A SUMMER PROJECT REPORT

ON

Measurement of Perception of Independent Financial Advisors

(IFA) towards
Birla Sunlife Asset Management Company in Surat & Navsari

Submitted By:

Bhavesh Laxkar

MBA(2016-2018)

SURYADATTA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

AND MASS COMMUNICATION,
PUNE

Corporate Guide:-
Mr. Pratiksha Savalia

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Relationship Manager, Birla SunLife AMC

Declaration

I hereby declare that this Project Report entitled Measurement of Perception of Independent
Financial Advisors (IFA) Towards Birla Sunlife Asset Management Comapany in Surat &
Navsari Fund submitted in the partial fulfillment of the requirement of Master of Business
Administration (MBA) of SURYADATTA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMET & MASS
COMMUNICATION , PUNE is based on primary & secondary data found by me in various
departments, books, magazines and websites & Collected by me in under guidance of
Relationship Manager Pratiksha Savaliya .

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 Acknowledgement
No task is a single person effort, same is with this project. Thus I would like to extend my
sincere thanks to all those people who helped me in accomplishing my project.

With deep sense of pleasure and satisfaction I complete this project on Measurement of
Perception of Independent Financial Advisors (IFA) towards Birla Sunlife Asset
Management Company in Surat & Navsari and take this opportunity to thank Ms. Pratiksha
Savaliya (Relationship Manager, Surat), Birla Sunlife Asset Management Company , for
believing in my idea of carrying out the market research which I intended to do. He played the
central role in helping me gather all the relevant data needed for my research. I would like to
thank Mr.Maulik Patel, & Mr. Nehal Shah for their help in making the data collection process
convenient for me.
Above all, I would like to thank Faculty of SIMMC, my Institute, for enabling me in dealing
with the corporate world.

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 Index

S. No Topic Page

1 Executive Summary 4-5

2 Introduction 6-7

3 Company Profile 8-9

4 Product Information 10-12

5 History of Mutual Funds 13-14

6 Questionnaire & Interpretation 15

7 Data Analysis 16-19

8 Recommendations 20

9 Bibliography 21

10 Questionnaires 22-27

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Executive Summary
The purpose of this research is to understand the perception of IFAs (Independent Financial
Advisors) towards different AMCs (Asset Management Companies). In order to identify the
parameters based on which IFAs could differentiate between AMCs, an exploratory study was
conducted. The exploratory study comprised of Personal interviews of some IFAs &
Relationship Managers of Birla Sunlife Asset Management Company.
Some major differentiating parameters which came out of the study were the following:

AMCs image/brand image

Relationship Managers Service/Competence
Payout/Incentives
Fund Performance
Client Service
Fund Managers Expertise
Based on the above mentioned points, questionnaires were designed in order to carry out multi-
dimensional scaling of the IFAs responses. Both attribute & non-attribute based questionnaires
were designed & seven AMCs were chosen to be listed on the questionnaire for the purpose of
comparison. The seven AMCs are:

ICICI Prudential
Reliance
Birla Sunlife
UTI
DSP Blackrock
IDFC
HDFC

The AMCs were chosen after discussing with IFAs & Relationship Managers keeping in mind
that majority of the IFAs should be in business with them & have should have enough awareness
to rank them on all the above attributes.
The responses were collected & analyzed on SPSS (ver.18) Statistical Package for Social
Sciences. Through the analysis only one dimension could be identified which comprised of
AMCs image & Fund performance.
Birla Sunlifes position matched with Reliance second only to HDFC which was on top position
against the two parameters i.e. funds performance & Brand image.

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Also, through the attribute based questionnaire weightage of each of the six parameters was
found. AMCs image & Fund performance were rated the highest with 0.24 & 0.18 respectively,
on priority when choosing an AMCs product.
In order to go deeper in to understanding what are the parameters based on which IFAs perceive
brand image of an AMC, another questionnaire was designed based on Aakers Brand Identity
model.
According to Aakers Brand Identity model, brand identity can be expressed in four components,
namely,

