Final Project Report On Small Saving Options

SUMMER INTERNSHIP PROGRAM
2009
Project Final Report

ON
STUDY OF AWARENESS LEVEL OF SMALL SAVING OPTIONS

AND KNOWING THE CUSTOMER PREFERENCES AND
KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THESE PLANS
BY
RAJESH BOHRA
IBS AHMEDABAD
08BS0002545
KOTAK MUTUAL FUND
1
Project Final Report
ON
STUDY OF AWARENESS LEVEL OF SMALL SAVING OPTIONS AND
KNOWING THE CUSTOMER PREFERENCES AND KNOWLEDGE
ABOUT THESE PLANS
BY
RAJESH BOHRA
IBS AHMEDABAD
08BS0002545
The Report is submitted as partial fulfillment

of the
Requirement of MBA Program of IBS
Submitted to:s
Mr. Prashant Saxena
2
Mr. Nayan Maniyar
Contents
Acknowledgments......................................................................................................4
Abstract........................................................................................ ................................5
Introduction to company............................................................................................6
INTRODUCTION TO MUTUAL FUND AND ITS VARIOUS ASPECTS.................................7
ADVANTAGES OF MUTUAL FUND.................................................................................9
DISADVANTAGE OF MUTUAL FUND.............................................................................9
CATEGORIES OF MUTUAL FUND:.................................................................................10
Introduction to Project..............................................................................................11
Need of Small Savings Plans....................................................................................12
Category of small saving Investment................................................................13
Detail Study of Small saving plan.............................................................................14
Objective of the project:...........................................................................................24
Methodology for Project....................................................................................... .....25
Limitations of project:........................................................................................ .......25
PLAN ANALYSIS OF CUSTOMER SURVEY............................................................26
Analysis of project:............................................................................. ......................27
Interpretation from all graphs made:........................................................................49
Conclusion:.................................................................................................. .............51
References............................................................................................................ ....52
Executive Summary..............................................................................................53
Attachments........................................................................................... ..................54
3
Acknowledgments
I would like to thanks Mr. Manminder Malhi, state head of

Kotak Mutual Fund, who allowed me to do my summer
project at well regarded Asset Management Company and
offer me the opportunity to learn more about mutual funds
and banking.
I express my appreciative thanks to Mr. Prashant Saxena ,

faculty guide for his guidance and help to complete my summer project.
I would also like to thank Mr. Nayan Maniyar, asst. manager-sales of

Kotak Mutual Fund for his helpful advice and guidance and
my thanks to those unnamed staff of Kotak Mutual Fund.
Rajesh Bohra
08bs002545
IBS, Ahmedabad
4
Abstract
Investing money is a freater than earning money,
especially in market slow down and with so many options available
(mutual fund, FDs, Insaurances, Post office savings.)
Today saving plans play an important role in the
econmy. India's high savings rate has been a crucial driver of its
economic boom, providing productive capital and helping to fuel a
virtuous cycle of higher growth. Indian mutual fund market has high
proportion and about 5-10% of the Indian population is in mutual fund
investment.
My project is ‘Study of awareness level of small
saving options and knowing the customer Preferences and knowledge
about these plans’. The purpose of the project is to know about the
small savings options and how customer prefers these plans. Today
around 27% of total investment is covered by small saving plans.
Secondary data will be used for getting knowledge about these plans
and customer’s preferences will be known by the Primary sources/data.
Primary data is collected from the market survey
through the questionnaire. After that social economic class (SEC) A, B,
C is formed on the basis of profession and education. Data entry is
done in SPSS software. Analyzing is done on the basis of hypothesis
formed. Finally through this analyzing we get to know about how
people invest acc. to their income and age.
5
Introduction to company
Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company

Limited (AMC) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd.
Kotak Mahindra Finance Limited (KMFL) was set up in 1985 with a capital
base of Rs. 3 million and a single product. From those beginnings, KMFL has
grown into a highly diversified financial services company with a net worth of
over Rs. 59 billion. The Group currently offers financial services of every
kind, including loans, lease and hire purchase, consumer finance, car
finance, investment banking, stock broking and primary market distribution
of equity and debt products, business information services and more. The
Group has offices across 370 cities in India as well as in Dubai, Mauritius and
London. Kotak Mahindra (UK) Ltd, a subsidiary of KMFL, is the first company
owned from India to be registered with the Securities and Futures Authority
in London.
No. of schemes 66
No. of schemes including options 178
Equity Schemes 24
Debt Schemes 126
Short term debt Schemes 8
6
Equity & Debt 3
7
Corpus under management -- 15813.2734 Crs. As

on Mar 31, 2009
INTRODUCTION TO MUTUAL FUND AND ITS VARIOUS ASPECTS
Mutual fund is a trust that pools the savings of a

