Mumbai: Mutual Fund (MF) houses are all set to sell the systematic investment plans (SIP) through the National Stock Exchange (NSE). Leading MF houses, namely, Reliance MF, UTI, Birla Sunlife, Tata, DSP Blackrock, AIG, Fidelity and Religare have planned on the same lines as an attempt to overcome the reluctance shown by distributors to sell the SIPs, reports Apurv Gupta & Shailesh Menon of the Economic Times. Clients in smaller cities like Indore and Cuttack would get maximum benefit by subscribing to these funds that are touted as the best vehicle for long term savings and it would bring down the cost as well. As the distributors are reluctant to sell their products after the ban on entry loads imposed by the regulator last year, mutual funds have been facing hard times with distributors. "Exchange platform will be one more route for investors to invest in mutual funds. SIPs were sorely missed when mutual funds were initially allowed to trade on the exchange," said Rajesh Krishnamoorthy, Managing Director, iFast Financial, an online platform provider. The industry lost five percent or 18 lakh equity folios, in the first half of this fiscal. This selling through brokers would lower costs to 30-40 basis points, from as high as 1.5 percent when sold through distributors. "Though exchanges are good selling points, it will not be really viable for investors who are only using their demat accounts to buy funds or SIPs. Investors will have to pay depository fees and maintenance charges on demat accounts," adds Krishnamoorthy.