The commission outgo of top five mutual funds rose 13% to Rs 3,384 crore in FY 2021 but is still significantly down from the Rs 3,933 crore payment made in FY 2019, shows an analysis of commission data disclosed by mutual funds.
According to MFDs, the Rs 376 crore rise in commission payment by top MFs is a result of the massive surge in mutual fund AUM post the sharp fall in March-April 2020.
They said the commission figure will take time to return to the FY 2019 level as ban on upfront commission in 2018 left a huge dent on payments made to MFDs. The commission outgo of top five MFs declined 24% to Rs 3,008 crore in FY 2020 from Rs 3,933 crore in FY 2019.
Fund House |
Commission outgo FY21 |
Commission outgo FY20 |
Commission outgo FY19 |
SBI |
885 |
665 |
838 |
HDFC |
638 |
684 |
971 |
ICICI Prudential |
826 |
685 |
1,006 |
Aditya Birla Sun Life |
441 |
495 |
650 |
Kotak Mahindra |
594 |
479 |
468 |
Total |
3384 |
3008 |
3933 |
However, the rise in commission payment is not uniform for all the top five mutual funds. In fact, the payment contracted year-on-year in the case HDFC MF and ABSL MF. HDFC MF paid Rs 638 crore commission in FY 2021 as against Rs 684 crore in FY 2020. ABSL MF's commission payment declined from Rs 495 crore to Rs 441 crore.
SBI MF registered the highest surge in commission payment at Rs 885 crore. In FY 2020, the fund house paid Rs 665 crore. ICICI Prudential MF and Kotak Mahindra MF also posted a rise in commission outgo.