This issue will figure in the consultative meeting to be held on Tuesday by the association and its members. The chief executives of all the major mutual funds along with their marketing heads will be present at the meeting to air their views.

Amfi chairman AP Kurian said that initially, certificates can be introduced as a value. "We will discuss this issue with the Securities and Exchange Board of India and make it mandatory, may be with one or two years' time," he said.

The agenda for the meeting also includes deliberations on the strategies of marketing and distribution by mutual fund agents.

Kurian said that they would be discussing an agents' work book - which is a detailed text book with annotated operations and technicals of mutual funds.The NationalStock Exchange has an automated testing system for mutual fund investing - the book will contain a detailed manual on this system. The plan is to let agents hone their skills on NSE's testing system.

At present, some mutual funds have tied up with agents - mutual fund intermediaries, as they are called - to market and distribute their products where the asset management companies do not have their own representative offices. Kurian said that these entities make informal applications to certain mutual funds, based on which they are given a code number under which they operate. The mutual funds to whom they are affiliated give the agents basic training on the working of their schemes and so on.

Amfi's intention is to take this one step further and educate them on the interrelations with other financial intermediaries, MF clients, risk-return profiles and in general the expectations of the MF sector from the agents. The agents could be partnership firms, individuals and even employees of mutualfunds.

There is also a proposal for a tie-up with Indian Institute of Bankers where such intermediaries can be examined through a test for certification purposes.