in Finance, India, Investment, Mutual Funds

How to invest in Mutual Funds online

Going online for mutual fund transactions has definite advantages.

  1. Tracking of investment values whenever needed.
  2. Saves time.
  3. Saves paper.
  4. Efficient and less error-prone. No need to issue cheques.
  5. Privacy. No need to share investment details with agents and anyone else.
  6. No service charge, entry load and brokerage.
  7. Do-it-yourself.

Through Direct AMC websites:

Each mutual fund company (AMC) has its own website for online mutual fund transactions and you will have to create separate login for each such site to transact on them.

If you are already an investor into a mutual fund, you can apply for a HPIN which can be used to login and transact online.
There is actually no way to apply fully on-line, directly to the AMC, for the first time investor (who does not have a folio).

The issue with this method is first time you have to do it off-line, secondly you have to fill form and maintain PINs for different AMCs separately (like each one for HDFC, Birla, SBI etc.).

But once you have gone through all this once, life becomes super easy. Whenever you want to apply, just login and apply online using your bank account.

Getting money back also becomes easy. Redemption becomes faster as amount is directly credited back to bank account through NEFT. No tension of cheques and paper work etc.

This way of investing does not have additional cost attached. There is no brokerage, service fees or entry load charged and all applications are mentioned as Direct (with no agents involved). We also had covered this in details earlier on: Mutual Fund Investment with zero entry load, brokerage and service charge and Best way to apply in SIP

Steps for transacting directly with AMC:

1. You will have to Download the mutual fund form from the mutual fund website, after printout fill hard copy form and submit to nearest CAMS/Karvy/Mutual fund office along with PIN generation form (same like an debit card pin or email password) and cheque for initial investment amount.
If you are already an investor in same company mutual fund in which you wish to invest more (already have a folio), you will have to just fill a PIN generation form. Download links for PIN and mutual fund application forms are below:

Baroda Pioneer Mutual Fund
Benchmark Mutual Fund
Bharti AXA Mutual Fund
Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund
Canara Robeco Mutual Fund
L&T Mutual Fund
DWS Mutual Fund
DSP BlackRock Mutual Fund
Edelweiss Mutual Fund
Escorts Mutual Fund
Fidelity Mutual Fund
Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund
HDFC Mutual Fund
HSBC Mutual Fund
ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund
IDFC Mutual Fund
ING Mutual Fund
JM Financial Mutual Fund
JPMorgan Mutual Fund
Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund
LIC Mutual Fund
Religare Mutual Fund
Mirae Asset Mutual Fund
Morgan Stanley Mutual Fund
PRINCIPAL Mutual Fund
Quantum Mutual Fund
Reliance Mutual Fund
Sahara Mutual Fund
SBI Mutual Fund
Sundaram BNP Paribas Mutual Fund
Tata Mutual Fund
Taurus Mutual Fund
UTI Mutual Fund

2. Once you have your folio number and PIN, you are ready to transact in mutual funds completely on-line. Below are links for online accounts for different AMCs:

Kotak Mutual Fund
Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund
Principal Mutual Fund
DSP BlackRock Mutual Fund
Reliance Mutual Fund
SBI Mutual Fund
HDFC Mutual Fund
ICICI Pru Mutual Fund
Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund
Fidelity Mutual Fund
UTI Mutual Fund
CAMS Online Transaction Service
Karvy Online Services

Through Independent websites:

There are many independent websites through which you can transact in mutual funds online for free. You can register and buy mutual funds through these websites. You do not need a demat account for this.
Some of them are provided below:

  1. FundsIndia
  2. FundSupermart

As of now there are no additional charges levied in these websites, but they are free to charge service fees/brokerage in future.

Through Online trading websites:

If you already have online trading account (with which you trade in stocks in demat form) with a brokerage house, then you can also transact in mutual funds from there. Most of the online brokerage companies like ICICI Direct, Kotak Securities, Religare, Indiabulls, Reliance, India infoline etc provide online mutual fund services too.
Some of these may levy charge service fees or brokerage for transactions.

