Inconsistent Icons, Missing Hover States, and What the Best Asset Manager Sites Do Instead
A full interface consistency audit across the pre-login and post-login site, benchmarked against 12 Indian AMCs and 3 leading global asset managers to identify what a best-in-class experience actually looks like in this category.
UI: Common Observations Across the Site
Icons are inconsistent site-wide
Some pages use solid icons, others use outline icons, with no consistent system applied.
Font family, color, and sizing vary by page
Some pages use "Ubuntu"; when that font fails to load, it silently defaults to Times New Roman, a jarring visual break.
UI design quality varies significantly page to page
Some pages follow current design trends while others use visibly outdated styling, creating an inconsistent brand impression.
Breadcrumb navigation is misaligned on many pages
Some breadcrumbs stick directly to the page body, others align to the container layout, with no consistent rule applied.
Some carousels lack touch support on mobile
A significant gap given how much of the site's traffic is mobile.
Accordion plus/minus icons are inconsistently aligned
A small but visible detail repeated across many different page sections.
External links and PDFs open in the same tab
Best practice is for external destinations to open in a new tab, preserving the user's place in the original flow.
Specific UI Defects Found (Selected Examples)
KYC section occupies ~20-30% of the screen on both desktop and mobile
Recommended fix: a collapsible drawer that slides up on click, rather than a large fixed block, with an animation badge if visibility is genuinely required.
Pagination dots misaligned and overlapping content
Found on the homepage carousel on both desktop and mobile; dots should sit clearly below the carousel, not over it.
WhatsApp and Start-a-SIP icons oversized
Recommended at roughly 50-60px width and height; current sizing occupies unnecessary space.
Outdated App Store and social media icons
Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube icons in particular need updating to current brand marks.
Non-clickable product cards
Only the image and title are clickable in several sections; the entire card should be a single click target.
Dropdown menus with no visual indicator
Users have no way to tell a menu is a mega-menu without clicking it first, a basic discoverability gap.
Post-Login UI: Dashboard and Portfolio
No hover or click indicators on clickable cards
Goals and portfolio cards are clickable but give no visual cue, such as a cursor change, on hover.
Section highlighting is lost after selection
Once a user selects a card inside "Goals," the section loses its highlighted state, making it unclear the user is still within that section.
Profile photo container changes shape after upload
A circular photo slot becomes oval once an image is uploaded, a visible and avoidable shape inconsistency.
Low-contrast icons on dark backgrounds
Arrow icons on dark backgrounds lack sufficient contrast for easy visibility.
Recommendations for Immediate Action
Standardize fonts and icons site-wide
A single consistent font and iconography system across all pages strengthens brand identity and removes jarring visual breaks.
Add navigation cues for dropdowns and menus
Visual indicators make the interface more intuitive without requiring users to click to discover functionality.
Optimize the mobile layout, starting with fixed elements
Reduce unnecessary space and resize fixed blocks like the KYC section that currently hide content.
Standardize external link behavior
Configure external links and PDFs to open in a new tab, preserving the primary user flow.
Ensure full clickability on high-priority elements
Cards and images in product and KYC sections should be fully clickable, not just their image or title text.
Competitive Benchmark: Indian AMCs
ibs Fulcro reviewed Franklin Templeton, Edelweiss, Bajaj Finserv, White Oak, and 8 further Indian AMCs (Quant, Mirae Asset, HDFC Mutual Funds, Aditya Birla Capital Mutual Fund, Kotak, HSBC Mutual Fund, ICICI Prudential, and Axis Mutual Fund) as direct competitive context.
Franklin Templeton: Standout Elements
Smart UI with gradients, fonts, and colour highlights
An extensive menu system built with WCAG accessibility in mind.
Rich content with filters and facets for fund exploration
Makes it easy for users to narrow down options rather than scrolling a flat list.
Sticky CTAs for Invest Now and chat support
Persistent access to key actions regardless of scroll position.
Franklin Templeton Academy: blogs, e-books, podcasts, webinars
A genuinely strong educational content investment, signalling real commitment to financial literacy, not just token content.
Edelweiss and White Oak: Standout Elements
Edelweiss: clean fund discovery UI with WCAG accessibility and a chatbot
Strong SIP calculators, NAV tracking, and re-KYC services, all easy to navigate.
