Indian Capital Markets: Monetizing direct-plan MFs is very much possible - Our proprietary investor survey (2/n)

Research evidence excerpt

Indian Capital Markets: Monetizing direct-plan MFs is very much possible - Our proprietary investor survey (2/n)

1 July 2026

India Capital Markets & Insurance

Indian Capital Markets: Monetizing direct-plan MFs is very much

possible - Our proprietary investor survey (2/n)

We conducted a proprietary survey to assess investor’s participation in equity markets Manas Agrawal

+91 226 842 1446 across mutual funds, direct equity and trading. We found that investors pick a platform

manas.agrawal@bernsteinsg.com (digital apps/mutual fund distributors/brokers) and their choice of direct v. regular-plan is

an outcome of their platform choice. The surge in direct plan participation is attributable to

Himank Sangai convenience rather than costs. Thus, monetizing the large direct-plan MF user/asset base

+91 226 842 1452

himank.sangai@bernsteinsg.com is very much possible (positive for new-age discount brokers).

1. Convenience, not cost, drives direct-plan adoption: Our proprietary survey indicates

users pick direct-plan mutual funds for the convenience of buying them on their preferred

investment management platform. Their decision is largely a function of the platform they

use. It is a result of their platform choice, not a reflection of their cost-consciousness.

Exhibit 1 shows that ~89% of digital-broking app users pick direct plans vs. ~39% for

investors preferring traditional channels (mutual fund distributors/ brokers). ~61% of

traditional channel investors picked regular plans. Further analysis shows that the ‘platform

type’ has a larger bearing than even financial literacy on direct-plan adoption (Exhibit 2). Our

survey also shows that investors value advice and they would be willing to pay it, if available

at a cost.

2.