New Delhi, July 21 -- Earlier this month, leaders of two prominent online trading and investment platforms, Zerodha and Groww, squared off online over whether direct mutual fund plans-where investors invest directly and do not pay commissions to intermediaries-are the way forward for retail investors.

While Zerodha only enables 'direct plans', Groww this month additionally introduced 'regular plans' under a new service called MF Prime, which also offers investors personalized mutual fund recommendations based on their risk profile, investment horizon and financial goals.

From the industry's perspective, even as direct investing continues to reduce the role of intermediaries, mutual funds still need traditional advisors and guided platfo...