SEBI asks fund houses to follow new guidelines

Bangalore: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has ruled out rolling back its order banning entry load and parity in exit loads for all classes of investors. Domestic mutual funds, who were called for meeting by SEBI chairman CB Bhave to receive feedback on its recent decisions on entry and exit loads, returned empty hand. Bhave made it clear that industry would have to live with new norms, reports Economic Times.

The fund houses explained that the industry was still in a nascent stage and imposition of stringent guidelines would stifle its growth, the market regulator told them to adjust within the new guidelines. According to fund officials, who attended the meeting, Bhave patiently heard out the issues related to the new commission structure, but reiterated that the new steps would only be beneficial for the long-term growth of the industry.

Industry players, while admitting that the step was in the right direction, said that such developments were much ahead of their time. "Sebi's moves have moderated the distributors' compensation and they certainly are not happy. There is no overnight solution to this new development," said the CEO of a domestic mutual fund house, who requested for anonymity.

Sebi had banned the entry load charged by fund houses from August 1. In the new regime, distributors would have to negotiate the commission with customers and be paid through a different cheque. Distributors would also have to disclose the commission they were being paid for similar products. The market regulator asked the fund houses to stop discriminating between high networth and retail investors and charge them the same exit load.