AMFI

The Association of Mutual Funds in India is a non-profit government organisation in the Mutual Funds’ sector that acts as a primary regulator under SEBI.

What is AMFI?

In India, until recently, Mutual Funds were relatively unknown among investors compared to other investment options. This was primarily due to ambivalence and the prevalent myths surrounding it.

Thus, the statutory bodies like AMFI India and SEBI were formed to keep investors informed about the Mutual Fund market.

The organisation was incorporated on 22nd August 1995, and ever since then it helps to set various regulations that maintain the ethics and transparency of Mutual Funds among Indian investors.

What is the Role of AMFI in a Mutual Fund?

The most important role of AMFI in Mutual Fund is to help protect the interest of Indian investors, as well as that of the asset management companies. It also aids in making investments transparent and more accessible to attract more people to it.

Therefore, in a bid to make Mutual Fund investments more accessible, fund houses, trustees, advisors, intermediaries and other concerned individuals should register under AMFI through its website. As of now, it has 44 registered members, including 42 Asset Management Companies registered under SEBI.

To promote transparency regarding the Mutual Fund market, even the advertisements put forth by AMFI inform investors about the risks associated with them.

What are the Objectives of AMFI?

There are several objectives of the all India Mutual Fund association. Some of them are as follows –

• Help set uniform and professional ethical standards for all Mutual Fund related operation.
• Ensure that investors and member companies adhere to the regulations and maintain ethics in due course of business.
• Assist distributors, advisories, agents, asset management companies, and other bodies (those involved in financial service fields or capital markets) to comply with the set guidelines.
• Work closely with SEBI and comply with the Mutual Fund regulations set by it.
• Informs investors across the country about the different risks associated with investing in Mutual Funds.
• AMFI is a representative of the RBI, SEBI, finance ministry and other bodies related to money market investments.
• An important role of AMFI in Mutual Funds is to distribute information about these investments and also conduct various workshops about different funds.
• Ensure that code of conduct is maintained by everyone involved and also take disciplinary action on the event of breach.
• To safeguard the interest of investors, the All India Mutual Fund association has also introduced a facility through which individuals can put forth grievances or register complaints against fund managers or any asset management company.
• Inversely, it also helps to safeguard the interest of asset management companies.

Committees under AMFI

Over the years, AMFI Mutual Fund has steadily worked towards formulating programmes to raise investor awareness about Mutual Funds in India. To make sure that it delivers on each of its objectives, the AMFI has also formed several committees.

Some of them include –

• Committee on operations and compliance.
• Committee on Valuation.
• Committee on Financial Literacy.
• Committee on Registration of Certified Distributors.

What is the AMFI Registration Number?

The AMFI registration number or ARN is a unique number that is allotted to every broker, distributor, Mutual Fund agent, etc. who are registered under AMFI. However, only those who clear the certification under National Institute of Securities Market or NISM can are allotted with an ARN. NISM is a public trust under SEBI which offers various training, academic and skill-building programmes regarding the securities market.

Senior citizens, on the other hand, have to clear the Continuing Professional Education or CPE to obtain the ARN. Without this number, no individual or firm can sell or even recommend Mutual Funds to investors.

Why Should Investors Know About the ARN?

Learning about the ARN is an important process for those looking to invest in Mutual Funds. Since agents, brokers and other intermediaries play a key role in bringing more investors to foray into the Mutual Fund market, it is crucial for investors to learn about their credibility.

ARN is the simplest way to learn about this financial market. AMFI India authorises only those who are qualified to sell the funds to prospective buyers.

Fund houses or intermediates who manage to acquire the ARN are well-informed about various types of Mutual Funds, various market trends, and every other point of professional knowledge required to invest fruitfully in the market.

Thus, before investing in Mutual Funds, investors are always advised to check the ARN of fund houses to ensure that they are credible.

Other Services of the AMFI

One of the other important services of AMFI Mutual Funds is that they update the daily Net Asset Value of Mutual Funds on their website. Thus, investors looking to know the current NAV of funds they have invested or are interested in can do so by directly referring to the AMFI website. In addition to this, investors can also avail the NAV history of their investments through this website.

NAV offers the per-share market value of a fund less its liabilities. Thus, learning about it can inform investors about the performance of assets they are about to invest into.

Additionally, AMFI has also streamlined the search for Mutual Fund distributors in India. For individuals looking to invest in Mutual Funds, they can do so easily by providing their city, PIN Code, location and a few other pertinent details. Thus, potential investors can easily find crucial Mutual Fund related information from the AMFI website.

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