Mutul Fund Enterprise Strategy

1. Business-Aligned Vision

To build a secure, scalable, and cloud-native mutual fund platform on Azure that improves investor experience

SEBI compliance,

rapid fund product innovation

enabling operational efficiency

cost optimization.

2. Capability Map

L0 Capabilities

• Digital Mutual Fund Management

L1 Capabilities

• Investor Onboarding

• Investment Transactions

• Portfolio Management

• Redemptions & Switching

• Compliance & Reporting

• Partner/Distributor Management

• Security & Access Management

• Platform Administration

• Customer Communications

• Analytics & Insights

  
  

L2 Capabilities

(Examples for selected L1 capabilities)

• Investor Onboarding: eKYC, Risk Profiling, Consent Capture

• Investment Transactions: Fund Selection, NAV Lookup, Payment Execution

• Compliance & Reporting: SEBI Audit, PMLA, KYC Logs

  
  

3. Capability-to-Service Mapping

Capability	Microservices
eKYC	ekyc-service, document-verification-service
Fund Transactions	transaction-service, fund-service, payment-gateway
NAV Lookup	nav-service, market-data-adapter
Portfolio View	portfolio-service, statement-service
Compliance	compliance-service, audit-log-service, report-generator
Notifications	notification-service, email-sms-adapter
Authentication	auth-service, token-service
Administration	admin-console, config-service

4. Capability-to-Service-Application Mapping

Capability	UI/Frontend	Backend Services
Investor Onboarding	Onboarding Portal	ekyc-service, aadhaar-adapter
Investment Management	Investor Dashboard	transaction-service, fund-service, payment-gateway
Portfolio Monitoring	Portfolio Dashboard	portfolio-service, statement-service
Admin/Compliance	Admin Console	compliance-service, report-generator, audit-log-service
Notifications	Alerts Center	notification-service, event-grid

5. Top 50 Enterprise Risks with Category & Mitigation

See accompanying Excel document: "Mutual_Fund_Platform_Risks_Mitigation.xlsx" for full list

Categories:

• Business

• Technology

• People

• Operations

• Security & Compliance

Mitigation includes: compliance-by-design, cloud governance, architecture standards, observability, and DevSecOps automation.

Risk Category	Risk Description	Mitigation Plan
Business	Misalignment with mutual fund business goals	Run value stream mapping with business stakeholders
Business	Inadequate regulatory coverage (SEBI, RBI)	Implement compliance-by-design using Azure Policy
Business	Poor investor adoption due to UX issues	UX testing and investor journey simulation
Business	Delayed go-to-market for fund products	Agile delivery with MVP-led release cycles
Business	Vendor lock-in with Azure services	Cloud-agnostic abstractions and exit strategy planning
Business	Weak executive sponsorship	Establish steering committee with CXO alignment
Business	Inability to scale with AUM growth	AKS auto-scaling and modular service design
Business	Unclear value realization from digitization	Define outcome KPIs and track quarterly
Business	Unstable partnership ecosystem	Formalize vendor and fintech partnership SLAs
Business	Misalignment of IT and business roadmaps	Align enterprise architecture with OKRs and roadmap
Technology	Distributed monolith instead of clean microservices	Domain-driven design with strict bounded contexts
Technology	Inconsistent API contracts and governance	API gateway governance and OpenAPI enforcement
Technology	Latency issues during peak NAV calculations	Use Azure Front Door, Redis, and async queues
Technology	Improper use of Azure services for workloads	Run architecture reviews for workload fitment
Technology	Inadequate logging and tracing	Centralized logging with Azure Monitor + App Insights
Technology	Poorly tuned database queries	Query optimization and indexing strategies
Technology	Dependency bottlenecks between services	Decouple services with queues and retries
Technology	Lack of caching for frequently accessed data	Leverage Azure Cache for Redis
Technology	Data duplication across services	Use central data contracts and CDC patterns
Technology	Failure of third-party integrations (e.g., RTA, KYC)	Use fallback, retries, and mock services
People	Skill gaps in Azure, DevSecOps, or Kubernetes	Training, certifications, and mentoring programs
People	Resistance to agile/DevOps culture	Run agile maturity assessments and retros
People	Role ambiguity in cross-functional teams	RACI matrix and clear role charters
People	Poor stakeholder engagement	Weekly stakeholder syncs and feedback loops
People	High attrition of key technical talent	Retention strategy with recognition and career growth
People	Low maturity in SRE/observability practices	Introduce SRE playbooks and observability champions
People	Burnout due to transformation pace	Realistic sprint planning with buffer zones
People	Inadequate onboarding for new tools/processes	Tool onboarding guides and sandbox environments
People	Lack of domain understanding in tech teams	Domain workshops with business SMEs
People	Ineffective internal knowledge sharing	Internal wiki and knowledge sharing forums
Operations	Lack of a disaster recovery (DR) plan	Implement Azure Site Recovery and DR drills
Operations	Inconsistent environment configurations	IaC templates and pipeline validation checks
Operations	Manual deployments causing errors	Fully automate deployments with blue/green rollout
Operations	Azure cost sprawl due to mismanaged resources	Cost governance with tagging and budgets
Operations	No SLA enforcement with vendors	Include SLA metrics in vendor contracts
Operations	Inadequate test automation	Build unit + integration test coverage into pipelines
Operations	Infrequent performance and load testing	Run JMeter and k6 tests monthly
Operations	Data sync issues across microservices	Event-driven consistency and compensating actions
Operations	No proactive monitoring for API failures	Set up alerts for key APIs using Azure Monitor
Operations	Unclear incident response processes	Document and simulate incident response scenarios
Security & Compliance	Insecure APIs exposing sensitive data	Use Azure API Management policies and scans
Security & Compliance	Misconfigured IAM/RBAC policies	Review IAM roles and enforce least privilege
Security & Compliance	No encryption for PII or transactional data	Encrypt all data using Azure Key Vault
Security & Compliance	Lack of audit trails for compliance	Enable audit logs in Azure Monitor and Sentinel
Security & Compliance	Insecure container images in ACR	Scan container images using Defender for Containers
Security & Compliance	Insufficient API throttling and rate limiting	Implement API Gateway throttling policies
Security & Compliance	Unpatched libraries and dependencies	Run dependency checks in CI pipeline
Security & Compliance	Lack of regular pen testing	Schedule quarterly external penetration tests
Security & Compliance	Non-compliance with SEBI/ISO 27001/NIST	Automate compliance via Azure Security Center
Security & Compliance	No DLP or anti-fraud mechanisms	Integrate anti-fraud APIs and Azure DLP policies

