Commission disclosures begin

Come October 1, and your mutual fund consolidated account statement (CAS) will indicate the details of commissions earned by your distributor on the investments that you make. Although asset management companies and several representatives of the distribution community have made several pleas to the regulator to postpone or abandon the move, it has not cut ice with the regulator. On their part, the AMCs have no control on such a detail finding mention in the CAS as the statements are sent by registrar and transfer agents like CAMS and Karvy, besides a few other AMCs that also have their own R&Ts. As mutual fund houses do provide the data of expenses and costs incurred on distributors, a lot will depend on how this information is passed to the R&T for them to act on after that.
  The cloud over detailing commissions in absolute or percentage figures is also clear with Sebi having mandated that commissions should be declared in absolute terms. Watch out your CAS this month to know what your distributor earns by way of your investments. There is nothing wrong in distributors making money as long as you get the benefit of the services rendered by them.

olmdesk@outlookindia.com