Slow expansion of MFs worries Sinha

Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) Chairman U K Sinha on Monday pulled up mutual fund houses for failing to open more branches and for a drop in equity assets from beyond the top-15 cities. "In the last 15 months, (the mutual fund) industry has opened only 55 branches beyond the top 15 cities... the initial hopes and expectations of Sebi have not been fulfilled. The number of systematic investment plans are not increasing," he said at an event organised by SBI Mutual Fund. As of December 2013, the total assets under management (AUM) of mutual fund houses stood at Rs 8.25 lakh crore. The top-15 cities contributed 87 per cent of the total AUM.