NISM MUTUAL FUND DISTRIBUTION COURSE

I. Concept and Role of a Mutual Fund

  • Concept of a mutual fund
  • Functions of a mutual fund
  • Advantages and limitations of a mutual fund
  • Investment objectives
  • Marking to market
  • Unit capital
  • Assets under management (AUM)
  • Fund running expenses
  • Net asset value (NAV)
  • Brief history of mutual funds in India
  • Closed end funds and open ended funds
  • Categorization of funds by investment objective
  • Categorization of funds by investing horizon
  • Categorization of funds by asset class
  • International funds
  • Fund of Funds
  • Exchange Traded Funds (ETF)

II. Fund Structure and Constituents

  • Structure of mutual funds in India and related regulations
  • Role of the sponsor, trustee and Asset Management Company (AMC) and related regulations
  • Role of other fund constituents and related regulations

III. Legal and Regulatory Environment

  • Role of regulators in India
  • Role and functions of SEBI in regulating mutual funds
  • Self regulatory organizations
  • Role and functions of AMFI
  • AMFI Code of Ethics
  • Investment restrictions and related regulations
  • Investor rights and obligations

IV. Offer Document

  • Regulations with respect to drafting and filing of an Offer Document for NFO
  • Process of NFO and steps involved in marketing an NFO
  • Objectives of information disclosure in an offer document
  • Objectives and contents of the Statement of Additional Information (SAI) and related regulations
  • Objectives and contents of the Scheme Information Document (SID) and related regulations
  • Key Information Memorandum (KIM) and related regulations 

V. Fund Distribution and Sales Practices

  • Types of investors and eligibility
  • Distribution channels for mutual funds
  • Pre-requisites to become a mutual fund distributor
  • Key elements of agreement between distributor and a mutual fund
  • Sales practices and commission structure
  • Types of commissions and transaction charges
  • AMFI Code of Conduct
  • Process for KYD

VI. Accounting, Valuation and Taxation

  • Computation of net assets and NAV
  • Announcement of NAV
  • Factors affecting the NAV
  • Pricing of transactions in a mutual fund
  • Time-stamping of transactions
  • Charging of expenses
  • Key accounting and reporting requirements
  • Valuation process carried out by mutual funds
  • Applicability of taxes
  • Dividend Distribution Tax
  • Taxability of dividends and capital gains in the hands of a mutual fund investor
  • Applicability of Securities Transactions Tax based on type of transaction and scheme
  • Setting off gains and losses under Income Tax Act

VII. Investor Services

  • KYC requirements & Demat Account concept
  • Process for fresh and additional purchase in a mutual fund
  • Additional documentation requirements for institutional investors
  • Acceptable payment instruments
  • Processes related to redemptions by investors
  • Contents and periodicity of Statement of account
  • Process for Nomination and Pledge
  • Types of Investment options – dividend, growth and dividend re-investment
  • Processes related to of systematic investment plans
  • Processes related to systematic withdrawals and transfers
  • Processes related to other investor services and facilities

VIII. Risk, Return and Performance of Funds

  • Return on investment
  • Calculation of simple, annualized and compounded returns
  • Applicability of returns for different types of funds
  • SEBI norms for return representation of mutual funds in India
  • Factors that may affect mutual fund performance
  • Risks in different type of mutual funds
  • Classification of mutual funds based on risk
  • Process for Benchmarking of performance

IX. Scheme Selection

  • Steps in selecting equity funds
  • Steps in selecting debt funds
  • Steps in evaluating a money market fund and identifying factors impacting their performance
  • Steps in evaluating balanced mutual funds and evaluation of factors impacting their performance
  • Sources of data to track mutual fund performance

X. Selecting the Right Investment products for Investors

  • Classification of assets into physical and financial assets
  • Features of physical assets such as gold and real estate
  • Features of financial assets

XI. Helping Investors with Financial Planning

  • Basics of financial planning
  • Financial goals
  • Investment horizon
  • Objective of financial planning
  • Benefits and need for financial planning to the investor
  • Life cycle and wealth cycle in financial planning
  • Tools to categorize investors’ needs

XII. Recommending Model Portfolios and Financial Plans

  • Risk profiling
  • Asset allocation and types
  • Importance and steps for developing a model portfolio