number of investors who share a common financial goal. This pool of money
is invested in accordance with a stated objective. The joint ownership of the
fund is thus “Mutual”, i.e. the fund belongs to all investors. 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 appreciations realized are shared by its unit
holders in proportion 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. A Mutual Fund is an investment tool that
allows small investors access to a well-diversified portfolio of equities, bonds
and other securities. Each shareholder participates in the gain or loss of the
7
fund. Units are issued and can be redeemed as needed. The funds Net Asset
value (NAV) is determined each day.
Investments in securities are spread across a wide cross-section of
industries and sectors and thus the risk is reduced. Diversification reduces
the risk because all stocks may not move in the same direction in the same
proportion at the same time. Mutual fund issues units to the investors in
accordance with quantum of money invested by them. Investors of mutual
funds are known as unit holders.
8
When an investor subscribes for the units of a mutual fund, he
becomes part owner of the assets of the fund in the same proportion as his
contribution amount put up with the corpus (the total amount of the fund).
Mutual Fund investor is also known as a mutual fund shareholder or a unit
holder.
Any change in the value of the investments made into capital market
instruments (such as shares, debentures etc) is reflected in the Net Asset
Value (NAV) of the scheme. NAV is defined as the market value of the Mutual
Fund scheme's assets net of its liabilities. NAV of a scheme is calculated by
dividing the market value of scheme's assets by the total number of units
issued to the investors.
ADVANTAGES OF MUTUAL FUND

• Portfolio Diversification
• Professional management
• Reduction / Diversification of Risk
• Liquidity
• Flexibility & Convenience
• Reduction in Transaction cost
• Safety of regulated environment
• Choice of schemes
• Transparency
DISADVANTAGE OF MUTUAL FUND

• No control over Cost in the Hands of an Investor
• No tailor-made Portfolios
9
• Managing a Portfolio Funds
• Difficulty in selecting a Suitable Fund Scheme
10
CATEGORIES OF MUTUAL FUND:
11
Introduction to Project
The project is ‘Study of awareness level of small saving options

and knowing the customer Preferences and knowledge about these plans’.
The purpose of the project is to know about the small savings options and
how customer prefers these plans.
After losing their investments in stock

markets in the past, small investors prefer risk-free small savings schemes,
which saw 27.33 per cent surge in collection of money. Customer prefers
these small savings plan because the return is and there is no risk. In current
scenario of market slowdown everyone wants safe side investment, so this is
best option for them. In fact mutual fund has tapped 5-10% of Indian market.
From the customer point of view investment product helps them to get better
return than the regular saving account. Small saving plans are the important
aspects of the investments. These financial plans not only provide you
money growth but also provide you with financial security at various steps in
your life. It depends on your needs which product suits you best.
For an example if you are looking for short term
savings then you can invest your money in post offices , government bonds,
mutual funds, and if you are concentrated to long term savings then public
provident funds (PPF ),life insurance, long term bank deposits (FDs, RDs) can
help you.
In the project I will analyze customer preference
towards these plans and their expectation towards these plans according to
their age.
12
Need of Small Savings Plans
India's high savings rate has been a crucial driver of its

economic boom, providing productive capital and helping to fuel a virtuous
cycle of higher growth, higher income and higher savings. Since the 1990s,
the gross domestic savings rate has risen steadily from an average of 23% to
an estimated high of 35% in the 2006/07 fiscal year (April-March). The latter
rate compares very favorably not only with developed economies (the US
and the UK have savings rates of around 14%), but also with other emerging
economies—with a few exceptions such as Malaysia (38%) and Chile (35%).
After losing their investments in stock markets in the past,
small investors are preferring risk-free small savings schemes, which saw
27.33 per cent surge in collection to Rs 54,126 crore in April-August in the
current fiscal from Rs 42,507 crore in April-August in the past two fiscal
years.
The above plans show how the small savings are useful to
the developing country like India. Addition of rupee to rupee makes a huge
amount and it is very useful to the country’s economy. Since India’s 60%
population is dependable on agriculture so these small saving plays a great
role and encourage the common man to come out for saving and this make a
country economically good.
13
Category of small saving Investment
Small Saving Options investment can be done through following ways:-

I. Variable return
II. Fixed return
The following plans in project can be explain through above category:
1. Variable return: - In this the return totally depends on the market like
mutual fund investments. In this SIP(systematic investment plan) can
be taken as small saving plan.SIP helps the customers to b shares of
mutual fund by making regular payments-usually as little as Rs500.
2. Fixed return: - In this the return is being fixed earlier by the
government. The chances of change in the rate of interest are less.
This contain:-
I. Kisan Vikas Patra

II. National Savings Certificate
III. Fixed Deposits
IV. Post office term Deposit
V. Monthly Income Scheme Account
VI. Recurring Deposit Account
VII.Public Provident Fund(PPF)
VIII.RBI Bonds
IX. Post office Saving Account
X. Pay Roll Saving Scheme
XI. Senior Citizen Saving Schemes
14
Detail Study of Small saving plan
Following are details of the saving plans which are considered in project:-s
1. Kisan vikas patra
a) Maturity Period – 8 years 7 months

b) Money doubles in the after maturity period
c) Mode of payment- Lumpsum
d) Minimum amount—Rs 100
e) Maximum amount—No limit
f) No tax and loan facility is available.
Advantages:-
• Long term investment.

