‘We aim to grow faster than the industry’

Axis Mutual Fund has been on a roll with an amazing journey since its launch in 2009. Starting from scratch in 2009 when it entered the Indian mutual fund industry as the 40th fund house, Axis Mutual Fund has grown to become one among the top 10 players in the industry after clocking AUM of about ₹63,600 crore as of June-end this year.

Chandresh Nigam, Managing Director & CEO, Axis Asset Management Company, shared with BusinessLine some of the mantras behind the success of this fund house. Excerpts:

What are the main factors contributing to this growth and success?

It is our differentiated approach, both on the investment side and customer engagement side, that has brought us to the top 10. Whether it be of products that we have launched, the communication that we have adopted or the investment style, we have been different. From within the organisation, we have introduced the right investment style and processes to deliver good returns.

On the other side, we have done whatever is needed for the investor to have good experience from a long-term perspective so that he becomes a long-term investor and has the confidence.

What about the growth aspiration, going forward?

We think the MF industry can double in the next five years. Our objective is to grow faster than the industry. We will not chase AUMs, but keep focused on adding satisfied customers. That will automatically bring the AUMs.

Everywhere in the world, the mutual fund industry is bigger than bank deposits. We still have some distance to go and are still very small. Someday this (MF industry overtaking bank deposits) will happen in India too.

What about retail, which now accounts for less than half the Indian mutual fund industry?

The growth in retail will be even faster. It is good for us as we are primarily a retail-focussed fund house. The mandate given by our Board is to grow the retail investor base to 50 lakh over the next three years from the current level of 22 lakh. We currently have six lakh SIPs running.

Do you expect to break into the top five league?

I don’t expect to break into the top five anytime soon. But, do I aspire to be in the top five? I think that is something which is important. We will look to go up (in the industry pecking order) and we are still a relatively new fund house and have a lot of things to do. As a new fund house, we have limited set of products.

Why are you now launching the dynamic equity fund?

It is very important to align the investment objective of mutual funds to investor needs. We are launching a dynamic fund for the first time. With Axis Dynamic Fund, we will use the rebalancing philosophy using a tried and tested model based on logic and not on sentiment. Net equity exposure will be based on three factors — P/E, trend and volatility.

It will use back-tested algorithm to decide equity exposure. Rebalancing will happen every two months. At all times, gross equity is maintained at 65 per cent. We will vary the equity exposure at 30 per cent at the low and 100 per cent at the high.

COMMENT NOW