How many distributors work with Mirae? How do you plan to expand your distribution force?
We have around 5000 distributors working with us. These are banks, national distributors, wealth managers and IFAs. We are not focused on one segment. It is easier for us to tie up with IFAs now since we have a good track record of performance.
How are you planning to tap the beyond 15 cities (B-15) market?
AMCs like us can’t have aggressive growth plans but we are trying our best within our limits to find opportunities. We cannot go to 100 cities at one time. Our team is trying to identify which cities/towns are best for us. We are present in more than 100 cities through our point of acceptance, which is Karvy. We have to be very sure about certain markets before opening any branches. We will increase our presence through investor awareness, branding with distributors and events.
When do you plan to break-even in India?
We have achieved operational break-even this year. Our business has stabilized now. Our AUM is growing continuously. So far our achievement is in line with our business plan and vision.
Have you set any AUM target for your domestic mutual fund business?
To take a very conservative figure, I think we want to reach Rs 2000 crore. The Indian mutual fund market will grow gradually. We want to be a major player in India in five years. We are also offering offshore advisory services to Hong Kong market.
How are you differentiating your product offerings in India? Mirae has also not launched a tax saver fund or a gold fund/ETF
We have to do what we can do best instead of following the strategy of other players. We have launched global funds like Mirae Asset China Advantage and Mirae Asset India-China Consumption Fund for investors to diversify their assets. In our group, we purchased one Canadian ETF company in 2011. We are providing a lot of ETFs in the Asia Pacific region. We are waiting for the Indian ETF market to mature. In India a majority of ETFs are based on gold. Our ETF structure is different. We have almost 1000 ETFs around the world.
What kind of ETFs are you looking to launch in India?
We may launch global ETFs and thematic ETFs in India. Indian regulations don’t allow ETFs on leveraged or currency hedged ETFs. We are identifying the ETFs which would be best suited for our Indian investors. We have identified certain products and are waiting for the right time.
How is your fixed income business?
We finished our first stage with good performance in equity funds. We are now trying to increase our fixed income business. Our fixed income performance is getting significantly better. We propose to provide balanced funds to investors.
Also read:We are open to inorganic growth in India: Jisang Yoo, Mirae Asset
