New Delhi, Mar 16 (IANS): Asset Management Companies along with NSE and CIEL have joined hands to build 50,000 new to industry Mutual Fund Distributors (Financial entrepreneurs) over the next three years.

This is being done under the aegis of ExpertMFD,a first pan-India collaborative initiative comprising of top AMCs who manage over 2/3rd of total AUM in Mutual Fund Industry.

The MFs include marquee names like Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund, Axis MF, ICICI Prudential MF, L&T MF, Nippon India MF, SBI Mutual Fund and Sundaram MF who have joined hands with NSE (National Stock Exchange) and CIEL (Centre for Investment Education and Learning).

As New India earns and invests, mutual funds have emerged as an attractive avenue to promote financialisation of assets and earn market-linked returns over the long-term with disciplined financial planning. However,hand-holding is required for both new-to-MF investors as well as experienced investors, ExpertMFD said in a statement.

The Indian MF industry could be worth Rs 100 lakh crore in the next decade. However, currently there is just 1 distributor for every 17,000 people, indicating a massive growth opportunity for insurance agents, retired BFSI professionals, homemakers, BFSI employees, students etc. Top individual MF distributors earn more than Rs 1 crore in annual gross commissions, showing the potential for earnings.

ExpertMFD has built the infrastructure to create financial entrepreneurs / mutual fund distributors through its first in India collaborative platform which will offer end-to-end support for anyone who wants to make a career as an expert financial distributor.

Regulatory training and also practically-oriented induction & mentoring by experts is necessary for becoming successful in the MF industry. NSE will be the transaction partner for a seamless digital experience to start business.

Speaking on the occasion, Himanshu Vyapak,MD, CIEL, said, "We have about 2.3 crore unique MF investors in India. The growth in MF distributors has not kept in pace with the growth of assets in MF Industry. Our endeavour is to build a strong foundation and a cohesive growth environment for future financial experts by providing a full stack end-to-end platform for anyone who wants to become an expert financial distributor. This is done through the aegis of technology intervention and strong partnerships. The platform will also train these distributors on other financial products in the second phase."

AMCs CEOs in a joint statement from the consortium of Top AMCs comprising of Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund, Axis MF, ICICI Prudential MF, L&T MF, Nippon India MF, SBI MF, Sundaram MF said: "We are very pleased to partner with NSE and CIEL to launch ExpertMFD a platform to create Financial Entrepreneurs for the mutual fund industry. The industry is ready for next-level growthand is expected to be Rs 100 lakh crore over the next 10 years. It is indeed heartening to note that Indians are increasingly moving away from physical savings to financial savings. With lesser distributors serving more and more customers, it is a huge opportunity for new financial distributors to join the industry and make an impact."

"The success of the industry will lot depend on how we work towards expanding the distributor network and move to rural India. We would want to use the learning and the experience that we have gathered over the years to make the project successful"

Mukesh Agarwal CEO, NSE Indices Ltd- NSE said, "We see a great potential in having a first in industry one stop platform for anyone like an insurance agent, homemaker, student and retired professional to start their mutual fund distribution journey. Our joint knowledge, business acumen, skilling capability and transaction engine will help any new distributor in its entire journey from onboarding to business generation on one platform."