• Return is double after maturity.
• Mostly liked by people from rural and people whose income is
less.
Disadvantages:-
• If money is taken back before maturity period than interest

provide is 3.5%.
• Investment time is very high, so less preferred.
Product Availability:-
• Through agents and all post offices
Marketing of the product:-
• Through agents, advertisements, Word of mouth and

internet.
15
2. National Saving Certificate
a) Maturity Period—6 years
b) Interest—8.16% (compounded half yearly)
f) Loan facility—No
g) Tax benefits—Yes
Advantages:-
• Tax benefit is there

• Interest is compounded half yearly so, it increases after 6
months and becomes 12.06% after 6 years.
• Mostly liked by every category of people.
Disadvantages:-
• Money is encased back after maturity period only.

• Investment time is high.
• Through agents, banks and all post offices
• Through agents, advertisements, Word of mouth and internet
3. Public Provident Fund

b) Interest—8%
c) Mode of payment- Lumpsum/Installments
e) Maximum amount—Rs 70,000
f) Loan benefit –Yes
16
g) Tax Benefits—Yes
Advantages:-
• Money is paid in installments.

• People mostly invest in it for tax benefit.
• Loan facility is available.
• Deposits in this account are not subject to attachment under an
order or a decree of Court and are also free of Wealth Tax.
Disadvantages:-
• Return interest is less.

• People invest only for tax.
• Maturity period is high.
• Through agents, Nationalize bank and all post offices
4. Post Office Monthly Income Scheme (POMIS)

b) Interest—8%
e) Maximum amount—Rs 4, 50,000
f) Loan benefit –no
g) Tax Benefits—no
Advantages:-
17
• Money is paid monthly, acc. to investment and interest.
• Deposit may be made in cash or cheque or demand draft
• Mostly liked by old age people.
Disadvantages:-
• To get good monthly income, we have to invest high

lumpsum amount.
• No tax benefits.
5. Post Office Term Deposits (POTD)

a) Maturity Period—1-5 years
b) Interest—6.25-7.5%
f) Loan Facility –no
Advantages:-
• Maturity period is less.

• Amount is less, so affordable for every category.
Disadvantages:-
• Return interest is less, so liked by people whose income is

more.
• No tax and loan facility.
18
6. Post Office Recurring Deposits (PORD)

b) If Rs10 is invested for 5 years than Rs600 becomes Rs728.90
c) Mode of payment- Lumpsum/Installments
f) Loan Facility –Yes
Advantages:-
• Loan facility is available.

• Payments are also through installments.
• Low investment, so liked by daily earning wage people.
Disadvantages:-
• Less interest acc. to maturity period.

• Only popular among low earning people.
7. Post Office saving Account (POSA)

a) Maturity Period—min 1 year
b) Interest—3.5%
c) Mode of payment- any type of payment
d) Minimum amount—20
e) Maximum amount—1, 00,000
19
g) Tax Benefits—Yes
Advantages:-
• Tax facility is available so people prefer it.

• Payments are through any mode.
Disadvantages:-
• People do not use it as the investments.
• Through agents sand all post offices
8. Senior Citizen Saving Scheme (SCSS)

a) Maturity Period—5 year (can be extended for 3 years)
b) Interest—9%(compounded quarterly)
e) Maximum amount—15, 00,000
Advantages:-
• Money can be taken back before maturity period.
Disadvantages:-
• Less interest acc. To maturity period.

20
• Through agents, advertisements, Word of mouth and

internet.
9. Systematic Investment Plan (SIP)

a) Maturity Period—min. 6 months
b) Interest—depends on market
c) Mode of Payment-- Installments
e) Maximum amount—No Limit
g) Tax Benefits—On Tax Saver Plan
Advantages:-
• Payments are through installments.

• Good returns when the market is down.
• Least Risky
Disadvantages:-
• Variable return because of market dependable.

