There is one thing that has certainly helped the mutual fund industry reach an AUM of Rs20 lakh crore. It is the untiring efforts of mutual fund distributors, acknowledges Anil Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Group. He was speaking at the first AMFI Mutual Fund Summit 2017 held today in Mumbai.
“Distributors are the eyes-and-ears and arms-and-legs of the mutual funds industry. Despite the rise of e-commerce platforms, people still need the help of financial advisors to invest in mutual funds. Only they can help them grow wealth,” the Reliance Group Chairman said.
He then went on to add: “On behalf of the industry and all stakeholders, let me thank distributors. All of us would not be here without your commitment, dedication and hard work.” Anil Ambani has four tips for SEBI to simplify on-boarding of new customers. He requested the market regulator to consider implementing these suggestions in the next 100 days.
Here are the four tips:
- Make mutual funds investment even simpler.
- Allow bank KYC as a valid proof to invest in mutual funds.
- Ensure better utilisation of technology to facilitate faster transaction and increase penetration of mutual funds.
- Simplify advertisement norms for mutual funds to help them communicate value proposition of schemes.
Responding to Anil Ambani's suggestions, Ajay Tyagi, Chairman, SEBI said that the market regulator is actively working on it. In fact, SEBI is in talks with the government to simplify the KYC process, he added.
