A study on Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) for wealth creation among people in Karur City

This study investigates the awareness, adoption patterns, behavioural barriers, and wealth creation effectiveness of Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs) among retail investors in Karur City, Tamil Nadu, conducted in association with Angel One Limited's Karur branch. Karur is a prominent semi-urban textile hub where traditional investment instruments—gold, real estate, chit funds, and bank fixed deposits—continue to dominate despite growing middle-income populations and rising disposable incomes. Using a descriptive research design, primary data were collected from 100 respondents through a structured questionnaire employing stratified random sampling. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentages) and inferential tests including chi-square, Pearson correlation, one-way ANOVA, and independent samples t-test. Findings reveal that SIP awareness stands at 50%, with 53% currently investing, predominantly at small ticket sizes below ₹1,000 per month. Positive perceptions are strong—75–76% of respondents agree that SIPs are suitable for long-term wealth creation and risk reduction through rupee-cost averaging. However, knowledge depth is critically low, with only 13% possessing high or very high knowledge. Lack of proper knowledge (35%) and lack of awareness (30%) are identified as the principal barriers to SIP adoption. All inferential tests yielded non-significant results (p > 0.05), indicating that educational interventions should be broadly targeted across demographic segments. The study concludes with actionable recommendations for financial service providers, regulators, and asset management companies to enhance SIP penetration in semi-urban Indian markets.