Brand as a product
Brand as a company
Brand as a personality
Brand as a symbol
The questionnaire was accordingly designed such that the top five AMCs based on market share
namely; Reliance, HDFC, ICICI, UTI & Birla Sunlife could be compared on the basis of the
above mentioned four brand identity components.
After analysis, it was found that Birla has a scope of improving on two fronts in terms of its
brand image. First, in spite of being larger than HDFC & ICICI in overall revenues it was ranked
third, equal to ICICI on the parameter, size of business, which is a sub-part of one of the
components, brand as a company. Second scope is found in the parameter, brand heritage where
despite having an older heritage; Birla Sunlife is considered second after HDFC.
Therefore, effective communication is needed to communicate the size of business of The Aditya
Birla group & the old heritage that it possesses.
In order to bring the brand image of The Aditya Birla Group to the level what HDFC holds, there
shall be an increase of 25% of marketing expenditure. Since brand image has an effect of 18 %
of the total effect produced by the six attributes, the resultant increase in Asset under
management due to the improvement of brand image will be 5%. In other words BSLAMCs
market share will increase by 1% among the market share held by the top five AMCs.

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Introduction
The research is aimed at understanding the position of Birla Sunlife AMC in the minds of IFAs
& to find the way towards improving its position. The primary research objective therefore is to
determine the perception of IFAs towards Birla Sunlife & another seven AMCs, namely,

Reliance
HDFC
ICICI Prudential
UTI
Birla Sunlife
DSP Blackrock
IDFC
Next, we needed to know the parameters based on which an IFA chooses an AMCs product. An
exploratory research was therefore conducted to find the major parameters based on which an
IFA may decide to choose an AMC. The study was conducted with IFAs & relationship
managers of Birla Sunlife AMC. The exploratory research primarily comprised of in-depth
interviews. Broadly, six major attributes could be identified after the exploratory study. They are
the following:

AMCs image/brand image

Relationship Managers Service/Competence
Payout/Incentives
Fund Performance
Client Service
Fund Managers Expertise

After knowing the attributes it became imperative to know which of these six were the most
important ones based on which an IFA decides to choose an AMCs product.

To answer the same, a questionnaire was designed to do a Multi-Dimensional scaling of the IFAs
responses. Two questionnaires were designed, non-attribute based & attribute based.

The population for the research was, all the active IFAs who have their business in Mumbai and
Nashik. There are approximately 2800 IFAs in Mumbai & 700 in Nashik. Sampling frame is the
IFA file from the internal database of Birla Sunlife AMC. Method of sampling used was
convenient. Those regions were chosen where there was a large density of IFAs & three such
major regions were targeted, namely, Fort, Masjid & Borivali in Mumbai & College road,
Sharanpur & Tilakwadi in Nashik. A sample of 34 was taken from the population in Mumbai &
20 from Nashik. Data collection method was using structured direct personal questionnaire.

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One dimension was identified which was used to differentiate between the AMCs. The
dimension comprised of (i) Brand image & (ii) Funds performance.

It was decided to further analyze the brand image components & understand the relative position
of Birla Sunlife & other top four AMCs with respect to those components. Analyzing the funds
performance was beyond the scope of this research & hence no further study was conducted on
it.
The brand identity components were identified based on Aakers Brand Identity model. A
questionnaire was designed accordingly & again a convenient sample of 24 IFAs from Mumbai
was chosen as respondents.

Limitations:
1) Census was not possible because the population could not be covered in the available time.
2) Data are Secondary so no idea of situation in which it has taken.
3) Sampling was not randomized because many of the IFAs refused to give an appointment for
filling up the questionnaire.
4) Revealing the identity of being an intern with Birla Sunlife AMC might have affected the
response.
5) Both attribute & non-attribute based questionnaire were asked to the same respondent which
may have lead to fatigue.

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Company Profile
Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company Ltd. (BSLAMC), the investment managers of Birla
Sun Life Mutual Fund, is a joint venture between the Aditya Birla Group and the Sun Life
Financial Services Inc. of Canada. The joint venture brings together the Aditya Birla Group's
experience in the Indian market and Sun Life's global experience.

Established in 1994, Birla Sun Life Mutual fund has emerged as one of India's leading flagships
of Mutual Funds business managing assets of a large investor base. The solutions offer a range of
investment options, including diversified and sector specific equity schemes, fund of fund
schemes, hybrid and monthly income funds, a wide range of debt and treasury products and
offshore funds.

Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company has one of the largest team of research analysts in
the industry, dedicated to tracking down the best companies to invest in. BSLAMC strives to
provide transparent, ethical and research-based investments and wealth management services.

Heritage

The Aditya Birla Group

The Aditya Birla Group is one of India's largest business houses. Global in vision, rooted in
Indian values, the Group is driven by a performance ethic pegged on value creation for its
multiple stakeholders.

