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Frequently Asked Questions

Mutual fund is a collective investment vehicle used for investing in stocks, bonds, money market instruments and similar assets. Fund managers manage mutual funds who invest the funds received from investors to produce the desired returns through trading – buying and selling stocks in the fund. Investing in mutual funds are a lot easier than buying and selling stocks on the exchange.

Mutual funds are popular on account of the ease of investing and strong regulations leading to better transparency and disclosures. Mutual funds are also tax efficient and provide the power of compounding which is a concept towards creating wealth over the long term. Retail investors gain the expertise of professionals at a fraction of a cost, which is one of the main benefits of Mutual funds, allowing them to create and preserve wealth to meet current and future commitments.
No. Mutual fund is a regulated investment vehicle supervised by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) under the SEBI Mutual Fund Act 1996. Enforcement of regulations under this act applies to Asset Management companies, brokers, dealers, registrars and all parties involved in the process of sale, management and processing of mutual funds in India. PHUNDO is a registered body supervised by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) and is regulated by guidelines issued by SEBI through AMFI for the mutual fund industry.
Yes. Mutual funds provide you the opportunity to create and preserve wealth over the mid to long term thereby allowing you to meet present and future commitments. With a minimum amount of Rs 500 you can start a systematic investment plan on a regular basis in mutual funds.
The term “best” mutual fund is a myth. A good mutual fund scheme is dependent on the goal you wish to achieve. At PHUNDO we believe in creating a basket of mutual fund schemes based on themes best suited to meet your goals. One of the best ways to mitigate risk of investment is to diversify the investments which can be done in debt, equity and gold using Mutual Funds. Our algorithms are designed based on extensive research employing subjective, fundamental and technical attributes and present this case for diversification thereby attempting to reduce risk of investing.

The first step is to identify your goals. Then comes understanding your risk tolerance. PHUNDO makes these complex steps simple by allowing you to choose the expected rate of return you wish to achieve for your desired goals. Based on this, the risk is defined by your expected rate of return. Through a scientific approach, PHUNDO then works out the most suitable schemes for you to meet your goals.

There are a variety of ways you can invest in Mutual Funds – by investing directly through an AMC website, completing an application form and submitting this at the respective AMC office or a registrar, by registering with a stock exchange platform / industry aggregator. PHUNDO uses the BSE Star MF platform to process Mutual Fund transactions.
It is not necessary that all platforms follow the principle of “appropriateness” of products to clients, though all platforms offer transacting capabilities which increases the convenience in investing in Mutual Funds. It is important for you to get appropriate advice along with ease of transacting seamlessly. PHUNDO is a platform that provides both capabilities.
Direct Plan and Regular Plan and two investment options under the same Mutual Fund scheme. The only difference between the two plans is cost. Direct plans do not include the cost of commission paid to distributors in the total expense ratio of the fund. PHUNDO being a registered distributor under the Association of Mutual Funds of India uses the regular plans to channel your investments. Based on this approach you do not pay any fees to PHUNDO.
Any individual (Resident Indian or NRI) can transact with PHUNDO. Residents of USA & Canada are not permitted in investing in Mutual Funds in India. Any purchase transactions submitted through the PHUNDO platform will be reversed by the AMC level for residents of USA & Canada. Please write to us on support@phundo.com if you are a non-individual and would like access to our non-individual advisory services as well.
Established in 1875, The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) is Asia’s first stock exchange. More than 5,500 entities are listed on the BSE making it the world’s No.1 exchange in terms of listed members. In order to extend the same convenience as investors in the secondary market to investors in Mutual funds, BSE under the supervision of a SEBI committee comprising of exchanges and depositories introduced an online trading platform connected to RTAs to process Mutual Fund trades.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is the regulator of the securities market in India. It was established in the year 1988 and given statutory powers on 30 January 1992 through the SEBI Act 1992. The Mutual Fund industry is regulated and supervised by SEBI.
The Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) is dedicated to developing the Indian Mutual Fund Industry on professional, healthy and ethical lines and to enhance and maintain standards in all areas with a view to protecting and promoting the interests of Mutual Funds and their unit holders.
You need not be KYC complaint to open an account with PHUNDO. Once you access PHUNDO, we will take you through a process of completing your KYC registration if not already done. For those clients who are not KYC compliant we will require your Aadhaar number for completing the OTP based KYC which will provide you the capability of investing upto Rs 50,000 per AMC per year. For amounts above Rs 50,000 we are working on a solution which is online and requires minimal exchange of hard copy documentation.
Opening multiple accounts under one name is not permitted in PHUNDO. However, you can have multiple goals under your account or even open an account in the name of a family member. In addition, you can hold multiple accounts with different holding patterns (joint name folios). Do note that once you have completed an investment you cannot add an additional name in the same folio. You can however add a nominee to the folio.

