Common Platform for Mutual Funds to Improve Investor Services
On the portal, investors will be able to submit requests for both transactions and services.
Common Platform for Mutual Funds to Improve Investor Services
Industry experts said on Tuesday that the market regulator Sebi’s plan to create a uniform platform for mutual funds will significantly boost investor services. Investors will be able to put both transactional and service requests on the site.
The regulator requested registrars and transfer agents (RTAs) to create a standard industry-wide platform for the buying and selling of mutual funds as well as to manage service requests in a circular on Monday. RTAs will work together to build the platform.
The interoperable solution is conceptualized to go live in three separate phases, all of which are intended to go live by the end of current calendar year, according to KFin Technologies CEO Sreekanth Nadella. According to him, the mobility platform will be introduced in Phase II, while the first phase focuses on non-commercial transactions (such as service requests from investors), financial portfolio, and CAS, among other aspects.
“The last stage entails business dealings and ecosystem partner integration for a number of value-added services.
“Phase-I is moving quite quickly, with a sizable amount of work already finished. According to him, the platforms’ sustenance might come from offering players marketing space and ecosystem integration, among other things.
Groww co-founder and COO Harsh Jain claimed that the change will make things more easier for everyone, including investors. It may enhance and elevate everyone’s mutual fund experience, just like UPI did for the payments industry, he claimed.
Harshad Chetanwala, a co-founder of MyWealthGrowth.com, claimed that the planned platform will benefit investors, especially for service-related transactions. After having said that, investors can already invest through a portal like MF Utility (MFU) in the majority of asset management firms (AMCs). This will therefore be yet another platform started by RTAs.
“Online investors have encountered numerous situations where they needed to contact each AMC or RTA to amend their information. Investors may just need to start one transaction to handle these types of requests today thanks to this site, he said. Additionally, when it develops, investors will save a significant amount of time.
From the standpoint of digital platforms, Chetanwala claimed that the majority of players have partnered with either BSE, NSE, or MFU to provide all of the products. As soon as the RTAs develop their systems and begin making them available to the digital players, this project will gain another potential partner.
Investors no longer need to submit their paperwork to several AMCs, according to Jimmy Patel, MD and CEO of Quantum Mutual Fund. It is necessary to adhere to all infrastructure, entities, and data security rules.
According to a BSE spokeswoman, Sebi’s initiatives to standardize communications and services will significantly improve the accessibility of all MF services, including those provided by stock exchanges and other platforms, which is presently not achievable.
According to Sebi, the platform will eventually enable investors to execute mutual fund transactions, such as purchases, redemptions, and switches, as well as to initiate and follow up on service requests, change e-mail addresses, contact information, and bank account information, and initiate and follow up on queries and grievances.
Additionally, it will make it easier for investors to access records relating to investments, such as holdings of mutual funds (both in Demat and conventional statement of account), transactions reports, capital gains or loss reports, and information on unclaimed dividends or redemption, among others.
Investors will have seamless access to these services for all mutual funds through this portal. “RTAs shall make the aforesaid platform operational in a phased manner (starting with non-financial transactions) and shall be fully operational by December 31, 2021,” Sebi stated.
Common Platform for Mutual Funds to Improve Investor Services