“Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.”—Robert Louis Stevenson

A few years ago when mutual funds started offering direct plans, it was expected that the retail investors would favour the new concept. Although it remains popular among genuine investment advisors, individual investors have found little merit in them so far, at least going by numbers. People seem to have forgotten the above axiom. Some investors are unaware of benefits while others tend to be ignoring resolutely.

As per the data published by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) only around 10% retail investors invest in direct plans. The percentage is little higher – close to 15% – in the case of High Net-worth Individuals (HNIs). What’s more shocking is, out of total equity assets held by individuals, just 5.0% come through the direct route.

Before you read about what investors are missing by not opting for the direct route, it is worthwhile to understand the basic concept once.

What are direct plans?
Almost all mutual funds offer you broadly two plans to invest in their schemes, namely direct plans and regular plans.

Direct Plan — Opting for this plan while investing in mutual funds, you eliminate the services of a mutual fund distributor / agent / relationship manager. The transaction may be performed online or even physically by visiting the registrar’s or the asset management company’s office.

Regular Plan — This has been the conventional way wherein, you push your request to transact vide mutual fund distributor / agent / relationship manager.

What was the rationale behind encouraging investors to invest directly?
The idea was, if investors approach mutual funds directly to transact, the fund houses would be able to cut off the long chain of distributors and agents which always adds to their cost structure. In return, the mutual fund houses would pass on these cost savings to the investors in the form of the lower expense ratio. The expense ratio tells you how much as a percentage of the scheme’s corpus the total expenditures are. This was considered to enhance the returns for the investors.

Why haven’t investors preferred direct plans?
Over last few years, almost all fund houses have managed to generate higher returns on assets of the same scheme coming through direct plans. However, the returns haven’t been significantly greater than those produced by the regular plans.

Once you eliminate the broker or the agent, you forgo the facility of doorstep service that many middlemen offer which investors perhaps find inconvenient when they opt for direct plans. Additionally, the paperwork involved while investing in mutual fund investing discourages investors from opting direct plans.

Although this is unfortunate, retail investors seem to have ignored direct plans due to some initial cumbersome processes, especially those related to KYC (Know Your Customer).

Why should you prefer direct plans?
Direct plans offered by mutual funds make a positive difference to your investments every year. The direct plans generate roughly 0.5% to 1.0% additional returns every year. However, if you sow seeds of these small savings, you may harvest rich rewards over 15- 20 years — thanks to the power of compounding .
 

Direct Plans Are Effective Over the Long Term

Year	Amt invested in Direct Plan (in Rs)	Amt invested in Regular Plan considering the difference of 0.75% in expense ratio (in Rs)	Amt invested in Regular Plan considering the difference of 0.50% in expense ratio (in Rs)
2016	100,000	100,000	100,000
2017	112,000	111,250	111,500
2018	125,440	123,766	124,323
2019	140,493	137,689	138,620
2020	157,352	153,179	154,561
2021	176,234	170,412	172,335
2022	197,382	189,583	192,154
2023	221,068	210,911	214,252
2024	247,596	234,639	238,891
2025	277,308	261,036	266,363
2026	310,585	290,402	296,995
2027	347,855	323,073	331,149
2028	389,598	359,418	369,231
2029	436,349	399,853	411,693
2030	488,711	444,836	459,037
2031	547,357	494,880	511,827
2032	613,039	550,554	570,687
2033	686,604	612,492	636,316
2034	768,997	681,397	709,492
2035	861,276	758,054	791,084
2036	964,629	843,336	882,058

Note: The above table is for illustration purpose only
(Source: PersonalFN Research)

The table above demonstrates how small savings of 0.75% or 0.50% in expense ratio for 20 years can make a huge difference, assuming the returns clocked are 12% compounded annualized. Let’s make one more assumption—the regular plan of the same scheme changes 0.75% extra. Do you know the difference this would make over 20 years? Well, the difference would be worth Rs 1.21 lakh — which is higher than your initial investment. A little conservative estimate, considering the difference in the expense ratio would be just 0.5% every year, suggests that the excess money that you would make in 20 years’ timeframe would be over Rs 85,000. Now investing in direct plans sounds promising; isn’t it?

There’s another benefit of investing through direct plans. You can easily avoid commission driven distributors and agents who often misguide you. You get a chance to do your research on available investment options.

But many investors find this job very tedious and time-consuming. If this has been your reason for not investing, it’s time you re-examine. Many platforms offer you ready tools to compare funds just at a click and control of the mouse.

Alternatively, you can always seek help of an independent mutual fund advisor who offers an unbiased research-based view for a fee, and you’re always free to invest in a direct plan. For your long-term financial wellbeing, it is essential that you review your portfolio so that corrective measures can be taken at the right time.

The time has come to ask yourself and judge: Are you compromising on long-term returns for a little comfort in the short-term by availing services of mutual fund distributors, or is there a real value.

Direct plans vs. Regular Plans – which of the two you prefer and why while investing in mutual funds? Share your view us below.
 

Add Comments

Comments
Vijayapalas@gmail.com Apr 18, 2018 Want to go for direct investment plan for different mutual funds. What will be the best way.
VRKORADA@yahoo.co.in May 11, 2016 I have some investments in MF. From CAMS site, can I switch from regular MF to Direct plans? If yes, will they reflect in my portfolio maintained by my brokerage firm/Bank? As I already have MF with the same fund house, Do I still need to submit the documents again?

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