Mutual fund expense ratio: All you wanted to know 

With mutual funds gaining popularity, there are now many click-bait headlines in social media. “Your SIPs make your fund manager richer”. “Mutual funds take a big bite out of your returns” and so on.  

Mutual fund expense ratio

At PrimeInvestor, we aren’t fond of mutual funds with high fees. But in dissing all mutual funds because they charge a fee, we think these influencers are missing the woods for the trees. In the investment world, all decisions you make are relative. So, the question you need to ask is whether mutual fund fees are exorbitant in relation to other investment products.  Here, we tell you all you need to know about mutual fund expenses, so you can judge for yourself.

What is expense ratio in a mutual fund?

When you invest in a mutual fund, you have in effect outsourced the management of your money to a fund manager from a mutual fund company (AMC). For this service the AMC charges a fee and this is what you see as ‘total expense ratio’ or TER. 

All financial products charge fees. In mutual funds (and a few other products), these fees/charges are stated explicitly while in others they could be hidden. 

A mutual fund’s TER is stated in percentage terms and it refers to a percentage of the Net Asset Value (NAV) of the fund. The TER is arrived at by dividing the total expenses incurred by the fund by the assets managed by it. 

What goes into an expense ratio?

An AMC incurs several costs in managing your money and these costs make up the components of the total expense ratio or TER. 

If you look at the expense ratio statement of any AMC, you will find a column titled ‘Base TER’, additional columns for few other cost items and a grand total called the ‘Total TER’. This ‘Total TER’ number is what is referred to as TER and is used in comparing schemes and making decisions.  

Components of Base TER

The following are the main items that are included under the Base TER. 

  1. Fund management expenses – including salaries and other forms of compensation to fund managers and their teams
  2. Servicing – providing investor services like account statement, documentation etc.
  3. Registrar and Transfer expenses, which are the fees paid to RTAs for facilitating transactions 
  4. Custodial expenses 
  5. Marketing expenses
  6. Business expenses of the AMC (rents, branches, infrastructure etc)

In addition to all of these, of course, is a profit for the AMC – it’s all a business at the end of the day!

How much can an AMC charge as Base TER?

Most businesses around the world are free to fix any price for their goods or services. Mutual funds, however, cannot. An AMC is not free to charge whatever it pleases by way of Base TER. 

SEBI caps the TER via a slab based system. The table below details the limits that are in force at present for open ended equity oriented and other than equity-oriented schemes. 

The Base TER limits for all other schemes is as below.

Here is an example of how the limits would be arrived at for an equity fund with an AUM of Rs. 4,000 crore. It would not be 1.6% but 1.752%. Here is how: 

  • The first Rs 500 crore will be charged 2.25% 
  • The next Rs 250 crores will be charged at 2.00% 
  • The next Rs 1,250 crores will be charged at 1.75%
  • The final Rs 2, 000 crores will be charged at 1.6%. 

The weighted average of these comes to 1.752%. This is the base TER that can be charged to investors in this scheme. Typically, most funds will charge a little less than the maximum allowable expense.

What’s not included in the Base TER?

Over and above the limits specified above, AMCs are also allowed to charge the following four additional items as expenses. 

  1. Brokerage and transaction costs which are incurred for the purpose of execution of trades 
  2. Expenses toward inflows from B30 cities (The top 30 geographies are known as T30 and the others are referred to as B30. This additional allowance is to encourage greater MF penetration in these geographies where it is believed more effort will have to be put into investor/ customer education by the distributors).
  3. Additional expenses for schemes having provision of exit load - i.e., a scheme can charge an exit load from investors who redeem from their investments within the exit load period. Therefore, it becomes an expense from the investor's perspective. The exit load charged is ploughed back into the fund.
  4. GST on the investment and advisory fees of the AMC

These items also have individual prescribed limits. The base TER (subject to the slabs detailed above) plus the four additional items listed above form the total TER which is charged to the fund. This is also the number that is published and that you see.

How does the investor pay the expense ratio? 

The TER is not an added charge on you as an investor. The TER is deducted from the value of the scheme’s portfolio while calculating its NAV. The following are the principles behind how the mechanism of TER works.  