The Group operates in 40 countries India, UK, Germany, Hungary, Brazil, Italy, France,
Luxembourg, Switzerland, Australia, USA, Canada, Egypt, China, Thailand, Laos, Indonesia,
Philippines, UAE, Singapore, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Malaysia, Bahrain and Korea.

A US $41 billion corporation in the League of Fortune 500, the Aditya Birla Group is anchored
by an extraordinary work force of 120,000 employees, belonging to 40 different nationalities.
Over 60 per cent of its revenues flow from its operations across the world, 4th in the world and 1st
in Asia Pacific in the Top Companies for Leadersstudy 2011 (conducted by Aon Hewitt,
Fortune Magazine and RBL)

The Aditya Birla Group is a dominant player in all its areas of operations viz; Aluminium,
Copper, Cement, Viscose Staple Fibre, Carbon Black, Viscose Filament Yarn, Fertilizers,
Insulators, Sponge Iron, Chemicals, Branded Apparels, Insurance, Mutual Funds, Software and
Telecom. The Group has strategic joint ventures with global majors such as Sun Life (Canada),

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 AT&T (USA), the Tata Group and NGK Insulators (Japan), and has ventured into the BPO
sector with the acquisition of TransWorks, a leading ITES/BPO company.

Sun Life Financial

Sun Life Financial Inc is a leading international financial services organization providing a
diverse range of wealth accumulation and protection products and services to individuals and
corporate customers. Chartered in 1865, Sun Life Financial Inc and its partners today have
operations in key markets worldwide, including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom,
Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China and Bermuda.

Philosophy

Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company follows a long-term, fundamental research based approach to
investment. The approach is to identify companies, which have excellent growth prospects and strong
fundamentals. The fundamentals include the quality of the companys management, sustainability of its
business model and its competitive position, amongst other factors.

Vision
To be a leader and role model in a broad based and integrated financial services business.

Mission

To consistently pursue investor's wealth optimization by:

Achieving superior and consistent investment results.

Creating a conducive environment to hone and retain talent.
Providing customer delight.
Institutionalizing system-approach in all aspects of functioning.
Upholding highest standards of ethical values at all times.

Values

Integrity
Commitment
Passion

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 Seamlessness
Speed

Product Information (Mutual Funds)

CONCEPT

A Mutual Fund is a trust that pools the savings of a number of investors who share a common financial
goal. The money thus collected is then invested in capital market instruments such as shares, debentures
and other securities. The income earned through these investments and the capital appreciation realized is
shared by its unit holders in proportion to the number of units owned by them. Thus a Mutual Fund is the
most suitable investment for the common man as it offers an opportunity to invest in a diversified,
professionally managed basket of securities at a relatively low cost. The flow chart below describes
broadly the working of a mutual fund:

Mutual Fund Operation Flow Chart

ORGANISATION OF A MUTUAL FUND

There are many entities involved and the diagram below illustrates the organizational set up of a mutual
fund:

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 Organization of a Mutual Fund

ADVANTAGES OF MUTUAL FUNDS OVER OTHER INVESTMENTS

The advantages of investing in a Mutual Fund are:

Professional Management
Diversification
Convenient Administration
Return Potential
Low Costs
Liquidity
Transparency
Flexibility
Choice of schemes
Tax benefits
Well regulated

TYPES OF MUTUAL FUND SCHEMES

A wide variety of Mutual Fund Schemes exist to cater to the needs such as financial position, risk
tolerance and return expectations etc. The table below gives an overview into the existing types of
schemes in the Industry.

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FREQUENTLY USED TERMS

AMC

An Asset Management Company is the fund house or the company that manages the money.

The mutual fund is a trust registered under the Indian Trust Act. It is initiated by a sponsor. A sponsor is a
person who acts alone or with a corporate to establish a mutual fund. The sponsor then appoints an AMC
to manage the investment, marketing, accounting and other functions pertaining to the fund.

For instance, ABN AMRO Trustee (India) Private Limited is appointed as the trustee to the ABN AMRO
mutual fund.

ABN AMRO Asset Management (India) Limited is appointed as its investment manager.

Various funds with different objectives can be floated under the umbrella of one parent.
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So ABN AMRO Equity Fund, ABN AMRO Opportunities Fund and ABN AMRO Flexi Debt Fund are
all independent schemes of ABN AMRO Mutual Fund. They are managed by the ABN AMRO AMC.

