Congratulations on completion of 11 years of Cafemutual. Indeed, it is a unique business model. Tell us how did you get an idea to start Cafemutual.
I remember there used to be this iconic US site, mutualcafe which used to capture data and trends in the US mutual fund market through brilliant and insightful articles. Somewhere this site was at the back of my mind. Sadly, this site was discontinued in 2001. Later, I was inspired by B2B web sites in advertising which were aggregating all news and trends in the advertising business for advertising and media professionals.
Given the open architecture model of the mutual fund industry, I felt that the IFA community badly needed to have a 360 degree view of the industry and that is how I got this idea in 2009.
What were the initial day challenges for you and how did you overcome them?
The first challenge was the timing – 2009 was not a good time to think about a foray in anything related to mutual funds – the MF industry was in doldrums after the 2008 global meltdown and distribution looked bleak as SEBI had banned upfront in 2009. Many people expressed their concern and cautioned me about the timing.
As in any new venture, there were challenges of putting the right team together. People with good writing skills with a solid domain understanding were rare. Another challenge was getting the AMCs to accept our business model. We were clear from day one that we would try to give our readers an independent and trustworthy perspective instead of doling out advertorials (paid articles) in the guise of editorial (independent) content.
Tell us about the journey so far. Please highlight some key milestones of Cafemutual.
With the benefit of hindsight, I can say that the timing worked out well as we started when the prospects looked bleak – things kept going better and better. Our readership grew exponentially and we were soon the top web site in India and Asia and among the top web sites in the genre of B2B news websites in MF/investments domain globally!
Our conferences have created a unique niche. Our training and development business has introduced fresh concepts to both distribution development and investor awareness.
Most importantly, Cafemutual is loved and trusted by thousands of MFDs and RIAs and that is truly gratifying to me.
Despite emergence of direct plans in the MF industry, why do you believe that individual mutual fund distributors have an edge over such platforms?
As we have all seen, during bull runs, MFs become a ‘pull’ product. This has been the case in the last 20 months also where millions of investors have taken the direct route through platforms which are not equipped for handholding their clients through adverse events. Sadly, many of them lose nerve at the first sign of trouble and with no one to guide them end up taking sub-optimal decisions.
Inculcating discipline and handholding can only be provided by MFDs and that is why they will continue to have a central role in the MF industry.
You have been in the MF industry for decades. What are your three key learnings, which fund houses and MFDs can imbibe in their practices to grow business?
These are timeless and in fact, both the fund houses and distribution community continue to grow because they follow these dictums – be customer centric, anticipate the changing needs of the customer and continue to adopt technology.
Team Cafemutual always come up with new ideas and its team is super energetic. How do you keep yourself and your team motivated?
The major source of motivation is the encouraging and constructive feedback we receive from the distribution community. Many of our ideas and initiatives come directly from MFDs and RIAs.
I am blessed to have a young and enthusiastic team which is ever eager to try new features and experiments.
What are your future plans for Cafemutual?
At its heart Cafemutual is a Content company. We are constantly exploring new ways in which we can serve the needs of the distribution and AMCs community. More than new products, our focus is on reinventing our products so that they remain relevant and connected to the MFD.