Our systems are set to the highest standards of data security. By using the industry approved BSE Star MF platform, all necessary sensitive data is held in total confidence with respective Asset Management companies.
Minor accounts cannot be opened at PHUNDO. However, you can set goals for your children’s education and marriage under your account. PHUNDO will allow you to incorporate the name of your child/children under these goals which will help you track them during the course of the investments.
Yes, a minor can be nominated provided the guardian details are also provided in the nomination form. KYC of the nominee is not mandatory. However, details such as address etc will be required to be filled in the nomination form. Please contact us at support@phundo.com to obtain a nomination form.

Please send an email at support@phundo.com and we will assist in completing the necessary formalities for updating your address.

It is important for you to inform your bank/s and Mutual Funds about the change of your resident status. PHUNDO will assist you in completing formalities for changing your resident status on your Mutual Fund folios. There will be no change to your investment holdings once you change your resident status from NRI to resident. You will however, need to immediately intimate your bank/s to convert your NRE/NRO accounts to domestic accounts.
Yes. Besides certified true copy of the passport, overseas address and permanent address proof, NRIs will need to obtain certified true copy of documents translated into English if these have been issued in a foreign language. Documents can be attested as certified at the Consulate office in the country of residence.
Once you have done your investment, you can simply login with the user name and password to access your account. Valuation reports as well as necessary analytics on your portfolio will be displayed for your review.

Investing in Mutual Funds can be done online or offline through a registered financial intermediary or directly at the AMC. At PHUNDO we use the online mode of execution of your financial transactions. Whether you invest online or offline, the KYC process remains the same. However, to simplify the KYC process for individuals, PHUNDO has introduced Aadhaar based KYC which allows you to use your Aadhaar number combined with an OTP verification if you are not KYC compliant. The method of KYC registration allows you to invest upto a limit of Rs 50,000 per year per AMC.
Yes. Transactions can be placed on holidays as well. However,allotment of units and the Net Asset Value (NAV) will be applicable on the next market working day.

Should you wish to close your account with PHUNDO, you can transfer the assets under management (AUM) to another adviser or directly in your name in a direct plan. Do however keep in mind that there maybe tax implications and well as exit loads when you transfer the AUM from a regular plan to a direct plan and vice versa. Closure of account or redemption of proceeds will close the goal setup for you.
SEBI has prescribed cut-off timing for purchase and redemptions in Mutual Funds which are applicable uniformly across all AMCs. The PHUNDO goal based algorithms use non liquid funds to help you achieve your goals. For equity and debt funds the cut-off time is 3pm. If you submit your transaction request before 3pm, you get the same day's NAV. If you submit later than this, you will get the next market working day's NAV. However, for amounts greater than Rs 2 lakhs, NAV is allotted based on realization for funds in the AMC’s bank account and is subject to the applicable cut-off times as stated above.

FATCA stands for the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. It is a new piece of legislation to help counter tax evasion in the US. Introduced by the United States Department of Treasury (Treasury) and the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the purpose of FATCA is to encourage better tax compliance by preventing US persons from using banks and other financial organisations to avoid US taxation on their income and assets.

A significant number of countries worldwide have signed the inter-governmental agreements (IGAs) relating to FATCA. India is a signatory to the IGA which has resulted FATCA legislation becoming law in India.

It is a regulatory requirement wherein every Mutual Fund investor now mandatorily needs to provide the information and documentation towards compliance with tax information sharing laws, such as FATCA/CRS. For your convenience, you can submit the same online by using the PHUNDO platform. FATCA declaration is a mandatory one-time requirement for investments in Mutual Fund schemes. You need not submit this declaration on subsequent investments you make.

Exit load is a fee or an amount charged from an investor for exiting or leaving a scheme. The exit load is charged on the entire amount redeemed.

Your portfolio consists of funds which have exit loads. If you do wish to redeem the funds from your portfolio it is always advisable to first check whether any exit load charge is applicable. Generally, most funds have an exit load upto 1 years however some funds may have exit loads upto 2 or even 3 years.

The initial investment date will be considered when applying a charge under the scheme’s exit load policy.

For example, under a lumpsum investment plan, if you had commenced your investment on 01 January 2018 in a scheme having an exit load upto 1 year, you would not be charged an exit load should you redeem from this scheme after 01 January 2019. However, an exit load will apply if you redeem from the scheme on or before 01 January 2019. In the case of a monthly investment (SIP) the initial date of the SIP instalment will be considered in levying an exit load charge. For example, if you have invested using the monthly investment option on 01 January 2018 with a 36-month instalment plan, each instalment date will be treated as the investment date. Therefore, if you redeem an investment of a SIP done on 01 January 2018 on 10 December 2018 an exit load will be charged. Similarly, if the 2nd SIP instalment took place on 01 February 2018 and you redeem your units on 01 January 2019 then your investment will be charged an exit load.

