Franklin Templeton Investments, one of the largest mutual fund houses in the country on Friday launched ‘Shubh laabh’ - an initiative to help people learn, invest and prosper through mutual funds. This forms part of the fund house’s District Adoption Programme an initiative backed by SEBI and coordinated by AMFI wherein 188 districts in the country will be adopted by various mutual fund houses to improve penetration and awareness about mutual funds.
The ‘Shubh laabh’ programme will seek to educate investors and grow the market through a 3-point agenda; building category awareness through various initiatives including advertising and activation programs, increasing the distributor network with quality engagement and promoting Mutual Funds as an investment option to the consumer.
Franklin Templeton will hire local representatives in East Singhbhum called MF Sevaks who would coordinate various educational activities like investor camps and contact programs, while working closely with national level distributors such as banks and local Independent Financial Advisors (IFAs).
Harshendu Bindal, president, Franklin Templeton Investments (India) said, “While the household savings rate is high in India, most of these savings find their way into unproductive physical assets. The main reason for this is lack of awareness about mutual funds and a robust distribution network beyond the big cities and towns. We firmly believe that financial education is a must if mutual funds have to widen their acceptance beyond the metros to smaller towns. Investors often have a sizeable chunk of their money invested in traditional investment avenues, which might not be sufficient to meet their various financial needs. We believe it is important that the fund industry educates investors about the advantages of professional fund management that are being enjoyed by millions of investors today in India and the world over.”