Fidelity International on 30 June 2008 announced that it would launch its world-renowned, award winning, online fund platform, FundsNetworkTM in India. FundsNetworkTM 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.India will be the 5th country in the Fidelity Group to launch FundsNetworkTM, after the U.S., U.K., Germany and Taiwan. In Phase 1, Fidelity on 30 June 2008 launched the Fidelity Advisers Institute, Fidelitys centre for excellence, for advisers.
Robert Higginbotham, President, Fidelity International, said, I am delighted that we are bringing our best-in-class online fund platform to India. Backed by our experience in international markets, FundsNetworkTM 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 FundsNetworkTM initiative demonstrates our commitment to expanding the mutual fund industry here.
FundsNetworkTM 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 industrys 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 FundsNetworkTM, we are launching the Fidelity Advisers Institute, Fidelitys 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.
Special features:
The Fidelity Advisers Institute will offer complete 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.
One of the highlights of training is the AMFI Certification Preparatory Module, which can be used by anyone who wants to become an adviser and is required to take the AMFI exam. It also provides mock exams and identify the topics.
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