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Kotak Mutual Fund

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Kotak Mutual Fund
Company typePrivate company
IndustryInvestment management
Founded1998; 27 years ago (1998)
HeadquartersMumbai, Maharashtra, India
Area served
India
Key people
Nilesh Shah (MD)[1]
Harsha Upadhyaya (CIO Equity)[2][3][4]
Products
AUMIncrease ₹362,190 crore (US$43 billion) (December 2023)[5]
Number of employees
500+
ParentKotak Mahindra Bank
Websitewww.kotakmf.com

Kotak Mutual Fund (Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company Limited) is an Indian asset management company and a wholly owned subsidiary of Kotak Mahindra Bank.[6] It was established in 1985 by Uday Kotak as part of the Kotak Mahindra finance group,[6] and began its mutual fund operations in 1998.[6] As of 31 march 2025 Kotak Mutual Fund ranked 5th by AUM among 43 Indian AMC’s.[6] The company is headquartered in Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex and manages investment portfolios for millions of investors across India. As of March 31, 2025, Kotak Mutual Fund’s AUM stood at ₹4.78 lakh crore (≈US$58 billion),[6] with over 1.31 crore investor folios on record.[6]

History

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Kotak Mahindra’s entry into the mutual fund business came in December 1998, when Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company launched its first mutual fund.[6] The inaugural schemes were two gilt funds (government securities funds) – Kotak Gilt Long Term Fund and Kotak Gilt Short Term Fund – which were allotted on 29 December 1998.[6] These launches made Kotak one of the first private-sector AMCs in India to offer a dedicated mutual fund focused on government securities.[7]

Kotak Mutual Fund is part of the broader Kotak Mahindra financial services group. It became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kotak Mahindra Bank and operates under the bank’s umbrella in the financial sector.[6] The fund house has achieved several firsts and milestones. Notably, in December 2020 Kotak Mutual Fund launched the Kotak International REIT Fund of Funds, which was India’s first international real-estate (REIT) focused fund-of-funds.[8] This product allowed domestic investors to gain exposure to global real estate investment trusts and marked a significant innovation in the Indian mutual fund industry.

Products and services

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Kotak Mutual Fund offers a comprehensive range of investment products and services catering to various investor needs:

• Mutual Fund Schemes: The fund house manages a wide array of mutual fund schemes across all major asset classes – equity funds, debt funds, hybrid/balanced funds, tax-saving funds (ELSS), exchange-traded funds (ETFs), fund-of-funds, and others.[6] As of early 2024, Kotak AMC was managing over 260 mutual fund schemes designed for different risk profiles and investment objectives.[9] These include diversified equity funds, sector/thematic funds, index funds, money-market and income funds, among others.

Portfolio Management Services (PMS): In addition to mutual funds for the broad investor market, Kotak Mahindra Asset Management provides portfolio management services for high-net-worth individuals and institutional clients.[6][9] The PMS offers customized investment portfolios managed by professional fund managers, catering to investors seeking more personalized asset management strategies.

• Pension and Alternate Assets: Kotak AMC is also involved in managing pension fund mandates. Through its subsidiary Kotak Mahindra Pension Fund Ltd., it serves as a manager for National Pension System (NPS) assets and other retirement funds.[9] Moreover, the Kotak group’s asset management arm offers alternative investment funds (AIFs) and structured products to clients (often through the Kotak Investment Advisors unit), expanding its offerings beyond traditional mutual funds.[7] This includes managing private equity, real estate funds, and other alternative asset classes under regulatory frameworks.

• Distribution and Reach: As of March 2025 Kotak Mutual Fund has 100 branches in 80 cities in India. The fund house relies on a large network of empanelled distributors and advisors – over 79,000 distributors as of 2023[6] (and crossing 99,000 by 2025[6]) – to reach investors even in smaller towns. The AMC also leverages online platforms and the Kotak Bank branch network to offer its funds. As a result, Kotak MF serves a broad investor base (more than 8 million investor accounts by 2024) and contributes significantly to increasing mutual fund penetration in India.[6]

Major Milestones

• 1985: Uday Kotak founded Kotak Mahindra Finance Ltd., the non-banking finance company that would later spawn Kotak’s banking and asset management businesses.[6]

• 1998: Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund was launched. Kotak AMC began operations in December 1998, introducing its first mutual fund schemes (two gilt funds focused on government securities) on 29 December 1998.[6] The first branch opened in Mumbai the same year.[6]

• 2003: Within five years of launch, Kotak MF’s assets under management grew to around ₹3,000 crore by March 2003, with about 93,000 investor folios, reflecting early growth of the fund house.[6] (In February 2003, parent company Kotak Mahindra Finance also received a banking license, becoming Kotak Mahindra Bank.)

• 2013: Kotak Mutual Fund’s AUM reached approximately ₹29,000 crore by March 2013, with an investor count of over 22 lakh (2.2 million) folios.[6] Around this time, Kotak MF was the ninth largest AMC in India by AUM.

• 2020: Kotak Mutual Fund launched India’s first international REIT Fund-of-Funds – the Kotak International REIT FoF – in December 2020,[10] allowing Indian investors to invest in global real estate investment trusts. According to Mint[8] it was India’s first International REIT Fund of Funds.

• 2023: The fund house saw robust growth in the 2020s. By September 2023, Kotak MF’s AUM had crossed ₹3.3 lakh crore.[6] It rose to rank as the 5th largest mutual fund company in India by AUM[6] (up from 9th a decade prior). The company also reported having over 1 crore investor folios by 2023.

• 2025: As of March 31, 2025, Kotak Mutual Fund’s AUM stood at ₹4.78 lakh crore,[6] marking a new high. In March 2025, the AMC introduced a new initiative called “Choti SIP”, enabling investments with a small-ticket SIP of just ₹250 per month to encourage first-time investors.[11] This move aligned with industry efforts to improve retail participation in mutual funds.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Kotak Mutual Fund appoints Nilesh Shah as MD". Business Standard. 14 January 2015. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  2. ^ "Harsha Upadhyaya, CIO – Equity, Kotak Mahindra Asset Management". India Infoline. 7 September 2017. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  3. ^ "Avoid the noise and focus on goals, says Lakshmi Iyer, Kotak Mutual Fund". Economic Indiatimes. 30 August 2017. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  4. ^ "Betting on 2 themes in next 3–5 years: Anshul Saigal, Kotak Mahindra AMC". Economic Indiatimes. 20 July 2017. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  5. ^ "Top 10 mutual funds in India; Nippon India Mutual Fund AUM rises 37.06% in 2023". economictimes.indiatimes.com/. 16 January 2024.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v "About Us". Kotak Mutual Fund. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
  7. ^ a b "Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund - All MF Schemes, Ratings, Returns, AUM". Dhan. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
  8. ^ a b "Live Mint".
  9. ^ a b c "Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund - All MF Schemes, Ratings, Returns, AUM". Dhan. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
  10. ^ "Kotak Mutual Fund launches India's first international REIT fund of funds". Livemint.
  11. ^ Standard, Business. "Kotak Mutual Fund introduces 'Choti SIP' to make investing more accessible". www.business-standard.com. Archived from the original on 22 March 2025. Retrieved 2 July 2025. {{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help)
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