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Axis MF and Cafemutual came together to celebrate the extraordinary work and accomplishments of MFDs through Sanjeevani MFD Awards 2023 held during Cafemutual Ideas Fest in Mumbai. The awards felicitated eight inspiring MFDs who are ‘Sanjeevani’ for their clients and have become an indispensable part of their lives.
Raghav Iyengar, Chief Business Officer, Axis Mutual Fund and Prem Khatri, Founder & CEO, Cafemutual felicitated the winners with a Letter of Appreciation and a golden trophy.
While there were numerous entries, only 83 entries were shortlisted for the final scrutiny. And picking a few winners was such a daunting task for the jury. But all the entries were unique; the binding factor was the MFDs burning zeal to make a difference in the lives of their clients.
Overall, the jury shortlisted 6 winners – 2 each in each categories based on AUM - Golden star, shining star and emerging star. The jury added 2 more winners by introducing a new category titled Quality Awards.
Let us look at the eight gems of the MF industry.
Golden Stars – AUM of over Rs.250 crore
Sadashiv Phene, Mumbai
Even today, if you tell your clients to sell their gold to invest in mutual funds, they will never come back to you. But Mumbai MFD Sadashiv Phene did this years ago for a client. Through this, he helped this client fund the education and marriage of three daughters, two of whom are happily settled abroad now.
Paresh and Charmi Shah 
From modest SIP amount of Rs.1800 to humongous corpus of Rs.8 crore in 20 years. The figure doesn’t look possible, right. But Mumbai MFD Paresh Shah and Charmi Shah made it happen for one of their clients.
This happened when a salaried individual approached Paresh Bhai to invest his money for long term wealth creation. The client could just afford SIP of Rs.1800 then. He also invested Rs.10,000 through lumpsum. Over time, this client gained confidence in mutual funds and Paresh Bhai’s service. He subsequently increased his contribution and has now created a corpus of close to Rs. 8 crore.
Shining star – AUM between Rs.100 crore and Rs.250 crore
Anand Zinzuvadia
Amreli MFD Anand has helped a client fund wedding of his five daughters. Inflation and expenses are always on the rise. And in such a scenario where many find planning finances for one child difficult, Anand helped his client create a decent corpus for the marriage of all his five daughters.
Sandeep Bhushetty 
One who earns Rs.10,000 but saves and invests is richer than the one who earns Rs.1 lakh and invests nothing. While we have been hearing this, we have a real-life example now.
Pune MFD Sandeep Bhushetty has validated this statement by helping a household help fund higher education of her daughter. Thanks to his advice, the daughter now works at a leading multinational company.
Emerging star category – Up to Rs.100 crore AUM
Nisha Dave
What will you do if a client approaches you for retirement planning when he is nearing retirement age. This is what happened with this Anand MFD Nisha Dave. However, Nisha helped this client not only fund his retirement but also his children’s education.
S Ramprabu 
Next time, when your client says that he wants to put money in real estate, narrate the experience of Ramprabu’s client.
A few years back, a villager approached Ramprabu to seek his views on putting Rs.30 lakh in real estate to create a legacy for his three daughters. The B30 MFD convinced him to put Rs.15 lakh in mutual funds.
After 15 years, when this client tried to sell his land, which is currently valued at Rs.40 lakh, he is unable to find any buyer. However, he was amazed to see that his Rs.15 lakh in mutual funds had grown to Rs.1.50 crore. He now regrets his decision of putting Rs.15 lakh in real estate.
Quality awards
Hari Kamat
Rs.30,000 invested in PPF and ELSS each for 16 years. While we all know ELSS will create more value for clients, the main question is what would be the difference in absolute terms? Can anyone guess it? Well, it is close to Rs.1.50 crore!
A few years back, a client approached Goa MFD Hari Kamat for his tax savings needs. He was keen to invest Rs.60,000 in PPF. However, Hari advised him that he should invest Rs.30,000 each in PPF and ELSS. In sixteen years, while his PPF contribution had grown to Rs.45 lakh, his ELSS investment became Rs. 1.92 crore.
Ashok and Rashmi Thukral 
The Thukral MFD couple have helped a client become crorepati in just five years. The couple MFD also helped this client fund education of 2 children in US which costs Rs.1 crore a year. Interestingly, neither this client nor their children applied for education loan. Everything is funded through mutual funds.