Through Stock Exchange:

Trading in mutual funds can also be done through NSE and BSE platform. This will be done in demat account and a registration has to be done through broker for the same.

All existing mutual fund holding can be converted to dematerialized form. For the same, conversion request form need to be filled and submitted to depository participant. After verification, mutual fund units will be transferred to demat account.

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41 Comments

  1. dear pankajBatra,

    a very informative and useful article.
    written in a simple language, i’d rate it as first class.
    hope the janta is able to make use of it.

  2. I believe this is quiet a tedious process when you look for switching of funds from one AMC to another AMC… Now this has become more tech savvy in INDIA where even can do all transactions online even switching without going to any R&T or AMC’s use a platform service provider call iFAST Financial, I’m an individual investor & i use this platform for all my mutual fund transactions.. please mail me for any further clarification for the same…Thanks
    [email protected]

    • @Sanjeev
      Thanks for the input.
      Please explain how one can go about iFast. Whats the application process and charges (annual and per transaction basis).

      • Yes you can utilize this platform either through a Advisor(IFA) who can initiate all transactions on behalf of you or if you want to invest by yourself individually online then please go the website called http://www.fundsupermart.co.in where you can transact MF online & also you can do switch transaction.. This Fundsupermart is a concern from iFAST. for transacting or utlising through FSM you are not charged anything, But once you go thru an Advisor you get more benefits like PMS where there will be a ancillary fee of 1% as maintainance cost.. & as an investor there might be a chance that your advisor might claim advisory fee since he manages ur portfolio but this advisory fee is under the discretionary between u & ur advisor to pay him or not.. rather than these 2 there are no charges..

        P.S – for using both the platform you are not charged anythin.
        Please feel free to ask if you have further clarification

        Thanks & Regards,
        Sanjeev Chandran.

        • HI Sanjeev and Pankaj,

          I want to open the account with Ifast for buying mutual funds..
          I went through the above site,http://www.fundsupermart.co.in
          They are asking all the bank account and personal details. IS it safe to give them all details. Also Will I be able to buy all mutual funds in Lumsum and SIP form? And I assume that there will be no charges for buying or selling them.

          The other query I have is that, I currently have a DMAT account with ICICI, wherein I have some mutual funds. Can I transfer my those mutual funds to iFAST account and what is the process to do so? will there be any charges from ICICI/iFast for this??

          • @Vicky
            Its safe to provide bank account and personal details on fundssupermart. They won’t be able to open your account, in case information is not provided.
            You can invest in lump-sum or in SIP through them.
            There is no extra charge for buying/selling through them.

            Regarding transfer of mutual funds from ICICI account to iFast, I am not sure if iFast supports importing existing folio details or not.

  3. Hi Pankaj,
    Mutual funds can be bought online through HDFC and Kotak Mahindra Bank ISA accounts(Investment Service Account).HDFC charges Rs 110 per every quarter,Kotak is free.
    In both cases,u need to have savings account with the corrsponding banks.
    It is very easy way to invest online,u need to fill up KYC form during opening account.
    Hope this will be useful info.

    Regards,
    raju

  4. Hi,

    I want to know if i can buy MFs through demat account or not. If yes then which will be better fundindia, fundsupermart or through demat account.

  5. Hi Chirag,

    I use fundsupermart & they have almost all mutual fund companies in their platform. you can transact free of cost(i,e no service charge) paid for the invested amount & you can get ideas about recommended funds & recommended portfolios from their Research team & prefer your funds based on your investment objective. rather than that you can track/monitor your portfolio everyday & can do re balancing of your portfolio thru interswitch whenever the funds are not performing.

    P.S – for using fundsupermart no demat is reqd, just register with them online & submit the application form/KYC with reqd docs & submit it in nearest Deutsche Investor Services office in your location, Your A/C gets activated in 10 working days.

    PLease feel free for any queries reqd.

    Best Regards,
    Sanjeev Chandran

  6. I also found this interesting option of talking to investors like me from other countries to know more about international funds after registering on http://www.fundsupermart.co.in

    This company seems to have a major focus only on mutual funds… and it is free!

