Over 10,000 new individuals join MF distribution business in April-Sept 2023

Industry data shows that 10,108 individuals took up mutual fund distribution during the first six months of the current financial year.  This number is marginally less than the corresponding period last year when 10,807 individuals joined the MF industry.

Here is how the month-on-month new individual ARN addition looks like.

Commenting on these figures, G Pradeepkumar, CEO, Union MF said, “The new registration count is more or less stable and you can’t read much in this marginal decline.”  

“Also going by the feedback that I have received, it appears that the new entrants in the MF industry are relatively more serious and more committed to mutual fund distribution. Hence, though there is no quantitative rise, there seems to be a qualitative improvement.”

To this Jimmy Patel, MD & CEO, Quantum MF said, “While the dip is not major, it shows that mutual funds are yet to emerge as a lucrative offering as against other financial products, largely in terms of commission attractiveness and ease of fulfilling regulatory requirements.”

Additionally, uncertainty on B-30 incentives could probably be another reason as per Raghav Iyengar, CBO, Axis MF. He said, “Once there is clarity on B-30 incentives, it may have a positive impact on the ARN registrations.”

Mutual Fund Distributor Karein Shuru?

AMFI launched the ‘Mutual Fund Distributor Karein Shuru?' initiative in Jul 2022 to establish mutual fund distribution as a lucrative opportunity and encourage more and more individuals to take up it up as a career. However, there has been no significant month-on-month uptick since then.

Sharing his views, Jimmy said, “Given the initiative was launched only last year, it is too early to analyse its impact.”

“Mutual Fund Distributor Karein Shuru? is a good initiative and is likely to go strong as it receives more and more visibility over time, just like it happened in the case of Mutual Funds Sahi Hai”, added G Pradeepkumar.