Online broking firm Groww has received approval from the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to launch its first index fund. The company will launch the Groww Nifty Total Markets Index Fund through a new fund offering (NFO).
“Groww Mutual Fund got approval for its first NFO — Groww Nifty Total Market Index Fund,” tweeted Groww’s co-founder Lalit Keshre on Twitter.
This comes at a time when online stock broking firm Zerodha launched the country’s first passive fund, with its two new schemes Zerodha Tax Saver (ELSS) Nifty Large Midcap 250 Index Fund and Zerodha Nifty Large Midcap 250 Index Fund (ZN250) under its mutual fund business, Zerodha Asset Management Ltd.
- Also read: Groww introduces UPI with ‘Pay’ feature
A new fund offer (NFO) is the first subscription offering for any new fund offered by an investment company.
In 2021, Groww got the approval of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to acquire Indiabulls Asset Management Company (AMC) and Indiabulls Trustee Company.
In May, Groww acquired a 100 per cent stake in the mutual fund business of Indiabulls Housing Finance for ₹175.62 crore in an all-cash deal. In the same month, SEBI took steps to regulate online investment platforms, including Paytm, Zerodha, and Groww, that facilitate transactions in direct plans for mutual fund schemes referred to as execution-only platforms or EOPs.
Founded in 2017 by Lalit Keshre, Harsh Jain, Neeraj Singh and Ishan Bansal, Groww offers new ways for stockbroking, equity-linked savings, SIPs, IPOs, ETFs, and direct mutual funds.
The company has raised a total funding of $393 million over eight rounds, according to data by Tracxn.