An RTA is a single-window solution for MF investors

A Registrar & Transfer (R&T) agent acts as a third-party on behalf of a fund house. The R&T agent has a wide network of branches across the country to help investors execute their transactions. Through their branch network, investors can also get forms, submit them and even get their transaction statements. The agent acts as a single-window system for investors. An R&T agent also helps investors with information and details on new fund offers.

Investors in mutual funds do a number of transactions on any working day. They may buy, sell or switch units or even request their bank to change their residential address or e-mail. Each such request is a transaction by itself.

Mutual fund houses have to maintain records of such transactions. Since this is not their core business, they may not want to invest in this function or they may not have the necessary expertise to handle such huge transactions on a professional basis.

Hence, most prefer to outsource this work to an agency that can handle these requests from investors on a regular basis. This is done by an R&T agent on behalf of the fund house through its offices across the country. Computer Age Management Services (CAMS), Karvy and Deutsche Investor Services are the three main transfer agents, which maintain these records.

From a mutual funds’ perspective, R&T agents help in saving costs and help reach out to a larger number of investors. Typically, investors hold a diversified portfolio and want to invest in different schemes of different fund houses.
The mutual fund pays fees for the services offered by the R&T agent.

The charges will depend on the volume of transactions done for the mutual fund. The mutual fund, in turn, charge such expenses to the expense ratio of the fund. However, as an investor you do not have to pay any charges for your transactions at the R&T agents’ office.