Prior to this, Rao was Deputy Managing Director at SBI handling New Business Portfolio. She has also worked as the Chief General Manager of personal banking at the bank.
Some of the key assignments handled by her include developing the home loans and real estate businesses at SBI.
She took charge from Dinesh Kumar Khara, who has been appointed Managing Director of State Bank of India (Associate & Subsidiaries).
"Rao has been appointed as the new MD and CEO of SBI Funds Management Pvt Ltd effective August 25, 2016," SBI MF said in a statement.
"It will be a huge responsibility to oversee its future growth and work continuously towards offering the best services to the investor through a process driven approach which is high on transparency, convenience, and value creation," Rao said.
SBI Mutual Fund, which has established itself amongst the top five fund houses in the country, has an assets base of Rs 1,19,878 crore as on June 30.