How We Earn2026-06-10T21:47:04+05:30

Transparency is not a marketing word. It’s a table with numbers in it.

We earn commissions. Here’s exactly how much.

CurateMyMoney is an AMFI-registered mutual fund distributor (ARN-184811). When you invest in a regular plan through us, the fund house pays us a trail commission — a small percentage of your invested value, paid annually, for as long as you remain invested. This comes out of the fund’s expense ratio.

You never pay us a separate fee.

Most distributors quietly pocket this and call themselves “advisors.” We’d rather you stare at the numbers and decide for yourself.

The Commission Table

Trail commission rates we receive (and by that logic any MF distributor), by fund category. Updated for FY 2025–26. Exact rates vary by fund house and scheme — these reflect our typical range across the AMCs we work with.

Fund Category What Distributors Earn On ₹10 lakhs, earnings per year
Equity (Large Cap, Flexi Cap, Mid/Small Cap) 0.75% – 1.25% ₹7,500 – ₹12,500
ELSS (Tax Saving) 0.75% – 1.25% ₹7,500 – ₹12,500
Hybrid (Balanced Advantage, Aggressive) 0.50% – 1.00% ₹5,000 – ₹10,000
Debt (Medium / Long Duration) 0.25% – 0.50% ₹2,500 – ₹5,000
Index Funds / ETFs 0.05% – 0.15% ₹500 – ₹1,500
Liquid / Overnight / Arbitrage 0.05% – 0.10% ₹500 – ₹1,000

Another point to note is that funds like ELSS have a lock-in period of 3 years – that means the commission keeps flowing for 3 years – so now you get the idea why fund houses aggressively sell ELSS funds during year-end as tax saving measures!

Now read that again.

If we put your money in an equity fund, we earn up to 20 times more than if we put it in a liquid fund.

This is not a secret — AMCs are required to disclose payout structures. But it is a number that most distributors would prefer you never calculated. Because once you calculate it, you start wondering: when my distributor “recommended” that equity NFO, was it my need talking — or the commission table?

The ELSS trap

ELSS funds are a particular case worth understanding. They are marketed as “tax saving” — and they genuinely are, up to ₹1.5 lakhs under Section 80C. But they come with a 3-year lock-in. That lock-in is a feature from the tax code. For a distributor, it is also a guarantee: three full years of trail commission on money that legally cannot leave.

Why don’t we just recommend the highest-commission product?

Three reasons, in descending order of nobility.

  1. Our business runs on retention, not acquisition. Trail commission means we earn only while you stay invested with us. The moment you leave — because you discovered you were mis-sold, or because the recommendation felt wrong — that income disappears. In a small firm with 400 families, one bad recommendation doesn’t just lose a client. It can lose a family’s referrals, a community’s trust, and years of trail income. Misadvising you is financially irrational for us.
  2. We keep the firm small on purpose. We do not have AUM targets, branch quotas, or a “partnership manager” from a fund house sitting across the table with a quarterly payout structure. We have sat in those meetings in our previous roles. It is why we left. Without those pressures, the commission table stops being the loudest voice in the room.
  3. We have it in writing. Every recommendation we make is documented with reasoning tied to your stated need. You keep that document. If the recommendation doesn’t match the need you told us, you have grounds to question it. This is how we hold ourselves accountable when no regulator is watching.

Do fund houses offer you extra incentives?

Yes — and this is worth knowing because it is legal, common, and rarely discussed openly.

AMCs run “engagement programs” for distributors. Hit a volume target in a particular scheme, and you receive additional payouts, study tours, or “training conferences” in attractive locations. These incentives are real, and they create real pressure — especially for large distribution firms answerable to investor targets.

We receive these offers. We do not participate in scheme-specific volume programs that would compromise the recommendation. We will work with any AMC whose fund is right for our client’s need — not the one whose quota we need to fill.

“So you earn commissions AND call yourself need-based. Isn’t that a contradiction?”

It would be — if commission rates were uniform across all funds. They are not, which is exactly why transparency matters. The contradiction isn’t that we earn commissions. The contradiction is earning different amounts based on what we recommend, and never telling you.

We are telling you. Refer to the table above.

A fee-only RIA charges you a flat fee and claims to have no conflict of interest. We are not that — and we don’t pretend to be. What we are is a distributor that has chosen to publish its conflict of interest, manage it explicitly, and let you hold us to it.

Some questions you might have on your mind:

How are you different from a fee-only SEBI-registered investment adviser?2026-06-10T21:17:44+05:30

A fee-only RIA charges you directly and earns nothing from product manufacturers. They cannot distribute funds. We distribute mutual funds and earn trail commissions — but only from regular plans, which we disclose fully. Both models can be honest. Ours depends on you staying, theirs depends on you paying. Choose the accountability structure you prefer.

Do all fund houses pay you the same rate?2026-06-10T21:16:58+05:30

No. Rates vary by fund house and scheme. We don’t select fund houses based on who pays more.

What happens to my trail commission if I switch to direct plans?2026-06-10T21:16:23+05:30

It stops immediately. We lose the income. We will still tell you when a direct plan is a better fit for your situation — and we have.

Are regular plans a ripoff compared to direct plans?2026-06-10T21:15:54+05:30

Direct plans are cheaper by roughly 0.5–1% per year — the exact amount saved by removing the distributor commission. Whether that saving is worth more than what a distributor provides depends entirely on what the distributor actually does. We answer this question honestly on our FAQ page.

What is trail commission exactly?2026-06-10T21:15:21+05:30

A percentage of your invested value, paid annually by the fund house to the distributor, sourced from the fund’s total expense ratio (TER). It continues as long as you stay invested in regular plans through us.

Do I pay CurateMyMoney anything directly?2026-06-10T21:14:49+05:30

No. Our income comes entirely from trail commissions paid by fund houses. There is no fee invoice to you.

CurateMyMoney is an AMFI-registered mutual fund distributor (ARN-184811), not a SEBI-registered investment adviser. Mutual fund investments are subject to market risks. Read all scheme-related documents carefully.

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