Every single day the NAV of the fund is published. This NAV number has already had a tiny fraction deducted from it that goes to account for the expense ratio. The amount thus deducted goes to the AMC every day and gets used for various expenses required to manage the scheme. 

As the TER is calculated for each day and deducted from the NAV on a daily basis,  you pay for exactly as long as you are invested in the fund. Every investor in a scheme sees the same NAV which gets updated on every business day. Therefore, this mechanism ensures that it adheres to the following three principles.

  1. It is equitable – If you invest in a mutual fund scheme, your money is treated the same way as all other investors’ monies in the scheme. An investor investing Rs 1 crore will be treated the same way as someone investing Rs. 10,000. The expense ratio is uniformly charged to all the investors who hold units in the scheme.
  2. It is proportional to your period of investment – TER is expressed as an annual percentage. But what if you invest for 6 months? Or 3 years and 3 months?  The mechanism takes care of this by being charged on a daily basis. 
  3. Not an explicit charge – The charge is implicit and is deducted from your investment. This means that all returns presented by mutual funds or third-party ranking sites are after accounting for fees.

Regular vs. Direct Plans

As you may know, all mutual fund schemes come in two variants - direct and regular. Under the ‘direct’ option, you invest by yourself or via a fee-only advisor.

Under the regular option, you go through a distributor who likely also provides you with some guidance.  For this, there is obviously a cost – i.e., commission - involved. Here again, you don’t pay this cost separately. Under regular plans, you get charged a higher expense ratio, which includes commission and distribution costs. The distributor gets paid a part of the expense ratio.

With direct plans, since there is no distributor, the distributor’s commission does not get charged to the expense ratio. The other fees are charged.

Therefore, expense ratios of direct plans are lower than those of regular plans.  When you invest in the direct plan of a scheme for the same period of time as against another investor who invests in the regular plan, the direct plan will make higher returns. Higher the expense difference between the two, the more you gain by using the direct plan.

So how do you know if this differential in a fund is reasonable or much more than the norm?

  • We have a very handy tool – the MF Expense Ratio Direct vs Regular tool (you will find it in the MFs & ETFs menu, under Tools). This unique tool lets you easily compare the expense ratios of the direct and regular plans of the same fund, to know the differential, plus compare expense ratios and the differentials against the category’s average. This tool, thus, lets you know at a glance if your fund is charging excessively under the regular (or even direct) plan.
  • Our Portfolio Review Pro tool also highlights funds with a regular plan where the expense ratio differential over the direct plan is higher than the average. it also lists the direct and regular expense ratios for your easy comparison.

For more details on comparing expense ratios between direct and regular plans, please refer to this article: How to compare regular and direct plan expense ratios.

Why costs matter

From an investor’s perspective, the less you pay, the greater the potential returns. When a fund charges a lower expense over the medium to long term, the difference can be substantial as it compounds. 

Let’s take an example of two imaginary funds that have identical portfolios (very unlikely, but let’s just assume so for illustrative purposes). The portfolio gains 12% in a year. If Fund A charges an expense ratio of 2% and Fund B charges 1%, the returns in the hand of the investor would be 10% for Fund A (12% – 2%), and 11% for Fund B.

And this compounds every year that you hold the funds. So, if we draw out this above imagined pair of funds over a period of 5 years, you can see the returns as below (assuming another highly unlikely scenario of the portfolios returning the same 12% every year).

Amount of investment: Rs 100,000

As you can see, the difference in the returns add up to a lot.  And since you typically hold mutual funds for long periods of time – upwards of 10, 15 years of time – the difference can become substantial. (Please note that this is a highly simplistic illustration for ease of understanding).

How to look at fund costs

Before you automatically jump to the fund with the lowest expense ratio, remember that returns are the primary factor in a mutual fund and ultimately what accrues to you. 

In our illustration above, we artificially created two funds with the same portfolio that returned exactly the same every year. In reality, this scenario is impossible. Funds are qualitatively different from one another and some funds return more than others because their portfolios are managed far better. 

Therefore, a fund with a high expense can still deliver much higher returns than a fund with a lower cost if it has a better portfolio and strategy. By sticking to only low-expense funds, you will be compromising returns in the hankering for low costs. So, basing fund choices solely on lower expense ratio is flawed. Here are some key points to remember when considering a fund’s expense ratio.

