India’s capital markets watchdog is looking to introduce more uniformity and transparency for the annual fees charged by mutual funds. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has issued a consultation paper that suggests scrapping the additional fees that some funds charge on top of the total expense ratio (TER) fee. The TER is typically expressed as a percentage of the fund’s net asset value and is designed to cover administrative and management expenses. Under current rules, asset management companies in India can charge four additional types of fees covering brokerage and transactions, distribution, goods and services tax and exit loads. "TER reflects the maximum expense ratio that an investor may have to pay, and hence it should be inclusive of all the expenses permitted to be charged to an investor, and the investor should not be charged any amount over and above the prescribed TER limits," SEBI stated in its consultation paper. The regulator has given market participants until June 1 to submit their comments on the proposals. © 2023 funds global asia