AUM

Assets Under Management is the total value of all the investments currently being managed by the fund.

Let's say the corpus is Rs 12,000 but, due to a rise in the price of the shares it has invested in, the value of
the units has increased. So the Rs 12,000 invested is now worth Rs 15,000. This figure is referred to as
AUM.

Net Asset Value (NAV)

Net Asset Value is the market value of the assets of the scheme minus its liabilities. The per unit NAV is
the net asset value of the scheme divided by the number of units outstanding on the Valuation Date.

Sale Price

It is the price paid when investing in a scheme. It is also called Offer Price. It may include a sales load.

Repurchase Price

It is the price at which units under open-ended schemes are repurchased by the Mutual Fund. Such prices
are NAV related.

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Expense ratio:

This is operating expenses divided by average NAV. You will find these figures - which
determine what percentage of assets go straight into paying expenses before being distributed
to shareholders - in the fund's prospectus or quarterly report.

This ratio represents the annual expense the fund will charge the investor. It ranges between 0.1% (for
fixed maturity plans) to 3.25% (for small-sized equity funds).

How is it calculated

Total expenses charged by the fund/average assets under management of the fund.

Implications for investors

The lower the expense ratio, the better it is for the investor.

Distribution fees

Also known as 12b-1 fees, these cannot exceed 0.75% average NAV per share according to NASD
rules.

Redemption Price

It is the price at which close-ended schemes redeem their units on maturity. Such prices are NAV related.

Sales Load

It is a charge collected by a scheme when it sells the units. Also called, Front-end load. Schemes that do
not charge a load are called No Load schemes.

Repurchase or Back-end Load

It is a charge collected by a scheme when it buys back the units from the unit holders.

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History of Mutual Funds
The mutual fund industry in India started in 1963 with the formation of Unit Trust of India, at the
initiative of the Government of India and Reserve Bank of India. The history of mutual funds in
India can be broadly divided into four distinct phases.

First Phase INITIATION PHASE (1963-1987)

1963s Act of Parliament led to the formation of Unit Trust of India (UTI). It was set up by the
Reserve Bank of India. It functioned under its Regulatory and Administrative Control. UTI
enjoyed a complete monopoly in the sector as it was the only entity to offer the services. It was
later delinked from the RBI in the year 1978 and its regulatory & administrative control was
taken over by Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI). Unit Scheme (1964) was the first
scheme launched by UTI. In the subsequent years, UTI innovated and offered multiple schemes
for investment in mutual funds. Unit Linked Insurance Plan(ULIP) was one such scheme
launched in 1971. By the end of 1988, the assets under management (AUM) of UTI was around
Rs. 6,700 crores.

Second Phase PUBLIC SECTOR PHASE ( 1987-1993)

1987 marked the entry of non- UTI, public sector mutual funds set up by public sector banks and
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Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC).
SBI Mutual Fund was the first non- UTI Mutual Fund established in June 1987 followed by
Canbank Mutual Fund (Dec 87), Punjab National Bank Mutual Fund (Aug 89), Indian Bank
Mutual Fund (Nov 89), Bank of India (Jun 90), Bank of Baroda Mutual Fund (Oct 92). LIC
established its mutual fund in June 1989 while GIC had set up its mutual fund in December
1990.At the end of 1993, the mutual fund industry had assets under management of Rs.47,004
crores.

Third Phase AMFI, SEBI (1996 2003)

1993-2003 (Entry of Private Sector Funds) With the entry of private sector funds in 1993, a new
era started in the Indian mutual fund industry, giving the Indian investors a wider choice of fund
families. Also, 1993 was the year in which the first Mutual Fund Regulations came into being,
under which all mutual funds, except UTI were to be registered and governed. The erstwhile
Kothari Pioneer (now merged with Franklin Templeton) was the first private sector mutual fund
registered in July 1993. The 1993 SEBI (Mutual Fund) Regulations were substituted by a more
comprehensive and revised Mutual Fund Regulations in 1996. The industry now functions under
the SEBI (Mutual Fund) Regulations 1996. The number of mutual fund houses went on
increasing, with many foreign mutual funds setting up funds in India and also the industry has
witnessed several mergers and acquisitions. As at the end of January 2003, there were 33 mutual
funds with total assets of Rs. 1,21,805 crores. The Unit Trust of India with Rs.44,541 crores of
assets under management was way ahead of other mutual funds.

