In the nursery rhyme, the Grand Old Duke of York had 10,000 men. He marched them up to the top of the hill, and he marched them down again. Sebi has done much the same with minimum ticket for portfolio management services (PMS). In 2012, Sebi raised it to ₹25 lakh. In 2020, it doubled to ₹50 lakh. Now, through PRIM (Portfolio Managers' Route for Investing in Mutual Funds), a new MF-only route, it's back at ₹25 lakh, although for a tamer product.
The new rulebook lets managers buy IPOs and new debt issues, and lets discretionary managers put up to 10% of a client's money into unlisted investment-grade bonds, with consent. It allows derivatives exposure of up to 1.25x the portfolio, the first explicit leverage the rules have permitted. PRIM lets managers build portfolios from direct MF plans, ETFs and SIFs, with the fixed fee capped at 1% (performance fees are allowed) and no more than 25% in funds run by an affiliated fund house.
