Thanks to increasing awareness about mutual funds, the industry has activated 20 lakh PANs in just one year. With this, the industry’s unique investor count has risen to 1.96 crore by June-end this year from 1.76 crore a year ago, shows the HDFC AMC Financial Report June 2019 quoting CAMS data.
The report has identified the number of unique investors by taking into account PANs/PEKRNs of all unit holders or their guardians in case of minor unit holders. The number indicates investors with active PAN accounts that include new investors and existing investors.
To put this number into perspective, 20 lakh new investors in one year is significant as the MF industry has brought 1.96 crore investors into its fold in the last 25 years.
Industry experts feel the Mutual Funds Sahi Hai campaign, growing popularity of SIPs and ease of investment through digital technology have contributed to the industry’s growth story.
To get some deeper insights, we talked to some of the MF CEOs on how they read this number.
Ashutosh Bishnoi, MD & CEO, Mahindra MF feels that most of these investors will stay put for long term. He said, “20 lakh new investors in a year is a good number. More importantly, we are witnessing a lot of counter-cyclical buying. Investors are coming amid volatile times, an indication that they are planning to stay invested for the long-term. Otherwise, investors would have entered at the top of the market only.”
He further said, “The numbers could go faster if the penetration of the industry would go beyond 200-250 cities. Only IFAs can reach there but they are rethinking their business model,” he added.
Swarup Mohanty, CEO, Mirae Asset MF said that the demonetization was the inflection point for the industry. He said, “The increase in MF penetration has gained pace not just in the last one year but post demonetization i.e. since November 8, 2016. This is because financialization of savings has started after demonetization. Prior to that, bulk of the money was in fixed assets – real estate, gold.”
Jimmy Patel, CEO, Quantum MF pointed that the industry has added 17 lakh investors in July-March 2019. He said, “In the last quarter (Apr-Jun 2019), the number was a bit subdued. Otherwise, the number could have been higher. In Apr-Jun, the industry added 3 lakh unique investors.”