  • Expense ratio should not be viewed in isolation. 
  • Performance, portfolio quality and how the fund fits into your portfolio should take precedence. 
  • In general, you need to worry less about a high expense ratio in a scenario where the fund and the market are both delivering. In categories with strong double-digit return potential – all equity funds, aggressive hybrid funds – the expense ratio is less important, as the high returns and big differentials between fund performance can more than compensate for higher costs. Expense ratio becomes more important in lower-returning classes such as debt, equity savings, arbitrage or balanced advantage. 
  • Some categories that are high maintenance (tactical allocations, multiple asset classes or high due diligence on credit risk etc.) can have higher costs. This is par for the course and should not be a reason to be wary.
  • The expense ratio can be a deciding factor only when you are comparing the direct and regular versions of the same fund. Of course, if you are a user of PrimeInvestor there is little reason for you to go for a regular plan 😊 

Our fund recommendations at Prime Funds may feature funds that have a higher expense ratio than peers. That is a considered call based on its track record. We recommend the direct plan as the default option, especially with Prime Funds. Our Buy/Sell/Hold calls specify where a fund is better invested through the Direct plan, based on the difference between the regular & direct plans.  

Let’s end with some key misconceptions about expense ratios.

  • They are charged when you redeem: No, they are not. They are charged on an everyday basis. 
  • We should subtract expenses when we calculate returns: Not true. All mutual fund returns are calculated after considering costs. Returns are calculated based on NAV, and NAV is published after expense ratio deduction.
  • Expense gets charged only when the scheme does well: Not true. Regardless of whether the scheme is moving up or down, the expense keeps getting charged.
  • We should always choose funds with lower expense ratios: Not a good idea, as explained above. Choose funds based on their return track record, portfolio quality and potential to perform. Acting based on costs alone will lead to flawed decision making.
  • Expense ratios are the same for all funds in an AMC: Not true. Every scheme in every AMC has its own specific expense ratio. 
  • Expense ratio is a fixed percentage: Not true, expenses are charged to the scheme based on actual charges incurred by the AMC and could vary over a period of time. What you see as the expense ratio is the number for the recent period of time. 

SEBI regulation of fees and expenses AMCs charge to funds is not new and has not been static. It has been reviewed and revised to match the needs of the industry. While major changes were made in 2012 and then in 2018-19, in 2023, SEBI decided to halt B-30 commissions, one of the items AMCs were allowed to charge in addition to the base TER. This was due to concerns that there were not enough systems and checks in place to ensure proper computation of these commissions.

SEBI is now mulling a further overhaul of the way in which fees and expenses will be charged to funds including:

  • A TER limit inclusive of ALL fees and charges, where there are no add-ons to Base TER 
  • A simpler, more manipulation-resistant system for B 30 commissions
  • Making TER inclusive of GST on investment and advisory fees
  • Replacing scheme-based slab structure with AMC level AUM based slabs
  • Lower TER limits across slabs

Reference: SEBI Consultation paper

This consultation paper however has been hanging fire for a while. We will update you when any changes are made with respect to TER!

More like this

14 thoughts on “Mutual fund expense ratio: All you wanted to know ”

  1. Investors get messages from AMCs from time to time about “Change in expense ratio” of a particular fund. The changes (mostly increases) are often small. Is there any regulation on how frequently the AMCs can change their TER? Or do they have lot of flexibility as long as they are within the prescribed range?

    1. Pavithra Jaivant

      Hello,
      There is no limit on how often AMCs can change their TER as long as it stays within the limits. They are just supposed to intimate investors when they do change the TER.
      Thanks,

  2. What surprises me is that these influencers talk of return and TER in the same breath. I mean if you have already mentioned return then why do you even mention TER. I suspect a lot of them don’t even know that return has the TER factored in.

    On a different note, I wonder what is it with Indian funds. Should the TER not reduce as the AUM goes up? Because a lot of that expense would be salaries and marketing and I don’t see them going up in line with the AUMs. But the Index Fund TERs take the real cake in India! Some of those have ridiculous TERs.

