INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Portfolio Management Service (PMS) firms are going all out to pull in clients before the new year when the minimum investment threshold is
Currently, an investor must put up at least Rs 25 lakh to be eligible for PMS schemes, which mostly cater to the rich, to accept at least Rs
This is expected to go up to Rs 50 lakh from January 1.
PMS firms fear the new minimum investment requirements could make it tougher for
them to attract investors in challenging market conditions
“It is important to acquire new clients as many investors start small and increase their commitments once they are comfortable with the
portfolio manager,” says Amit Doshi, investment director, CARE PMS.
Many of these portfolio managers are offering higher fees to
distributors and brokers to push their products
The larger firms are offering upfront commissions as high as 4-5 per cent to their distributors and brokers to rope in clients.
“A few
firms are incentivising their distribution partners by paying upfront commissions as high as 4-5 per cent,” said the head of a PMS firm
A part of the fees — generally 3-4 per cent — is charged as a set-up fee, while an exit load of about 2-3 per cent is levied on the
client if they were to exit in the first year of investments.
Some are flying down fund managers to meet select HNIs or getting them to talk
over the phone to convince prospective clients.
“Fund houses have got very vibrant and active they are doing roadshows and concalls with
investors and channel partners,” says Daniel GM, founder, PMSBazaar, an online analytics portal.
Existing investors with ticket sizes of
less than Rs 50 lakh can continue but new investors will have to comply with the new rules from January 1.
Doshi said PMS firms are looking
to firm up deals with investors, who have been in discussions in the past three months, before the minimum ticket size doubles.
Many firms
are using analytics to target investors who have lost money by investing themselves in mid- and small-cap stocks.
“Sales person are trying
to convince investors of the benefits of using the services of a dedicated portfolio manager compared to doing it themselves,” says Alok
Ranjan, fund manager (PMS), Way2Wealth
With the mid- and small-cap segment down over the last couple of years, the going has been tough for asset managers to acquire new
clients.
The PMS industry has been struggling to get new clients after poor performance of mid- and small-cap stocks since January 2018
The S-P BSE Midcap Index is down 18 per cent from its January 2018 peak, while the S-P BSE Small Cap Index is down 33 per cent in the same
Some individual stocks have lost even more with many of them down as much as 75 per cent
Many PMS schemes that focus on midcap and small-cap strategies have lost client money, while some are even finding it difficult to liquidate