Wealth First Portfolio Managers receives Sebi nod to launch mutual fund business

Wealth First Portfolio Managers on Friday announced that it has received approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to start its mutual fund operations. The move marks a key step in the company’s plan to build an innovation-driven asset management platform in India.

The new AMC, Lakshya Asset Management Company, will be sponsored by Wealth First Portfolio Managers, a publicly listed wealth management firm on the NSE and BSE with a growing presence across the country, the company said in a press release.

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Lakshya AMC will also be the first asset management company to be headquartered in Ahmedabad, reflecting a broader shift towards building financial institutions beyond traditional metro hubs.

Further details on product launches and timelines will be announced in due course, the press release added.

Lakshya AMC plans to leverage its strong sponsorship, experienced leadership team, and innovation-driven philosophy to introduce a suite of differentiated investment products tailored to evolving investor needs in India.

“Our focus in this AMC will be to identify gaps in the investment landscape and build products that effectively address those needs. We believe there is a significant opportunity to create differentiated offerings that deliver meaningful value to investors,” said Ashish Shah, Managing Director, Wealth First Portfolio Managers.

Lakshya Asset Management Company has also onboarded key members of the founding team of Benchmark Asset Management Company — Sanjiv Shah, Rajan Mehta, and Sanjay Gaitonde — widely recognized as pioneers of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) in India.

Benchmark AMC was behind several industry-first products, including India’s first ETF, Nifty BeES; India’s first gold ETF, Gold BeES (the world’s first gold ETF filed with regulators); and the world’s first money market ETF, Liquid BeES.

“Just like Benchmark, our approach at Lakshya will be rooted in innovation. We aim to design investment solutions that solve real-world investment challenges and simplify investing for a wide range of investors,” said Sanjiv Shah, former Co-founder of Benchmark Asset Management and Director at Lakshya AMC.

Marking the return of the team that introduced exchange-traded funds to Indian investors more than two decades ago.

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Founded in 2001, Benchmark also was the first Mutual fund in India which focused exclusively on passive and quantitative investment which is one of the fastest growing segments today. The Benchmark AMC product suite was subsequently acquired by Nippon Life India Asset Management from Goldman Sachs Asset Management.

India’s mutual fund industry has expanded dramatically from about Rs 1 lakh crore in assets under management in 2001 — when Benchmark was founded — to over Rs 82 lakh crore in early 2026, according to the latest data from Association of Mutual Funds in India.

Despite this growth, passive investing still represents only 19–20% of total mutual fund AUM in India, compared with over 50% in the United States, indicating substantial headroom for further expansion

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