  7. Dear sir,
    Recently I have purchased a mutual fund from a Broker( NJ Invest). Will I have to pay him any brokerage. I asked him, he answered that they charge 0.5% from company not from us. Please clarify!!!!

    • @Prakash
      Now, entry load from all mutual fund investment has been abolished. Agent gets commission from Mutual fund companies for all investments through them.

      Agents may charge service charge for their services rendered to you, but most of the agents don’t charge the same.

      In case you have not paid anything extra other than actual mutual fund investment amount, you don’t have to worry.

  8. @Pankaj, Vicky, Yes fundsupermart do support transfer of funds from another platform, which can be done once you are subscribed & A/C gets activated with them.

    Best Regards,
    Sanjeev Chandran

  9. Hi Pankaj,
    I have gone through the entire Article and blog about investing in Mutual funds, It’s really great!!. Soon i will open an account in fundsupermart or fundsindia.

    Actually very very newbie to mutual funds, i planned to buy ELSS Tax saver Mutual Funds as an investment for this Financial Year 2011-12, before i saw this article i don’t have idea where to buy MF.

    I have some questions:
    1) Which one is best site open an account?
    2) Will i get any HARD COPY of proof when i buy MF through this website’s? why i am asking is.. at the end of this year when my company is asking for the proof of investments.. what can i provide as a proof?
    3) If i haven’t logged into my account for a long time.. will it locked or deactivated? ( assume that i opened the account in fundsindia and purchased HDFC taxsaver MF after that i didn’t logged into my account for a 6mnths/year )

    • @Balan
      You can start account with FundsIndia.
      You can provide mutual fund statement as proof to your employer. You can soft copy of statements on your email.
      Account won’t be deactivated/locked if you don’t buy further for a long time. Your units will still be in your account and you can trade back again anytime.

  10. Hi PankajBatra,
    I am new to Mutual Fund. I need your guidance regarding best hassle free mode of investment in MF. I have a DEMAT account and a Trading account in BMA Wealth Creator. Do this help in any shape?
    Eagerly waiting for your reply. What you do is really a great job.

    • @Asif
      You can trade mutual funds online and thats the best way. Open an account with FundsIndia.com and you can do transactions online, free of any extra cost.

  11. hello sir,
    I have bought SIP of 1000 each of HDFC top 200 and BSL dividend Yield-Growth and 1500 SIP of DSP BR top 100.
    Is my portfolio diversified??? If not plz suggest!!!

    • @Siddharth
      Funds you have selected are of equity diversified category and all of them are highly rated.

  12. Hi Pankaj,

    I am having a ICICI SB salary account. I am planning to open a ICICI direct demat account. My purpose is for holding some shares, mfs , buying and selling in long term basis. However, as per general forum comments all are most-negative on ICICI direct. Could you please guide me whether i can go ahead with ICICI direct demat account or not? If not please suggest a good demat and trading account having both online and phone support.

    Thanks in advance.

    • @Mothilal
      ICICI direct is one of the oldest online brokering firm in India. And people share mostly negative feedback on internet and rarely provide positive things.
      As it is oldest, it still will have largest subscriber base.
      But over the time, they have not improved their interface. As far as I know, there is no desktop trading software. Brokerage fees is also one of the highest in market.
      If you are not a very heavy investor or trader, you can go with them. You may also consider Kotak, Indiabulls or Sharekhan.
      I have Kotak and did not face much issues in last 6-7 years.

      • Thanks Pankaj, I am already having a demat account with Aditya birla money but the branch is closed in my native. Could you please suggest whether creating a Aditya birla money online account is a good choice?

        • @Motilal
          I don’t have any experience with Aditya Birla money online account so won’t be able to comment on that.

  13. I want to buy stocks . which will be the best mode of buying (which will have least brokerage charges)? Now i dont know what are all the modes available other than demat?
    pls help me in that.

