Archive · 2 Oct 2026
PRIM Offers Customized Mutual Fund Portfolios With Rebalancing Benefits
PRIM is a new way for investors to have a professional build a portfolio using different investment funds.
It can include mutual funds, index funds, derivatives and specialised investment funds.
Investors can start with Rs 25 lakh, which is less than the stated threshold for portfolio management services.
The manager can choose investments based on a person’s risk tolerance and change the mix over time.
This may help reduce the risk of holding too much in one area.
Index funds could be used often because they are relatively inexpensive and simple to adjust.
PRIM is not guaranteed to earn more than a strong equity portfolio management service.
Investors must also consider management fees and the costs charged by the underlying funds.
Each portfolio change may count as a sale for tax purposes, so changing investments too often could reduce returns.
PRIM lets managers build portfolios using mutual funds, index funds, derivatives and specialised investment funds.
The entry threshold is Rs 25 lakh, compared with Rs 50 lakh for portfolio management services.
Its proposed benefits include customised asset allocation, timely rebalancing and lower concentration risk.
Index funds may form the core of many portfolios because they are inexpensive, transparent and easy to rebalance.
Frequent rebalancing can trigger taxable redemptions, potentially reducing the value created by the strategy.
- Who
- The market regulator, portfolio managers and investors using mutual fund-based portfolios.
- What
- Approval of the Portfolio Managers Route for Investing in Mutual Fund units, or PRIM, which allows customised portfolios built from several investment products.
- When
- The framework was approved recently; no specific date is provided.
- Where
- The location is not specified in the article.
- Why
- To provide structured asset allocation, timely rebalancing, customisation and potentially lower concentration risk for investors.
Potential Benefits
Risks and Limitations
Risk-adjusted performance
Potential Benefits
Supporters say diversified allocation, customisation and regular rebalancing could improve consistency and risk-adjusted returns over a full market cycle.
Risks and Limitations
Critics caution that PRIM should not be presented as a guaranteed or superior-return alternative to a good equity portfolio management service.
Portfolio construction
Potential Benefits
The manager can combine asset categories, passive funds and specialised investment funds to match an investor’s risk profile and reduce concentration.
Risks and Limitations
The outcome depends on the manager’s allocation decisions, and each customised portfolio must be judged against its own objective.
Fees and taxes
Potential Benefits
The fixed management fee is capped at 1%, and low-cost index funds may help control portfolio expenses.
Risks and Limitations
Investors also pay the underlying funds’ expense ratios, and frequent rebalancing can trigger taxable events that create tax drag.
- Entry threshold
- Rs 25 lakh
- PMS comparison
- The article states that portfolio management services have a Rs 50 lakh threshold.
- Permitted investments
- Mutual funds, index funds, derivatives and specialised investment funds.
- Management fee cap
- The fixed management fee is capped at 1% of assets under management, alongside a performance-linked fee.
- Core approach
- Portfolios may use index funds as a core because they are described as cheap, transparent and easy to rebalance.
- Tax treatment
- Each portfolio rebalance counts as a redemption and triggers a taxable event.
- Main risk
- Aggressive rebalancing may create tax drag and reduce the value added by the strategy.