AMFI Chief Executive calls for greater awareness among investors on mutual funds in Andhra Pradesh

AMFI Chief Executive calls for greater awareness among investors on mutual funds in Andhra Pradesh

The total investments in regulated mutual funds in India is to the tune of ₹67.05 lakh crore and the share of investments in Andhra Pradesh is ₹89,000 crore, and of Visakhapatnam is ₹11,500 crore, says Chalasani Venkat Nageswar, Chief Executive of Association of Mutual Funds of India (AMFI).

AMFI, a self-regulatory organisation, working specifically for the MF industry under the SEBI guidelines, to safeguard the interests of MF investors and other stakeholders, organised an awareness programme on MFs for students and the general public, as part of the World Investors Week (WIW), on the Beach Road here on Sunday.

At a roundtable organised by the AMFI here on Monday, Mr. Nageswar said that despite the high returns, lack of awareness was responsible for the dismal growth of MFs in A.P. Capital markets play an important role in nation building while offering higher rate of return to investors. However, investments in the capital market come with a certain element of risk, but regulated mutual funds were a safe bet. He said that Visakhapatnam being the 10th biggest city in India has immense potential for growth of MF s. However, the lack of financial literacy in Visakhapatnam as also in Andhra Pradesh was responsible for the poor investment in MFs.

Stressing on the importance of financial literacy among the common people, investment in the unregulated market was a risky proposition. There were 44 MF companies and they were Asset Management Companies (AMC s), which are all regulated by SEBI. He said that Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) was the best investment for those with limited disposable income. To a query, he said that minimum monthly deposit which was now ₹500, a month, under SIP, was planned to be reduced to ₹250, a month.

The AMC s pool the money from investors and invest them in diverse portfolios of different companies, which reduces the risk, while fetching higher returns. Replying to another query, he said that the number of MF investors in India was around five crore as on date, he said.

AMFI data for different age groups of MF investors shows that women formed a higher percentage of investors in the age groups of 25-34, 35-44, 45-58 and those above 59 years of age. However, in the 18-24 age group, the percentage of women MF investors was less.