Dhiraj Relli, MD & CEO, HDFC Securities tells us how the company’s investor base has gone up by over 900 per cent. Excerpts:
Could you share some details on mutual fund sales by HDFC Securities in this as well as the last financial year? What kind of growth have you witnessed? What is your growth forecast for this segment this year?
Our focus has always been on retail investors. We have been advocating wealth creation through the SIP route which benefits retail investors over the medium term. We have witnessed a growth of 900 per cent in number of investors and more than 1,500 per cent in total monthly contribution (SIP value) over the last one year. As per mutual fund desk data as on July 2016, our equity AUM has crossed Rs 650 crore from Rs 245 crore last year. Our growth has been significant in mutual fund space as it has emerged as the most preferred investment option by investors. We are looking to grow even further and become one of the top 10 players in the space.
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What proportion of mutual fund sales does the online platform account for?
Our online contribution has been growing at a rapid pace. It has gone up from 5 to 20 per cent. Also, with MF SIP now available on our mobile app, we are seeing further surge in number of investors using the online platform.
What kind of services or advice on mutual fund investing do you offer to individual investors through your platform?
We don’t offer advisory service, though we provide unique data points and analysis to our customers. We provide smooth paperless transactions for our clients; we offer multiple options to customers to invest—through online, HDFC Securities branches and our stateof-the-art call centre.
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Could you share some trends on the kind of products and services preferred by customers using your platform?
Retails investors have shown a lot of confidence in mutual fund investments and they have started to view it as a means to grow wealth over the long term. They are extremely happy about the SIP route and the number of investors has gone up multi-fold. We have also witnessed investors showing higher demand for hybrid funds. Investments in mid-cap and small-cap funds have also substantially increased which is a clear reflection of the market trends.
Could you share some customer-centric initiatives that you have taken in the recent past?
We have been sharing with customers the industry trends in mutual fund space and have been providing them detailed reports on various schemes across asset classes. We are planning for a monthly webinar with our research team/AMC personnel on different categories of mutual funds. We just conducted one last month and we got overwhelming response as more than 2,000 investors benefited from it. We are planning to have a phased regular engagement with our customers in this regard.
