Sebi sets minimum asset limit for debt MF schemes

Mumbai: The Securities and Exchange Board of India, or Sebi, on Friday directed all debt-oriented and balanced mutual fund schemes to have a minimum subscription amount of Rs.20 crore at the time of a new fund offer (NFO). For other schemes, the minimum subscription requirement will be Rs.10 crore.

Sebi said many debt-oriented schemes are operating with very low assets under management, or AUM. “In the interest of investors, it is important that debt-oriented schemes have an adequate corpus to ensure adherence to the investment objectives...,” said Sebi.

Additionally, an average AUM of Rs.20 crore on a half-yearly rolling basis has to be maintained for open-ended debt-oriented schemes.

Existing open-ended debt-oriented schemes will be given a year to comply with this norm.

If any open-ended debt scheme happens to be in breach of the latest norms, asset management companies, or AMCs, will be given six months to scale up their assets for compliance.

Securities and Exchange Board of India ( SEBI )