Mutual fund investors to get single statement across all investments

SEBI has asked the four RTAs like CAMS, KARVY, Franklin Templeton and Deutsche Investor Services to club investor data together and provide a consolidated statement of account for all investments in mutual funds

Have you invested in five different schemes of different fund houses and are tired of receiving five different statements of accounts? Then you will be in for some relief. Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is mulling to cut down the paperwork and provide a common account statement for all mutual fund investors with the help of four registrar and transfer agents (RTAs). This move will reduce the paperwork and cost for AMCs. 

Deutsche Investor Services Pvt Ltd, Computer Age Management Services (CAMS), Franklin Templeton and Karvy Mutual Fund Services are the four RTAs who will work on compiling investor data.

“There is a plan to set up a separate platform so that the industry can deliver one statement across investments in various mutual funds. We have done some work on conceptualisation, scope of services, etc. Huge economies will flow in. It will reduce the efforts of investors and distributors,” said a source in the know of the development.

“There are two efforts that are being undertaken. One is that those who have a demat account (equity investors) can get their MF units in demat form for which the consolidated information is available with the National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) and Central Depository Services (India) Ltd (CDSL). There is another effort going on where RTA data is being clubbed to provide a consolidated statement. There are resources available for aggregating data. There will be no sharing of investor information between NSDL and RTAs. The data aggregation will be based on PAN and things like that,” said another source close to the development.

For instance, if an investor is holding MF units in demat form with NSDL or CDSL and also some units through RTAs, he will get two separate consolidated statements. That is, one from NSDL and the second consolidated statement from the four RTAs. If he is also holding stocks, then the same demat statement will reflect his stock and fund investments together. If an investor’s information is with RTAs then he will get a single account statement across the RTAs.

CAMS and KARVY currently provide an online service on their website for investors to track their transaction status, account information and to see a consolidated view of account by providing an email ID. Investors are required to create a user account on the CAMS or KARVY website. There are plans to club this data across RTAs and send a single consolidated statement to MF investors.

The RTAs are awaiting SEBI’s nod for implementing this new system. According to sources, it is expected to be implemented by the next three to six months. KN Vaidyanathan, executive director, SEBI, had recently shared this plan in a recent mutual fund CII summit. “The third area where the regulator is working on is for those who come directly through the asset management companies (AMCs) or one of the investor services centre providers like KARVY or CAMS. We want to make sure that if the investor so chooses he should get a single view. We will put in place a mechanism where the investor will get a single view.”

“The proposal has been made. The regulator is very positive about it,” said a source close to the development. “This is good for the investors and industry at large. It’s late but it’s good that SEBI is thinking about implementing this. It will benefit all stakeholders,” said an official from a fund house.