The Duopoly Driving India’s ₹30,000 Crore Monthly SIP Boom
The financialisation of savings has been a visible trend over the past few years with household and corporate savings increasingly flowing to mutual funds and allied financial institutions.
For instance, monthly systematic investment plans (SIPs) of mutual funds get over Rs 30,000 crore each month in subscriptions currently as compared to Rs 8,500 to Rs 9,000 crore per month during 2020.
In addition, the IPO market has been booming on Dalal Street over the past few years.
This, in turn, has created expanding opportunities for registrar and transfer agents who service mutual funds and alternative investment funds, amongst others, with a wide variety of services.
This niche market has two key players, Computer Age Management Systems (CAMS), which is the dominant player, and its smaller rival, KFIN Technologies.
However, CAMS trades at a discount of nearly 19% to its smaller rival.
Market Share & AAUM: How CAMS Defends Its 67% Dominance
The competition between the two leading registrars and transfer agents has been head-on and across different financial products / segments. CAMS, a leading registrar and transfer agent for mutual funds, grew its consolidated revenue from operations by 11.6% y-o-y to Rs 395 crore, and that was thanks to strong operational performance in its core mutual fund and beyond mutual funds business.
CAMS has highlighted that its AAUM (average assets under management) related to mutual funds it services grew by 14.8% y-o-y to a record Rs 56 lakh crore, with a dominant market share of 67.2%.
Performance in the June 2026 quarter – CAMS v/s KFin Technologies (consolidated results)
| CAMS | KFin Technologies | |
| Growth in consolidated revenue from operations y-o-y (%) | 11.6% | 29.9% |
| AAUM of mutual funds serviced – market share | 67.2% | 32.8% |
| Growth in consolidated net profit y-o-y (%) | 17.6% | -2.5% |
For KFin Technologies, it grew revenues faster than its bigger rival even with a smaller market share in the mutual funds industry. Its consolidated revenue from operations grew 29.9% y-o-y to Rs 356.5 crore. KFin Technologies has highlighted AAUM for mutual funds serviced by it grew by 16.4% y-o-y to Rs 27.3 trillion or Rs 27.3 lakh crore. KFin Technologies has highlighted a market share of 32.8%.
Nevertheless, CAMS’ strong operational metrics related to mutual fund-related work has helped it grow faster than the broader industry – its equity AAUM that it services grew 17.6% y-o-y to a record Rs 31.4 lakh crore, and faster than the broader industry growth of 16.4%.
Servicing equity-related mutual funds schemes is typically a higher margin business for registrar and transfer agents as compared to debt schemes, and the intense competition between the two leading players.
KFin Technologies equity AAUM serviced grew 14.1% y-o-y to Rs 15.5 trillion or Rs 15.5 lakh and it has highlighted a market share of 32.4%.
Volume Growth: CAMS Outpaces Industry Benchmarks by 400 Bps
CAMS’ mutual fund transaction volume grew 19.7% y-o-y to 29.2 crore. Of equal importance, equity net sales grew 43% y-o-y to Rs 86,026 crore, as compared to industry growth of 39%. On the other hand, KFin Technologies has highlighted its mutual fund transaction volumes grew 17.9% y-o-y to 159.1 million or 15.9 crore.
Coming to servicing SIP accounts, CAMS has continued its dominance. This segment grew 18.8% y-o-y to 6.72 crore while the broader industry grew 14.4%. The company’s strong growth helped its market share related to SIP accounts reach 63.9% from 61.5% a year earlier. Also, systematic transactions processed by CAMS grew 18.2% y-o-y to 240.3 million.
KFin Technologies has highlighted its live SIP folios grew 7.3% y-o-y to 37.9 million or 3.79 crore.
Beyond Mutual Funds: The ₹3.2 Lakh Crore Alternatives Engine
CAMS has continued its diversification beyond mutual funds. The company has highlighted non-mutual fund revenue grew 28.4% y-o-y. Share of non-mutual fund revenue was 14.9%.
For instance, CAMS Alternatives AUM crossed Rs 3.2 lakh crore with 50 new mandates. CAMS is also a dominant player in the alternatives segment too.
For KFin Technologies, its number of alternative investment funds (AIF) was at 757 with a market share of 37.3%.
In other segments beyond mutual funds, CAMSPay’s revenue grew strongly with 17 new clients signed up in the quarter.
Net Profit Growth – CAMS races ahead of KFin Technologies
Strong operational metrics in mutual funds and beyond mutual funds helped CAMS net profit grow 17.6% y-o-y to Rs 127 crore.
In contrast, KFin Technologies’ employee benefit expenses grew 43.9% y-o-y to Rs 160.7 crore. As a result, KFin Technologies’ net profit fell nearly 2.5% y-o-y to Rs 75.2 crore.
The Efficiency Gap: Unpacking CAMS’ 36.3% RoE Advantage
CAMS has a consolidated return on equity (RoE) of 36.3% according to Screener.in, and it is 21.6% for KFin Technologies.
Who is the ‘efficiency’ leader among registrars and transfer agents?
| Registrar and transfer agent | Consolidated Return on Equity (%) |
| CAMS | 36.3% |
| KFin Technologies | 21.6% |
The UPI Margin Threat: Navigating the October 15 MDR Cap
Investors will be closely watching the impact on registrar and transfer agents, if any, of merchant discount rate charges (MDR) for one-time mutual fund investments made by investors through UPI, subject to a maximum charge of Rs 300. These charges are expected to start from October 15.
Also, for certain UPI payments over Rs 2,000 the government announced a 0.4% merchant discount rate (MDR) with an overall cap of Rs 300 from October 15. For the non-mutual fund business of the registrar and transfer agents, investors will be closely watching how the additional costs will be passed on.
The Valuation Verdict: Is the 19% P/E Gap an Anomaly?
CAMS ended 0.9% higher at Rs 713.4 on Thursday, and it had reached a 52-week high of Rs 844.8 on 8 May, 2026.
CAMS trades at a consolidated P/E of 35.8, according to Screener.in. Over the past 5 years, the stock has traded at a P/E between 33.7 times and 71.9 times.
Is CAMS valuation discount of 19% justified?
| Registrar and transfer agent | Consolidated P/E |
| CAMS | 35.8 |
| KFin Technologies | 44.2 |
Meanwhile, KFin Technologies ended 0.6% higher at Rs 896 on Thursday, and it had reached a 52-week high of Rs 1,217 on 28 October, 2025.
KFin Technologies trades at a consolidated P/E of 44.2, a valuation premium of 19% over CAMS. Over the past 5 years, the stock has traded at a P/E between 27.1 times and 86.6 times.
The financialisation of savings in mutual funds and allied investment themes is expected to continue and perhaps even strengthen in future. Investors will also be closely watching the impact of UPI related merchant charges for both the registrar and transfer agents, and their ability to pass on higher costs.
CAMS is a dominant player in this segment and trades at a discount of nearly 19% to its smaller rival. Is Dalal Street missing out with regard to the valuations of the two leading registrar and transfer agents? Or are investors willing to give a higher valuation to KFin Technologies since it grew revenues from operations faster than larger rival.
Readers could add both the stocks to their watch list for 2026, and see if their performance matches expectations.
Disclaimer:
Amriteshwar Mathur is a financial journalist with over 20 years of experience.
Disclosure: The writer and his family have no shareholding in any of the stocks mentioned in the article.
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