And as usual, discussion about ‘new mutual fund commission disclosure norms imposed by Sebi’ has turned its direction and became a chorus against insurance industry and its regulator, IRDA. One mutual fund CEO even asked publicly whether “insurance companies are revealing commissions”.
Before getting into disclosure norms followed by insurance companies and possible improvements needed there, let us state unequivocally that the argument of “IRDA is not doing its work properly, so Sebi also should not do” is not an acceptable one.
Before demanding more disclosure from insurance companies, let us take a closer look at what is disclosed there right now. First, commission is disclosed very clearly in the last column of benefit illustrations for unit-linked insurance plans (ULIP). Since ULIP is the insurance product that is similar to mutual funds, this should answer one complaint from the mutual fund industry.