    Is there a way we can “easily” read breakdown of a fund’s expenses? I’d especially like to see how much they paid in salaries and how much they paid on marketing.

    1. The TER does reduce as the AUM goes up; SEBI defines the max TER chargeable based on AUM. The fund-wise breakdown of the TER is not given. You can see the annual or semi-annual financials that AMCs publish for an understanding of an AMC’s expenses. You are right in that main costs do not go up in tandem with AUM; this is one of the reasons AMCs want AUM 🙂 and which makes the AMC business an attractive one – thanks, Bhavana

  3. Nice article, demystifying a lot on Expense Ratio.

    One doubt, “Exit load on investors” will be an income to the Fund house rather than expense if I am not wrong. I presume that will also go to the Fund house and added back to the Fund’s NAV.

    1. Pavithra Jaivant

      Yes Sir – The point should read as “additional expenses for schemes having provision of exit load”. It has been rectified now.
      Thank you for bringing it up.

  4. Excellent article. Finfluencers want to sell their courses. Hence they spread false rumours that active funds don’t deliver etc and the expense ratio is a waste.

  5. Hi,
    My query
    Funds charge for early redemption within certain specified period. This amount is a profit to AMC or it gets added to added to fund’s profit ?

    Regards

    Jatin Mehta

      1. nikhil.abhyankar

        So, assume an exit load of 1% and an investor redeems units worth INR 100.
        Is it correct that the AMC will only liquidate INR 99 worth of assets (or deduct from cash holding) and thus the 1 rupee of exit load remains inside the fund?
        And the AMC is allowed to charge an expense for having this provision?

        1. A fund can charge an exit load for redemptions within a specific period (this period will differ for each fund) called the exit load period. So when you redeem within this, the fund will levy a charge on you. Therefore, for you, it is an expense. However, this charge gets put back into the fund. This is meant to discourage investors from redeeming early, and to reduce the impact of such early redemptions on existing (longer-term) investors in the fund.

          We have edited this point in the article to make it more clear, since it seems to be causing some confusion. – thanks, Bhavana

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If the client is not satisfied with the response of the RA, he/she can lodge his/her grievances with SEBI at scores.sebi.gov.in. Alternatively, the client may also write to any of the offices of SEBI. For any queries, feedback or assistance, please contact SEBI Office on Toll Free Helpline at 1800 22 7575 / 1800 266 7575

Details on grievances are available on the Website as follows: https://primeinvestor.in/ra-grievance/

10. Additional clauses:

Scope of the Research Service: The Research Services will be limited to providing independent research recommendation and shall not be involved in any advisory or portfolio allocation services. The Research Services are not meant to be tailor-made or customized solutions that specifically apply to each client based on his/her risk profile.

The RA never guarantees the returns on the recommendation provided. Investor shall take note that investment/trading in stocks/Index or other securities is always subject to market risk. Past performance is never a guarantee of same future results. The RA shall not be responsible for any loss to the Investors.

This service is not directed for access or use by anyone in a country, especially the USA, Canada or the European Union countries, where such use or access is unlawful or which may subject PrimeInvestor Financial Research Pvt Ltd or its affiliates to any registration or licensing requirement.

The Research Service, including recommendations, research reports, updates, and other information will be accessible through the RA’s website https://primeinvestor.in only. Such recommendations and updates will not be provided over phone calls.

Fees: Our current fee structure, the term and duration of our subscription for our Research Service, can be viewed on our website: https://primeinvestor.in/prime-pricing. Eligibility for any discounts is ascertained at the time the client subscribes. Any such discount and its tenure shall be at the discretion of the RA.

Subscription and access to content services fall under the purview of Goods and Services Tax (GST) as per the current indirect taxation policy, Government of India. Unless otherwise indicated, prices stated on our website are exclusive of applicable GST, any applicable value added tax (VAT) or other sales taxes. We are a business-to-consumer (B2C) service provider and we do not commit to provide any input tax credit on GST charged on subscription to our Research Service.

We may change the Subscription Fees and charges then in effect, or add new fees or charges which will take effect at the end of the client’s subscription period, by giving notice in advance and an opportunity to cancel renewal of the subscription.

