Jayant Pai – The Tortoise Speaks…

Can we really use FMCG techniques to market MF products?

On September 3, 2013

At a recent mutual fund seminar, there was the usual lament about how funds are failing to gain traction among ‘small investors’. While several causes were cited, they mostly boiled down to mutual funds failing to resonate or ‘connect’ with investors.

It was then posited that mutual funds should take a leaf out of FMCG product marketing strategies. The underlying belief behind this was that small investors are no different from small consumers. As long as you attractively package the idea to them and educate them about the utility of the product, they will bite.

Risk vs Uncertainty

By Jayant Pai

On June 5, 2012

In Investing

By Jayant Pai | [email protected]

Quick question: When was the last time you woke up in the morning and felt completely certain about the way your day would pan out? Sure, you may have aimed at accomplishing a series of tasks and also meticulously planned your path. Despite this, you tacitly knew and acknowledged that there was always the possibility that things may not turn out as planned. This, however, did not paralyse you and make you sit at home.

The point I am making is that we live in an uncertain world. While some factors are within our control, there are others which are not. That is why I am puzzled to hear some market mavens advise stockmarket investors to desist from investing now and step in when things are certain.

Mutual Fund Scheme Selection : A Do-It-Yourself Kit

By Jayant Pai

On May 18, 2012

In Investing, Mutual Funds

By Jayant Pai | [email protected]

Choosing good mutual fund schemes is not an easy task for beginners. The same applied to me too. I too have undergone many teething troubles before finally honing in on a few rules which work for me. Initially, I relied on the advice of others, but my entire investing approach changed when I subscribed to a highly reputed magazine meant for serious investors. Today, my scheme selection process is a distillate of of several intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Here are a few of them:

Mutual Funds: The missing “I” in Monthly Income Plans

By Jayant Pai

On June 5, 2011

In Investing, Mutual Funds

By Jayant Pai | [email protected]

I feel that the financial product with the most misleading moniker is the ‘Monthly Income Plan (MIP)’ offered by mutual funds. The nomenclature suggests that these schemes assure some income to their unit holders every month but this is far from reality. Many of these schemes not only declare dividend at irregular intervals, even the quantum of dividend declared each time varies widely. A bigger irony is that most MIPs offer a “Growth” option too, something which is anachronistic, to say the least. In a nutshell, “True-to-label” MIPs are more the exception than the rule.

A blog which periodically revisits evergreen investment principles!

Author: Jayant Pai

Can we really use FMCG techniques to market MF products?

Risk vs Uncertainty

Mutual Fund Scheme Selection : A Do-It-Yourself Kit

Mutual Funds: The missing “I” in Monthly Income Plans