RupeeCase
Education . MF Cost Stack . 3 of 3
The Lesson
You cannot fix what you refuse to add up.
Three honest questions to put against any active fund before the next SIP renewal lands.
01
What is the all-in drag, not the printed TER?
TER is the headline. Add portfolio churn, impact cost, and cash drag and the real number sits closer to 1.7 to 1.9 percent a year for a typical active equity scheme.
Test . Subtract realistic drag from the brochure CAGR. Is the gap still worth the fee?
02
Direct or regular . do you actually know which one you own?
Regular plan TER carries a distributor commission baked in. Direct strips that out and saves roughly 60 to 90 bps every year. Same fund, different statement.
Test . Open your CAS. Look at the plan suffix on each scheme name.
03
Are you paying the cost of a transparent rule book or a black box?
If the cost stack is real either way, the question becomes what you get for it. A rules-based portfolio you can read line by line is a different product from a fund whose rebalance rationale you only see in hindsight. Cost without clarity is the worst trade.
Test . Ask the AMC for the rebalance rule. Time the silence.
The brochure shows you 1.65 percent. The honest version is closer to 178 bps. Compound that for ten years and decide if it earned its keep.
Lay your MF next to a rules-based portfolio. Side by side. One page.
rupeecase.com / compare
Tanmay Kurtkoti . Builder of RupeeCase
Source . AMFI . SEBI . 02 May 2026