Subscription Access & Renewal: Subscription to the Website commences immediately on the realisation of payment of the Subscription Fees. Subscriptions are set to be renewed automatically at the end of the subscription period.

Unless the client notifies us before the end of his/her subscription period, or the client cancels the auto-renewal mandate within the period specified by law, that the client does not wish to renew his/her subscription, the client’s subscription will renew for the period defined by the client’s subscription plan. We will charge the subscription using the same payment method that you previously used.

Although the client may notify to us his/her intention to his/her subscription, such notice will only take effect at the end of his/her then current subscription period, and he/she will not receive a refund other than as set out under Clause 8 in these Terms.

The client may notify us of his/her wish to cancel his/her subscription by sending an email to [email protected]. The client must provide at least 5 business days advance notice for this to be implemented.

Refunds: There can be no cancellation and refund of subscription fee paid once the subscription is active, other than as stated in Clause 8 of these Terms. If the client is entitled to a refund as specified under Clause 8 of these Terms, the RA will credit that refund to the card or other payment method used by the client to submit payment, unless it has expired - in which case the RA will contact the client to proceed with the refund. If we do issue a refund or credit due to circumstances outside the obligations specified under Clause 8, we are under no obligation to issue the same or a similar refund in the future.

General disclaimers: The recommendations made herein in the Research Services are expression of views and/or opinions and should not be deemed or construed to be advice for the purpose of purchase or sale of any security, nor a solicitation or offering on any investment/ trading opportunity on behalf of the company, AMC, insurance company, or issuer of security referred to herein.

The content and research reports generated by the RA does not constitute or is not intended to constitute an offer to buy or sell, or a solicitation to an offer to buy or sell financial products, units or securities.

The information/ opinion/ views mentioned in research reports or by the RA are not meant to serve as a professional guide to the client or recipients of this Report. The research report, recommendation, or any other content published by the RA do not assure or guarantee any minimum or fixed returns to the client or recipients of the reports/ recommendations/ content.

Use of this information is at the client’s own risk. The client must make his/ her own investment decisions based on his/her specific investment objective and financial position and using such independent advisors as he/she believes necessary. The services rendered by the RA are on a best-effort basis. All information in the content or research report of the RA is provided on an as is basis. Information is believed to be reliable but the RA does not warrant its completeness or accuracy and expressly disclaim all warranties and conditions of any kind, whether express or implied.

While due care has been taken to ensure that the disclosures, information, and opinions given are fair and reasonable, PrimeInvestor Financial Research Pvt Ltd and/or none of its officers, directors, partners, employees, agents, subsidiaries, affiliates or business associates shall be liable for any direct, indirect, special, incidental, consequential, punitive or exemplary damages, including lost profits arising in any way whatsoever from the information/ opinions/ views contained in the research report and recommendations that form part of the Research Service, and/or mails, social media or notifications issued by PrimeInvestor Financial Research Pvt Ltd or any other agency appointed/authorised by PrimeInvestor Financial Research Pvt Ltd. Returns and performance figures mentioned in the research report represent past performance and should not be constituted to be future returns or guaranteed returns.

Any agreements, transactions or other arrangements made between the client and any third party named on (or linked to from) the Website are at your own responsibility and entered into at your own risk. Any information that you receive via the Website, whether or not it is classified as “real time”, may have stopped being current by the time it reaches you. Market price information may be rounded up/down and therefore may not be entirely accurate.

The purpose of these disclosures is to provide essential information about the Research Services in a manner to assist and enable the prospective client/client in making an informed decision for engaging in Research Services before onboarding.

History, present business and background: PrimeInvestor Financial Research Private Limited is registered with SEBI as Research Analyst with registration no. INH200008653. The Research Analyst got its registration on August 19, 2021 and is engaged in offering research and recommendation services.

Disciplinary history: There are no pending material litigations or legal proceedings against the Research Analyst. As on date, no penalties / directions have been issued by SEBI under the SEBI Act or Regulations made thereunder against the Research Analyst relating to Research Analyst services.

Details of the RA's associates: No associates.

Usage of Website Content: This Website is controlled and operated by the RA. All material, including research reports, recommendations, portfolios, ratings, lists of financial products, illustrations, statements, opinions, views, photographs, products, images, artwork, designs, text, graphics, logos, button icons, images, audio and video clips and software (collectively, “Content”) are protected by copyrights, trademarks and other intellectual property rights that are owned and controlled by the RA or by other parties that have licensed their material to us.

Except where otherwise agreed in writing with the RA, material on the Website is solely for the client’s personal, non-commercial use. Except as provided below, the client must not copy, reproduce, republish, upload, post, transmit or distribute such material in any way, including by e-mail or other electronic means and whether directly or indirectly and the client must not assist any other person to do so.

Without the prior written consent of the RA, modification of the materials, use of the materials on any other web site or networked computer environment or use of the materials for any purpose other than personal, non-commercial use is a violation of the copyrights, trademarks and other proprietary rights, and is prohibited. Any use for which the client receives any remuneration, whether in money or otherwise, is a commercial use for the purposes of these Terms.

The client may occasionally distribute a copy of a research report, or a portion of the same, from the Website in non-electronic form to a few individuals without charge, provided the client includes all copyright and other proprietary rights notices in the same form in which the notices appear, original source attribution, and the phrase “Used with permission from PrimeInvestor Financial Research Pvt. Ltd.”

While the client may occasionally download and store research reports or information from the Website for his/her personal use, he/she may not otherwise provide others with access to the same. The foregoing does not apply to any sharing functionality we provide through the Website that expressly allows the client to share Content or links to Content with others. In addition, the client may not use Content he/she has downloaded for personal use to develop or operate an automated trading system or for data or text mining.

The client agrees not to rearrange or modify the Content available through the Website. The client agrees not to display, post, frame, or scrape the Content for use on another website, app, blog, product or service, except as otherwise expressly permitted by these Terms. You agree not to create any derivative work based on or containing the research products and Content. The framing or scraping of or in-line linking to the Services or any Content contained thereon and/or the use of webcrawler, spidering or other automated means to access, copy, index, process and/or store any Content made available on or through the Services other than as expressly authorized by us is prohibited.

The client further agrees to abide by exclusionary protocols (e.g., Robots.txt, Automated Content Access Protocol (ACAP), etc.) that may be used in connection with the Research Services. The client may not access parts of the Research Services to which he/she is not authorized, or attempt to circumvent any restrictions imposed on your use or access of the Services.

As a general rule, the client may not use the Content, including without limitation, any Content made available through one of our RSS Feeds, in any commercial product or service, without our express written consent.

The client may not create apps, extensions, or other products and services that use our Content without our permission. The client may not aggregate or otherwise use our Content in a manner that could reasonably serve as a substitute for a subscription to the Website.

The client may not access or view the Services with the use of any scripts, extensions, or programs that alter the way the Services are displayed, rendered, or transmitted to you without our written consent.

The client agrees not to use the Services for any unlawful purpose. We reserve the right to terminate or restrict the client's access to the Website if, in our opinion, the client's use of the Services may violate any laws, regulations or rulings, infringe upon another person's rights or violate these Terms.

Prohibited content: The Website includes comments sections, blogs and other interactive features that allow interaction among clients and between clients and the RA. We call the information posted by or contributed by users “Contributed Content.” In the course of availing of the Research Services or uploading any post or comment on the Website, the client shall not post any Contributed Content that (i) contains nude, semi-nude, sexually suggestive photos, (ii) tends or is likely to abuse, harass, threaten, impersonate or intimidate other users of the Website and/or Research Services, (iii) is lascivious or appeals to the prurient interest or if its effect is such as to tend to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely to use or have access to the Website and/or Services, or (iv) otherwise violates, is prohibited or restricted by applicable law, rule or regulation, is offensive or illegal or violates the rights of, harms or threatens the safety of other users of the Website and/or Services (collectively “Prohibited Content”).

We reserve the right to cease to provide the client with the Research Services or access to the Website, or terminate your subscription, with immediate effect and without notice and liability, for violating these Terms, applicable law, rules or regulations and reserves the right to remove Prohibited Content which is in violation of these Terms, or is otherwise abusive, illegal or disruptive. The determination of whether any content constitutes Prohibited Content, violates these Terms, or is otherwise abusive illegal or disruptive, is subject to the sole determination of the Firm.