Fourth Phase
(since February 2003) - In February 2003, following the repeal of the Unit Trust of India Act
1963 UTI was bifurcated into two separate entities. One is the Specified Undertaking of the Unit
Trust of India with assets under management of Rs.29,835 crores as at the end of January 2003,
representing broadly, the assets of US 64 scheme, assured return and certain other schemes.

The Specified Undertaking of Unit Trust of India, functioning under an administrator and under
the rules framed by Government of India and does not come under the purview of the Mutual
Fund Regulations. The second is the UTI Mutual Fund, sponsored by SBI, PNB, BOB and LIC.
It is registered with SEBI and functions under the Mutual Fund Regulations. With the bifurcation
of the erstwhile UTI which had in March 2000 more than Rs.76,000 crores of assets under
management and with the setting up of a UTI Mutual Fund, conforming to the SEBI Mutual
Fund Regulations, and with recent mergers taking place among different private sector funds, the
mutual fund industry has entered its current phase of consolidation and growth.
.

Post August 2009

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) banned entry load on sales of mutual fund
schemes. Earlier, a 2.25 per cent entry load was deducted from the investment amount itself, and
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the same was used to pay the distributors. However, SEBI asked fund houses to stop paying
distributors from the investment amount. It asked distributors to charge investors separately
according to the services offered by them. The mutual fund industry lost close to Rs 90,000 crore
in asset under management (AUM) and over 600,000 equity folios over the one year since the
ban on entry load came into effect on August 1, 2009.
The removal of entry load led to a decline in sales of mutual fund schemes - mostly equity
schemes as retail participation is highest in this category of fund - due to reluctance of
distributors to push the products in absence of any incentives.
The AUM of the industry dropped from Rs 7, 21,000 crores to Rs 6, 30,000 crores between July
31, 2009 and June 30, 2010. Though AUM of equity funds witnessed an increase of 15 per cent,
experts said this is because of capital appreciation and not because of fresh inflows.

Mutual Funds in India are governed by the SEBI (Mutual Fund) Regulations 1996 as amended
from time to time. For further details please visit the SEBI website.

PRESENT CONDITION OF CONSOLIDATION AND GROWTH (2004-TODAY)

Since the repeal of the UTI Act, 1963, UTI was divided into two separate entities. The first one
is Specified Undertaking of UTI with AUM of under Rs. 29,835 as at the end of January 2003. It
functions under an administrator and rules framed by Government of India and does not comply
with the SEBIs (Mutual Fund) Regulations.

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The second is the UTI Mutual Fund which is sponsored by State Bank of India, Bank Of Baroda,
Punjab National Bank and Life Insurance Corporation of India. It is registered and complies with
the regulations sanctioned by SEBI.

India boasts of total 44 Mutual Funds as of today. With the permission from the RBI, fund
houses have opened up and investors can now invest in foreign markets like the United States.
And with such positive development, the asset classes today have also moved on from just equity
and debt to gold funds, inflation funds and more innovative funds like arbitrage funds.

The industry has now entered the phase of consolidation and growth with recent mergers among
different private sector fund houses. A takeover of Lotus India Mutual Fund (LIMF) by Religare
Mutual Fund in 2009 is one of the major consolidations in the modern era of Mutual Fund
industry in India. Morgan Stanley chose to hand over its Mutual Fund schemes to HDFC Asset
Management Company in late 2013. It was widely regarded as a welcome move as it helped
HDFC expand its user base. Another noticeable merger was announced on March 22nd, 2016 as
Edelweiss Asset Management (EAML) declared the purchase of domestic assets of JP Morgan
Asset Management India (JPMAM). The combined AUM of both the companies is estimated to
approximately around INR 8,757 crores. Last year, Goldman Sachs Mutual Fund handed over its
assets to Reliance Capital Asset Management Company, which were initially taken over from
Benchmark AMC. ING Investment Management sold its Mutual Fund business to

Birla Sun Life Asset Management. Hence, over the last couple of years, the industry has seen a
degree of consolidation taking place.

