Distributor
Regulation & taxAn intermediary paid commission by the asset manager for selling its products.
In plain terms
Not dishonest — but paid by the manufacturer, so the incentive points at regular plans and switching.
AMFI Registration Number
Market basicsAlso called: ARN
The registration number identifying a mutual fund distributor, recorded against the folio it sold.
In plain terms
Striking it off stops that distributor being credited and redirects fresh money, but it does not move units you already hold out of the regular plan.
Channel checks
Fundamental analysisSpeaking to retailers, distributors and dealers to observe how a company's products are actually moving.
In plain terms
Distributors know when orders slow long before a quarterly result says so. Three shops near your home are one geography and one distributor, not three sources.
Direct plan
Market basicsA mutual fund version with no distributor commission built into the expense ratio.
In plain terms
Same fund, same manager, same portfolio — typically 0.5–1% cheaper every single year.
Primary sales
Fundamental analysisAlso called: Secondary sales, Dispatches, Channel inventory, Sell-through
Goods dispatched by a company to its dealers or distributors, as distinct from secondary sales — what those dealers sold on to end customers.
In plain terms
Monthly sales numbers are usually dispatches. Stock can be pushed into the channel to make a quarter, and it comes back as a weak quarter later.
Regular plan
Market basicsThe version of a mutual fund scheme whose expense ratio includes a commission paid to the distributor who sold it.
In plain terms
Same scheme, same manager, same portfolio as the direct plan, typically 0.5–1% dearer every year. The extra is charged whether or not any advice is ever given.
Trail commission
Market basicsA recurring commission paid out of a scheme’s assets to the distributor who sold it, for as long as the units are held.
In plain terms
It is inside the expense ratio rather than beside it, so it is never billed and never renewed — which is why nobody in the chain has a reason to mention that the direct plan of the same scheme exists. Where genuine advice is being given it can be the cheapest item in a plan; the objection is that it rises with the balance rather than with the work, and does not stop when the advice does.
Folio
Market basicsAn account number identifying your holding with a particular mutual fund house.
In plain terms
One person can accumulate a dozen folios across fund houses and distributors. Consolidating them is how forgotten investments get found.
Total expense ratio
Regulation & taxAlso called: TER
The annual charge a mutual fund scheme deducts from its assets, capped by SEBI in slabs.
In plain terms
The AMC’s fee and the distributor’s commission both come out of it; the caps fall as a scheme grows.