Prepared by Kaushal Sharma
Internet based Tools used Mutual Fund Distributorsto promote Mutual Fund Investments
Summer Internship Project
Table of contents:
• Introduction
• Data collection – Sample size & method
• Data analysis
• Research Findings
• Suggestions
Introduction
Objective: • To identify tools used by ***********.com to promote MF Investment
• To identify the different tools used by websites of other MF distributors, AMC’s & ranking agencies
• To record those tools which are not present on ICICIDirect.com
• To suggest tools that can be incorporated on ICICIDirect.com
Research Methodology:• Observational research conducted on websites of Mutual Fund
Distributors, AMC’s and Ranking Agencies
• The research projects the findings resulted after analyzing freely available information from websites i.e on the NON-LOGIN PAGES of the above mentioned institutions
Data Collection
Distributors/Brokers AMC’s Ranking Agencies
IndiaInfoline.com AngelMF.com UTIMF.com Valueresearchonline
AxisDirect.in Mututalfundindia.com SBIMF.com Morningstar.in
KotakSecurities.com Religareonline.com MutualFund.Birlasunlife.com
Moneycontrol.com
Njfundz.com Bajajcapital.com RelianceMutual.com
Ask Wealth Investors Rsec.co.in (Reliance securities)
LnTMF.com (L & T MF)
HDFCSecurities.com Karvyonline.com HDFCfund.com
Sharekhan.com Standardchartered.co.in
SMCtradeonline.com SBIcapsec.com (SBICapSecurities)
Fundsupermart.com Fundsindia.com
Distributors/Brokers - 18
AMC’s - 6
Ranking Agencies - 3
The below mentioned websites were used for collecting data which was publicly available (non-login access)
Analysis
• Tools or Methods which were not present on ******* but used on other websites were tabulated
• These tools were classified into 5 sections– Educating/ Information Sharing tools
– Finding Funds
– Evaluation & Tracking
– Investing Tools &
– Others (Promotion, Website usability etc.)
• Tools or Methods which were widely used formed the base for recommendation
Research Findings
• SIP plans & Gold ETF plans are the top plans being promoted within their websites by distributors (flexi SIP by HDFC)
• ‘Alerts’, ‘Watchlist’, ‘Start SIP’ buttons are extensively used
• Majority Tools & Reports are used for to facilitate ‘evaluation & tracking’
• IndiaInfoline.com, MoneyControl.com, SBICapSec.com, RSec.co.in, Reliageronline.com & AxisDirect.in use the maximum no. of tools & reports(more than 7 out of the measured 13 ) – ICICIDIrect has 6– All of them have a ‘News’ Section
– 4 of them have a SIP related calculator
– 5 of them have a sector related report
• Most common tools– Retirement Calculator - Child Education Planner
– Marriage Savings Calculator - Millionaire/ Crorepati Calculator
– Mobile/Desktop applications & e-trading platforms
– Forward Compounder - Returns calculator
Continued…
Category Tools/ Reports ICICIDirectOthers (only Brokers )
Others (all)
Educating/ Info Sharing
News 15 18
Discussion boards/forums 2 4
NFO Y 13 13
Investment Tools
SIP 10 17
SWP/STP 1 2
Risk Profiler Y 4 8
Evaluation & Tracking
Sector Y 9 12
Fund Ranker Y 15 18
Scheme Comparison Y 12 15
Fund Activity 6 6
Latest Dividend Y 11 12
Continued…
• Out of the 18 distributors taken in the research sample:– 15 include a ‘News’ section pertaining to MF on their website
– 10 have a SIP related calculator
– 13 provide NFO/ Upcoming NFO reports via widgets
– 9 provide reports related to Sectors (top sectors favouring MF investments, % allocation in different sectors)
– 6 provide reports related to daily transaction in equity & debt investments by Mutual Fund Schemes
Continued…
• Out of the 6 AMC’s taken in the research sample:– 5 have a SIP related calculator
– All have the Goals (education, marriage) calculator
– 2 have a Future Value calculator
– 3 have a risk profiler & asset allocator for investors
• Out of the 3 Ranking agencies:– All the three display News & Sector Reports
– They emphasize more on displaying top funds according to different categories
– 2 have discussion boards (Blogs & Forums both) which can be used for research purposes as well as promoting schemes
Suggested Tools & Reports
• After analysing the different methods used by competitors the following methods/tools/reports can be incorporated on ********
– A more focused search box for finding funds
– Discussion Boards /Forums*
– MF related latest News Section
– SIP, SWP and STP Calculators
– Fixed Footer Bar on website with quick links & collapsible banner ad slot
– SMS Alerts Plan for MF
– Sector Tracker Search & Fund Activity Reports
Searching New Funds
• A more focused search
• Schemes can be searched using performance, sector weightage, asset size, age & minimum investment
Finding Funds
as seen on moneycontrol.com
Discussion Boards
• Discussion Boards, Forums, Blogs (Fund Manager Speak –Articles/Videos) can be used in the following ways– Myth Buster Articles– Address investor queries– Adds a personal touch– Increase participation of investors on website
Used by – ValueResearch (Ask Value Research),– FundSupermart.com, – MoneyControl (Interact), – IIFL – HDFC Securities (Analyst Videos, Learning Curve Series - articles)
Educating/ Information Sharing
MF News
• MF related recent news articles to keep investors updated
• Can increase investor participation through commenting system
• Used by:– IIFL – Angel MF– SMC Online– Karvy Stock Broking– Axis Direct– Reliance Securities– Standard Chartered Securities– Bajaj Capital– MoneyControl– JM Financial Services
Educating/ Information Sharing
as seen on indiainfoline.com
SIP/SWP/STP Calculators
• To calculate:
– the monthly SIP required to attain a specific goal
– the long run worth of an SIP
– the gains via investment made in an SIP plan (historic data)
– Returns & cashflow after a SWP or STP
CalculatorsInvesting Tools
• Presently used by IIFL : indiainfoline.comHDFC SecuritiesMutualFundIndia.comRelianceMutual.comAxisDirect.inMorningstar.inSharekhan.com
Example: SIP as per
need calculator
Source: Indiainfoline.com
CalculatorsInvesting Tools
Example: Long run worth of an SIP
Source: Indiainfoline.com
Investing Tools
SWPCalculator
Input
OutputSource: reliancemutual.com
Investing Tools
Static/ Fixed Footer Bar
• **********displays a pin up ad on arrival on the homepage
• A opening banner can also be used at the MutualFunds page
• Can be used to promote new schemes/offers
• Links can be easily viewed and accessed
Source: UTIMF
Continued..
