Distributors to gain from onboarding more women

Mumbai: Markets regulator Sebi is planning to incentivise fund distributors who bring in first-time women investors into the mutual fund (MF) fold, Tuhin Kanta Pandey, Sebi chief, said on Friday.

"Another priority is to encourage greater participation of women in mutual fund investing. Financial inclusion will remain incomplete unless women are equally represented, and we are thus envisaging to introduce additional distribution incentives for investments from first-time women investors," he said at an event organised by AMFI, the MF industry trade body.

The details of the scheme are being finalised, fund industry officials said. Currently, distributors who bring in new investors from places that are beyond the AMFI's top 30 contributors in terms of fund assets, get Rs 150 for each such investor, while others get Rs 100.

The Sebi chairman also asked the MF industry to bring in investors from the grassroots levels through the 'Chhoti SIP' route, the systematic investment plan (SIP) that allows investors to invest with as little as Rs 250. "This 'sachetisation' of investing opens the door for first-time and small-ticket investors to enter the mutual funds space with confidence. This product, though at a nascent stage today, can have the potential to create a significant impact in the years to come," he said.

Pandey also spoke about Sebi reviewing its scheme categorisation process, which segregates various schemes by type of assets and durations of investments these schemes invest in to simplify MF products.