Financial Advisors meet held

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Investments in gold could not only serve as a wealth protection tool for investors but could also generate double digit returns as the market scenario proves, pointed out Sunil Subramaniam, director, sales and marketing, Sundaram Mutual Fund. He was inaugurating a State-level meet of the All-Kerala Independent Financial Advisors’ Association (AKIFAA) at Hotel Classic Avenue, Manjalikulam the other day.  The meet was held in connection with the AKIFAA general body elections. Subramaniam also spoke on how mutual fund advisors can use debt funds, especially Fixed Maturity Products (FMPs), to increase their “share of wallet” of the investor and subsequently move him on to Equity Funds. Yogesh Pathak, vice-president and regional head, Kotak Mutual Fund, told the audience about the huge potential that currently exists in India wherein most investors prefer to put their money in so-called safe, but low-yielding bank fixed deposits. “A rough estimate of the money parked in Bank FDs would be around ` 6,00,000 crore. Only a fraction of this amount flows to mutual funds,” he said. He also advised IFAs to tailor customers mutual fund portfolios to suit the investor’s risk profile and not just go by past performance of mutual funds. Shobintos, regional head of sales and distribution, ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund, also addressed the gathering. An interaction with the Mutual Fund experts was also organised, apart from paper presentations that tackled various issues related to the industry. Elections were conducted and the new committee was introduced to the members. All-Kerala IFA Association was established in July 2009 and the launch of a national-level body on the same lines is in the offing.