Fidelity Announces FundsNetwork Platform In India

Fidelity International has announced that it would launch its online fund platform, FundsNetwork in India. FundsNetwork will be an open architecture fund platform that will offer online a range of funds from a number of fund houses. It will help intermediaries to grow their business by allowing them to focus on customer acquisition, advice and relationship management without being concerned about back office and administration issues. India will be the fifth country in the Fidelity Group to launch FundsNetwork, after the US, UK, Germany and Taiwan. In Phase 1, Fidelity has already launched the Fidelity Advisers’ Institute, which is meant to be a centre for advisers.

Robert Higginbotham, president, Fidelity International, said, “I am delighted that we are bringing our online fund platform to India. Backed by our experience in international markets, FundsNetwork will be a business partner for mutual fund agents (MFAs) by providing them business coaching to help them grow their business aided by state-of-the-art practice management tools. India is a strategic market for us and the FundsNetwork initiative demonstrates our commitment to expanding the mutual fund industry here”.

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FundsNetwork is a technology powered solution that allows MFAs to devote their time entirely to their professional role of managing and advising their clients. Advisers will benefit from business tools that will support transactional and reporting requirements as well as planning and guidance needs.

Ashu Suyash, managing director and country head – India, Fidelity International, added, “Market development and penetration of mutual funds has been severely limited by the smaller number of agents selling funds, especially when compared to the insurance industry’s strength in number of agents. The challenge has been further aggravated by poor acceptance of mutual funds among insurance agents”.

“In the first phase of FundsNetwork, we are launching the Fidelity Advisers Institute, Fidelity’s centre for excellence, for advisers, which will focus on business coaching and practice management with programmes tailored to help MFAs grow their business. The Fidelity Advisers Institute will also seek to bring in new advisers by helping them learn about mutual funds and becoming registered agents with AMFI. I believe that our AMFI Certification Preparatory Module can help improve the percentage of candidates passing the AMFI exam. At the same time, MFAs who are currently selling mutual funds can also avail of other training modules that will help them upskill and upsell”.

The Fidelity Advisers Institute will offer comprehensive training and development programmes for advisers free of charge. This will include both e-learning and face-to-face training from a panel of trainers on a range of subjects, including marketing, holistic financial skills and soft skills, while also helping them learn good business practices. Advisers can visit www.fundsnetwork.co.in to see the programme schedule and to register themselves for training courses which begin in July.