LEARNING MODULES FOR TRAINING MUTUAL FUND TO INVESTORS

Financial Education is an essential life skill and is a specialization module in adult education and training. Within the financial education domain, a sub-module would be on financial instruments, such as Mutual Funds. Mutual Funds are small retail investor-friendly investment tools. They are increasingly getting investor interest worldwide because they can provide potential solutions for short- and long-term investing. However, like any other financial/investing topic, teaching mutual fund concepts is challenging because of its unique vocabulary, jargon, and investment processes. The paper highlights broad modules that can be part of a typical mutual fund curriculum. Pedagogical Action Research is used to build the teaching modules focusing on narrativity, pupil's agency, curriculum development, practical theories, and ethics. Findings from this work can help teachers and trainers in the financial domain, mutual fund distributors, asset management companies, and the capital market regulators in building financial products that are easier to understand and invest in by small retail investors

Use of metaverse in socializing::Application of the big five personality traits framework

Social media sites, such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, are increasingly interconnected with the metaverse, which has forged a new digital connection between the users and community-building platforms. The increased accessibility of social media via smartphones provides opportunities for greater social interaction and facilitates users’ interaction online. As the metaverse and social media sites become increasingly connected it presents opportunities for the users to make new digital connections and socialize virtually. This study employs the Big Five personality theory to empirically test how the personality traits of Generation-Z impact on their intentions to socialize using innovative technology (metaverse). With Personal Innovation and Hedonic Motivation as moderators, we use a mixed-methods approach that employs a qualitative (n = 24) and quantitative study (n = 436) to understand why Generation-Z is inclined to use the metaverse for socializing. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling analyse the data statistically. Results show that Openness has the highest impact on users’ intention to adopt the metaverse, followed by Extraversion and Agreeableness. Personal Innovation and Hedonic Motivation variables present evidence of positive moderation with the personality traits. Further, generation differences between cohorts and users’ personalities affects their willingness to adopt the metaverse