‘MFDs and RIAs are well-equipped to help clients overcome investing biases’

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The awareness about mutual funds has increased tremendously over the last few years, which is reflected in the industry’s assets under management. However, investors still need handholding and the guidance of MFDs/RIAs. 

 

Technology has helped new-age tech platforms to scale up and reach out to a vast number of investors across the country swiftly. That said, technology is an enabler which can help MFDs/RIAs automate their operational tasks, thereby increasing efficiency and productivity. With this in mind, we have built a tech-enabled portal to help PGIM empaneled partners to service their existing clients seamlessly and onboard new clients faster. 

 

PGIM India Partner Assist Portal is device agnostic and uses the most contemporary web technology, which renders equally well on a hand-held device. This service is available for PGIM empaneled partners. 

 

 

PGIM India Partner Assist Portal allows you to initiate transactions on behalf of your clients and also add new clients.  A new investor whose KYC is yet to be done can be onboarded using the PGIM India Partner Assist Portal by completing the online KYC process. The portal offers end to end online facility for investors to get KYC compliant.

 

 

You can initiate commercial transactions on behalf of your individual clients and send the transaction to the client for his/her authorisation in the following ways: 

 

• Email and SMS: The investor receives the transaction link at the registered email address and mobile number for authorisation. 

• Printed application form: For wet signature of the client. 

 

Transactions can be done using Net banking, UPI, NEFT/RTGS, Cheque, Bill Pay (for SIP). Further, you can initiate a number of non-commercial transactions for your clients such as change of contact details (mobile, land line and email id), change in nominee and bank details, consolidation of investor folio, change in IDCW option and many more are to come. Partners can also monitor all the recommendations/transactions that they have initiated through the Partner Assist Portal and see their current status. 

 

 

Registering a physical mandate takes around 10-15 days. Physical mandates can also be rejected by banks due to signature errors and data mismatch. This leads to unnecessary delay in investments. Our portal also enables eMandate registration feature to generate mandate online. Apart from this, we are also providing standalone links for Distributors for all Lumpsum and SIP transactions. SIP/Lumpsum transactions can be initiated immediately after registering the eMandate. Distributors can use this link to register e-mandate. 

 

This helps in reducing registration of multiple offline OTMs against each SIP investment. Instead, a single eMandate can be registered and the same mandate can be used for all SIP/lumpsum transactions.

 

Distributors can enter their ARN, Mathematical Captcha, PAN and authenticate using OTP and then send a eMandate registration link to their clients and the link can be authorised by their clients post which the eMandate gets registered. 

 

While the portal offers a host of features, here are some of the most important facilities offered by PGIM India Partner Assist Portal:

 

• Video KYC 

• E-Application Form 

• Customised view of transactions 

• Business Summary 

 

How do you ensure security of the PGIM India Partner Assist Portal? 

 

Investment information accessed through the PGIM India Partner Assist Portal and transactions performed through the portal are completely secure. We adopt industry best practices on information security and use contemporary data encryption technology to secure client information. Further, the portal uses Multifactor Authentication validation of account login through PAN and one time password (OTP) verification, which ensures an additional layer of security. 

 

 

Regulators around the globe are working towards bringing more transparency and disclosures, especially in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, protecting the interest of investors and strengthening the industry. 

 

This has ushered in a new level of transparency among consumers, strengthened compliance and brought scale. Advisors and MFDs who remained committed towards their business and investors have adapted to regulations well. 

 

Regulators are focused on bringing down the cost for end investors and increase scale. Thus, advisors need to consciously work on reducing back end cost by pooling resources and also develop systems and processes to ensure evidence to curb potential mis selling. 

 

If you look at the larger picture, India is already the fifth largest economy and predicted to overtake U.S to become the second largest economy by 2075, according to Goldman Sachs. The MF industry will be a key beneficiary of the trend towards financialization of savings and we are already witnessing this growth. All in all, the opportunity is immense and is only growing and markets are in a strong growth phase. 

 

In any business, trust is key to scalability and longevity. So, understanding the spirit of the regulation will go a long way in strengthening and growing your business. While it may come across as overwhelming sometimes, over a cycle it settles down and gives more than a fair opportunity for growth.  

 

 

I believe advisors/MFDs are doing a good job when it comes to handling client’s emotions. Studies have shown that advisers not only add value when it comes to portfolio construction but also add emotional value in terms of peace of mind for investors. 

 

As humans, it is natural to succumb to one’s biases sometimes. But it is important to be aware of these biases to overcome them. Here are a few learnings which could help MFDs/advisors handle client behavior better: 

 

• Use tools to profile. Discover their life goals and aspirations. 

• Often, errors happen not because of when you invested/allocated but also how much did you invest/allocate. Differentiate between structural and cyclical opportunities when allocating in sectors and themes so sizing of allocations can be better determined. 

• Create portfolios that are diversified not only in asset classes but also in investment styles. Use strategic and tactical portfolio allocation to use such opportunities effectively.

• Keeping a tight eye on valuation as a parameter and how does the process/framework use valuation as a measure while making investment decisions is an important yardstick to judge an AMC in the holistic scheme of things.  

• Study rolling returns for performance measurement vs point to point. Give a higher weightage to process over performance. History has shown that no single style has always produced the best outcome consistently and hence focusing on a process which is evidence based has a higher probability of getting consistent compounded performance.

 

PGIM India Partner Assist Portal is device agnostic and uses the most contemporary web technology, which renders equally well on a hand-held device. This service is available for PGIM empaneled partners.

Also, distributors can use this link to register e-mandate.