Investment Guidance

What our guidance is — and is not

Nivesh Sarthi is an AMFI-registered Mutual Fund Distributor (ARN-365431, EUIN E699034). The guidance we give is incidental to distributing mutual fund schemes, which is the scope SEBI allows a registered distributor. It relates only to the mutual fund products we distribute.

We are not registered with SEBI as an Investment Adviser, and we do not charge you a fee for advice. We are paid a trail commission by the fund house when you invest through us in a regular plan — the arrangement is set out in full on our commission disclosure page.

Every recommendation we make is a suggestion for you to consider. The decision to invest, and in what, is always yours.

Knowing you first: KYC and your risk profile

Before any recommendation, SEBI requires that your KYC is complete and valid, and the AMFI Code of Conduct requires us to understand your circumstances well enough to recommend only what is suitable for you.

• KYC is completed once, through a SEBI-registered KYC Registration Agency, using your PAN, proof of address and in-person or video verification. It is then valid across all mutual funds.
• We record your goals, investment horizon, income stability, existing investments and liabilities.
• We assess your risk appetite and your capacity to bear loss — how much the value can fall before it changes your life, not just your mood.
• We revisit the profile when your circumstances change: a new job, marriage, a child, retirement, or a large expense ahead.

Matching schemes to you, not the other way round

Every scheme carries a SEBI-mandated Riskometer showing its risk on a six-level scale, from Low to Very High, and debt schemes also carry a Potential Risk Class that shows interest-rate risk and credit risk together. We use these to keep what we suggest within the risk you have told us you can carry.

• The scheme category is chosen for the goal and its horizon first — money needed in a year does not belong in an equity fund.
• Schemes are compared on their mandate, consistency, costs, portfolio quality and the fund house’s process, not on last year’s return alone.
• Where a scheme’s risk is higher than your profile, we will say so in writing, and it is your informed choice whether to proceed.
• We diversify across categories and fund houses where that genuinely reduces risk, and avoid holding several schemes that own the same stocks.

Documents you should read before investing

Mutual fund investments are subject to market risks. Before investing, read the scheme documents — we will share them and walk you through the parts that matter.

• Scheme Information Document (SID) — the scheme’s objective, asset allocation, risks, loads and fund manager.
• Key Information Memorandum (KIM) — a shorter summary of the SID, attached to every application form.
• Statement of Additional Information (SAI) — details of the fund house, its sponsor, trustees and governance.
• The monthly factsheet and portfolio disclosure, which show what the scheme actually holds.

How your money moves

SEBI rules keep your money and your units in your own name at every step. These safeguards apply whether or not you invest through us, and you should expect them from anyone.

• Payments go directly from your bank account to the mutual fund — never to the distributor. We will never ask you to pay into our account.
• Units are allotted to your own folio or demat account, and redemptions are paid only to your registered bank account.
• Cash investments are limited to ₹50,000 per investor, per mutual fund, per financial year, and third-party payments are not accepted except in the narrow cases SEBI permits.
• You receive a Consolidated Account Statement (CAS) every month in which you transact, and every half year otherwise. It shows all your holdings and, for each scheme, the commission the fund house paid to your distributor.
• Every transaction is confirmed to you directly by the fund house or its registrar by email and SMS.

Staying with the plan

Most of the value of guidance is not in choosing the first fund. It is in the years after — keeping a SIP going through a falling market, not chasing a scheme that has just had a good year, and rebalancing when an allocation has drifted.

• Periodic reviews of your portfolio against your goals, not against an index or a friend’s returns.
• A second opinion before you redeem, switch or stop a SIP — including when the honest answer is to do nothing.
• Help with nominations, bank mandate changes, address updates, transmission and other service requests.
• Explaining exit loads, lock-ins and the tax consequence of a redemption before you make it, not after.

What we will never do

These follow from the AMFI Code of Conduct for mutual fund distributors and SEBI’s regulations. If anyone acting in our name does any of them, please tell us immediately.

• Promise, assure or guarantee a return, or suggest that a scheme cannot lose value.
• Recommend a scheme because it pays a higher commission, or move you between schemes to earn more (churning).
• Offer you a rebate, gift or share of our commission as an inducement to invest.
• Sign a form on your behalf, fill in a blank signed form, or ask for your OTP, PIN or login password.
• Collect cash or cheques in our own name, or hold your money even temporarily.
• Present past performance as an indication of future returns, or use unauthorised claims in any communication.

Your nomination

SEBI requires every mutual fund folio to have a nomination, or a formal declaration that you choose not to nominate. A nomination is what lets your family claim your investments without a long legal process, and we will make sure yours is in place and up to date.

If something goes wrong

Tell us first. Write to Ajinkya Khandare at ajinkya@niveshsarthi.in and we will respond within 3 working days.

If a complaint concerns a scheme or a transaction, you can also raise it directly with the fund house or its registrar. If it is not resolved, you can escalate it to SEBI through SCORES, and after that to the online dispute resolution mechanism for the securities market.

• SEBI SCORES — complaint redressal
• SMART ODR — online dispute resolution
• AMFI — verify a distributor’s ARN (Locate Distributor)