Zerodha plans to bring mutual fund investments directly to its popular Kite trading app within the next few months. Currently, users are redirected to the separate Coin app to purchase mutual funds. The new feature will allow investors to manage equities and mutual funds in one place, with Zerodha also planning an option to import mutual fund holdings from other platforms into Kite.
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Zerodha is preparing to make mutual fund investing available directly through its Kite trading app, giving users the option to manage more of their investments from a single platform.
At present, customers can view mutual funds on Kite but have to move to the separate Coin app to make purchases. That process is expected to change within the next few months as Zerodha works on bringing mutual fund transactions directly into Kite.
Neelesh Verma, who heads mutual funds at Zerodha, said the move is aimed at making investing more convenient for customers who prefer to keep their investments under one roof.
The company is also working on a feature that will allow investors to import their existing mutual fund holdings from other platforms into Zerodha through Kite. This could make it easier for customers who currently have investments spread across multiple apps to consolidate their portfolios.
The move does not mean Zerodha is shutting down Coin. The separate app will continue to offer mutual funds along with other long-term investment products such as systematic investment plans, the National Pension System and fixed deposits.
Zerodha has historically maintained a clear distinction between its two platforms. Kite was positioned primarily as a platform for active equity investing, while Coin focused on passive and long-term products.
The company has argued that keeping these investment categories separate can help investors avoid impulsive decisions. Market volatility can often lead investors to buy or sell based on short-term emotions, while long-term products such as SIPs are intended to be held through different market cycles.
However, investor preferences appear to be pushing the company towards a more integrated approach. Several fintech and trading platforms already offer stocks, mutual funds and other investment products through a single application.
Kite also has a significantly larger user base than Coin, giving Zerodha a clear reason to bring mutual funds to its more widely used platform. Kite has more than one crore downloads, while Coin has crossed 50 lakh downloads on the Google Play Store. Stock exchange data also shows more than 65 lakh active investors on Kite.
Zerodha already has a substantial mutual fund customer base. The company has more than 3 million mutual fund investors and 5.6 million SIP accounts, according to the report.
Coin, which was launched as a direct mutual fund platform in 2017, has grown into one of the country's largest platforms by assets under management. Bringing mutual fund transactions to Kite could give Zerodha another opportunity to increase participation among its much larger trading-app audience.
Zerodha currently offers only direct mutual funds. These products do not involve distributor commissions, meaning investors are responsible for researching and selecting funds themselves.
The company's strategy also comes as competition in India's mutual fund investment market increases. Groww, which has become the country's largest stockbroker by active users, has begun offering regular mutual funds through its Groww Prime platform.
For Zerodha, integrating mutual funds into Kite could therefore serve two purposes. It would simplify the experience for existing customers while also giving the company a way to introduce long-term investment products to a much larger audience.
The planned feature also reflects a broader shift in how investors use financial apps. Instead of maintaining separate platforms for stocks, mutual funds and other products, many investors now prefer to see their entire portfolio in one place.
Zerodha's approach will still retain Coin as a dedicated long-term investment platform, but the addition of mutual funds to Kite gives customers more flexibility in deciding how they want to manage their investments.
