Glossary· Costs & scheme terms
What is Minimum SIP / lumpsum?
The smallest instalment and the smallest one-time amount the scheme accepts.
Set by the AMC and occasionally revised. Read from the scheme's own disclosures, so a blank means we haven't sourced it for that plan, not that there is no minimum.
For the formula and the constants behind this figure, see Methodology.
Guides that use Minimum SIP / lumpsum
4 guides put this term to work.
- The mandatory checklist: what KYC is and how to complete it onlineKYC is centralised, one-time and free — but Validated, Registered and On Hold mean very different things. Check which you are before you plan an investment.
- Nomination: two minutes now, or a court process for your family laterA nominee receives; heirs own. Why nomination does not replace a will, what the rules require, and what actually happens to a folio without one.
- Folio numbers: why you have several and when to consolidateA folio is your account with one AMC, not one scheme. How duplicates appear silently, what they cost, and why merging them is free and not a taxable event.
- AIFs, PMS and mutual funds: what the ₹1 crore actually buysNot a premium version of mutual funds — a different perimeter where you trade liquidity, transparency and tax treatment for access to assets funds cannot hold.
More on costs & scheme terms
What you pay, and the rules attached to buying and selling units.
- Expense ratio
- The fund's annual running cost, as a percentage of assets.
- Direct vs Regular plan
- The same portfolio, sold with or without distributor commission built in.
- Growth vs IDCW option
- Whether gains stay invested or get paid out.
- Exit load
- A fee charged when you redeem within a stated period.
- Lock-in
- A period in which units cannot be redeemed at all.
- Stamp duty
- A flat 0.005% government levy on every mutual fund purchase.
- NFO
- A scheme's initial subscription window, before it starts trading.