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Analysis of Questionnaire & Interpretation
Questionnaire was designed to carry out a multi-dimensional scaling of the responses. There
were two questionnaires designed, namely,

Non-attribute based
Attribute based

The non-attribute based questionnaire was designed in such a way that the difference between a
pair of AMCs could be determined. There were a total of seven AMCs & there were 21 questions
to cover all combinations. The distances were measured on the Likert scale starting from
2 - Very less difference
4 Small difference
6 - Medium difference
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 8 Large difference
10- Very large difference
Respondents were shown the questionnaire which contained the brand logos of the two AMCs &
then they were asked to mark the difference between them on the Likert scale drawn between the
two logos.

The attribute based questionnaire was designed to rank all the seven AMCs on the Ordinal scale.
Respondents were asked to rank the AMCs with 1 indicating top most AMC on that parameter &
7 indicating the bottom most AMC on that parameter, on all the six parameters, namely,
AMCs image/brand image
Relationship Managers Service/Competence
Payout/Incentives
Fund Performance
Client Service
Fund Managers Expertise

The six different parameters were found from the exploratory study.

On the attribute based questionnaire, respondents were also asked to rank the six attributes based
on priority while choosing an AMCs product with 1 given to the one with highest priority & 6 to
the one with the lowest priority.

Analysis of the responses from the multi dimensional scaling questionnaire was done & it was
decided to frame another questionnaire based on Aakers Brand Identity model. The purpose of
framing this questionnaire was to understand the position of Birla on all the brand identity
components with respect other four top AMCs.
The questionnaire comprised of eleven questions having nominal & ordinal scales.

Data analysis
The responses from 34 respondents in Mumbai were collected & then put in the form of a 7x7
matrix. The matrix looked somewhat like this. (Secondary Data)

AMCs ICICI BSL Reliance IDFC HDFC UTI DSP

ICICI 0.00 5.78 6.22 6.67 6.78 5.78 6.89
BSL 5.78 0.00 5.89 7.50 6.11 6.78 6.78
Reliance 6.22 5.89 0.00 7.33 5.11 6.22 7.44
IDFC 6.67 7.50 7.33 0.00 7.44 6.83 5.89
HDFC 6.78 6.11 5.11 7.44 0.00 7.33 7.56
UTI 5.78 6.78 6.22 6.83 7.33 0.00 7.78
DSP 6.89 6.78 7.44 5.89 7.56 7.78 0.00

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The matrix displays the distances between a pair of AMCs. The distances are indicators of the
difference that exists between a pair. E.g. According to the table, distance between ICICI &
Reliance is 6.22. The grayed numbers indicate that the same AMC name shows up in pairs. E.g.
Distance between DSP & DSP is 0.00. The responses have been expressed in the form of a
matrix for the purpose of feeding in to SPSS.

The data after being fed in to SPSS gave the following output.

For matrix
Stress = .03107 RSQ = .98831

Configuration derived in 3 dimensions

Stimulus Coordinates

Dimension

Stimulus Stimulus 1 2 3
Number Name

1 ICICI .0667 -.6842 -.8651

2 BSL .7377 .6435 -1.0629
3 Reliance 1.2751 .1105 .5844
4 IDFC -1.8086 -.3461 .8429
5 HDFC 1.2657 1.0976 .7834
6 UTI .3783 -1.8108 .0618
7 DSP -1.9147 .9895 -.3446

It was intended to see if the Kruskal stress would be greater than 0.15 when the number of
dimensions was reduced to two. The two dimensional output had a stress of 0.14353 which is
less than 0.15 & hence acceptable.

For matrix
Stress = .14353 RSQ = .85075

Configuration derived in 2 dimensions

Stimulus Coordinates

Dimension

Stimulus Stimulus 1 2
Number Name

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 1 ICICI .0293 .6383
2 BSL .7394 -.6636
3 Reliance 1.1091 .0306
4 IDFC -1.6900 .3174
5 HDFC 1.1722 -.9698
6 UTI .3192 1.5425
7 DSP -1.6791 -.8953

Now, the values obtained from the dimensions were compared with the ranks obtained from the
attribute based questionnaire. The following are the ranks obtained on the six attributes.

Fund
AMC RM's Distributors Payout Fund
Manager's
image Service Service Incentives Performance
Expertise
HDFC HDFC HDFC Reliance HDFC HDFC
Reliance Birla/
Birla Birla HDFC Birla Reliance
Birla Reliance Reliance Birla Reliance
UTI ICICI ICICI ICICI ICICI ICICI/ UTI
ICICI IDFC UTI IDFC IDFC DSP
DSP UTI DSP UTI UTI
IDFC DSP IDFC DSP DSP IDFC

Through comparison we can see that Dimension 1 matches with AMCs image. Hence,
dimension 1 can be named as AMCs image & can be considered as one of the factors
determining perception of IFAs towards distributors. However if we apply the 50:50 rule,
Dimension 1 can also be Fund performance.