6. Technology Evaluation and Selection

• Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) for microservices orchestration

• Azure API Management for secure, scalable API Gateway

• Azure SQL & Cosmos DB for transactional and NoSQL workloads

• Azure Event Grid & Service Bus for event-driven communication

• Azure Monitor, App Insights for observability

• Azure AD B2C for authentication

7. Technology Strategy Aligned with Business Outcomes

I begin by collaborating with product, compliance, operations, and CX teams to understand ABSLAMC’s key business goals, such as:

• Faster investor onboarding

• SEBI compliance readiness

• Operational efficiency and cost optimization

• Faster fund product launch cycles

• Higher investor engagement and AUM growth

Strategy Focus Areas:

Business Goal	Technology Strategy
Reduce onboarding TAT	eKYC microservice, Aadhaar integration, React UI, Event Grid
Comply with SEBI audits	Audit log service, Azure Sentinel, policy-as-code
Scale with AUM growth	AKS-based microservices, auto-scaling, CDN caching
Increase product velocity	CI/CD pipelines, GitOps, MVP-based delivery
Build trust and security	Zero Trust architecture, RBAC, ISO 27001, Azure Defender

Key Parameters to Assess:

Category	KPI / Metric	Target
Onboarding	Average onboarding time	< 3 mins
Availability	Platform uptime	99.99%
Speed	Deployment frequency	Weekly (or daily in staging)
Performance	Transaction latency	< 300 ms
Compliance	SEBI audit readiness	100%
Cost	Infra cost per transaction	↓ by 20–30%
Security	Security incidents	Zero critical
Engagement	Active investor logins	↑ YoY by 15%
Agility	Lead time for change	< 1 week for minor features

8. Target Architecture Strategy

• Microservices deployed on AKS

• CI/CD via GitHub Actions / Azure DevOps

• API Management as Gateway

• Event-driven architecture with Event Grid

• Data tier using Azure SQL, Cosmos DB, Synapse

• Observability via Azure Monitor

9. Business Outcome KPIs

• Onboarding time (TAT): < 3 mins

• Platform uptime: 99.99%

• Transaction latency: < 300ms

• Compliance audit success rate: 100%

• Cost per transaction: Reduced by 25%

10. DevSecOps & Delivery Excellence

• GitOps & IaC

• SAST, DAST integrated into CI/CD

• Blue/Green deployments via ArgoCD

• SRE with error budgets & alerting

• Test automation: Unit, integration, E2E

11. Security, Risk & Compliance First

• Zero Trust (RBAC, MFA, PIM)

