MUMBAI:
Mutual fund investments through
Paytm’s investment arm, which was launched in September 2018, have crossed the Rs 5,000-crore mark with over Rs 1,500 crore coming in during the pandemic.
Online wealth management platforms like Zerodha, Kuvera, Groww and ETMoney, which is part of the group that publishes TOI, are seeing increased traction amid the pandemic. Kuvera, which was launched in October 2017, has seen its assets under management surge from Rs 6,500 crore at the start of 2020 to Rs 19,000 crore.
Paytm Money currently manages assets worth Rs 4,000 crore.
Paytm Money CEO Varun Sridhar told TOI, “Technology is our main competitive advantage. Our systems are already capacitated and capable to manage 10x of our current volumes. About 30% of the Rs 5,000-crore mutual fund inflows have come after March 2020. Post-Covid (performance) is actually stronger and investor behaviour is regular. They are committed to making monthly investments and are also putting more into stock markets.”
Sridhar added that about 10% of Paytm Money’s mutual fund customers have also opened
demat accounts on its platform. Over half of Paytm Money’s 7 million customers are first-time investors and over 80% are aged below 35.
Paytm Money is also looking to offer same-day credit of mutual fund units. Investors are not being able to get units based on the net asset value (NAV) on the day of placing the order since Sebi’s new rules came into effect on February 1. Currently, units are being allotted only after asset management companies receive funds, which can take up to 3 days. “We are working with NPCI, payment gateways and AMCs to see how we can offer same-day credit,” Sridhar said.
On being asked about the non-availability of features such as systematic withdrawal plan (SWP) and systematic transfer plan (STP), Sridhar said, “Our product development cycle will churn out many innovations and new features in 12-18 months. We believe that until a product feature is useful for 1 lakh users and can be offered with great stability, we should not introduce it as it causes complications for simple investors.”
About 35% of Paytm Money’s users are below the age of 25 and the average portfolio of retail investors on the platform is Rs 40,000.