Contact Program for Mutual Funds Trainers

The second edition of the Contact Programs for Trainers in Securities Markets was pronounced inaugurated by Mr. GP Garg (Registrar, National Institute of Securities Markets & Head, National Centre for Financial Education).

The first program of the second edition was organized for market participants, trainers and academicians in the Mutual Funds industry on 2nd and 3rd of January, 2015 at NISM Bhawan, Vashi, Navi Mumbai.

Mr. Garg appealed to the Participants of the Program to help NISM in realizing its vision of professionalized Securities Markets through their professional training programs to the market participants.

1.A Participant interacting with Mr. Garg

Mr. Gaurab Parija (Director – IAS, India and CEEMEA, Franklin Templeton Investments) highlighted on the challenges faced by the Mutual Funds industry. The sustainability of the growth in the AUM of the industry was analyzed. Given the challenges faced, approaches that could be adopted to increase investments in Mutual Funds were discussed.

Mr. Kaushik Ramachandran (Founder & Research Director, Dyota Solutions) presented his research findings on the investor psychology and behavior. The concept as such is new to the nation and the perspectives that were shared were appreciated. Mr. Ramachandran backed his concepts with relevant and interesting audio visual clippings

Mr. Ramachandran sharing his research findings

Ms. Rachana Baid (Adjunct Faculty, National Institute of Securities Markets) contrasted on the traditional active and passive portfolio management strategies and elaborated on the underlying assumptions and concepts. She also threw light on the fresh and fast evolving Smart Beta strategies.


Mr. Debashish Mohanty (Country Head – Retail & Executive Vice President, UTI Asset Management) shared his views on whether a complete shift from a Distributor regime to an Advisor regime is feasible. He handled the highly debated concept with expertise and was appreciated by the Participants.

Not many are aware of how the analyst ratings work and Mr. Himanshu Srivastava (Senior Research Analyst, Morningstar India) elaborated the rating methodologies and how they are implemented in Morningstar.

3Mr. Himanshu Srivastava talking on Morningstar Analyst ratings

The Participants of the Program, largely trainers and academicians in the Mutual Funds industry, shared their experience in the session dedicated to them for showcasing their training styles. A lot new perspectives and teaching methodologies were put forth by the Participants creating a rich mutual learning experience.


The session was followed by a session on Effective Training Delivery by Mr. Sundar Sankaran (Author & Director, Advantage-India Consulting Pvt Ltd) who shared his experience in training a wide spectrum of audience. He also tipped the Participants with techniques that could be adopted to intrigue the audience.

4Mr. Sundar Sankaran appreciating a Participant’s perspective on how a training program can be made interesting

Certificates of Participation were conferred to the Participants. Mr. Nitin Tike (Senior Vice President, National Institute of Securities Markets) thanked the Participants for coming together in such a Program and helping NISM in professionalizing the Securities Markets.

The Program was graciously appreciated by the Participants for it brought reputed names and talent in the industry to a common platform where knowledge and experience were shared. The Program created an opportunity for the trainers and academicians in the industry to fraternize with their compatriots.