Personal Finance on WebNotes

ET Money

Sat, 16 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

ET Money is an Indian personal-finance platform and direct-plan mutual fund investment application, operated by Times Internet Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bennett, Coleman and Company Limited (BCCL), publishers of the Times of India and the Economic Times. Accessible at etmoney.com and through Android and iOS applications, ET Money is structured as a SEBI-registered investment adviser (RIA) under the SEBI (Investment Advisers) Regulations, 2013, alongside complementary AMFI ARN and IRDAI registrations for non-MF distribution. The platform combines direct-plan mutual fund distribution, an automated portfolio-recommendation service (ET Money Genius), insurance distribution, and a personal-expense-tracking module that traces back to the platform’s pre-Times-Internet origins as a personal-finance tracker.

Joint holders in MF folio

Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Joint holders in a mutual fund folio refers to two or three individuals who hold units of a SEBI-registered mutual fund scheme in a single folio. Joint holding is one of the most common folio structures for retail investors and allows families or business partners to share a single investment account. The rules governing joint folios, eligible combinations, operational modes, taxation, and transmission, are set by SEBI, AMCs, and the Income Tax Act.

Minor as MF investor

Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A minor as a mutual fund investor is a person below 18 years of age who invests in units of SEBI-registered mutual fund schemes through a natural or legally appointed guardian. Minors cannot execute legal contracts in their own name under the Indian Contract Act, 1872 (a contract with a minor is void ab initio); therefore, all investment transactions in a minor’s folio are executed by the guardian on behalf of the minor. The folio is in the minor’s name, with the guardian as the operating authority until the minor attains majority.

Penetration of Mutual Funds vs Bank Deposits in India

Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The penetration of mutual funds relative to bank deposits in India illustrates the fundamental challenge of financial deepening in a large, heterogeneous economy: despite two decades of consistent growth, mutual fund assets remain a small fraction of bank deposit liabilities, reflecting structural barriers of trust, access, financial literacy, and tax treatment that continue to favour deposit-based savings for the majority of Indian households.

Scale comparison

As of March 2025:

Instrument	Approximate outstanding stock
Scheduled commercial bank deposits	Rs 220 lakh crore
Post Office deposits and small savings	Rs 25 lakh crore
Mutual fund AUM (all categories)	Rs 67 lakh crore
Life insurance reserves	Rs 55 lakh crore
EPF and GPF balances	Rs 25 lakh crore

Source: RBI Handbook of Statistics, AMFI, DPIIT, IRDAI (approximate).

Resident individual MF investor

Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A resident individual mutual fund investor is a natural person who is a tax resident of India within the meaning of Section 6 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, and who invests in units of a mutual fund registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Resident individuals constitute the largest and most heterogeneous category of mutual fund investors in India, accounting for the majority of retail assets under management (AUM) across equity, debt, and hybrid schemes. Their participation is governed by the SEBI (Mutual Funds) Regulations, 1996, AMFI guidelines, and the relevant provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961.