PMS firms ask Sebi to review fees paid for index data

The industry body for portfolio management services, or PMS, managers has approached markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India to reduce or remove fees paid to exchanges to use their indices to benchmark scheme performance, said four people aware of the development.

- Srushti Vaidya

To compare the performance their portfolios, PMS managers use public benchmarks of exchanges such as National Stock Exchange (NSE)'s Nifty 50 or BSE's 30-share Sensex. Such comparisons typically run on their websites, factsheets, investor presentations, or such collateral material.

“Some PMSs within the industry have argued that there is no need to pay just to use the value of the benchmark index as it is public information,” said one of the people.

The discussions on benchmarking, along with other issues, happened on 12 November when the Association of Portfolio Managers of India (APMI) met Sebi chairperson Tuhin Kanta Pandey.