Edelweiss: thematic fund focus
Sectoral and thematic equity fund positioning caters to more specific investor goals than a generic fund list.
Edelweiss: diverse knowledge hub
Market Insights, Investment Insights, podcasts, curated book summaries, and a "Klassroom" for foundational lessons.
White Oak: comprehensive scheme display with performance and risk breakdowns
Enables quick fund comparison at a glance.
White Oak: trust-building through fund manager visibility
Displaying named fund managers and detailed analytics increases investor confidence.
The Other 8 Indian AMCs: A Consistent, Somewhat Dated Pattern
Quant, Mirae Asset, HDFC Mutual Funds, Aditya Birla Capital Mutual Fund, Kotak, HSBC Mutual Fund, ICICI Prudential, and Axis Mutual Fund all follow a broadly similar structure and user journey, focused on driving investments through SIP and new account opening. UI across all eight is slightly dated with heavy use of graphics and banners, content leans heavily toward funds and fund performance with education content largely missing at scale, and SEO practice appears to be a genuine, shared area of investment across the category.
Global Benchmark: Vanguard, Morgan Stanley, BlackRock
Given how similar most Indian AMC websites are to each other, ibs Fulcro extended the benchmark to three leading global asset managers to establish what a genuinely best-in-class experience looks like outside the category's current norms.
Vanguard: What Stands Out
Bold, high-contrast hero section with clear CTAs
Immediately communicates the value proposition (e.g. Cash Plus Account APY) in large, readable text.
Journey-oriented layout
Each section leads naturally to the next, guiding users through their financial journey rather than presenting a flat menu.
Structured, filterable funds discovery table
Clean comparison layout with color-coded risk icons and a clearly distinguished "Buy" CTA.
Goal-oriented investor education
Structured around real user goals like retirement or education savings, not generic fund categories.
Morgan Stanley and BlackRock: What Stands Out
Morgan Stanley: thought-leadership content as a trust signal
Expert articles on market trends position the brand as a credible authority, not just a product catalog.
Morgan Stanley: flexible fund discovery views
Toggle between List View, Group by Asset Class, or Group by Team, catering to different user preferences.
BlackRock: quantifiable proof points
Statistics like "2,800+ investment professionals" and "715 portfolio managers" build credibility through scale, not just claims.
BlackRock: intuitive insight filtering
Filter by category (e.g. portfolio management view, BlackRock Investment Institute) to personalize content discovery.
Key Takeaways: Global vs. Indian AMCs
Global AMCs consistently lead on performance clarity (real-time, transparent fund data), institutional-grade tools for professional investors, in-depth comparisons by asset class and risk, ESG priority, and sophisticated UX with advanced filtering. Indian AMCs, by contrast, lead on investor education (guides, calculators, detailed fund explainers), streamlined KYC, thematic fund promotion, and rich multi-format content like blogs, webinars, and podcasts.
Suggested UX Strategy Going Forward
Goal-based investment journeys
Guide users step by step through personalized milestones using engaging visuals and progress indicators.
Persona-based UI
Retail investors see a simplified card layout; advanced users access a detailed, table-based filtering system, matching Vanguard and Morgan Stanley's approach.
AI-powered fund discovery
Intuitive filters and facets that let both retail and advanced users find and compare funds easily.
First-party data for personalized recommendations
Fund suggestions based on actual user behavior and goals, presented through dynamic, card-based design.
Modern, clean visual design
Neutral tones, clean typography, and ample white space, matching what Vanguard and BlackRock demonstrate works at scale.
Frequently asked questions
Franklin Templeton, Edelweiss, Bajaj Finserv, and White Oak were reviewed in depth, alongside 8 further Indian AMCs, and three global asset managers, Vanguard, Morgan Stanley, and BlackRock, for a broader benchmark.
Icon style varies between solid and outline across pages with no consistent system, font rendering silently falls back to Times New Roman when the intended font fails to load, and breadcrumb navigation alignment is inconsistent from page to page.
Investor education. Indian AMCs lead on interactive calculators, streamlined KYC processes, thematic fund promotion, and multi-format content like blogs, webinars, and podcasts, areas where several global competitors are comparatively thinner.
Performance clarity and institutional-grade tooling. Global managers like Vanguard and BlackRock offer more transparent real-time fund data, deeper comparison tools, stronger ESG positioning, and more sophisticated filtering for experienced investors.