During his 28 years in finance industry, Noida based Anurag Garg, founder and CEO of Nivesh.com observed a glaring anomaly. Though Indians are the highest savers in the world (nearly 30% of the GDP), they prefer traditional savings products such as bank FDs. Lack of knowledge has led investors to physical assets such as real estate and gold. This motivated Anurag and his team to build a simple platform through which the people can easily invest in financial investment products such as mutual funds.
The business model
He was confident that well-informed investors would recognise the great utility offered by his portal. In addition, his company has roped in direct sales managers to guide investments in mutual funds through regular plans.
However, he was aware that first-time investors in tier 2 and tier 3 cities would need guidance from IFAs to invest. Also, he knew that new IFAs do not have the technological infrastructure to build their business. This prompted him to develop a sub-broking platform. By providing IFAs with a simple and robust platform, he could help the advisors tap more clients.
To cater to wider audience, the team developed a bilingual website in English and Hindi. In fact, they are planning to launch the site in multiple languages as and when the company increases its geographical footprint aims to expand its footprint in other states.
‘Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication’
This was the team’s mantra while developing the website. Today they claim that they have ensured seamless integration with technology and all client processes, be it KYC or transactions are conducted electronically. To achieve this, they have collaborated with BSE Star platform.
Angel funding
To fund the online mutual fund platform, Anurag approached online deal-making firm LetsVenture. Impressed with Anurag’s vision and the growth potential of mutual funds and technological penetration in smaller towns and cities, angel investors like Google’s Rajan Anandan invested Rs. 3 crore in nivesh.com. This strengthened his belief and conviction in the proposition.
On boarding new advisors and providing them responsive service
Anurag and the team believes in directly approaching IFAs who have long-term commitment to business to on-board them. Also, they also approach advisors selling other financial products and guide them towards mutual funds. So far, the platform has added 250 sub-distributors. To give the IFAs tools to optimise their business, they regularly share business development articles and hold training sessions for them. In addition, they help their IFAs conduct investor awareness programs.
To address advisor queries, they have a dedicated four-member team. If required the team also connects the advisors with mutual funds and R&Ts, something which the advisor may not be able to do independently.
Ensuring client stickiness
Anurag and his team send newsletters to their investors which focus on educating clients. Additionally, they hold knowledge sessions to help clients understand the features and risk-return profile of different mutual fund products. “We believe that a client needs to understand why he is investing in a certain scheme to ensure his stickiness.”
Currently, the platform caters to nearly 2,500 clients.
Maha login day: Registered 1,118 SIPs in a single day
In a bid to energise their partners and to encourage everyone to work together, they conducted the ‘Maha login day’ campaign on July 16. The company’s central team and channel partners worked cohesively to activate 1,118 SIPs in a single day with the average ticket size of SIPs at Rs. 5,000 per month through BSE Star MF platform. To achieve this feat, the team tapped its existing clients as well as new ones.
Anurag and his team is a prime example of customising technology to grow the business.