Under the know your customer (KYC) guidelines issued by the Government of India, all mutual investors must disclose their Aadhaar and PAN numbers. Both these identification numbers will be used to verify you as the beneficial owners of the Mutual Fund units held under your portfolio. Do however note that Aadhaar seeding in your Mutual Fund folios would need to be done directly by you if not done earlier

Do it yourself allows you the freedom to build your own investment portfolio. Choose from over 1000 Mutual Fund schemes across themes.

For example, you can invest in tax savings schemes under this module.

Once you select your chosen Mutual Fund schemes, you will be able to view a summary of your selection for a review. The summary page allows you to delete schemes in the portfolio.

If you have specific invest needs such as short term money to invest or tax saving requirements, you can invest your funds under this platform.

For example, you may need to access your funds in 6 months hence, you can choose to invest in a fixed income scheme with an exit load less than 6 months. Liquid and ultra short bond funds are suited to meet this need.

Once you invest in schemes, you will receive a login ID and password to access your dashboard and view your portfolio details.
Do it yourself allows you to make adhoc investment decisions to park short term funds or invest in tax savings schemes or invest in a scheme where you donot have an allocation. Goal based investing provides you an investment solution to meet a specific goal over a period of time for example, a retirement plan, a childern’s education plan etc.

There is no separate payment or processing gateways under Do it Yourself. All transactions are safely and securely processed by the BSE MF Star platform.

Easy Plan allows you to set the amount you can save today.

Once you set the amount you can save today, select the risk profile. This determines the fund selection from the algorithm.

Easy plan is different from Goal Plan. In a Goal Plan, you set the target you want to achieve based on which we tell you have much you should save. In Easy Plan, you determine the amount you can set aside today to invest.

To register your monthly commitment (systematic Investment Plan – SIP) on PHUNDO a bank mandate is required to authorize the funds to be debited from your bank account. Once registered, investments will be processed efficiently. The bank mandate allows you to carry out Mutual Fund transactions other than your registered monthly commitment value should you wish to topup your investments in the future.

Mutual Fund schemes require a minimum amount for investment. In the case of a monthly commitment (SIP) the minimum amount required is Rs 500 while for a lumpsum investment the minimum amount required is Rs 5000. However, some funds may have higher minimum amounts other than the amount stated above. Please contact us on support@phundo.com for further clarifications.
Our payment gateway is with BSE Star MF through which all transactions are routed online. BSE Star MF has partnered with almost all the major banks in the country.
No. Funds are not transferred to PHUNDO. Once you authorize the investment payment, your funds are directly transferred to the respective AMCs’ bank accounts using the BSE MF Star payment gateway.
You can redeem your investment by login into your account and selecting the funds you have invested in. You can redeem the entire portfolio or a specific investment scheme under you’re your portfolio.
You will receive a SMS as well as an email confirmation from BSE once your payment has been successfully processed.
Your signature is required to complete the mandate registration with your bank thereby authorizing them to make the necessary payments to purchase Mutual Fund units.
There will be a number of reasons why your payment has been declined. Please contact us at support@phundo.com and we will assist you in investigating this matter.
Adding BSE as a biller to your net banking system will ensure that instalment of your SIPs will be processed as per the registered date recorded on the BSE MF Star platform.

Easy Pay are payment options presented to you to register you monthly instalment (SIP) debits from your bank account. There are three options under Easy Pay:-
Option 1: e-Mandate (Recommended for SIP registration)

The e-Mandate allows you to register your SIPconveniently and instantly. Using the OTP verification feature sent to your Aadhar linked mobile number, you authorize the registration of the mandate with your bank thereby ensuring your SIP is processed on the registered date for debit to your bank account. e-Mandates currently have a maximum limit of Rs 1 lakh.
Option 2: i-Direct Debit

This payment option allows you to register BSE as a biller in your internet banking system. A unique biller ID which is 15 digits will be sent to your mobile and email. This ID for example BSE000000012345, once registered under your bill payment system of internet banking will setup your SIP debit date as registered. Use this option if your mobile number is not linked to Aadhar or the value of your SIP/s is above Rs 1 lakh.
Option 3: p-Mandate

This option is a paper based payment system. Incase you cannot use e-Mandate or i-Direct Debit options to setup your SIP/s, you always have the option of using the p-Mandate process. The important fields such as your bank account number, amount and SIP registration date will be pre-populated in a form. Download this form, sign it and scan it to support@phundo.com. Do note it takes 7-10 working days to register your p-Mandate with your bank. We will notify you once your p-Mandate has been registered.