Dimension 2 however cannot be identified with any of the attributes & hence we cannot name it.
Through the attribute based questionnaire, it was found that Fund performance was the attribute
of highest priority followed by AMCs image & distributor service. The relative weights of the
attributes in terms of their priorities when choosing an AMCs product are as follows,

Fund Performance 0.24

AMC's image 0.18
Fund Manager's 0.17
Expertise
Client Service 0.16
Payout/Incentives 0.13
RM's Service 0.12
Total 1.00
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With the help of this research the key attributes affecting the IFAs perception towards an AMC
have been determined. In this case, one dimension could be identified, which is a combination of
brand image of the AMC & the Funds performance. A perceptual map has been drawn to
understand the relative position of the AMCs on the two dimensions, dimension 1 being brand
image & funds performance.

The way ahead for BSL is to shift to as much right as possible on this graph. But to shift right the
brand image & the funds performance have to measure higher.

Studying the funds performance is beyond the scope of this research & therefore not discussed
further.
Brand image has been further analyzed using David Aakers Brand Identity Model.

According to Aakers Brand Identity model Brand identity can be expressed in four major
components
Brand as a product
Brand as a company
Brand as a personality
Brand as a symbol

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An attempt has been made to understand the brand image of Birla based on the above mentioned
four components.
After the analysis of the responses, it has been found that IFAs perceive the size of The Aditya
Birla Group as third & equal to ICICI with Reliance being at the top followed by HDFC. Birla
ranked second on features such as trust, innovation and competence. In terms of heritage, Birla
was ranked second after HDFC.
It has been found that IFAs consider honesty to be the most important characteristic an AMC
should possess followed by knowledge & sincerity, with risk-taking being the least preferred.
In terms of personality scores, Birla stood second after HDFC followed by UTI, ICICI &
Reliance being at the bottom.

Recommendations
Through the analysis of the collected data, two scopes of improvement seem very clear. First one
being that the perceived size of business of The Aditya Birla Group among IFAs is not the same
as its actual size. Further analysis of the reason why such difference exists could not be found out
in the limited time available.
The second scope which can be seen is that The Aditya Birla Group is ranked second in terms of
heritage after HDFC, in spite of the fact that it has an older heritage than HDFC.

Page 25 of 41
In order to bring the brand image of The Aditya Birla Group to the level what HDFC holds, there
shall be an increase of 25% of marketing expenditure. Since brand image has an effect of 18 %
of the total effect produced by the six attributes, the resultant increase in Asset under
management due to the improvement of brand image will be 5%. In other words BSLAMCs
market share will increase by 1% among the market share held by the top five AMCs.

Bibliography
1) Marketing Research - Tull & Hawkins
2) Marketing Models Gary L. Lilien, Philip Kotler, K. Sridhar Moorthy
3) www.birlasunlife.com
4) www.hdfc.com
5) www.mapsofindia.com
6) www.icicigroupcompanies.com

Page 26 of 41
 7) www.amfiindia.com
8) www.researchbank.co.uk
9) www.sebi.gov.in

Questionnaires
This is the Non-attribute based questionnaire for Multi-Dimensional scaling

This research is being conducted to understand the overall difference between the following
pairs of AMCs. You can state your opinion based on all parameters together, whatever comes to
your mind first. (E.g.- AMCs image, RMs Service, Overall Service, Fund Performance etc.)
Page 27 of 41
Please indicate the difference by putting a tick wherever applicable. Your opinions shall be
used solely for the purpose of this research.

Very large Large Medium Small Very Less

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Page 28 of 41
 Very Large Medium Small Very Less
large Diff Diff Diff Diff Diff

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large Diff Diff Diff Diff Diff

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large Diff Diff Diff Diff Diff

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large Diff Diff Diff Diff Diff

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large Diff Diff Diff Diff Diff

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large Diff Diff Diff Diff Diff

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large Diff Diff Diff Diff Diff

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Following is the attribute based questionnaire used in Multi-dimensional scaling

Rank the following AMCs from 1-7 based on the below mentioned parameters.

