A new portal called Moneybase provides online investing facility for investors and acts a sub-broking platform for IFAs.
More players are tapping the online route to distribute mutual funds among masses.
Kerala based financial advisor Binoj has launched a sub-broking platform for IFAs. Similar to FundsIndia and Fundsupermart, the portal www.moneybase.in provides online investment facility for investors as well as distributors.
In 2010, Binoj quit his job with Royal Bank of Scotland and started practicing as a financial advisor. He caters to 22 clients and has assets under advisory of Rs. 4.50 crore under mutual funds. He started Moneybase along with his college friend Senthil Kumar S who looks after the technology of this portal.
“My practice had limited scalability thus I launched the portal to reach out to more clients. We are focusing on retail investors. Investors have to complete a one-time registration after which they can start investing online seamlessly. Any distributor, irrespective of the quantum of assets under advisory, can become a sub-broker on this portal,” said, Binoj K.G, Managing Director, Moneybase Financial Advisors.
The portal is providing free subscription to the first 100 clients after which it will charge an annual subscription fee. Around 75 clients have registered on this portal so far. “We consciously decided to charge a subscription fee. We want only serious investors on our platform. If we provide it free of cost, investors don’t tend to take their investments seriously,” adds Binoj.
As of now, Moneybase only facilitates investments in mutual funds. Going forward, Binoj plans to offer more products like insurance, company fixed deposits and direct equity.
The portal works like this. People have to initially sign up by providing their details like name, address, PAN, etc. After creating a login id one has to submit KYC, bank mandate, cancelled cheque and other documents to Moneybase. Once the account is created investors can start transacting through the portal.
Based on information like goal, risk appetite and time-horizon provided by investors, the portal recommends funds to invest in.
Despite the presence of players like FundsIndia, Fundsupermat, ICICI Direct and Scripbox, Binoj belives that there is room for more players in this segment. “India has a huge market. We will try to differentiate from the competition,” believes Binoj.