• Mouseover Links
Displays direct links to performance, charts etc when a user hovers the mouse cursor over a scheme name
• Footer & Links used by:
• Utimf.com
• Axisdirect.in
• Hdfcsec.com (also used a fixed sidebar)
• MoneyControl(mouseover links)
Source: moneycontrol.com
SMS - Alerts Plan
• Users can be charged to receive real-time alerts pertaining to their portfolio– Real time NAV changes
– News
– Rank updates
– NAV trigger alerts
• Alerts can be delivered across SMS’s, Desktop Apps, Mobile Apps
• Users can customise the alerts
Continued…
Currently being used by:
- MoneyControl
Sector ReportA report that displays the aggregate sector exposure of schemes in the industry
Source: moneycontrol.com
Evaluation & Tracking
Sector Tracker
• The tracker lists all the schemes investing in a particular sector
• Identify the top 10 funds investing in a particular sector
• Investors who anticipate growth in a sector can track & invest in the respective funds
as seen on valueresearchonline.com
Evaluation & Tracking
Used by: ValueResearch, Sharekhan, AxisDirect, SMC Online, MorningStar.in, MoneyControl, Reliance Securities, SBImf.com, Angel Broking, Standard Chartered, IIFl
Fund Activity Reports• Displays the net
transaction of funds in debt and equity investments
• A search function can be added to identify fund activity across different periods
• Used by 6 out of 18 distributors
• Indiainfoline
• AxisDirect
• SBICapSec
• SMC Online
• RelianceSec
• Standard Chartered Sec
Evaluation & Tracking
as seen on indiainfoline.com
Fund Manager Tracker• Fund Manager Search - Search
for fund managers on basis of performance over a period of time
• Fund Manager Compare –Displays a comparison report (compares two fund managers only)
• Top performing fund managers – Report
• Used by myiris.co.in
Evaluation & Tracking
as seen on fundmanager.myiris.com
Reports in widgets
• Certain reports can be displayed on the Mutual Fund page of ICICIDirect, they are:
• NFO Reports
• Sector Report
• Sector Tracker
• Fund Activity Report
Source: hdfcsecurities.com
Why reports in widgets?
• Facilitates sharing of information in concise & arranged manner
• The homepage looks clean
• Easy access to information
• Who’s using such reports ?• Indiainfoline.com
• Axisdirect.in
• Morningstar.in
• Moneycontrol.com
• HDFCSecurities (hdfcsec.com)
Mobile App for MF
• Mobile App that delivers– Top 10 schemes, NAV and other
such reports
– Performance Charts
– Mutual Fund related news
– In-App Purchases • Daily Alerts
• Recommended Portfolio
– Includes MF related calculators
– Chat Function
– Investor Education via App (Daily Article, Facts etc.)
Why?
• MoneyControl.com app 500000+ downloads (Android)
• Indian Mutual Funds Tracker 5000+ downloads
• Many more such apps
• Users can track portfolio
• In-App purchases can generate revenue
• In-App ad slots can be used for promotion or generating additional revenue
Personal Finance App
• A personal finance app that facilitates– Recording Daily transactions
– Recording Investments
– Budget
– Planning Finances
– In built SIP, Returns calculator
– Displays the returns that can be earned by investing in different products
– Access to data
– Ad Revenue, In-app purchases etc. for revenue generation
Fund Manager - Game
• The user is the Fund Manager with a certain corpus
• Competing with other users for the top spot
• Can invest the corpus using the app
• Access to ******** reports (top stocks, top 10 schemes etc.)
• Similar games: – Stockopedia.co.uk/fantasy-funds
– Ffm.fantasyleague.com : JP Morgan
– Fantasyfundinvestor.telegraph.co.uk : The Telegraph & Skandia
Why?
• 75% of apps downloaded are games
• 48% of cell phone users are between 18 – 24 years (~19.2 million)
• Youngsters are the future investors
• Gaming Platform can be used to educate & thereby attract investments
• Facilitate Brand Recall
Source: Nielsen Informate Mobile Insights
Thank You
References
• http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/newswire/2013/smartphones-keep-users-in-india-plugged-in.html
• http://www.appbrain.com/app/mutual-funds-india/com.rhomobile.mutualfunds
• http://www.businessworld.in/en/storypage/-/bw/not-without-my-smartphone/603065.0/page/0
• http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/smartphones-social-networking-sites-technology-android-blackberry-youngsters/1/249994.html
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