Dhanteras marks the start of Diwali when traditionally Indians buy gold as it is considered an auspicious day. Some IFAs, however, saw it as an opportunity to convince investors that deploying money in mutual funds can be more beneficial than buying gold.
We spoke with four such IFAs who carried out SIP drives this Dhanteras.
Advhesh Garg, Kota – 620 SIPs, total amount of Rs 35 lakh
To begin with, my team filtered clients based on two criteria - their likeliness to invest more in mutual funds and a fair understanding of the market.
With three other associates, I reached out to more than 500 investors through phone calls. Since I was planning to log in these SIPs through the digital process. Help from BSE Start also reduced the paperwork and smoothened the process.
We started this process a week before Dhanteras and decided to make at least 100 calls a day. My team pitched the importance of investing in SIPs rather than buying gold in this festival season and did vigorous follow up to ensure participation in the SIP drive.
I targeted salaried investors from our existing client base focusing on those who would have got a Diwali bonus and those who had shown willingness to invest more in their last portfolio review.
Brajesh Singh, Gwalior – 235 SIPs, total amount Rs 5.12 lakh
When I read Cafemutual stories on record SIP drives in metro cities, I was motivated to do a similar experiment in my hometown.
To begin with, I set a target of doing at least 200 SIPs and 70-80 new clients from this SIP drive.
I feel WhatsApp is one of the most effective ways to reach out to new prospects. Hence, I work hard on the content to circulate on WhatsApp and ensure that my images and videos are customised for every occasion.
This time I circulated images of how SIPS can help investors in the long-term while gold’s value will only depreciate. For those who were hell bent on buying gold, I suggested to reduce their investment in gold and invest the rest in SIPs.
Rajesh B Sharma, Amravati - 102 SPIs, total amount of Rs 1.90 lakh
I got the idea of doing this SIP drive from Cafemutual stories. Nevertheless, I was aware that it would be difficult for me to do 1000 or 2000 SIPs in a day as my client base is not comfortable with digital processes. Therefore, I set a realistic target of doing 100 SIPs in a day and worked in that direction.
Most of my clients are schoolteachers and earn between Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 per month. Initially they were reluctant to invest in SIP drive, as they felt a sense of security by buying gold. Nevertheless, after much persuasion and analysis of the past performance of gold and mutual fund, they agreed to take part in this SIP drive.
Harsh Shekhar, Patna – 345 SIPs, total amount of Rs 3.74 lakh
To prepare for this drive, my team first reviewed the portfolios of all clients and decided to approach those clients who had stopped their SIPs. We pitched Dhanteras as an auspicious occasion to resume their investment in mutual funds. We also made an effort to bring new clients but the focus was to revive the investment of clients who have stopped their SIPs.
Further, we classified the investors based on their age. Since a millennial investor will have different expectations from a retiree, we decided to conduct separate seminars for them.
In all our presentations, we compared returns of gold and SIPs over the last 10 years. We also tried to address investor concerns through Q&As in these seminars.