Kolkata, Jan.13, 2013: AIMCO FINEX, the equity and currency trading arm of the Kolkata headquartered AIMCO group, has entered into a strategic tie-up with IL & FS Securities Services Ltd to mobilise individual savings by penetrating rural areas of West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa and the north-eastern states under the National Pension System of the government of India.
Addressing media persons here today, the CEO of AIMCO Group, Mr Eman Kalyan Ghosh said: “We are happy to associate with a brand like IL & FS Securities which is an authorized point of presence (POP) under NPS. As a POP service provider (POP-SP) we will be leveraging on our fast expanding sales and distribution network across states in the east and north-east India. It is our objective to engage money market intermediaries so that they can market savings instruments which will benefit first generation investors by making them aware of a product which is regulated by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) with transparent investment norms and regular monitoring and performance review of fund managers by the NPS Trust.”
Under the arrangement, AIMCO will be mobilizing savings from households while IL & FS as the point of presence will act as the customer interface for non-government subscribers/individuals who are willing to open permanent retirement accounts (PRAs) with the central recordkeeping agency (CRA) for the purpose of subscribing to the NPS.
AIMCO, he pointed out, had conducted awareness programmes in the past under the aegis of the Indian Commodity Exchange and the Forward Markets Commission in suburban areas. “We have educated investors on commodities trading in the futures and spot markets. We have opened 900 demat accounts and encouraged investors to trade in gold, silver and copper on the commodity exchanges. We have also pioneered forward contracts in ginger to enable nearly 800 farmers to hedge their losses from ginger farming in the north east.”