2023 has been a landmark year for the new look HSBC MF. The year started with a successful integration of funds, business and teams resulting from the L&T MF transaction; business momentum improved quarter-on-quarter from distributors initially being watchful to embracing the combined entity and equity fund performance coming in strong (1stand 2nd quartile for all but 1). The fund house crossed the coveted100,000cr AuM mark during the year.
MFDs and many large distribution houses have fully embraced the new look HSBC MF and are actively selling its funds. A few of the large distribution houses haven’t yet whitelisted the combined entity – getting them to onboard HSBC MF schemes will be a key priority in 2024.
Optimism on our markets is fully warranted – on an absolute as well as relative basis. However, Kailash cautions that the message to investors should be tempered with the reality that volatility is a fact of life and we must be prepared for a fairly bumpy ride upwards.
Increasing use by the MF industry of vernacular languages and increasing comfort of investors with digital fulfilment / execution are key trends that will propel industry growth going forward. A huge catalyst that can turbo charge growth is FinMin’s efforts to introduce single KYC across all financial products and markets – this can create explosive growth for our industry. We will no longer be moving from 4cr to 10cr investors this decade –we will be moving towards 30cr investors.
Kailash has set a target for HSBC MF to break into the top10 – the “big” league of the industry. The team’s effort is to focus on execution excellence – in fund management, sales and service – which is what will drive market share and eventually deliver the required move up to ladder in a competitive market.
Kailash seeks active distributor feedback to enable him and his team to stay on course and correct course if required, in their journey to become an integral part of every investor’s portfolio.