SEBI Registration

Portfolio Management Services- A Budding Business

In current market Portfolio Management Services are very much in demand. Many investors are being cautious and looking for expert advice before making big investment decisions.

Before digging deep into exploring who portfolio managers are, let’s understand what Portfolio Management Services are.

Portfolio Management Services are provided by professionals registered under SEBI^[1] under which they manage investment portfolios of their clients. Here these professionals will make tailor-made investment decisions with an objective to meet specific investment objectives specified by the clients.

What is a portfolio?

As per financial terms, a portfolio refers to the combination of different securities held by a single person.

Who is a Portfolio Manager?

Now that we have gained a basic understanding of PMS, let us try to figure out who are Portfolio Managers. A portfolio manager will be a body corporate will advise or undertakes on behalf of their clients the task of management or administration of their investment. For this purpose, the portfolio manager and the investor enter into an official contract.

Who is eligible to become a Portfolio Manager?

In India as per SEBI (Portfolio Managers) Regulations, 1993 if one is willing to become a portfolio manager then they are required to submit an application for the same with Securities Exchange Board of India.

However, the most important factor to be kept in mind is unlike many other investment models is the eligibility criteria. Only body corporate are allowed to become Portfolio Managers. This means that only LLP and Company (private as well as public) can be an applicant, individuals do not have this benefit.

Types of Portfolio Manager

A portfolio manager can either be:

• Discretionary portfolio manager or
• Nondiscretionary portfolio manager

Discretionary Portfolio Managers are free to manage their client’s portfolio independently by themselves in accordance with the requirements of their client.

Non-Discretionary Portfolio Manager is required to manage their client’s portfolios as per the directions of their clients.

Is there any Minimum Capital requirement for Registration?

Yes, to be able to apply for PMS registration, the applicant is required to fulfill the capital requirement of two crore rupees.

The financial requirement does not end there. Along with minimum capital requirement, the applicant is required to maintain a minimum net worth of the same amount of two crore rupees.

Registration of Portfolio Managers

In order to become a Portfolio Managers, the applicant must satisfy the above-mentioned eligibility criteria along with the capital requirements.

Once these conditions are satisfied they are required to submit an application in Form A. This form is available on SEBI’s website. The format is also available in SCHEDULE I of SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE BOARD OF INDIA (PORTFOLIO MANAGERS) REGULATIONS, 1993 along with all the additional information and documents required.

What is the Applicable Fee?

The application for Portfolio Manager registration is required to be submitted with the non-refundable application fee of Rs.1, 00,000/- in the form of Demand draft

Along with the above-mentioned non- refundable fee, the applicant is required to submit registration fees of Rs. 10 lakhs at the time of grant of a certificate of registration by SEBI.

Validity of Registration

This registration does not come with lifetime validity. The Certificate of registration expires in three years from the date of registration. The portfolio manager is willing to extend its registration; they are required to apply for renewal of their registration with SEBI at least three months before the expiry of the validity of their original registration.

Fee for renewal: While submitting the application for renewal with SEBI, it is required to be accompanied by a renewal fee of five lakh rupees.