Investors’ curiosity for mutual fund seems to be growing steadily, especially outside Maharashtra which comprises almost half of industry’s AUM. An analysis of Google trends as on July 6 shows that Jharkhand, Goa and Haryana have the highest number of web search queries on MF investments.
Cafemutual has been tracking this trend for the past 15 days. The results could marginally change depending on keywords like ‘mutual fund’, ‘mutual funds’ and ‘mutual funds India’. For instance, Goa and Jharkhand top the list on Google search with keywords ‘mutual funds’ and ‘mutual fund’ respectively. However, we found that Goa, Haryana and Jharkhand have consistently maintained the top positions on all queries related to mutual funds.
Goa has the highest number of Google searches on mutual fund investments. In fact, Goa has scored 100 on a scale of 100 in a few mutual fund related keywords. This was followed by Haryana and Jharkhand. Other states in the list were Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, UP and Chhattisgarh.
Among the top 10 cities, Chinchwad (Pune), Gurgaon, Noida and Bangalore have highest number of search queries on mutual funds. Chinchwad holds the top position in various lists by scoring 100 on a scale of 100. Similarly, Gurgaon, Noida and Bangalore have the highest number of search queries than Mumbai. Other cities include Secunderabad, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bhubaneswar, Vadodara, Surat and Coimbatore.
AMFI data shows that both Mumbai and Delhi account for close to 57% of industry’s AUM. Since a lot of companies have their headquarters in Mumbai and Delhi, it makes a huge contribution to liquid fund AUM. Also, presence of large distribution network and greater awareness among people give an edge to these two cities over the rest of country.
The sales head of a foreign fund house believes that fund houses must establish themselves in Mumbai and Delhi to grow business. “Fighting for a share where pie is large makes sense compared to cities with a small pie.”
At an industry event, Harshendu Bindal, President, Franklin Templeton MF told Cafemutual that Mumbai contributes a large portion in liquid funds due to which the city has a lion’s share in the total MF AUM. He points out that there is a huge opportunity for fund houses in cities like Pune, Gurgaon, Noida and Bangalore since these are IT hubs.
Leo Puri, Managing Director, UTI MF also told Cafemutual at the same event that his fund house is reaching out to investors in such cities and towns through its huge distribution network to increase the penetration of mutual funds. He said that the industry’s growth is largely dependent on how it increases its penetration outside Mumbai and Delhi.
Going by Google trends of the past 12 months, it seems that there is a huge opportunity for fund houses beyond Mumbai and Delhi. Fund houses can leverage technology and social media to reach out to these net savvy investors. Also, investor awareness programs and strengthening distribution network in such locations can help them expand footprint, say experts.
