Author: Partha Sinha
Publication: The Times of India
Date: April 9, 2016
URL:   http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31804&articlexml=MFs-go-vernacular-to-connect-with-Bharat-09042016022016

After FMCG companies and manufacturers of two-wheelers and small cars, it's the mutual fund industry that is making serious moves to step outside of India and reach out to Bharat. In a marked departure from the age-old tradition of English names for investment schemes, mutual fund houses are launching plans with Hindi names so that people in rural and semi-rural areas could easily connect with the schemes' objectives.

In the last four days, Mahindra Mutual Fund, the latest entrant in the fund space, and Reliance Mutual Fund, the third largest fund house in terms of assets, filed with Sebi to launch schemes named `Kar Bachat Yojana', a tax saving fund, `Bal Vikas Yojana', a balanced scheme aimed at saving for children's future, along with `Bachat Yojana' and `Nivesh Lakshya', both low-risk fixedincome schemes. The fund houses have thought up names like these to reach out to people outside of the metros and cities, that is mainly the towns and villages. “People in towns and villages do not understand anything about stocks, bonds, mutu al funds, etc. So funds need to reach out to them through the language they understand,“ said the head of a local fund house.Ashutosh Bishnoi, MD, Mahindra MF , said, “We are aiming at a wider reach. That's why we are selecting words which have strong `Sanskrit' roots.“

Currently , only about onesixth of the Rs 13.5-lakh-crore MF industry operates beyond the top 15 Indian cities. The aim is to expand this pie with some fund houses taking the lead.

According to Bishnoi, the mandate at Mahindra MF is to create investment products for the customers of Mahindra Finance across over 2.5 lakh villages and semi-urban areas of India. “The starting point is to speak their language. Speaking to them in English could alienate them or lead to confusion,“ he said.