Nimesh Shah, MD at CEO, ICICI Prudential AMC, wrote this piece for the India Markets Observer.
How would the life of a financial adviser be if the sales processes could be shortened and simplified in the present competitive circumstances?
With technology becoming omnipresent, the status quos that still exists in sales processes of the mutual fund industry could be done away with to boost the productivity of advisers. While advisers should spend most of their time engaging with investors, a substantial portion of their total productive time is spent on operational / administrative activities. If an adviser has to personally attend to each of the tasks in the sales process manually, it becomes a severe constraint on scalability.
Typically, the on-boarding process for investors starts with the adviser giving an elaborate monologue on the product’s features and suitability for the investor. Once the investor is convinced to invest in the product, begins the hassle of paper work and multiple signatures.
The adviser then carries the application to the office of the nearest Asset Management Company, or AMC, or the investor service centre to log it in, which if done within the cut off time is processed at the same day’s NAV, else it has to wait for the next business day.
Besides being lengthy and time consuming, the current on-boarding process for investors is expensive. The expense may not be as much in terms of its actual incurrence but more so with respect to the opportunity loss suffered in the process. If the time that an adviser spends on documentation, transaction, travel, and more such miscellaneous activities is productively redirected, the business potential could be manifold of the present achievement.
Integration of key processes, minimisation of paper work and streamlining of the pre-sales activities become important ingredients of success in business. In fact, more time spent on the core aspect of business generation and closure is bound to bring in more revenues.
So how can we help enhance the productivity of an adviser?
The simple answer to the above question is leveraging technology. When technology is changing the world and our lives in a profound manner, it can also empower distributors and drive disruptive changes.
The possibilities are many and the needs are endless. Technology can be effectively used to integrate all aspects of an adviser’s business process. At ICICI Prudential AMC, for example, IPRU Touch has been created to address this very need. It is a mobile application that can be downloaded and installed easily on smart phones. Virtual platforms such as these offer a user-friendly interface and facilitate the adviser in many ways.
An optimal content experience
It is important to ensure that the advisers are well furnished with sales aides related to markets, product and New Fund Offer, or NFO, presentations in order to create a better sales impact which can be ensured through such applications. Also, a regular dissemination of quantitative data of mutual fund schemes for adviser’s ready reference can also be enabled.
Further, placing concept and product based videos on such platforms could enable advisers to create an interactive pull for investors.
Aid financial planning
On a virtual platform dedicated to financial advisers, presence of financial planning tools could also add significant value. For instance, calculators based on various investor goals such as saving for retirement planning, child’s education or marriage, home, and building up wealth through SIP, could help advisers provide goal-based solutions to their investors.
Transaction facility
An adviser should also be able to facilitate transactions for the investor through such a platform. An adviser need not stock or run around looking for application forms and multiple signatures of the investor. Such a facility will ensure that the transactions are carried out on screen-based systems and processed electronically, thereby reducing paperwork.
The transaction time and cost will be marginal, thereby increasing adviser productivity. It gives an anytime-anywhere convenience because the adviser can complete transactions from the home or office of the investor. Ease of processes, right from submission of forms to paying in and paying out, and finally confirmation from the fund house is no less than a breakthrough.
To sum up
Scale and cost efficiency are the mantras for success and productivity in the financial intermediation space. Technology is not only a great enabler but also a leveller of these two important factors of success. Developing next generation adviser platforms could a big leap forward for the mutual fund industry.
Embracing and leveraging technology is not just a compulsion of the times we live in, it is a necessary convenience!
