Other AMCs too are actively looking for the new cadre of distributors
UTI Mutual Fund has roped in more than 500 new cadre of distributors after SEBI opened up a new channel of distributors like postal agents, retired government and semi-government officials, retired teachers, retired bank officers and bank correspondents.
UTI MF has also sponsored the certification for new cadre of distributors. UTI is also imparting training on preparing a financial plan and on operational procedures like KYC, bank account requirements, etc.
Other AMCs too are in the process of enrolling new distributors. HDFC and ICICI Prudential are looking at retired bank employees and postal agents across India.
“We are spreading the message among prospective distributors across the country. We are looking to add distributors with a certain level of quality like retired bank officials and postal agents to begin with,” said Raghav Iyengar, EVP & Head – Retail & Institutional Business, ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund.
Enrolling these distributors has not been an easy task for AMCs. Firstly, NISM verifies the experience of new cadre of distributors after which they are given training. After this training, AMCs approach CAMS for registering and procuring ARNs. CAMS also conducts a second layer of due diligence by verifying the original documents of distributors.
People qualifying as new cadre of distributors can either pass the existing NISM-Series-V-B: Mutual Fund Foundation Certification Examination or complete a one day NISM Mutual Fund Foundation CPE Program. Some fund officials say that there is no clarity regarding 10 year experience criteria required for bank correspondents and insurance agents.
The new cadre of distributors will not be required to shell out any ARN registration fee till June 30, 2013.
SEBI’s efforts to add a new layer of distributors comes in the wake of declining distribution force in the industry. Out of the 80,000 registered ARNs with AMFI, today, there are about 50,000 odd KYD compliant distributors. Out of these 50,000 distributors, unofficial reports peg the active distributors number at a much lower 10,000.
