More people opt for SIPs to invest

Chennai: Increase in investor awareness and confidence in mutual funds have contributed to a 92 per cent rise in registrations of new Systematic Investment Plan in the last financial year, a top official of CAMS Asset Management Services said.

A Systematic Investment Plan allows customers to invest in mutual funds, creating wealth over a long period of time. “Retail investors took to SIP route as the preferred option, leading to 1.15 crore new SIP registrations in FY2018, nearly 92 per cent increase over the previous year,” city-based CAMS Asset Management Services, deputy CEO, Anuj Kumar, said.

“During the last three years, the Mutual Fund SIP growth has been noteworthy,” he said.

Elaborating, Mr Kumar said monthly SIPs contribution doubled to over Rs 7,000 crore in March 2018 as against Rs 3,000 crore registered in April 2017. “We also saw a healthy pick-up in the ticket size from about RS 3,546 two years ago to Rs 3,850 (currently),” he said.

The contribution to SIP from Tier II to III cities was about 45 per cent, offering a huge  opportunity, he said.

About the reasons for the rise in SIP registrations, the CAMS deputy CEO attributed it to the increasing investor awareness and confidence in mutual funds.

“The mutual funds (industry), Association of Mutual Fund India and the intermediaries have all contributed to build the awareness. SIP is a superior way to get the best returns from the volatile equity asset class,” he said.

On initiatives taken by CAMS Asset Management Service to educate new customers about SIP, he said the company promotes the basics of SIP through short video presentations in social media platforms.