Amfi Launches Initiatives to Boost MF Accessibility & Financial Literacy

New Delhi, Feb 22 (PTI) Industry body Amfi has launched three initiatives -- SIP for smaller investments, Tarun Yojana to encourage young investors, and MITRA to help track and recover forgotten investments.

These initiatives align with markets regulator Sebi and Association of Mutual Funds in India's ongoing efforts to democratise mutual fund investments, ensuring wider participation across diverse segments of society.

A Rs 250 systematic investment plan (SIP) is a sachetisation of mutual fund (MF) designed to make MF investing more accessible, especially for first-time investors and those from underserved segments.

The Tarun Yojana seeks to integrate financial literacy into school curricula, equipping young minds with foundational knowledge of investment principles.

Meanwhile, the MITRA (Mutual Fund Investment Tracing and Retrieval Assistant) platform addresses a long-standing challenge by enabling investors and their legal heirs to identify and recover inactive or forgotten MF holdings, ensuring rightful asset ownership.

The country's MF industry has witnessed robust growth, with assets under management (AUM) surpassing Rs 65 lakh crore, reflecting increasing retail participation and a growing preference for systematic, long-term investing.

However, a significant portion of the population remains outside the formal investment ecosystem due to barriers such as lack of awareness, accessibility constraints.

To bridge this gap between financial markets and retail investors, Amfi has been taking several measures and the latest initiatives are in the same direction.

"Mutual funds are a key pillar of financial empowerment, enabling individuals to participate in India's growth story. These initiatives are designed to ensure that investing is not just accessible but also secure, transparent, and aligned with the financial well-being of every Indian," AMFI Chairman Navneet Munot said in a statement.

Amfi Chief Executive Venkat Chalasani said the MF industry has a pivotal role in shaping India's financial landscape. "Through these initiatives, Amfi aims to lower entry barriers, instil financial literacy at an early stage, and provide investors with mechanisms to track and retrieve their investments," he said.