    • @Viginesh
      Online trading account and demat is only mode to buy stocks online.
      There are multiple brokerage companies with different plans based on your number of transactions.
      You can compare Kotak, ICICI, Reliance, ShareKhan, India infoline, Religae, Indiabulls and choose whatever suits you.

  14. will i be able to buy shares thru karvy /cams?.. what is actually their job ?
    In my pan card my fathers name is wrongly printed. should i need to change that?

    • @Vignesh
      Karvy and CAMS are mutual fund registrars. They take care of mutual fund’s operations like application, check collection, statement generation etc.
      Karvy also has demat services apart from their mutual fund work under name of Karvy Stock broking.

      You should get PAN card corrected asap. You can get PAN card details changed by applying for correction. Follow this link for applying: https://tin.tin.nsdl.com/pan/changerequest.html

  15. thanks for ur reply.. i followed ur link and applied for the pan card correction. Thank you so much…If i start an account in funds india will i be given some unique no for all of my mutual fund holdings?My question is will i be able to acess the mutual fund directly if funds india goes down?

    • @Vignesh
      You would be able to see your folio number under various mutual fund investments. In case you want to transact with mutual fund directly you can use same folio number.
      Even if Fundsindia goes down, your investment will remain as it is with mutual fund companies.

  16. You meant that we cant open trading account in karvy? am i right?

    1. My father is having a deamat account in karvy. he is having some bank shares in that. In that demat account my mother s name(But she does not have kowledge abt these things) is also there.Automatically dividend is credited in our bank account. My father met with an head accident and forgot those things. We receive some intimation about our share holdings once in six months from karvy..
    1.what were the things would have issued to my father on opening a demat account?
    2. how can we go and approach karvy regarding this? Is there any unique no. kind of thing given to every user? or else straight away i can take my parents along with our id proof ???
    3.In a nutshell i want to know what is the document given to a person who opened a demat account in karvy? I dont want to trade as of now,just want to know how things work.
    I need your help.

    • @Vignesh
      As written in earlier reply: “Karvy also has demat services apart from their mutual fund work under name of Karvy Stock broking.”
      Your father must have issued a demat account number (DP ID and client ID). Same would also have been mentioned in all correspondence.
      In case Karvy has online trading facility, he may also have been issued a online username and password to transact.
      You should contact Karvy regarding this case, quote the client ID and they should be able to help you. If you unable to find this details, you can also quote PAN card details.

  17. i am having a demat account in icici…i want to try fundsupermart…i have filled there form they r asking for my KYC acknowledgement letter…how can i get it…i need to go to bank and get or it can be taken online through my demat account in icici…plz help….and one more thing do this fundsupermart charge for opening account or one time trading mutual fund charges….basically i dont want to pay brokerage to icici…tell me sum option

  18. Sir,
    I am in search of a reliable MF portfolio manager in Hubli (Karnataka) who can guide me to maintain my mf portfolio of 10 L . Can U guide me in searching a good and reliable portfolio manager and also I want to know average charges for the same.
    With best wishes
    Srinivas

    • @Srinivas
      We don’t have any links with mutual fund portfolio managers.
      It would be good if you can research and invest yourself.
      Mutual fund agents generally mis-sell products which generates maximum commission for them.

  19. I have invested through SIP of INR 1500/- each in the following funds|: 1. HDFC Mid Cap – G, 2. ICICI Pru Bluchip Fund-G, 3. DSP Blackrock Top 100- G and 4. UTI Opportunities- G. As the above all funds are under equity category, I want to invest in some debt funds also. Pls suggest me some debt oriented funds and also suggest if I have to re-look into my existing equity portfolio.

    • @Sudip
      All funds selected by you are good.
      Regarding debt mutual funds, Can you please let me know the investment period?

        • @Sudip
          You can go for Fixed maturity plans for safe investments.
          You may also look for following open ended plans: Kotak Gilt Inv Regular-Growth, Birla Sunlife GSF Long term growth, Birla Sun Life Monthly Income Plan II – Savings 5 Plan – Growth, Reliance MIP, HDFC MIP LTP, BSL Floating rate fund LTP, canara robeco mip.

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