SBI MF recently achieved a huge milestone of crossing the coveted Rs.10 lakh cr AuM mark – a cherished dream for Team SBIMF. The manner it has consolidated its leadership position in the industry has been remarkable.
Distributor angst on frequent KYC changes and updates is understandable, but DP Singh asks MFDs to look at the broader perspective:
- Financial regulations globally as well as in India put more onus on anti money laundering (and therefore more stringent KYC) on investment products than on bank accounts. Some of the KYC requirements are beyond SEBI’s brief – they are part of global treaties that India is a signatory to.
- The current mandate to complete Aadhar and PAN matching and verification is quite likely to be the much-desired long term fix and one can hope for stability on KYC going forward.
- Distributors must also keep in mind that this is one of the few businesses where commission incomes keep rising for years with MTM gains. If we enjoy the fruits of being in the investment products business, we need to also comply with more stringent and evolving AML related regulations of this business.
MF industry is no longer a push-only business – it has demand pull as well as distribution push. Unfortunately, demand pull comes largely from fintech apps (in terms of number of folios) where investors continue to gravitate towards categories with the best past performance, even as the industry continues to push more balanced solutions from the hybrids range, to ensure smoother investor outcomes.
DP Singh says the biggest opportunity that is staring at our face is enhancing wallet share from existing SIP investors. The industry has over 8.75 cr SIP folios and over Rs.20,000cr collected each month. Each of these SIP investors is a big opportunity – to sell top-up SIPs, to increase SIP value or add more SIPs for more goals, offer hybrids for lumpsum investments. Any successful marketing enterprise drives penetration first and then drives usage. For our industry, driving usage is all about gaining more wallet share from each of your SIP clients.