What is Mutual Fund Utility? Is it better than AMC websites?

Mutual fund Utility is the brainchild of the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI). It is a shared infrastructure of the AMCs to reduce duplication of work and increase efficiency. Where all the fund house (AMCs) are offering their mutual fund schemes and empower the investor to invest directly into the funds without paying any commission. One need to open an account with MF Utility by submitting the application form online or offline. The MF Utility then allocate a unique Common Account Number (CAN) which enables the investor to transact in multiple schemes of different AMCs.

MFU provides online access to investors for latest NAV and other scheme related information across mutual funds. Through MFU, investor can view consolidated account statement for all his mutual fund holdings across different mutual funds. It also provides the services like alerts, triggers and reminders to the account holder. MFU is basically an aggregator portal between different interested parties like investor, RTAs, Bank, AMCs etc. It is an online portal which helps eliminating the paper based transactions.

CAN will be used as a single account for all the participating AMCs. MFU also provides the facility of submitting multiple requests for multiple schemes across mutual funds in a single form. Investor has to made a single payment transaction under single form which provides ease of transaction.

What is CAN?

CAN (Common Account Number) is an industry level Folio allotted by MF Utility (MFU) to an investor. It is a combination comprising of the following:-

• Number of Investors i.e. 1 or 2 or 3
• Order of holding i.e. A; A&B; A,B&C; B; B&A; B,C&A; C; C&B; C,A&B; and so on
• Mode of holding i.e. Single, Joint and Anyone or Survivor
• Social (Tax) Status i.e. Individual, Company, Non-Resident etc.,

Using a CAN, the investors will be able to submit single request for multiple transactions in various schemes across Mutual Funds using a single form/payment.

Individual and Non Individual CAN Registration Forms are available for download. Submit the filled in CAN Registration form along with required documents at the nearest MFU POS or at MFU office.

Benefits of Common Account Number(CAN)

Individual and Non Individual CAN Registration Forms are available for download. Submit the filled in CAN Registration form along with required documents at the nearest MFU POS or at MFU office.

CAN will be a single reference number issued by MFU created only once for a unique combination of

• Number of investors
• Order of Holding
• Mode of Holding
• Social Status, etc

Upon creation, CAN will map itself with the existing folios of the Investors across Mutual Funds participating in MFU, that are matching the CAN criteria, thereby providing a consolidated view of all the investments in the Mutual Fund industry.

CAN will hold centrally for the industry, the information like:

• Investor Name(s)
• KYC Status
• Income Details
• Mode of Holding
• Nomination
• Nationality
• Tax Status
• Contact details of the primary holder
• Multiple Bank Accounts registered at CAN level
• Depository Account details
• Power of Attorney, if any
• Guardian Information for minor applicant
• FATCA, UBO & OECD related details etc.

CAN helps the investors to update changes in one place.

CAN will facilitate Investors to transact in multiple schemes across Mutual Funds participating in MFU using a Common Transaction Form (CTF) and making a single consolidated payment (for purchases). Through CAN you need not open an account at every AMCs, which results in time saving and process of documentation is eliminated. CAN will facilitate registration of one debit Bank Mandate for multiple SIP registrations using a Common Transaction Form (CTF) in schemes across Mutual Funds participating in MFU.

Some of the common FAQs are as below.

What is MFU?

MF Utility (MFU) is an innovative “Shared Services” initiative by the Mutual Fund industry under the aegis of Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI), which acts as a “Transaction Aggregation Portal” through which a Mutual Fund customer is enabled to transact in multiple schemes across Mutual Funds using a single form/payment.

How does it works?

It provides browser based access to Mutual Fund customers, with connectivity to Registrars and Transfer Agents (RTA), Banks, Asset Management Companies (AMC), Payment Gateways (PG) and KYC Registration Agencies (KRAs) and enables online transaction submission in multiple schemes across Mutual Funds through a single form/payment.

What are the features of Mutual fund Utility?

MF Utility (MFU) provides a whole lot of features to the Mutual Fund customers like:-

• Provides Common Account Number (CAN) facility to Investors
• Facilitates KYC registration through KYC Registration Agencies (KRAs) for CAN creation
• Provides standardization of forms, processes and MIS across the industry
• Provides multiple modes of access and transaction submission options
• Provides broad and neutral Points of Service (POS) footprint for enhanced coverage
• Enables transactions through a common transaction form
• Enables single payment for multiple scheme investments across various Mutual Funds
• Accepts payments through various physical and electronic modes
• Provides CAN based consolidated view of investments across the industry
• Provides industry level alerts, triggers, reminders etc.
• Provides a centralized complaint management and tracking system

How can I use Mutual fund Utility?

MF Utility (MFU) will facilitate the following through the Portal:-

• Common Account Number (CAN) registration for Investors
• Submission of documents to KRAs for KYC Registration for those investors who are seeking CAN creation
• Commercial transactions like Purchases, Redemptions and Switches
• Registration of Systematic Transactions like Systematic Investments (SIP) using a PayEezzMandate, Systematic Withdrawals (SWP) and Systematic Transfers (STP)
• Non-commercial transactions (NCT) like Bank Account changes, facilitating change of address through KRAs etc. based on duly signed written requests from the Investors

Through MFU, which mutual funds are available for transaction?

• Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC Limited
• Axis Asset Management Company Limited
• BNP Paribas Asset Management India Private Limited
• Canara Robeco Asset Management Company Limited
• DHFL Pramerica Asset Managers Private Limited
• DSP BlackRock Investment Managers Private Limited
• Edelweiss Asset Management Limited
• Essel Finance AMC Limited
• Franklin Templeton Asset Management (India) Private Limited
• HDFC Asset Management Company Limited
• ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company Limited
• IDFC Asset Management Company Limited
• India Infoline Asset Management Company Limited
• Indiabulls Asset Management Company Limited
• Invesco Asset Management (India) Private Limited
• Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company Limited
• L & T Investment Management Limited
• Mahindra Asset Management Company Private Limited
• Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd
• Motilal Oswal Asset Management Company Limited
• PPFAS Asset Management Private Limited
• Principal PNB Asset Management Company Private Limited
• Quantum Asset Management Company Private Limited
• Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management Limited
• SBI Funds Management Private Limited
• Sundaram Asset Management Company Limited
• Tata Asset Management Limited
• UTI Asset Management Company Limited

Are there any drawbacks of Mutual Fund Utility?

• Quite of few AMCs are not available on the platform. e.g. Baroda Pioneer, HSBC
• Take more than average time to open an Account.
• Reports are missing.
• To opt for eCAN you should be KYC verified.
• MF Utility is intermediary so they don’t have adequate focus on customer service.

Winding up

When you invest in Mutual Funds, you are ideally looking for not just a transaction platform but for selection, advice and support. A platform that can assess your requirements and based on that make fund selections and later follow through to track their performance. Do keep these in mind while selecting your mutual fund platform.