Early data from industry sources indicates an overall similarity of behaviour between investors in regular and direct plans of mutual funds.
Direct plans saw a marginally stronger rise in folios in the February-March period and a lower fall in assets under management AUM.
However, experts pointed out the need for more detailed and longer-term data to draw a firm conclusion. Regular plans come with distributor commissions and are also meant to feature advice from distributors.
Direct plans do not feature these commissions but they also come bereft of any bundled advice. Investors in such plans must do their own research or rely on fee only SEBI Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs).