The Association of Mutual Funds in India in its board meeting on Wednesday is likely to consider various recommendations made in the Sumit Bose Committee report. The most important among these is allowing MFs to manage unit-linked insurance products’ funds as well as retirement funds though regulators can be different for the same product.
Currently, ULIPs are regulated by the insurance regulator Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India, while MFs are controlled by SEBI. Mutual funds have expressed their happiness to take up the additional role.
Sumit Bose Committee, which was set up by the Finance Ministry in 2014, also recommended a complete phasing out of any upfront fees for agents to curb mis-selling of financial products and rationalising incentives. As of now, upfront commissions shouldn’t exceed 1 per cent, while trail commission remains the same.