Indian mutual fund Quant Mutual Fund said in a statement to its investors that it was responding to questions posed by the country’s markets regulator, without specifying the nature of those questions.
Local news site Money Control reported on Sunday evening that the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) was investigating allegations of “front running” – that is, trading on price-sensitive information before their general distribution – within the mutual fund.
We will provide all necessary support and continue to provide data to SEBI on a regular basis and as needed, the fund said in its statement, seen by Reuters.
With assets under management of 930 billion Indian rupees ($11 billion), Quant Mutual Fund is the fastest growing fund management company in India. It ranks 18th in terms of assets under management out of 44 asset managers in India.
It actively invests in small and mid-caps, whose benchmark indices have climbed 69.48% and 59.28%, respectively, over the past 12 months.
A SEBI spokesperson did not respond to an email from Reuters on Sunday. Quant Mutual Fund did not respond to questions from Reuters, but confirmed that a statement had been sent to investors.
($1 = 83.5580 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Jayshree P Upadhyay; Editing by David Holmes)
