Ex-Sebi executive director K N Vaidyanathan back on MF advisory panel

K N Vaidyanathan — the man who eight years ago as an executive director at Sebi had shaken up the mutual fund industry by abolishing entry loads — is back with the markets regulator. But this time in an advisory role.

Vaidyanathan is one of the 18 members of Sebi's newly constituted mutual fund advisory committee, which is being headed by former SBI chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya, the regulator's communication to the committee members showed.

Vaidyanathan, who once had worked with Morgan Stanley, is now the chief risk officer with homegrown automotive major Mahindra & Mahindra.


In June 2009, Sebi, with its mutual fund and foreign investments departments under Vaidyanathan, had abolished the 2.5% fee that fund houses charged investors when they invested money in most of their funds.

The regulator's decision had faced a strong resistance from the distributor community and to some extent from the fund industry as well.
However, Sebi stayed firm on its decision. Eight years down the line most investors and fund houses feel that it was a very good decision for long-term investors.

The committee is constituted to advise Sebi on matters relating to regulation of mutual funds for ensuring investor protection, to advise the regulator on issues related to development of the mutual fund industry, on disclosure requirements, and also to advise on changes required in legal framework to make things simpler and bring in transparency.

Sebi has 17 panels and advisory committees, with experts from various related sectors and fields as members, to help the regulator oversee the market smoothly and efficiently.