Changes to Research Services: We are constantly endeavouring to improve the quality of Research Services provided to our clients. Due to this, the form and nature of the Research Services provided may change from time to time without any prior notice to the client. We reserve the right to introduce and initiate new features, functionalities, components to the Website and/or Research Services and/or change, alter, modify, or discontinue existing ones without any prior notice to the client.

Warranty and liability disclaimer: The Website, Research Services, and all the materials and services, included on or otherwise made available to the client through this Website is provided by the RA on an “as is” and “as available” basis without any representation or warranties, express or implied except otherwise specified in writing. Without prejudice to the foregoing paragraph, the RA does not warrant that:

  • This Website and/or Research Services will be constantly available, or available at all;
  • The information on this Website or provided through the Research Services is complete, true, accurate or not misleading; or
  • The quality of any products, services, information, or other material that you obtain through the Website or Services will meet your expectations.

The RA, to the fullest extent permitted by law, disclaims all warranties, whether express or implied, including the warranty of merchantability, fitness for particular purpose and non-infringement. The RA makes no warranties about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the Website, Research Services, Content, Contributed Content, Services, software, text, graphics and links.

The RA does not warrant that this Website, Research Services, information, content, materials, or any other material included on or otherwise made available to you through this Website, their servers, or electronic communication sent by the RA are free of viruses or other harmful components.

Nothing on this Website constitutes, or is meant to constitute, advice of any kind.

Indemnification: The client:

  1. Represents, warrants and covenants that no materials of any kind provided by him/her will:
    1. Violate, plagiarise, or infringe upon the rights of any third party, including copyright, trademark, privacy or other personal or proprietary rights; or
    2. Contain libellous, Prohibited Content or other unlawful material;
  2. Hereby agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless the RA and all of the RA’s officers, directors, owners, agents, customers/clients, information providers, affiliates, licensors and licensees (collectively, the “Indemnified Parties”) from and against any and all liability and costs, including, without limitation, reasonable advocate’s fees, incurred by the Indemnified Parties in connection with any claim arising out of any breach by the client of these Terms or the foregoing representations, warranties and covenants. The client shall cooperate as fully as reasonably required in the defence of any such claim. The RA reserves the right, at its own expense, to assume the exclusive defence and control of any matter subject to indemnification by the client.

Applicable law: This Website, including the Content and Contributed Content and information contained herein, and the provision of Research Services shall be governed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India, laws of the Republic of India and the courts of Chennai, India which shall retain exclusive jurisdiction to entertain any proceedings in relation to any disputes arising out of the same. As such, the laws of India shall govern any transaction completed using this Website.

Information gathered and tracked: Information submitted or collected on the Website or pursuant to the use of the Services is stored in a database. Specifically, we store the username, name, e-mail address, contact number, as submitted or collected on our Website or through the provision of the Research Services. We may use such information to send out occasional promotional materials, including alerts on new Services available, or other promotional and marketing material relating to our clients and customers.

In accordance with the Information Technology Act 2000, the name and the details of the Grievance Officer at PrimeInvestor is provided below:

Mr. Srikanth Meenakshi
PrimeInvestor Financial Research Pvt. Ltd., Registered office: 659, 4th Avenue, D-Sector, Anna Nagar Western Extension, Chennai 600 101.
Email: [email protected]

11. Mandatory notice:

Clients shall be requested to go through Do’s and Don’ts while dealing with RA as specified in SEBI master circular no. SEBI/HO/MIRSD-POD-1/P/CIR/2024/49 dated May 21, 2024 or as may be specified by SEBI from time to time.

12. Optional Centralised Fee Collection Mechanism:

SEBI has operationalized a centralized fee collection mechanism for IA and RA. Under this mechanism, clients shall pay fees to IAs/RAs through a designated platform/portal administered by a recognized Administration and Supervision body. This is an optional mechanism for the registered entities. At this time, PrimeInvestor has opted out of this fee collection mechanism. Therefore, all subscription payments for the Research Services will be through the modes as specified in Clause 5 of these Terms.

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