Page 29 of 41
1) AMCs reputation/Brand image 5) Payouts/Incentives (Brokerage etc.)
ICICI ICICI
Birla Sunlife Birla Sunlife
IDFC IDFC
Reliance Reliance
HDFC HDFC
DSP Black Rock DSP Black Rock
UTI UTI

2) Fund Managers Expertise 6) Client Service

ICICI ICICI
Birla Sunlife Birla Sunlife
IDFC IDFC
Reliance Reliance
HDFC HDFC
DSP Black Rock DSP Black Rock
UTI UTI

3) RMs Service/ Reputation

ICICI
Birla Sunlife
IDFC
Reliance
HDFC
DSP Black Rock
UTI
4) Funds Performance

ICICI
Birla Sunlife
IDFC
Reliance
HDFC
DSP Black Rock

Rank the following attributes based on importance when differentiating between AMCs:

Rank
Page 30 of 41
 1) AMCs reputation/Brand image _____

2) RMs Service/ Reputation _____

3) Distributor Service _____

4) Client Service _____

5) Payouts/Incentives _____

6) Fund Managers Expertise _____

7) AUM of the AMC _____

8) Fund Performance _____

9) Any other (Please suggest) _____

This is the questionnaire designed based on David Aakers Brand Identity model

This questionnaire is designed to understand your perception about the brand image of some
of the major AMCs in the country. Your views shall be solely used for the purpose of this
research.

Page 31 of 41
1) Rank the following companies in terms of the size of their business (both locally &
globally).
Reliance
HDFC
ICICI
Birla
UTI

Sales

8%

24%
Relience
HDFC
32% ICICI
Birla
20% UTI

16%

2) Rank the following companies in terms of reliability/trust.

Reliance
HDFC
ICICI
Page 32 of 41
 Birla
UTI

Reliability

15%
20%

Reliance
HDFC
20% ICICI
Birla
UTI
35%
10%

Page 33 of 41
3) Rank the following companies in terms of innovation in products/marketing strategy.
Reliance
HDFC
ICICI
Birla
UTI

Sales

15%
20%

Reliance
HDFC
10% ICICI
25%
Birla
UTI

30%

Page 34 of 41
4) Rank the following companies in terms of their Competence/expertise.
Reliance
HDFC
ICICI
Birla
UTI

Appropriate Characterstitcs

16%
22%
Sincere
Honest
Up To Date

24% Risk Taking

Competent
26%
Reliable

14%

Page 35 of 41
5) Choose the most appropriate characteristic you associate with The Aditya Birla Group
(choose only one)?
Sincere Honest
Up-to-date Risk-taking
Competent Reliable

Percentage
30

25

20

15
Percentage
10

0
Sincere Honest Up-to-date Risk-tasking Competent Reliable

Page 36 of 41
 6) Choose the most appropriate characteristic you associate with the Reliance (choose
only one)?
Sincere Honest
Up-to-date Risk-Taking
Competent Reliable

Reliance Appropriate Characteristic

30

25

20

15 Reliance Appropriate
Characteristic
10

0
Sincere Honest Up-to-date Risk-Taking Competent Reliable

Page 37 of 41
 7) Choose the most appropriate characteristic you associate with ICICI (choose only one)?
Sincere Honest
Up-to-date Risk-Taking
Competent Reliable

ICICI Appropriate Characteristic

30

25

20

15 ICICI Appropriate
Characteristic
10

0
Sincere Honest Up-to-date Risk-Taking Competent Reliable

Page 38 of 41
 8) Choose the most appropriate characteristic you associate with HDFC (choose only one)?
Sincere Honest
Up-to-date Risk-Taking
Competent Reliable

HDFC Appropriate Characteristic

30

25

20

15 HDFC Appropriate
Characteristic
10

0
Sincere Honest Up-to-date Risk-Taking Competent Reliable

Page 39 of 41
 9) Choose the most appropriate characteristic you associate with UTI (choose only one)?
Sincere Honest
Up-to-date Risk-Taking
Competent Reliable

UTI Appropriate Characteristic

25

20

15

UTI Appropriate Characteristic

10

0
Sincere Honest Up-to-date Risk-Taking Competent Reliable

Page 40 of 41
 10) Rank the following companies based on your perception of their heritage.
Reliance
HDFC
ICICI
The Aditya Birla Group
UTI

Heritage
30

25

20

15
Heritage

10

0
HDFC Birla Reliance ICICI UTI

Page 41 of 41