ET MONEY estimates that Rs 15 Lakh crore is held in regular mutual funds

ETMONEY today announced that it would allow an estimated 1.7 Crore existing mutual fund investors to convert their Regular mutual fund investments into zero-commission, Direct Mutual funds and and start saving lakhs in commissions. As of today, its estimated that more than Rs.15 Lakh Crore is held in regular mutual funds in the Indian Mutual Fund Industry. This is one of the biggest initiative by any company in the space to simplify and enable commission-free investing at scale in India. All investors who convert to direct plans will also be able to do free, unlimited investment & withdrawal transactions in direct funds through ETMONEY app.

“Indians at large have been denied access to simple, low cost & transparent financial solutions for decades. We want to change that and this launch to simplify movement to direct mutual funds is in line with that mission”, said Mukesh Kalra, CEO of ETMONEY

Regular plans have commission embedded in them while Direct Mutual funds don’t have any commission. Hence by shifting to direct plans, users can save upto 1.5% in commissions every year compared to regular plans. In recent scenario of volatile stock markets, if investors believe in holding back new investments, then converting one’s regular mutual funds to direct mutual funds can be  a great option.

“Keeping in line with trends in developed market, this launch will ensure that Indians too can choose low cost investment products for their wealth creation purpose” said Ajit Kumar, Wealth Business Head, ETMONEY

Last month, ETMONEY allowed users to invest in 1,000+ direct plans of more than 20 mutual fund companies, completely free of cost. In this short span of just 30 days, it has already helped its ETMONEY’s existing users switch a whopping Rs.150 crore from regular to direct plans. As a next step, with today’s launch, it will enable all 17Mn Indians who have ever invested in mutual funds any time in the past to come to ETMONEY and switch from regular funds to commission-free, direct plans within seconds.

The process to convert your funds to Direct Mutual funds is super-simple. You just need to upload your mutual fund statement on the app and within 30 seconds you will be shown the option to shift your regular funds to direct plans. It also shows possible savings in commissions, applicable exit loads and taxes, so that you can take an informed decision. The app also assists you in getting the transaction statement by providing a step by step guide. Once converted to direct mutual funds, the investors will also be able to continue investing in them from the app at no additional cost.