(From left) Amfi chairman A.P. Kurian, Sebi member R.K. Nair with Indian Chamber of Commerce president Sanjay Budhia in Calcutta on Saturday. A Telegraph picture

Calcutta, Aug. 9: Retail investors may soon be able to subscribe to any mutual fund scheme through a single application form.

The Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi) has set up a seven-member committee to work on the common application form.

The form will be prepared in consultation with market regulator Sebi, Amfi chairman A. P. Kurian said on the sidelines of a seminar organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce here today.

“At present, each mutual fund house has its own application form and an investor has to fill in separate forms for different fund houses. Though the forms are different, the basic information that has to be provided by an investor is almost the same for all,” Kurian said.

“Hence we have decided to simplify the forms to make it investor-friendly so that investors can use a single form to purchase units from any mutual fund house in the country,” he added.

“We are working in close consultation with Sebi and hope to introduce it in a few months,” the Amfi chairman said.

Once this form is introduced, investors will be able to use the same form for different mutual fund schemes.

Online platform

Kurian said Amfi was planning to introduce a common online platform to buy and sell mutual fund units.

“A working committee has been set up which is looking into what should be the nature and structure of such a platform to bring together distributors and investors of mutual funds,” Kurian said.

“We have considered the Canadian model to develop such a common platform for the purchase and sale of mutual fun units,” he added.

According to Kurian, the online platform will be more like a stock exchange with distributors playing the role of a broker. “However, this platform won’t have any settlement schedule (pay-in and pay-out dates) or settlement guarantee fund,” he added.

Disclosure rules

The Securities and Exchange Board of India is planning to standardise disclosures by mutual fund houses and introduce variable load structure.

“According to current regulations, mutual funds are required to disclose their investments, holdings and so on. However, different fund houses use different formats and disclose information in a manner not easily understood by retail investors,” said R.K. Nair, member, Sebi.

“We are trying to find out how mutual funds can disclose their information in a more simplified manner and in a standardised format,” he added.

Nair said under the new disclosure norm, asset management companies (AMCs) would be required to reveal how much commission they had paid to different distributors.

“It’s an international practice, while AMCs in the country don’t disclose this at present,” he said.

The market regulator is also considering the introduction of a variable load structure. Depending on the kind and number of services an investor wants from a distributor, the fee will be decided.