Milind Shah, popularly known as Money Bhai among the adviser community, launches Chalo Niveshak portal which aims to help advisers get new clients. He chats with Ravi Samalad on how his portal will generate leads for advisers.
Can you take us through the concept of Chalo Niveshak?
The mutual fund industry is growing at a phenomenal rate over the past few years. Given the lower penetration of mutual funds, we believe mutual funds will continue to draw investor attention going ahead. Some reports have predicted that the industry will grow to Rs 50 lakh crore in the next five years.
To capitalize on this growth, mutual fund distributors need to up their game. The mutual fund industry has seen a slew of regulatory changes over the years and more changes are impending. Today, the competition in financial advisory space has increased manifold due to the entry of new players like robo advisers and other professionals. Also, direct plans are set to gain further popularity going ahead. This coupled with reducing commissions and the need to upgrade technology to cater to the new age clients has increased the cost of doing business. Small advisers who do not have the resources to tackle the competition from direct and robo advisers are finding the going tough. This germinated a thought that we need to unite and work collectively, which ultimately led to the formation of Chalo Niveshak.
How many advisers have shown interest in registering on the platform so far?
Currently about 100 members have already registered with us from across India and around 200 more have shown interest. They will register after we launch the initiative on January 16.
How do advisers get leads from your platform?
Providing leads is not the sole motive of this initiative. Leads are by products of our effort. We have launched an investor education portal which promotes the cause of mutual funds. We are going to promote the videos and blogs posted on this site on social media platforms in a big way.
We will get leads from our pan India presence. We have two ways to distribute the leads. Firstly, we have 100% automatic web portal where registered members will get leads directly to their registered email ids. Secondly, we have an all India help line number 8866993636 where our office staff will assign leads pin code wise to members.
We understand that each adviser will get prospects from one area PIN code. Why have you segregated the market through PIN code?
We have kept some strict rules for membership. We want only serious advisers to be on our platform. We are offering an exclusive space on the platform for members to develop their brand. Our members will be our brand ambassadors in the PIN codes assigned to them.
What if more than one IFA wishes to apply for the same PIN?
One adviser can apply for only two pin codes of his choice subject to availability. A pin code registered by a member will be blocked for other users until that member ends his subscription.
How will IFAs profile be listed on the platform?
When an investor searches for an adviser after keying in the pin code, the respective advisers detailed profile will show up. It will have details like name, address, company profile, website URL, experience, social media links, etc.
We are in the process of adding star ratings and reviews of advisers as well.
Why should advisers enroll on this platform and not promote themselves through their own social media platforms? What’s the benefit for them?
There is nothing wrong in promoting our own business. However, advisers have multiple tasks like meeting clients, managing staff, etc. to deal with within limited time. Also, some advisers have budget constraints to under marketing activities. Thus, we help them take care of their marketing activities. Also, advisers own brand will also be promoted through our platform.
What are the prerequisites for advisers to enroll on your platform?
As we are selecting members who will represent our brand, we will be very careful in selecting our partners. Below are some criteria to register:
- Member must be fulltime into this business
- Member must have his/her website
- They must have their Facebook, Instagram Business Page and Twitter handle
- They must be using any online platform for transaction execution
- They must be contributors to the community
