We spoke to a few AMCs to understand how they are helping their distribution partners cope up with today’s challenging times through training programs.
Aditya Birla Sun Life MF has been holding webinars for distributors to keep them motivated through these tough times. The fund house’s first webinar was conducted by Swami Sukhabodhananda, a spiritual guru and motivational speaker. He spoke about human behavior during tough times and how to deal with it.
A Bala Subramaniam, CEO, Aditya Birla Sun Life MF said that these motivational training programs have been scheduled zone-wise to ensure maximum reach. So far, seven sessions have been conducted with more than 1000 distributors taking part in these sessions. Besides, fund managers, sales heads and Bala himself have been continuously engaging with distributors to educate them about current market volatility through conference calls.
SBI MF has also been conducting training programs on market dynamics and asset allocation. DP Singh, ED & CMO (Domestic) SBI MF touted these sessions as a huge success. He said that over 2000 distributors attended their recent session hosted by Navneet Munhoot, CIO, SBI MF.
Further, SBI MF has set up a team to help MFDs shift from physical transactions to digital transactions through webinars.
Quantum MF has a digital training platform which offers e-learning courses, advanced tools and calculators. Jimmy A. Patel, MD & CEO Quantum AMC said, “We have started a telegram channel for MFDs to address their queries and concerns on mutual funds.”
The top management of Mirae Asset MF has been engaging with distributors through video conference on topics such as current market scenario, sales of their products, managing business during lockdown efficiently and so on.
Swarup Mohanty CEO, Mirae Asset said that the turnout has been much higher on these digital platforms compared to physical meetings. He has been conducting video interviews with top distributors on Facebook Live to keep the distribution community motivated.
Similarly, Franklin Templeton Academy has started offering a series of structured programs that touch upon different aspects of the investment advisory business such as practice management, soft skills, macroeconomics, financial markets and investment concepts.
Talking about this digital initiative, Premal Pipalia, VP & Head at Franklin Templeton Academy (India) said, “The platform offers “Netflix style” user interface. The key feature of this platform is smart & intelligent course recommendations depending on learner(s) behaviour & knowledge levels. With the launch of our online learning platform, now we have omni-channel training delivery formats through classroom sessions, webinar programs and FT Academy Online courses aimed at upskilling distributors. The platform also offers the option to enter into a private classroom (customized content) for distributors with specific needs for their teams & employees.”
Nippon India AMC has been conducting various activities to ensure that distribution partners adopt the digital route. The fund house has launched Digital@Edge, a face to face training session through Zoom. So far, they have conducted more than 50 sessions and over 2000 MFDs across the country have participated in them. These sessions have been designed as a mix of behavioural finance sessions to handhold distributors while dealing with their clients amidst uncertainty and fear on macroeconomics.
