-income funds to grow alongside equity investments.

Munot also discussed the potential impact of AI on fund management, saying that fund managers who use AI effectively could have an advantage over those who do not. At the same time, he noted that markets are shaped by individuals expressing views continuously and that there will always be situations that are difficult for machines to predict. He added that contrarian thinking may not come easily to machines.

Sid Swaminathan, MD & CEO, JioBlackRock Mutual Fund, spoke about the need to take financial inclusion beyond simply providing access to investment products. He said the focus should ultimately be on delivering better outcomes for investors and noted that while the mutual fund industry currently has around six crore investors, the ambition should be to reach 60 crore investors while also ensuring that existing investors remain invested through different market cycles.

Naveen Kulkarni, CIO, PMS and Listed Equity Alternates, Axis AMC, also shared his views on the investment environment. He said crude oil could remain a short-term challenge, while market corrections had made valuations more reasonable. He pointed to growth backed by quality and growth at a reasonable price as themes that investors could consider.

The summit also featured perspectives from several other industry leaders, including Nilesh Shah, Radhika Gupta, Anish Tawakley, Rishi Kohli, Deepak Shenoy, Sachee Trivedi, Pratik Oswal, Chandraprakash Padiyar and Rajat Chandak, among others.

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, while Reliance Industries Limited was the Associate Partner.

The summit brought policymakers and mutual fund industry leaders together to discuss the changing nature of household savings, investment participation, taxation and technology. The discussions also underlined the industry’s expanding role in channelising household savings into financial markets and supporting India’s longer-term economic ambitions.