In a move that could reduce transparency around the pay of ‘star fund managers’, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has proposed allowing asset management companies (AMCs) to disclose aggregate remuneration and the total number of employees covered, instead of disclosing the remuneration of individual employees.

The proposal follows a representation from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI), which has recommended a consolidated remuneration disclosure framework.

“This would provide a holistic and structured view of senior management compensation, enabling unitholders to assess the overall quantum of remuneration at the senior management level, while aligning the level of disclosure with considerations of materiality and proportionality,” SEBI said in a consultation paper.

At present, if a ‘star fund manager’ earns Rs 20 crore or Rs 25 crore annually, investors can identify that individual through AMC disclosures. “Under the proposed framework, investors would lose visibility into whether a small group of ‘star fund managers’ are drawing disproportionately large compensation packages. This will reduce transparency. Fund managers are effectively custodians of public savings, and their remuneration should be subject to public disclosure,” said a mutual fund tracker.

“It is proposed that scheme level consolidated disclosure of total remuneration paid to fund managers at scheme level may be made available upon specific request of unitholders and may be limited to the schemes in which the investor requesting such details has invested as on the date of making such request,” the regulator’s paper said.

Currently, mutual funds are required to disclose the names, designation and remuneration of top ten employees in terms of the pay drawn for that financial year, as well as of employees whose annual remuneration was equal to or above Rs 1.02 crore for the financial years or whose monthly remuneration in aggregate was not less than Rs 8.5 lakh per month, if the employee is employed for a part of that financial year.

SEBI paper said listed AMCs are already subject to detailed remuneration disclosure requirements under the SEBI LODR read with the Companies Act, including granular, component-wise disclosures in their annual reports. In contrast, unlisted AMCs operate within a different structural and regulatory context, and are not subject to such frameworks.

The disclosure requirements applicable to listed entities may not be directly comparable to those for unlisted AMCs, it said. In this regard, rationalization of disclosure requirements under the SEBI Master Circular may be considered for unlisted AMCs to ensure that the disclosure standards are commensurate with their regulatory and ownership structure while continuing to ensure adequate transparency for unitholders, it said.

Executive remuneration disclosure is an important pillar for sound corporate governance, as it enables stakeholders to assess whether compensation structures are aligned with performance, risk management, and the interests of investors, said SEBI. They also empower the stakeholders to question remuneration practices which may be inconsistent with industry standards.

In the mutual fund ecosystem, out of the 53 AMCs, 7 AMCs are listed while the remaining are unlisted. For both these categories of AMCs (listed and unlisted), at present, disclosure requirements relating to executive remuneration are prescribed under the SEBI Master Circular for Mutual Funds dated March 20, 2026.

While these frameworks have evolved over time with the objective of enhancing transparency, SEBI has received representations from industry participants, including the AMFI, highlighting concerns regarding the scope, granularity and relevance of the existing disclosure framework, it said.

It said AMFI’s representation proposed disclosure of the remuneration policy of AMCs on their websites, streamlining of existing disclosure requirements into consolidated disclosures for key employees along with the number of such employees, and a scheme-level, consolidated disclosure of remuneration of fund managers, to be provided only upon request of investors and limited to schemes in which such investors have invested.