How to become a mutual fund distributor in India
Five steps take you from no licence to your first client: the NISM exam, KYD, your ARN, AMC empanelment, and a decision about how your practice will run. The whole process costs about ₹5,040 in fees for an individual.
To become a mutual fund distributor (also called a mutual fund agent) in India, pass the NISM Series V-A exam, complete KYD with your Aadhaar and PAN, and apply for an AMFI Registration Number (ARN) online. You need to be at least 18.
Then empanel with the fund houses you plan to sell. Fees come to about ₹5,040 plus payment gateway charges, and the certificate and ARN are renewed every three years.
The five steps
Pass NISM Series V-A
The mutual fund distributors certification, often searched as NISM 5A. Series V-D also qualifies and covers Specialised Investment Funds as well.
Complete KYD
Know Your Distributor. Since 1 October 2024 it runs on Aadhaar and PAN, or on an existing KYC that shows as validated with a KRA, without a biometric visit.
Apply for your ARN online
On AMFI's website, under Online Registration, with your PAN, Aadhaar and NISM certificate, and the registration fee.
Empanel with fund houses
Register your ARN with each AMC you plan to sell, through their distributor portals.
Set up your distribution business
Choose a legal structure for the ARN, and decide whether the business runs on your own ARN and systems or under a larger distributor's principal ARN, before your first client.
Who can become a mutual fund distributor
AMFI requires an individual applicant to be at least 18 years old, with a valid PAN and Aadhaar for the online application and a valid NISM certificate. Its published requirements do not set a minimum educational qualification. Firms register too, from partnerships and LLPs to private and public companies, with at least one certified employee holding an EUIN, the Employee Unique Identification Number that ties each salesperson to the transactions they handle.
Step 1: the NISM Series V-A exam
NISM Series V-A, which most people search for as NISM 5A, is the certification every mutual fund distributor needs. The figures below are the ones NISM publishes for it.
| Exam | NISM-Series-V-A: Mutual Fund Distributors Certification |
| Fee | ₹1,500 plus payment gateway charges |
| Questions | 100, 1 mark each |
| Duration | 2 hours |
| Pass mark | 50 percent |
| Negative marking | None |
| Certificate validity | 3 years |
The passing certificate is issued only once your PAN is updated in your NISM registration. Since July 2026 there is also NISM Series V-D, which covers mutual funds and Specialised Investment Funds in one exam; our SIF distributor guide explains when V-D is worth taking instead.
Step 2: KYD, Know Your Distributor
KYD verifies your identity before an ARN is issued. Since 1 October 2024 it works on Aadhaar and PAN, or on an existing KYC record that shows as validated with a KYC registration agency, and the earlier biometric visit to a CAMS office is no longer needed.
Step 3: ARN registration
Apply on AMFI’s website under Online Registration. The application needs your PAN and Aadhaar, which are mandatory, and your valid NISM certificate. As an individual you receive your EUIN along with the ARN, automatically and at no extra charge.
The registration fee for an individual or a proprietorship is ₹3,000 plus 18% GST. Firms pay more: ₹20,000 for a partnership and ₹40,000 for a private limited company, one-person company or LLP, each plus GST, under AMFI’s fee schedule from 1 October 2024.
Step 4: empanel with fund houses
An ARN lets you distribute, but each AMC still needs to register you before you can earn commission on its schemes. Every fund house runs its own distributor portal, and most established distributors empanel with a large majority of them. Our AMC empanelment directory links every Indian fund house’s form in one place.
Step 5: set up your mutual fund distribution business
Starting a mutual fund distribution business begins with the legal structure behind the ARN. A sole proprietorship owned by an individual is treated as that individual, on the same PAN and at the individual fee. A partnership, LLP or company is first allotted a provisional ARN and has 6 months to map at least one employee with a valid EUIN; until then it cannot canvass business, and if the deadline passes the ARN is cancelled and the fee forfeited. An individual distributor who later incorporates can move to a firm through the same provisional ARN route and transfer the book across.
The second choice is how you transact. New distributors can start in two ways. Some join a larger platform or national distributor and transact under its principal ARN, with their own code in the sub-distributor field. Others run everything on their own ARN, with their own empanelments, client records and back office.
The choice matters later. AMCs pay commission to the ARN on the folio, and moving a book from a principal ARN to your own follows AMFI’s transfer rules, which can pause trail for 12 months on clients who move one at a time. Our comparison of the two structures and the change of broker guide set out what each one means.
We build distributor platforms with BSE Star MF, NSE NMF II, CAMS and KFintech in production, so your clients, transactions and commission records sit in software your practice owns from the first folio.
What it costs
| NISM Series V-A exam | ₹1,500 + gateway charges |
| ARN registration (individual or proprietorship) | ₹3,000 + 18% GST = ₹3,540 |
| EUIN for an individual ARN holder | Allotted with the ARN at no extra charge |
| Total to start | About ₹5,040 + gateway charges |
Fees are for an individual. Employees of a distribution firm pay ₹1,500 plus GST for their own EUIN.
Renewing your certificate and ARN
Both the NISM certificate and the ARN run for three years. Renew the certificate first, by passing Series V-A again or by attending NISM’s one-day CPE programme, any time in the 12 months before it expires. Then renew the ARN and EUIN on AMFI’s website, up to 6 months before expiry, for ₹1,500 plus GST as an individual.
Letting it lapse has consequences. If an ARN is not renewed within 3 months of expiry, AMCs may write to your clients asking them to pick another distributor or switch to a direct plan, and after 6 months the ARN may be deemed cancelled, with no fresh business accepted under it.
How mutual fund distributors earn
Distributors are paid by AMCs, mostly as trail commission: a yearly percentage of the value your clients hold in regular plans, paid for as long as they stay invested. Income grows with the book you build rather than with each new sale. Our guide to distributor commission covers rates, GST and TDS, and the trail commission calculator projects what a growing book can earn.