• More transparency.
• Through agents, Distributors and mutual fund offices.
10. Fixed Deposits (FD)

a) Minimum amount:-
• Nationalize Banks—Rs 5000/10000

• Private Bank—Rs 10000
• Co-operative Bank—Rs 500/1000
b) Loan—Yes (Bank Overdraft)
21
c) Tax Benefit—No
d) Mode of payment- Lumpsum
e) Minimum maturity period —15 days
f) Maximum maturity period —10 years
h) Maximum amount—No limit
I) Interest— for all banks the interest is same, there is a slightly
change in the Interest rate. It is different for the different
banks.
There may be difference in the maturity period and returns.
The main difference is between the amounts invested. Amount
invested in the co-operative bank is least; Nationalize bank has less
investment than private. So, private bank has highest investments.
Below is the interest rate of HDFC Bank.It can be taken as the for other
banks also. They have same pattern as HDFC Bank.
Days/years
Interest/annum
7-15 days
3.00%
15-29 days
3.50%
30-45 days
4.00%
46-60 days
4.50%
61-90 days
5.00%
91-180 days
5.50%
180-195 days
7.00%
196—285 days
7.00%
286.365Days
7.25%
22
286-365 days (1 year)
7.25%
1-5 year
8.00%
>5 years
8.00%
Advantages:-
• Loan facility is available (Bank overdraft).

• Maturity period is very less.
• Mostly liked by every category of people, they take it as safe
side.
Disadvantages:-
• Return interest is acc. to maturity period.

• To get good return investment must be high.
• Through agents, Nationalize banks and all post offices
11. Pay Roll Savings Scheme

Under this scheme, any monthly salaried person can voluntarily
authorize his appointing authority or employer to deduct monthly
contributions from his salary and to remit into anyone of the savings
schemes like Post Office Recurring Deposit, Post Office Time Deposit,
National Savings Certificate (VIII issue) and Public Provident Fund Scheme.
The group leader appointed in each organization for collection purpose is
paid 2% commission for his service who implements the scheme in the
respective concern.
23
Advantages:-
• Collection is through a concern person, so money investment

is good.
Disadvantages:-
• People do not refer it because they want to do personally

and acc. to their requirements.
12. RBI Bonds

a) Maturity Period-- 5 years
b) Interest—8% (compounded half yearly)
e) Maximum amount—Rs 2, 00,000
f) Loan benefit –Yes
g) Tax Benefits—yes (on returns only)
Advantages:-
• Loan and tax facility is available.

• Good return due to half yearly compounded interest.
Disadvantages:-
• To get good monthly income, we have to invest high

lumpsum amount.
• Authorized Branches of State Bank of India, Associate Banks,

Nationalized Banks, four private sector banks and SHCIL
24
• Through advertisements, Word of mouth and internet
Objective of the project:
• To know whether they have good knowledge of these plans.

• To know about the relationship between age and investment of the
people.
25
• To know which age group is inclined towards future reinvestment.
• To know which plan is suitable for them to get maximum return.
• Analyzing their way of investments in these plans.
• Analyzing the inclination of SEC (social economic class) towards the
investments.
Methodology for Project

In this project I will go through following methods:-
1. Primary data: Designing the questionnaire to know the customer

preference towards the small savings plans. For e.g.
26
a) Their preference acc. to their requirement and their age.
b) Do they look for fixed or variable returns?
c) Do they invest for

I. Tax saving
II. Safe and quite return
2. Secondary data: knowledge about these plans ,their rate of interest,

minimum and maximum balance , maturity periods and their way of
marketing through Private ,PSU bank, co-operative bank and post
office. In this I will take help of internet, factsheets of company,
documents and pamphlets provided.
3. Sample plan:
Sampling size: - 105 people and 50 from distributors/agents from

Ahmedabad.
Sampling method: simple Random sampling
Limitations of project:
1. Limited areas- As due to limited area covering, so behavior of of
investors is different at other regions.
2. Limited samples- Each investor has different psychology so study
becomes biased and sample may not help to gather depth
knowledge.
3. Lack of time- Due to limited time it is not possible to make depth
study of these plans.
4. Investor’s behavior is affected.
5. Market condition also effect the survey i.e. investment depends on
market condition.
27
PLAN ANALYSIS OF CUSTOMER
SURVEY
28
Analysis of project:
• Survey from customer
1. Formation of social economic class(SEC)

