Facebook Pixel Code

Mutual fund distribution: Boost for MF Utility as Amfi zeroes in on Polaris

MF Utility, a centralised mutual fund distribution platform, may finally see light of day.

MF Utility, a centralised mutual fund distribution platform, may finally see the light of day early next year. After shortlisting several vendors, mutual fund industry body Amfi has finally zeroed in on Polaris Financial Technology to develop the platform, which is envisaged as a one-stop investment solution to mutual fund investors.

* Best Performing Mutual Funds

?Polaris was awarded the project because of deep domain knowledge and experience in developing and maintaining a high performance OLTP (online transaction processing) platform for the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, as well as solutions for RBI and Nabard,? said a Polaris press release updated on the exchanges late Monday evening.

In 2012, Amfi had reportedly shortlisted as many as nine vendors to develop the software for the platform. Market regulator Sebi had given the nod for the MF Utility platform in August last year.

Mutual fund houses are expected to pay R5 lakh as initial capital for the MF Utility platform. In addition, they will have to shell out money based on the number of transactions routed through the platform. This could mean that the bigger fund houses will have to pay more than the smaller fund houses to use the platform.

The new platform is expected to benefit investors. ?A single account number will be created, which can be used to invest across MF schemes of all the fund houses. This will save time on unnecessary paperwork. Also, a single log-in will do away with the need for remembering log-in ids and passwords for different fund houses,? explained a senior fund official. With single cheque payment for multiple transactions, the platform will do away with the need to issue separate cheques for separate schemes.

Distributors will benefit as they can upload their transactions on a single platform, thus doing away with the need to hand in applications separately to the registrar & transfer agents. ?The platform will make all investor data available in a standard format,? said Renjith RG, national head ? distribution, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services. At present, he says, even basic investor information such as name, address and PAN number are not shared in a standard format by the R&T agents.

Get live Share Market updates, Stock Market Quotes, and the latest India News and business news on Financial Express. Download the Financial Express App for the latest finance news.

First published on: 19-06-2013 at 01:19 IST
Market Data
Market Data
Today’s Most Popular Stories ×