Nippon India MF reaches Leh

Tsewang Namgyal, a car driver in Leh, plans to put in ₹250 a month through systematic investment plan in Nippon mutual fund as he was curious and has no knowledge of mutual funds.

His comfort comes from his friend Shazar Hussain who is already aware of Mutual funds through his son working in Delhi. However, Hussain has never taken the effort to try it himself, but now that Nippon MF has opened the first-ever office of a MF in Leh with two dedicated local employees he is eager to take the plunge.

Jigmat Diskit, a hotel receptionist, has made an initial inquiry and wants to put in small amounts from her salary for her son’s education.

In a bid to break the ice, Nippon India MF held a town hall meeting with over 350 army personnel in Leh to educate the benefit of disciplined investment and build a corpus for peaceful retirement. Nippon MF’s campaign of SIPahi has come in handy to drive home the message.

Talking of mutual fund penetration, there are only 12 AMC branches in the whole of Jammu and Kashmir with an average assets under management of about ₹10,500 crore—representing merely 4 per cent of the state’s gross domestic product of ₹2.5 lakh crore.

Tashi Gyalson, chief of Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council and member of BJP said given the money people lose in ponzi online schemes in this region, there is an urgent need more financial literacy and many MFs will follow Nippon MF to this region sooner than later.

To employ local youth, Nippon India MF has opened a training centre and first-ever National Institute of Securities Markets test centre in Leh. The first online NISM exam to become a MF distributor will be held on August 22.

Sandeep Sikka, CEO told businessline that thanks to Major Genaral VP Malik, who led India to victory in Kargil war and independent director of Nippon India MF, the fund house managed to reach a place at about 11,500 feet above sea level where finding enough oxygen to breath itself is not easy.

The fund house has literally started from ground zero, right from identifying and educating distributors and investors and setting up physical infrastructure, he said.

“It may not be a run-away success at Leh and it could take 3-5 years, but we are happy to have taken the first baby step in Leh,” he added. Nippon India MF has punched in 11 applications on day one.

Venkat Chalasani, CEO, Association of Mutual Funds in India said it is really a wonder that none of the fund houses have not reached Leh-Ladakh region 61 years since MF was introduced in this country.

Given the presence of all the leading public and private sector banks in Leh, he added the potential of this region appears to be immense and the physical presence of Nippon India MF will definitely boost local public confidence.

Published on August 3, 2025

Image used for represenatation purpose only.
| Photo Credit:
Natalie Maro

Viresh Joshi, a former chief trader and fund manager of Axis Mutual Fund, has been arrested under the anti-money laundering law in a case linked to alleged cheating of investors to the tune of ₹2 lakh crore by ‘front-running’ in trade activities, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said on Sunday.

A special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court has sent Joshi, who was taken into custody on Saturday, to ED custody till August 8, the agency said.

Front-running refers to an unethical and illegal practice in the securities market in which brokers or traders execute orders for their own benefit using advance knowledge of pending client orders. This malpractice compromises market integrity and disadvantages other investors.

The federal probe agency launched searches in the case on August 1, covering multiple premises in Delhi, Mumbai, Gurugram, Ludhiana, Ahmedabad, Bhavnagar, Bhuj and Kolkata.

The ED has been investigating the matter under the civil provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). The Income Tax Department had conducted searches in this case in 2022.

“The search operations were part of an ongoing investigation into the illegal profits made by certain entities/persons by indulging in front-running trade activities in scrips traded by Axis Mutual Fund from 2018 to 2021,” the ED said.

The money laundering case stems from an FIR registered by the Mumbai Police in December 2024, alleging that Joshi, the then-fund manager of Axis Mutual Fund, “exploited” confidential information on the trades to be executed on behalf of Axis Mutual Fund to pre-emptively trade stocks, generating substantial “illicit” gains.

Joshi, hence, “cheated” the investors of Axis Mutual Fund, which holds assets under management of more than ₹2 lakh crore, the ED said.

“The accused had utilised a terminal in Dubai to punch the front-running trade orders through mule trading accounts obtained from various brokers.

“In addition to Joshi, the investigation has revealed that many other traders/brokers also misused the advance inputs on Axis Mutual Fund trades and indulged in front-running to generate illicit trade profits, which are nothing but proceeds of crime,” the agency alleged.

The alleged illicit funds generated by various traders/brokers, identified till date, amount to more than ₹200 crore and this sum could be much higher, the ED said.

The agency claimed that the proceeds of the fraud were funnelled through multiple shell entities and bank accounts beneficially owned by the accused persons/entities and their family members.

The ED said it froze shares, mutual funds and bank balance worth ₹17.4 crore during the searches.

Published on August 3, 2025