Total respondents--105
SEC
A 46
B 42
C 17
• Interpretation
1. Survey shows that people has more qualification and are more
professional, also take keen interest in small saving plans.
2. Small saving plans are not for the one category, it is for every
category.
2. Type of return Investment preference of customer
Fixed Variable Both
return Return
sec 13 10 2
A 3
29
sec 21 3 17
B
sec 8 2 4
C
• Interpretation
1. SEC A wants to invest in both type of return because of good
knowledge of financial investments.
2. Due to low investment by SEC C, their respondents are also low.
3. What type of investment customer prefer acc. to small saving option.
fixed return variable Both

return
kisan vikas 12 1 8
patra
public provident fund 16 5 29
national saving 22 3 21
certificate
fixed deposits 25 4 28
post office saving 9 0 11
account
post office monthly 10 1 15
income
post office term 3 1 2
deposits
senior citizen saving 3 0 3
scheme
30
recurring deposit 11 3 10
account
RBI bonds 3 1 10
pay roll saving 2 0 0
scheme
SIP 13 12 40
• Interpretation
1. Mostly respondents believe in both type of return.
2. Highest no. of respondents is from SIP.
4. Saving plans investment in accordance to social economic class (SEC)
SEC A SEC B SEC C

kisan vikas 4 12 5
patra
certificate
account
income
deposits
scheme
account
RBI bonds 8 5 1
scheme
SIP 36 24 5
31
• Interpretation
1. SEC A is more inclined towards the SIP because they believe quick
and good return.
2. Respondent take FD as the safe investment.
3. Kisan vikas patra has fewer respondents because of long time
investment.
5. Income wise small saving investment
<1 1-2 2-5 >5

LAKH LAKH LAKH LAKH
kisan vikas 8 9 4 0
patra
public provident fund 7 12 26 5
national saving 9 15 20 2
certificate
fixed deposits 8 20 26 3
post office saving 6 9 4 1
account
post office monthly 5 13 6 2
income
post office term 2 3 1 0
deposits
senior citizen saving 1 1 2 2
scheme
recurring deposit 5 10 8 1
account
RBI bonds 1 4 7 2
pay roll saving 0 1 1 0
scheme
SIP 2 26 31 6
• Interpretations
1. Respondents having income less than <1 lakh have least
investment.
32
2. Respondents having income 1-2 lakh are more interested in fixed
returns.
3. Respondents having income 2-5 lakh are more inclined towards the
SIP,NSC and PPF(for tax saving).
4. Respondents having income >5 lakh are more inclined to equity
market and SIP.
6. Saving investment acc. to age group
19-30 31-50 51-72

kisan vikas 5 12 4
patra
certificate
account
income
deposits
s senior citizen saving 1 3 3
scheme
account
RBI bonds 4 8 2
scheme
SIP 41 21 3
• Interpretation
1. SIP is the best investment for the youth.
2. Highest investment is upto the age of 40.
7. Money invested acc. to income of customer

33
5-10 10-20 20-40 >40 % age of
thous thous thous thous customer
<1 15 4 0 0 18.81
lakh
1-2 6 7 18 4 34.65
lakh
2-5 7 5 11 18 40.59
lakh
>5 0 1 0 5 5.94
lakh
% 27.72 16.83 28.71 26.73
age
• Interpretation
1. Respondent having income 2-5 lakh has invested upto 40%.
2. More income more investment.
3. More than 50% investment is from respondent who invest around
40 thousand.
8. Small saving plans related to money invested from income
5-10 10-20 20-40 >40

thous thous thous thous
kisan vikas 8 4 6 3
patra
certificate
post office saving 8 1 6 5
account
income
deposits
34
scheme
account
RBI bonds 1 2 5 6
pay roll saving 0 1 0 1
scheme
SIP 12 11 21 21
• Interpretation
1. Customer who invests more is inclined towards the SIP.
2. They invest in FD (for safe side) and in NSC &PPF (for tax saving).
3. Time of return plays an important role in investment.
9. Sources for knowledge about these plans.
custom % age
ers
newspape 21 20.79
rs
agents 40 39.6
word of 72 71.28
mouth
others 8 7.9
• Interpretation
1. Word of mouth and agents plays an important role for investment
by the customer.
35
10.Customer consults whom for investment.
Consu custom % age

lt ers
Agent 46 45.54
Famil 20 19.8
y
Friend 44 43.56
s
Other 19 18.81
s
• Interpretation
1. For consultation agent and friends plays an important role.
2. People consult agent because of knowledge and experience.
11. No. of respondents invested in small savings option.
kisan vikas 21
36
patra
public provident fund 50
national saving 46
certificate
fixed deposits 57
post office saving 20
account
post office monthly 26
income
post office term 6
deposits
senior citizen saving 6
scheme
recurring deposit 24
account
RBI bonds 14
pay roll saving scheme 2
SIP 65
• Interpretation
1. SIP has highest investment because of good return.
2. Other investment is acc. to the customer income and preference.
12. Schemes in which customer has invested in past and willing to reinvest
in future
fixed deposits 42
SIP 58
equity market 10
account
national saving 29
certificate
37
kisan vikas 7
patra
Life insaurance 26
income
post office term 2
deposits
ULIP 2
scheme
• Interpretation
1. If their income is same than they want to continue with that
only, otherwise they want their investment to extended.
2. Respondent are more inclined to market dependent investment
.i.e. SIP.
3. They are interested in small time return.
13.Schemes in which customer has invested in past and willing to reinvest

in future and its relation with age group.
19-30 31-50 51-72 yrs

yrs yrs
SIP 37 29 2
equity market 7 3 0
account
certificate
kisan vikas patra 1 5 1
Life insaurance 13 12 1
38
income
deposits
ULIP 1 1 0
scheme
• Interpretation
1. Age play an important role on future investment.
2. Customer up to age of 40 is inclined to the variable and market
dependent investment.
3. Age group 31-50 takes everything into mind while investing i.e.
return, tax and services.
14.Effect of income on future reinvestment