• Data encryption at rest/in transit

• Key Vault, Defender for Cloud, Sentinel

• Pen Testing, Threat Modelling

• Compliance monitoring: SEBI, ISO27001

12. Execution & Governance Model

• Wave 1: MVP – eKYC, Investment Flow, Reporting

• Wave 2: Portfolio View, Notifications, Admin Tools

• Wave 3: Analytics, AI-driven Insights, Fraud Detection

• Governance: Architecture Review Board, Security Council

13. Key Architecture Principles

• API-first, Domain-driven

• Cloud-native by default

• Secure by design

• Resilience via retries, timeouts, fallback

• Observability is mandatory

14. Standards, Guidelines, Governance Checkpoints

• OpenAPI Spec for all APIs

• Version control + CI Quality Gates

• Architecture checkpoint gates (Pre-Dev, Pre-UAT, Pre-Go-Live)

• Coding standards aligned to OWASP, NIST

• Data classification & retention policy

15. End-to-End Architecture Flow (Text Summary)

Investor logs into portal → Auth via Azure AD B2C → Fund search via API Gateway → Transaction request sent → Backend microservices on AKS process transaction → Events published via Event Grid → Portfolio updated → Notification triggered → Logs sent to Sentinel → Monitoring via Azure Monitor.

📘 High-Level Enterprise Architecture Breakdown – Mutual Fund Platform on Azure

1️⃣ User Experience Layer

Component	Description
Investor Portal (Web/Mobile)	React/Angular frontend to access investment features, view portfolio, make transactions
Partner/Distributor Portal	Access for third-party distributors to view investor portfolios, manage commissions
Admin Console	Internal users for configuration, compliance, and reporting

2️⃣ API Gateway Layer

Component	Description
Azure API Management	Unified gateway to manage and secure access to backend services; enforces throttling, rate limits, and JWT validation

3️⃣ Microservices Layer (AKS-hosted)

Microservice	Function
auth-service	Authenticates users via Azure AD B2C
ekyc-service	Handles Aadhaar, PAN-based KYC process
transaction-service	Manages buy, sell, and SIP transactions
fund-service	Provides mutual fund metadata, schemes, NAV
portfolio-service	Displays holdings, gains, asset allocation
nav-service	Fetches daily NAV values from external providers
statement-service	Generates transaction and holding statements
notification-service	Sends alerts via email/SMS/in-app
audit-log-service	Captures events for SEBI compliance
compliance-service	Validates KYC, FATCA, PMLA, and risk checks
payment-gateway-adapter	Integrates with Razorpay/BillDesk/UPI
report-generator	Creates regulatory and custom reports

4️⃣ Messaging/Event Layer

Component	Description
Azure Event Grid	Publishes events (e.g., transaction success) for other services to consume
Azure Service Bus	Queues for decoupled communication between microservices (e.g., statement generation)

5️⃣ Data Layer

Component	Description
Azure SQL Database	Stores transactional and investor data
Cosmos DB	Stores semi-structured metadata, documents
Azure Blob Storage	Stores statements, scanned documents (KYC, forms)
Azure Synapse Analytics	Unified data warehouse for analytics and reporting
Power BI Embedded	Dashboards for business and compliance insights

6️⃣ Security & Identity Layer

Component	Description
Azure AD B2C	User identity provider (MFA, RBAC)
Azure Key Vault	Manages secrets, encryption keys
Azure Firewall + NSGs	Network-level security and traffic control
Azure Defender	Security threat detection across workloads

7️⃣ DevSecOps & Monitoring Layer

Component	Description
Azure DevOps / GitHub Actions	CI/CD pipelines for code integration and deployment
Terraform / Bicep	Infrastructure as Code (IaC) for provisioning
Azure Monitor	Performance and metrics monitoring
Azure Log Analytics	Centralized log collection and search
App Insights	Real-time tracing and diagnostics
Azure Sentinel	SIEM for detecting and responding to threats

✅ Architecture Principles Followed

• API-First, Event-Driven

• Secure by Design (Zero Trust)

• Observability Built-In

• Domain-Driven Design (DDD)

• Compliance-Enabled Architecture (SEBI, ISO 27001, NIST)