Tier- 2 towns show higher interest for ETFs. 60% of the respondents have a good understanding about ETFs

Mirae Asset Mutual Fund, one of the fastest-growing fund houses in India which has introduced several innovative ETFs in India commissioned first-of-its-kind study to understand Indian consumers’ perceptions about ETFs.

Titled “Decoding ETF Perceptions” this survey conducted among 2109 investors spread across 15 cities that included metros as well as tier 2 towns has thrown up interesting findings which can be used to further penetrate market for ETFs in India. The survey was undertaken by YouGov India a world-renowned a global public opinion and data company on behalf of Mirae Asset Investment Managers (India) Pvt. Ltd.

The survey has interesting findings, where they seem to be more popular among Tier 2 cities and overall popularity among investors age groups 36-45.

More than 60% of the respondents claimed to have a good understanding about ETF products offered by the Mutual Fund industry. Among various market cap products, the popularity of Large cap & mid cap based ETFs is higher among owners and intenders and most of them like to invest with a horizon of 1 – 3 years.

Expectation of generating market returns and outperformance to active mutual funds seem to be one of the prime motives for them to invest in ETFs, survey found. Most of the investors who opt for ETFs are savvy and use investment platforms for their investment and largely rely on bunch of Personal Finance websites, among OTT platforms YouTube is found to be a major influencing factor

Liquidity, market speed and innovative products are the key factors which are driving the ETFs market while hidden risks and relative lack of knowledge are the main barriers which the industry needs to address, the survey findings indicated.

Commenting on the findings of the survey, Swarup Mohanty, Vice Chairman and CEO, Mirae Asset Investment Managers (India) Pvt. Ltd. said, “Mirae Asset with its excellent global track record in ETFs has been in the forefront of bringing innovative investment experience to Indian investors in the last few years. Learnings from this report will not just provide valuable insights of the investors who are already investing in ETFs but also learn what the intenders are looking forward from the ETF providers, this survey may overall benefit ETF Industry in India”.

Deepa Bhatia, General Manager – MENA & India for YouGov said “We are happy to collaborate with Mirae Asset for a first-of-its-kind study to understand Indian consumers’ perceptions about ETFs. As the data shows, there is a need to build more awareness around ETFs, especially among intenders. Tier-2 cities show good potential for the category, and with the right financial knowledge this opportunity can be leveraged to propel growth of ETFs as an investment instrument.”

“ETFs are fast emerging as popular investment tools among Indian mutual fund investors for their transparency as well as market speed. It is heartening to note that smaller towns are also emerging as ETF investment hubs which augurs well for the overall market”, Mohanty added.