<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><root available-locales="en_US," default-locale="en_US"><static-content language-id="en_US"><![CDATA[<p>In the back row of the darkened hall, three ladies were busy trying to pick the winners. They would quickly review the shortlist that appeared on the big display screens; short animated bursts of chat, and each selected her most-likely-to-win candidate. Once the winners were announced, there were a couple of low-fives, and a sigh or two. Not exactly the kind of excitement that you would expect to see at a mutual funds awards event. <br><br>The evening of 17 March 2011 celebrated the success and recognised the achievements of the captains of the mutual fund industry. This second year of the Businessworld-Value Research Best Mutual Fund Awards was special; apart from recognising the funds themselves, it also marked the achievements of individual fund managers. <br><br>Coming as it did on the heels of the global financial meltdown of 2007-08, creating wealth for investors at a time when everyone was talking about survival and preserving capital was really important. <br><br>Recalling the words of the Oracle of Omaha, legendary investor Warren Buffett, Prosenjit Datta, editor of Businessworld, said: "It is only when the tide goes down that you know who is swimming naked! When the tide went out in the Indian markets a couple of years ago during the global financial meltdown, most Indian fund managers had their swimming trunks well in place." <br><br>The evening gathering — held at the ITC Grand Central in Mumbai — had a sizeable turnout, even though it was an event-packed day: the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced changes in the interest rate regime in its mid-quarter review of monetary policy the same afternoon.<br><br>In his opening remarks, D.D. Purkayastha, managing director and chief executive officer of the ABP Group, said: "Mutual funds have attracted investors of every kind, from housewives who want to put small parts of their savings into equity markets to middle-income managers looking to create a corpus for retirement to sophisticated corporate and finance managers who want to park excess cash for both the short- and medium-term." He added: "We are gathered here to honour the managers who run the country's best performing funds in different categories. They have been entrusted with a lot of wealth by the investors and they have repaid that trust by producing excellent results year after year." <br><br>Praising the mutual fund industry for spreading financial literacy among people beyond tier-1 cities and the English-speaking public, U. Venkataraman, executive director, MCX Stock Exchange, said: "If we do a crystal-ball gazing of the mutual fund industry in the decade to come, I see a well-informed retail investor base across the country, asset under management (AUM) of 10x from the present level, 100 million demat accounts, and more exchanges to facilitate investment goals." <br><br>In his keynote address, the chief guest, Thomas Mathew, joint secretary (capital markets), department of economic affairs, at the Ministry of Finance, applauded the mutual fund industry for its efforts of transforming from a non-transparent one without much investor protection to a robust, transparent, well-regulated and well-managed industry. <br><br>However, Mathew also pointed out that for all its success, the industry is still shallow. "Not more than 1 per cent stake of the household in this country has some share in the mutual fund industry; this implies the potential which rests with the mutual fund industry," said Mathew, who emphasised: "If you (mutual fund industry) ensure that there is financial inclusion, then the industry would gain greater depth, which is critical for the nation to move forward in the 21st century." <br><br>Mathew went on to point out that today the mutual fund industry depends on corporates (institutional money), and this has to change. "We find 42 per cent of the AUM comes from retail investors, compared to the US, where almost 86 per cent of the total AUM are from retail investors; Japan is 68 per cent and for Korea, it is 67 per cent." <br><br>Mathew also talked of the responsibilities of the mutual fund industry in spreading financial literacy and penetrating rural India. According to him, on the longer-term basis, the industry has to focus on investors' education, financial literacy, greater penetration in rural areas and, more importantly, self-imposed code of conduct so as to make sure that investors are not misguided. <br><br>That way, he suggested, if the US sneezed (as it did in 2007), India would not catch pneumonia, even if it caught a cold. "Build confidence in investors. Unless you are able to win the confidence of investors, the mutual fund industry would not be able to achieve depth," said Mathew. The finance minister, in his budget speech, has given the nod for opening up the mutual fund industry, giving it access to qualified foreign investors, added Mathew. "This is what I think is a game changer," he stressed. <br><br>HDFC Mutual Fund's Milind Barve walked away with the Best Asset Management Company (AMC) Award, while Sankaran Naren, CIO-equity at ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund, won three awards this year, including Best Equity Fund Manager and Smartest Fund Manager. The best debt fund manager of the year award went to Ritesh Jain of Canara Robeco Mutual Fund. <br><br>At the end of the formal ceremony, the Businessworld's Best Mutual Funds special issue was unveiled by Thomas Mathew, Aveek Sarkar, editor-in-chief of the ABP Group, and Prosenjit Datta. As Pavan Varshnei, president (English magazines) of ABP Group, said in his closing remarks, "You will find the special issue very informative. It not only gives an exhaustive analysis of what the best mutual funds do differently, but also how fund managers are generating good returns for the investors." <br><br>The presenting sponsor for the awards was MCX Stock Exchange. Whyte & Mackay partnered the event, while Bloomberg UTV was the television partner.<br><br><br>(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 04-04-2011)</p>