Karan has a penchant for doing things differently - whether it is his product suite, his communication strategy, and even the annual IFA conference that he hosts for his key IFA partners. The event - which is branded Xtraordinaire and has now completed three editions - is truly out of the ordinary. The speakers have nothing to do with mutual funds and the conversations have nothing relating to markets. Yet, Karan and his team manage to keep the 200 plus invited IFAs deeply engaged for 2 days each year, and they invariably go back eager to mark their diaries for the next annual event. Read on to understand what makes Xtraordinaire a sought after annual event for IFAs.

WF: A lot of AMCs do their annual conventions for their key distribution partners. You have however differentiated yourself here too, with the unique format of your Xtraordinaire event. What is the format like, what was the genesis of this idea and what are the key messages you are seeking to drive from this?

Karan: Annual conventions are held by many AMCs. We really wanted to break through and not get caught in the clutter and yet have a very solid proposition for our advisor community. We thought a lot about the proposition and eventually came up with Xtraordinaire. The program has completed three years. The underlying premise of Xtraordinaire is that this is one property where we will showcase speakers from various walks of life and not necessarily have anything to do with mutual funds. The intent is to look at completely different aspects, different personalities who are high achievers in their own right. We want to showcase their journeys, their stories and their inspirations, which can be shared with advisors who probably may not get an opportunity to hear these people under normal circumstances.

This year was quite an achievement for us as far as Xtraordinaire is concerned. We had six speakers from different walks of life and more importantly this year, we had over 200 advisors attend Xtraordinaire. In the first edition, we had 100 advisors attending, the next year we had 150 and this year the number was 200.

The speakers were from four different fields. We had Rahul Bose the actor who also represents India Rugby and is the Indian team's captain. We had Devdutt Patnaik who is the Chief Belief Officer of Future Group and an expert in Indian Mythology and runs programs based on business and mythology. Swaminathan Iyer was the third speaker. He is a political and economic consultant and a former editor of Economic Times. Narayan Kumar who is a creative chief and runs a firm called Metal Communications was the fourth speaker. He spoke about breakthrough sessions and how firms probably in their day-to-day working overlook basic and simple things that can help them break through. Shika Sharma - who heads the Axis Group, gave a very interesting perspective on the Indian economy and then Chandresh spoke on the market. We had a diverse set of people right from Bollywood to economics to mythology.

Each of them had a different story to tell and it was an eye opener even for me. For all of us there, having such a diverse set of achievers, discussing a range of issues, was something special.

Rahul Bose - Bollywood actor and captain of the Indian rugby team

Rahul Bose spoke about the impact that sports has had on him and his career. It's a topic that is very close to me and I could relate a lot to it. When he spoke about Bollywood and how it has evolved over the years and decades and every decade Bollywood just metamorphoses into something new, I saw that is so true for our business as well. Every 7-10 years the MF industry is evolving into something different, something new. He helped us capture the essence of change always happening in a well set 100-year-old industry called Bollywood.

Swaminathan Aiyar from Economic Times discussed the political landscape

Swaminathan Aiyar was a revelation - he spoke about the possibilities of an election in 2016, when all of us are focused on the outcome of the 2014 election. There are so many perspectives that one gets by simply hearing these experts. It really sets you thinking. Last year, we had Prahlad Kakkar - the famous ad man - who talked about how 1 plus 1 need not be either 2 or even 11 but could even be 21. Essentially, he talked about the infinite possibilities that unfold through synergies.

A rapt audience of leading IFAs, soaking in an enriching experience

You can be sure that Sangeeta Jhaveri's question had nothing to do with markets and funds !

There was truly nothing official about this - how about getting tips on rugby from Rahul Bose rather than tips on markets from fund managers?

WF: What are your key takeaways from this year's sessions?

Karan: My key takeaways are -

• There is lot of emotional and intelligence quotient within the IFA community and as AMCs we must recognize and evolve our programs to address that.

• As AMCs, many times we tend to put our message out there, which is about our funds and our products, but very rarely we look at it from an advisors' perspective. I think this is one of those initiatives where it is all about the advisor and IFA and that resonates well.

• My biggest learning is that we get completely different views and perspectives - and often, in challenging times, many of these turn out to be anchors of support that serve us rather well.

WF: What does it take to qualify for an invitation to the Extraordinaire event?

Karan: We have laid down certain criteria and one key criterion is net sales. There is a weightage given on existing AUM. A combination of the two is created as far as points are concerned.

We have created a completely different micro site on our webpage where this will be hosted and regularly we will be updating our set of advisors on where they stand as far as their qualifying criteria is concerned. I would ask all our IFA partners to track this regularly and would hope that many more qualify and participate in next year's event.

Wealth Forum spoke with some of the participants to get their perspective on what they found really different in Extraordinaire. Here are some opinions :

Nilesh Gurnani, Safe Investments, Indore

Axis has really made a mark with this conference. It was completely different and very enriching. There were people from different walks of life, sharing their experiences, and it was really up to us to draw lessons from these talks. Rahul Bose for example talked about the difference between commercial cinema and art films and why art films don't become commercially successful, though they are very high quality cinema. This really set me thinking about how some of the services we offer in our business are really good, but don't find sufficient appeal among customers while others connect so well with clients. When Rahul Bose gave us lessons in rugby, we understood how teamwork is so critical to succeed in that game. This applies equally in our businesses as well. When Swaminathan Aiyar spoke about the political and economic landscape, it was really illuminating as he was sharing an independent and candid opinion, without any constrains that come when you represent an organisation. Narayan Kumar gave a fascinating case study of Saffola oil over the last 20 years - about how they first shocked consumers about the harmful effects of cooking oil on the heart and presented a healthier alternative, and then how they have evolved constantly over the last 20 years to remain relevant to consumers changing needs. It is really up to us to derive lessons from these discussions and apply them in our own environments.

Bharat Phatak, Wealth Managers, Pune

The biggest benefit from this event is that it gave us an opportunity to step back from our daily routine and understand and learn from very different people and perspectives that one would normally not get exposed to. Devdutt Patnaik's discussions on belief systems was very interesting. Swaminathan Aiyar and Shika Sharma's talks were very enlightening. Rahul Bose of course was completely different. When he spoke about how he would choose his financial advisor, it certainly touched a chord within me. He spoke about how he felt it was so important for him to look his advisor in his eye and decide whether he can trust him. I have always believed that integrity that is visible in your eyes, a firm handshake and a warm smile can have a much larger impact than reams of analysis that you may subsequently present. Overall, the program is a very refreshing break from our routine, and one which makes you think about possibilities and scenarios that would otherwise not come easily to you.

Deepak Chabbria, Axiom Financial, Bangalore

Axis MF's event- Xtraordinaire, indeed was impressive and out of the ordinary.Agenda was well planned. It was visible that lot of thinking has gone behind setting the program and speaker selection, it appears deliberate attempts were made to avoid the familiar and ordinary. Even though some of the subjects selected were not directly related to MF or finance but never the less were topical and relevant in what we do. Speakers/presenters were experts in there sphere and largely succeeded in retaining the interest of the participants through out the event. Focus was on Macro environment, rather than routine presentation of data, which any way is also available during con calls. Axis MF's attempt not to tread on the beaten track was successful and I am sure this was well appreciated by other advisers as well.

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