WF : Can you take us through the initiatives that you have launched to enable distributors to evolve into advisors?

Himanshu : There are a number of key initiatives we have taken in this direction :

(1) Free CFP Certification

The Indian Mutual Fund industry is fast evolving in the dynamic changing environment. In this new regime, financial planning and advisory services will play a critical role in enhancing capabilities and give our partners a tool to charge your investor for the services rendered. Practicing financial planning and asset allocation will not only enable our partners to get the credibility as a financial advisor but will also reinforce investor's confidence in their financial planning advice.

To help our partners achieve this edge and grow their business, Reliance Mutual Fund is supporting all its IFA partners in attaining FREE CFP certification keeping in mind the way Financial Advisory Services are taking shape in India. We will reimburse the entire registration fees on successful completion of CFP certification.

We are jointly promoting CFP with FPSB India and conducted more than 10 meets in major cities across the country to help more and more IFA partners to pursue CFP certification.

Till date we have received registrations from more than 5,000 IFA partners across the country.

(2) Knowledge Quotient on ww.reliancemutual.com

At RMF, firmly believe that Knowledge is power. We feel it is essential to enhance our knowledge levels in order to communicate with our clients and advice them on financial decisions. Hence we launched a separate section on our website for our partners which cover the latest happening in the World & Indian Economy. There is a sub-section "Monthly Flash" which gives our fund management views. The section is regularly updated to cover key developments in the financial markets.

(3) EDGE Academy

EDGE is the Learning Academy from RMF dedicated to strengthening the skills of our partners to be even more successful. Various trainings are designed to aid growth of our partner on a professional as well as a personal level. And we intend to build a very strong foundation and make EDGE a name to reckon with in the field of learning in the financial sector.

EDGE team conducted more than 750 programs this FY, covering 13,500 IFAs across the country. These programs include trainings on Function Skills as well as Life Skills enhancement.

WF : There has been a lot of buzz around using technology to drive business in a low margin environment. Many experts opine that retail penetration is critically dependent on moving towards an online transaction mode - without which, retail business may become unviable for distributors. In what ways are you trying to help distributors achieve this objective?

Himanshu : We feel that online is a very convenient and economic medium for investing in Mutual Funds. It not only gives the convenience to investors to invest from their home/office but also reduces the transaction cost to the distributors.

(1) Online Investment Module

We went live with our online investment module (for first time investors without I-Pin) during the Reliance Infrastructure Fund NFO and shortly extended the facility for all equity schemes followed by all Debt & Liquid schemes. Investors can simply visit www.reliancemutual.com and invest online without any registration.

We have already received overwhelming response for this facility: - with 7000 plus partners using the platform from across 300 cities and more than 5000 investors transacting online. The link for "Invest Online" has been used by numerous partners on their websites, blogs, mini-sites, etc.

(2) Co-branded Emailers

To promote our online initiatives we launched the co-branded emailer which enables our partners to generate emailers with an invest-online link customized for their ARN code. Whenever any investor transacts thru this emailers, the business is recorded under the respective partners ARN code.

The emailers are available on the Distributor Centre on our website www.reliancemutual.com .We have already received transactions from more than 2,000 IFA partners across the country through this medium

(3) Email Marketing

We have supported our partners with online marketing initiatives like co-branded Banners with Invest Online Links which can be posted on the partner's website, co-branded emailers which can be broadcast to partner's investor database, even to first time investors who can visit www.reliancemutual.com and invest using the partners ARN code.

WF : Congratulations on winning the coveted CNBC - TV18 - CRISIL "Mutual Fund House Of The Year" award ! What are the parameters that CRISIL looks at when it rates fund houses?

Himanshu : Reliance Mutual Fund has been consistently receiving awards and recognition for its excellence in fund management. These awards recognize our leadership not only in terms of size but also quality of processes & management and give an added level of comfort to all our investors and partners.

Crisil Fund House Level-1 Rating

Crisil under its Fund Governance and Process Quality Ratings has assigned the highest degree of excellence to Reliance Capital Asset Mgt Ltd in the areas of :-

     * Quality of Management

     * Fund Management Practices

     * Operational Efficiency

     * Selling & Client Servicing Partners

     * Risk Management

CNBC TV18 Fund House of the Year

Reliance Capital Asset Management Ltd. has been rewarded with the 'Mutual Fund House of the Year 2009' by CRISIL. The CNBC-TV18 - CRISIL Mutual Fund Awards is India's most respected and coveted awards for the mutual fund industry.

Economic Times-Platinum Fund House

RMF has also received the honour for The Best Fund House for Sep 09 Quarter by ET Intelligence Group with 4 Platinum's, 1 Gold, 5 Silvers and One Bronze Rating.