<1 1-2 2-5 >5
LAKH LAKH LAKH LAKH
SIP 1 25 28 4
equity market 0 3 4 3
account
certificate
kisan vikas 3 3 1 0
patra
Life 5 8 12 1
insaurance
income
deposits
ULIP 0 2 0 0
39
scheme
• Interpretation
1. Inclination towards SIP is more.
2. If their income is same than they want to continue with that only, otherwise
they want their investment to extended.
15.Comparative analysis of present invested amount with future

reinvestment.
Present
Future
• Interpretation
1. For their future reinvestment people are willing to invest acc. to
their present situation. Their present income plays a crucial role
for their future investment.
2. For fixed return plan they want to continue but for short time.
• From Distributor
1. Financial products in which distributor deal
mutual fund 37
saving 45
plans
insurance 40
bank 30
financial
40
others 2
Data from survey:-
• Interpretation
1. Mostly agents work on all type of investments.
2. Market condition also made their investment way.
2. The profession time of distributor related to the factors while

suggesting for investment products.
1-2 2-5 5-10 > 10
yrs yrs yrs yrs
time frame 0 4 5 3
risk appetite 0 5 16 20
tax savings 0 5 11 14
return 0 8 17 22
other 0 0 2 3
s
41
• Interpretation
1. Distributors who are working for more than 5 years will put
suggest for returns and risk appetite.
2. More experience more expose for the customer to invest.
3. Small saving products in which distributor deal
kisan vikas 31
patra
national saving 37
certificate
fixed deposits 44
post office saving 30
account
income
post office term 30
deposits
scheme
account
RBI bonds 15
pay roll saving scheme 3
SIP 39
• Interpretation
1. From graph distributor is working with all type of investment.
42
4. Saving plans advice by distributor
Life insurance 19
SIP 34
fixed deposits 18
income
account
national saving 18
certificate
equity market 2
kisan vikas 7
patra
ULIP 6
• Interpretation
1. Distributor advice on the basis of customer interest, amount
of investment and what type return he wants.
5. Why distributor advice customer to invest in saving plan and how

this related to the year of profession of distributor.
1-2 2-5 5-10 > 10
yrs yrs yrs yrs
returns 0 10 18 22
service 0 7 7 16
43
credibili 0 1 7 4
ty
simplici 0 3 8 15
ty
others 0 0 1 0
• Interpretation
1. Mostly distributor suggests return and service.
6. . Plans in which customer has invested in past and now customer is

willing to reinvest in future through distributors.
SIP 33
national saving 24
certificate
account
Life insurance 17
fixed deposits 20
ULIP 10
income
kisan vikas 3
patra
equity market 2
44
scheme
• Interpretation
1. Acc. to customer income investment depends.
2. Customer income will suggest distributor to invest in saving
plans.
3. In variable return SIP is the best option.
Interpretation from all graphs made:

For Customers
1) People having annual income between 2-5 lakh are mostly interested in schemes
which are of less maturity period. They want fast return so that they can reinvest.
2) People are preferring FDs,Insaurance more, because they take them as the safe side
of Investment.
3) People with income <1 lakh prefer to invest in post office savings like recurring
deposits and LIC.
4) People with income 2-5 lakh prefer to invest in FDs ,POMIS ,SIP and somewhat in
Shares.
45
5) People with income >5 lakh prefer to invest in stock, mutual fund, NSC and PPF.
6) Word of mouth and agents play important role in getting knowledge about small
saving plans.
7) People mostly consult agents and friends before investing.
8) All people are aware of these saving plans i.e. there is good knowledge of these
plans.
9) People likely to invest 30-40% of their income.
10) People having income up to 1.5 Lakh are interested in fixed return.
11) People having income >1.5 lakh are interested in either variable return or in both
(fixed and variable) returns.
12) For their future reinvestment people are willing to invest acc. to their present
situation. Their present income plays a crucial role for their future investment.
13) If their income is same than they want to continue with that only, otherwise they
want their investment to extended.
14) People are taking interest in investment in ULEP policies
For Distributors/Agents
1) Mostly agents deal in all type of financial products.
2) They mainly look at the factors like risk appetite and returns while
suggesting for the investments.
3) Their suggestions for investment are according to the customers need.
4) Customers having income less than 1 lakh, than agent will suggest for
recurring deposits and LIC policies.
5) Customers having income up to 2 lakh than Agent will suggest for NSC,
POMIS and SIP.
6) Customers having income more than 2 lakh than Agent will suggest for
mutual fund, equity market and long term high investments.
46
Conclusion:
Small saving options are not just like a small savings only
but a high investment can be made. It is a safe and right type of
investment. The plans which are described state that how the
small savings are useful to the developing country like India.
Addition of rupee to rupee makes a huge amount and it is very
useful to the country’s economy.
47
After losing their investments in stock markets in the past,
small investors prefer risk-free small savings schemes, which saw
27.33 per cent surge in collection of money. Customer prefers
these small savings plan because the return is fixed and there is
no risk.
Finally the reports concludes that how customer invest

