PFRDA to hire retirement advisers to tap NRI base

PFRDA is planning to hire retirement advisers for popularising pension plans like NPS among Non Resident Indians, especially in the Gulf.
For Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority of India (PFRDA), pension plans like NPS are not getting the desired traction among NRIs since its launch in 2015.
"We are not getting very good subscriber base from the NRIs. After the roadshow in Dubai in November, the response has increased definitely. We are opening about 150-160 accounts every month, which is still very low," PFRDA Chairman Hemant G Contractor told PTI.
"We want to step it up. One of the things we are looking at is appointing retirement advisers who will contact the NRIs and advise them about the product," he said.

Initially, PFRDA will stick to attracting customers based in Gulf region. Depending on the response, it may be expanded to other overseas locations, he added.
Asked about expectation on NPS subscriber base in next fiscal, he said the authority expects to grow it by 25-30 per cent next year.

"We expect to grow the NPS subscriber base by 25-30 per cent in the next fiscal. The asset under management (AUM) growth will be more than that," he said.
For the current fiscal (2016-17) ending March, PFRDA has projected to increase the customer base under the National Pension System (NPS) by 35-40 per cent.

Explaining the gap in growth expectation between the current and next fiscal, Contractor said it is because of the larger base.
Speaking at the sidelines of the orientation programme to train the trainers of the IL&FS Skill Development Corporation on National Pension System, the PFRDA Chairman said it is being held to equip all the distribution points like banks and post offices about the PFRDA pension products.
"They are trained about NPS and Atal Pension Yojana (APY) so that they can market it to the customers, that is the whole idea about training. Last calender year (2016), we trained about 90,000 officers. This year, we will try to train more officers," he said further.

Currently, NPS has more than 1.47 crore subscribers with an AUM of over Rs 1.66 lakh crore. Under APY, there are more than 41 lakh subscribers registered till date.