The number of cheques released by AMCs to mutual fund distributors is dwindling as well as the number of active IFAs.

The sweeping changes introduced by market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in the mutual fund industry are still showing their after-effects. According to sources, two years back, some 39,000-odd monthly cheques were issued by asset management companies (AMCs) to pay upfront commission to distributors. In 2010, this number has plunged to around 9,000-10,000. Upfront commission is released on a monthly basis while trail is paid quarterly. A distributor gets upfront commission when he acquires new business while trail is paid to service the existing client. Currently 0.25% is paid as upfront commission and 0.50%-0.75% is paid as trail depending on the fund house.

“The number of payments received through the electronic clearing service (ECS) as well as cheques has dropped. People either wanted to consolidate or leave the business. People who have decent assets under management (AUM) are undeterred. New people are not joining. The general perception is that this business is not as remunerative as it used to be for a new person to join. This is because of SEBI’s misplaced perception that there is no role of an intermediary,” said a top official from a leading fund house, preferring anonymity.

“The number of cheque issuances among AMCs have dropped,” says a Mumbai-based distributor on the condition of anonymity.

However, registrar and transfer agent (RTA) sources say that the drop in cheques is primarily due to the ECS system. ECS facility was extended to distributors because of the delay and misplacement of cheques.

The following message doing the rounds in the mutual fund industry is a shocking revelation of the number of active IFAs. “What is the similarity between tigers and IFAs? Only 1,411 left. Thanks to SEBI.”

According to an official from a mid-sized AMC in Mumbai, the number of active IFAs bringing in new business has gone down to 1,200 from 5,000 in Mumbai alone. Around 80% of the business comes from metros like Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai and Bengaluru. In Pune, hardly 40-45 active mutual fund distributors are working. In industry parlance, an active IFA is defined as someone who is still giving door-to-door service and bringing in new clients.

“Last year’s HDFC and Reliance Mutual Fund list showed 1,400 IFAs in Pune but now it has come down. I was submitting 30-40 new applications earlier, now I submit hardly 5-7 applications,” said a Pune-based financial planner.

The drop in the number of monthly cheques indicates that new business is not coming in and distributors are relying on the trail commission and past Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs). The industry added just 2,355 folios while equity funds lost 1.47 lakh folios in the month of July. A part of the money moved into debt funds.

Some distributors are now shifting their focus to allied financial services like general insurance and company fixed deposits, which offer decent commissions while others are completely changing their business model.

After the crackdown on upfront commissions, distributors are struggling to acquire new business. The commission does not even cover the cost of acquiring a client. Now, even the trail commission is not paid to a new distributor in the event of a broker change.

“I have been in this business since 19 years and have a decent AUM. Around 650 families are investing through me since 1994. I have incurred an operating loss of Rs1.75 lakh in the last one year because of ‘no load structure’. Investors are not ready to pay the advisory charges because a number of bank channels are offering free services. We are not able to cover the operating cost of our organisation. It is very difficult to survive. After a lot of convincing we get around Rs40,000 to Rs50,000 worth of investments,” said Yogesh Kulkarni, proprietor, Royal Investments.

Sources also indicate that some mutual fund distributors have completely stopped sending self-declaration forms to AMCs due to the paltry commissions involved. SEBI rules mandate that all intermediaries send a self-declaration form to fund houses annually, failing which the fund house can stop the commission paid to distributors. The self-declaration form contains an acknowledgement that a distributor has disclosed the commission received by him to the investor.