taking every aspect of current scenario into consideration. In this
every type of saving plans has been taken into account. Through
this analysis a customer can understand where to invest the
money looking current scenario.
References
1. Internet
• www.tnsmallsavings.com
• www.finance.mapsofworld.com
• www.mutualfundindia.com
• www.kotakmutual.com
• www.wikipedia.org
• www.savingwala.com
48
• www.hinduonnet.com
• www.mpsmallsavings.nic.in
• www.thehindu.com
• www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com
2. Search engines
www.google.com
3. Other sources:-
• Pamphlet of Indian post office containing saving plans.
• Investment knowledge about financial products from
distributor/agents.
• Market survey.
Executive Summary
Today saving plans play an important role in the econmy.

India's high savings rate has been a crucial driver of its economic
boom, providing productive capital and helping to fuel a virtuous
cycle of higher growth. Indian mutual fund market has high
49
proportion and about 5-10% of the Indian population is in mutual
fund investment. A person from any category intends to invest in
small saving options.
Person having income from thousands to lakhs invest in
these plans for return, tax or future savings. These for every type
of people in agricultural country like India. Today around 27% of
total investment is covered by small saving plans. This project will
help to know about the small savings options and how customer
prefers these plans. After the analysis done it shows people invest
acc. to the market condition. In this condition they take interest in
fixed return and SIP (mutual fund).
This methodology used in the reports is primary and
secondary data sources. Sample size is of 105 respondents. Out
of which 4 has not invested. The parameters which included in
collection of secondary data is Maturity Period, rate of interest,
mode of payment, maximum and minimum amount, tax and loan
facility, advantages and disadvantages, product availability and
marketing of products.
Finally the analysis part which is made through SPSS and
through excels and graphs were being plotted from data collected
and interpreting from graph. Through this analysis part we
concludes that how customer invest taking every aspect of
current scenario into consideration. Through this project customer
get know where to invest money whether in fixed or variable type
of investment.
Attachments:-
50
Questionnaires for customer and distributors
1. For customer
Questionnaire
Sir/madam, I am student of ICFAI Business School, Ahmedabad.I
am doing a project on ‘Small Saving Options available and the
customer preference about these options’. The Project is purely
academic and this project will help us in analyzing the customer
preferences towards these plans. I need your co-operation and
your precious time.
1) Are you from Ahmedabad?

a) Yes b) No
2) You are into which profession?
a) Business
b) Government Service
c) Private Job
d) Others specify:____________
3) In which range does your Annual income lie?
a) <1 lakh c) 2 - 5 lakh
b) 1-2lakh d) > 5 lakh
4) Do you invest?
a) Yes b) No
5) How much you invest from your income?
a) 5-10 thousand/year c) 20-40
thousand/year
b) 10-20 thousand/year d) > 40
thousand/year
51
6) Whom do you consult before investing?
a) Agent c) Family
b) Friends d) other
specify___________
7) Are you aware of small savings plans?
a) Yes b) No
8) Which of the following small saving plans have you ever

