Axis MF has registered an impressive growth over the last quarter. In fact, your fund house has made it to the top ten. How was this done?
Firstly, our metric to measure a success is a little different. We do not go by AUM; instead, we look at how many retail investors, retail folios and retail assets we have added in a quarter.
Though we have made it to top ten fund houses in terms of AUM with total assets of close to Rs.73,000 crore, more importantly, we have 26 lakh customers and Rs.25000 crore of equity assets currently.
Another factor that has contributed to this growth is a concentrated product basket. We do not have 30 funds in each category but a meaningful product basket. Each of our funds has a healthy AUM. In fact, we manage Rs.15,000 crore of assets in our largest fund and Rs.1500 crore in the smallest fund.
In simple words, we have a reasonable focus on what we can do and what we cannot do.
You came out with Shubchintak in 2014, how has the journey been so far?
We strongly believe that distributors can grow business through a combination of both physical and digital infrastructure. Distributors can take care of physical infrastructure; however, they need huge capital to build a robust digital platform. That is where Axis MF comes into picture. We have invested in an open architecture platform where distributors can execute transactions across all fund houses and manage their back office operation through a simple laptop or smartphone.
Why open architecture - instead of spending in junkets, we have invested in an infrastructure, which will help them grow business. Shubhchintak helps distributors build a scalable business. Once they see their business growth, they will have natural affinity for Axis MF.
Going forward, the ease of usage, intent of the fund house, good performance of schemes and attractive pricing will encourage distributors to use our platform.
Also, it is difficult for distributors to download 30 different apps to execute transactions.
Shubhchintak has added 2,700 IFAs and over 75,000 clients have downloaded their mobile app. Majority of these distributors are from B15 cities.
What changes have you made to this platform to make it more attractive for IFAs?
The biggest change is making separate apps for distributors and clients. While distributors can use financial planning tools, engage with clients, generate business reports and so on, clients can keep a track of their investments and execute transactions through the app.
Many distributors have given their feedback and we have incorporated their suggestions on our platform to make it relevant for them. In fact, we have a 30-member team exclusively to manage our platform.
There are many platforms giving similar facilities to IFAs. How are you differentiating Shubhchintak among distributors?
We are the only fund house which provides open architecture to distributors i.e. enabling transaction across all fund house.
In addition, the mutual fund distributors can use their ARN number on our platform. That means they can tag business under their name and ARN. We are just an infrastructure provider.
There is no revenue sharing model between the fund house and IFAs. Also, we do not have direct option on our platform.
As far as costs are concerned, we charge a miniscule Rs.700 a month which is negligible compared to the value we provide.
Many IFAs are not comfortable sharing client data with such a platform. How are you going about promoting your platform among these IFAs?
Firstly, we do not have access to data. The truth is you can buy data by spending just Rs.1,500. Today, even if you download an app on your mobile, you sign agreement with the app provider to share your data.
The point is we have not launched Shubhchintak to access client data and sell direct plans. Axis Bank has two crore captive customers, even if we target 20% of them, we would have 40 lakh new customers.
However, data protection and confidentiality are two big pillar of Axis group. We do not compromise on these two fronts.
In Shubhchintak, we do not have any access to client data. Everything is on cloud, which is protected through multi-level encryptions. Only distributors can access their client data as it is directly linked to the server.
In addition, we sign data confidentiality agreement and believe me we have not received a single complaint since its launch. You can ask 2700 distributors to share their experience using our platform.
What are the other distributor engagement programs that you plan to carry out this year?
We conduct an annual event for our top distribution partners. We invite at least four inspiring speakers every year from different walks of life such as sportsmen, army persons and artists.
These people need not necessarily belong to the mutual fund industry but their experience has a greater relevance for distributors.
There is no substantial rise in the number of distributors. What needs to be done to attract more distributors in the industry?
If distributors are not increasing, the existing distributors should increase their client base by increasing their bandwidth. One way to do it is through technology.
Mutual funds sahi hai campaign will attract many investors and they need an advisor who can help them achieve their financial goals.
