Kuvera

Kuvera is an Indian direct mutual fund investment platform and SEBI-registered investment adviser (RIA), accessible at kuvera.in. Operated by Arevuk Advisory Services Private Limited, Kuvera allows investors to purchase direct plans of mutual fund schemes at zero commission, provide goals-based financial planning tools, and consolidate portfolios across multiple folios. Kuvera is one of the largest direct-plan mutual fund platforms in India by registered users, with the company disclosing over 35 lakh registered users and approximately Rs. 90,000 crore in assets under advice as of 2024.

The platform does not charge transaction fees or subscription fees for core mutual fund investing. Kuvera’s primary revenue model relies on referral fees from non-mutual-fund financial products such as fixed deposits (offered via partner banks and NBFCs), the National Pension System (NPS), US equity investing, and sovereign gold bonds, in which Kuvera operates as a distributor rather than an adviser.

History and founding

Kuvera was founded in 2016 by Gaurav Rastogi and Neelabh Sanyal. Gaurav Rastogi, who had previously worked at financial services firms in the United States, and Neelabh Sanyal built Kuvera as a response to the opacity and commission-driven conflicts of interest in traditional mutual fund distribution. The founders positioned the platform explicitly as a SEBI-registered RIA rather than as a mutual fund distributor (MFD), differentiating it from platforms that earned trail commissions on regular plans.

Kuvera was incorporated in Bengaluru and operates under the regulatory oversight of SEBI for its RIA activities and AMFI for its ARN-holder registration, which is required to place direct-plan orders with CAMS and KFin Technologies. The company received early backing from venture investors and was acquired by Smallcase Technologies Private Limited in 2023, creating a combined entity offering both stock-basket (smallcase) and mutual fund (Kuvera) investing.

Acquisition by Smallcase (2023)

In October 2023, Smallcase Technologies announced the acquisition of Kuvera, bringing together Kuvera’s mutual fund user base and Smallcase’s thematic equity basket platform under a unified corporate structure. The combined entity aimed to offer investors a comprehensive wealth management experience spanning mutual funds, thematic equity portfolios, direct stocks, and alternative assets. Following the acquisition, Kuvera continued to operate as a distinct brand and platform at kuvera.in, with product integration rolling out progressively.

Regulatory framework

Kuvera holds SEBI registration as an investment adviser under the SEBI (Investment Advisers) Regulations 2013 (registration number INA200005166). As an RIA, Kuvera is subject to requirements including:

• A fiduciary duty to act in the client’s best interest
• Prohibition on receiving commissions from mutual fund AMCs or distributors for MF products on which it advises
• Mandatory client agreements and fee disclosures
• Separation of advice and execution: clients execute transactions on their own, with Kuvera facilitating the process through its platform under AMFI’s ARN holder and EOP framework
• Compliance with SEBI’s 2020 amendments to the IA Regulations, including minimum qualification requirements for principal officers

For non-MF products (fixed deposits, NPS, US equities), Kuvera operates in a distributor capacity and is permitted to receive referral fees, which constitute the platform’s primary commercial revenue.

Platform features

Direct plan mutual funds

Kuvera offers direct plans of mutual fund schemes from all major AMCs. Users may invest via lump sum or through systematic investment plans (SIPs), systematic transfer plans (STPs), and systematic withdrawal plans (SWPs). The platform presents fund information including expense ratios, past NAV performance, risk-o-meter ratings, and scheme categorisation per SEBI’s mutual fund categorisation circular of 2017.

Goals-based planning

One of Kuvera’s differentiating features is its goals engine, which allows investors to define financial goals (retirement, home purchase, children’s education) with target amounts and timelines, then maps suitable fund recommendations to those goals. The goals engine generates a recommended SIP amount and scheme category based on the investor’s risk profile and time horizon, providing a structured planning experience within the direct-plan framework.

Tax-loss harvesting

Kuvera offers an automated tax-loss harvesting tool that identifies unrealised losses in a user’s portfolio and suggests redemptions and corresponding reinvestments to crystallise tax losses. In India, long-term capital gains (LTCG) on equity mutual funds exceeding Rs. 1 lakh per year are taxable at 10% (post-Finance Act 2018, with grandfathering up to January 2018), and short-term capital gains (STCG) at 15%. The tax-loss harvesting feature aims to offset taxable gains against realisable losses within the same financial year, reducing tax liability.

Portfolio consolidation and external folio import

Kuvera allows investors to import existing mutual fund folios held at other platforms or AMC portals, providing a consolidated view of their entire MF portfolio. Import is facilitated via CAMS and KFin Technologies’ account statement APIs, and via the Consolidated Account Statement (CAS) issued by depositories CDSL and NSDL. This aggregation function is particularly useful for investors with investments spread across multiple AMCs, platforms, and folios accumulated over years.

NPS investing

Kuvera offers investment in the National Pension System (NPS) through its platform, acting as a point of presence (PoP) for NPS. NPS investments on Kuvera allow investors to choose their asset allocation (equity, corporate bonds, government securities) and pension fund manager, with contributions eligible for tax deductions under Section 80CCD(1B) up to Rs. 50,000 per year.

Fixed deposits and US equities

Kuvera partners with banks and registered NBFCs to offer fixed deposits through its platform, earning a referral commission from the financial institution. US equity investing is offered via a partnership arrangement with a SEBI-registered entity that provides access to US-listed securities through the LRS (Liberalised Remittance Scheme) route, with Kuvera earning a commission from the partner.

Folio and holding architecture

Mutual fund units invested through Kuvera are held in SOA (statement-of-account) format at the relevant AMC registrar (CAMS or KFin Technologies), not in a demat account. This is consistent with Kuvera’s model as an EOP and RIA, and differs from Zerodha Coin’s demat-format model. The SOA format means that Kuvera holdings do not appear in the investor’s demat account and are not visible in a CDSL or NSDL demat statement unless separately added.

Investors may view their consolidated account statement (CAS) through kuvera.in once external folios are imported, providing a unified portfolio view that combines holdings across CAMS-serviced and KFin-serviced AMCs.

Comparison with peer platforms

Market position

Kuvera is one of the three principal direct-plan-only advisory platforms in India alongside ET Money and INDmoney. As of 2024, the platform disclosed approximately 35 lakh registered users, though the number of active transacting users is smaller. The post-acquisition integration with Smallcase potentially positions the combined entity to serve investors across multiple asset classes within a single relationship.

The direct-plan market in India remains significantly smaller by AUM than the regular-plan distributor channel, reflecting the entrenched relationships of bank distributors and IFA networks. However, the direct-plan share has grown consistently since 2013, driven by financially sophisticated urban investors who are comfortable with self-directed platforms.

References

• SEBI Investment Advisers Regulations 2013 (sebi.gov.in)
• SEBI circular SEBI/HO/IMD/IMD-POD-1/P/CIR/2023/74 (EOP framework, 2023)
• Kuvera website terms of service and regulatory disclosures (kuvera.in/regulatory)
• AMFI ARN registry (amfiindia.com/research-information/arn-holder-listing)
• Smallcase-Kuvera acquisition announcement, October 2023 (press release, business press coverage)