invested in-
a) Kisan Vikas Patra h) Public Provident
Fund(PPF)
b) National Savings Certificate i) Fixed Deposits
c) Post office saving Account j) Post Office Monthly
Income Scheme
d) Post Office Term Deposit j) Senior Citizen
saving Schemes
e) Recurring Deposit Account l) RBI Bonds
f) Pay Roll Saving Scheme g) Systematic
Investment plan (SIP)
9) What type of investment you do?
a) Fixed Return c) Variable
Return
b) Both
10) From where did you get knowledge about these
plans?
a) Newspaper c) Agents
b) Word of mouth d) others
specify:_______
52
11) Of the schemes you have invested in past, which are
the schemes where you
are willing to reinvest in future, give your
preferences accordingly:
a) __________
b) __________
c) __________
d) __________
e) __________
Personnel Details:-
a) Name:-___________________________
b) Address:_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_
c) Age:-_____
d) Family Members:-_____
e) Contact Number:-__________________
f) Education:-_______________________
53
2. For distributor
Questionnaire
Sir/madam, I am student of ICFAI Business School, Ahmedabad.I
am doing a project on ‘Small Saving Options available and the
customer preference about these options’. The Project is purely
academic and it will help in analyzing the distributor’s preference
towards these plans for their customers. I need your co-operation
and your precious time.
1) Since how many years you are in this profession?
a) 1-2 years c) 5-10 years
b) 2-5 years d) >10 years
2) Which of the financial products you deal in:
a) Mutual Fund d) Saving plans
b) Insurance e) Bank financial
products
c) Other specify:____________
3) What are the factors which you look in, while
suggesting the investment products to customer?
54
a) Time frame d) Risk
appetite
b) Tax savings e) Return
c) Other: specify_____________
4) Which of the following small saving plans you deal
with:
a) Kisan Vikas Patra h) Public Provident
Fund(PPF)
b) National Savings Certificate i) Fixed Deposits
c) Post office saving Account j) Post Office Monthly
Income Scheme
d) Post Office Term Deposit j) Senior Citizen
saving Schemes
e) Recurring Deposit Account l) RBI Bonds
f) Pay Roll Saving Scheme g) Systematic
Investment plan (SIP)
5) Do you suggest that each of customers should invest

in small saving plans?
a) Yes b) No
6) Which of the small saving plans, you prefer to advise
customer, give your preferences accordingly.
a) _________________
b) _________________
c) _________________
d) _________________
e) _________________
7) Why you advise them to invest in above plans?
a) Returns d) Simplicity
55
b) Services e) other
specify:____________
c) Credibility
8) Which are the plans in which customer had invested
in past and now they are thinking for reinvestment,
give your preference accordingly.
a) _____________
b) _____________
c) _____________
d) _____________
e) _____________
Personnel Details:-
a) Name:-___________________________
b) Address:_____________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
c) Age:-_____
d) Contact Number:-__________________
e) Education:-_______________________
56

Final Project Report On Small Saving Options

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Final Project Report On Small Saving Options

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SUMMER INTERNSHIP PROGRAM

Project Final Report

STUDY OF AWARENESS LEVEL OF SMALL SAVING OPTIONS

KOTAK MUTUAL FUND

The Report is submitted as partial fulfillment

I would like to thanks Mr. Manminder Malhi, state head of

I express my appreciative thanks to Mr. Prashant Saxena ,

I would also like to thank Mr. Nayan Maniyar, asst. manager-sales of

Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company

Corpus under management -- 15813.2734 Crs. As

INTRODUCTION TO MUTUAL FUND AND ITS VARIOUS ASPECTS

Mutual fund is a trust that pools the savings of a

ADVANTAGES OF MUTUAL FUND

DISADVANTAGE OF MUTUAL FUND

The project is ‘Study of awareness level of small saving options

After losing their investments in stock

India's high savings rate has been a crucial driver of its

Small Saving Options investment can be done through following ways:-

The following plans in project can be explain through above category:

I. Kisan Vikas Patra

1. Kisan vikas patra

a) Maturity Period – 8 years 7 months

• Long term investment.

• If money is taken back before maturity period than interest

• Through agents and all post offices

Marketing of the product:-

• Through agents, advertisements, Word of mouth and

• Tax benefit is there

• Money is encased back after maturity period only.

• Through agents, banks and all post offices

Marketing of the product:-

• Through agents, advertisements, Word of mouth and internet

3. Public Provident Fund

• Money is paid in installments.

• Return interest is less.

• Through agents, Nationalize bank and all post offices

Marketing of the product:-

• Through agents, advertisements, Word of mouth and internet

4. Post Office Monthly Income Scheme (POMIS)

• To get good monthly income, we have to invest high

• Through agents and all post offices

Marketing of the product:-

• Through agents, advertisements, Word of mouth and internet

5. Post Office Term Deposits (POTD)

• Maturity period is less.

• Return interest is less, so liked by people whose income is

Marketing of the product:-

• Through agents, advertisements, Word of mouth and internet

6. Post Office Recurring Deposits (PORD)

• Loan facility is available.

• Less interest acc. to maturity period.

• Through agents and all post offices

Marketing of the product:-

• Through agents, advertisements, Word of mouth and internet

7. Post Office saving Account (POSA)

• Tax facility is available so people prefer it.

• People do not use it as the investments.

• Through agents sand all post offices

Marketing of the product:-

• Through agents, advertisements, Word of mouth and internet

8. Senior Citizen Saving Scheme (SCSS)

• Money can be taken back before maturity period.

• Less interest acc. To maturity period.