How and when did you decide to become an independent financial advisor / wealth manager?

When I realised that all my past acts of being a CA to a stockbroker to a life insurance agent to a non life agent to a mutual fund distributor to a PMS distributor and a teacher in financial services were all the dots and connected the same when I qualified as a Certified Financial Planner this year, having started off two decades ago in the financial services industry.

Tell us your story – the early days, the early challenges, how you dealt with them, your growth path.

Early days in 1990, when the sensex  crossed the 1000 mark, were the days of no regulation as such, no automation, physical shares, it was a rarity for a qualified professional, a CA to surrender his certificate of practice and become a stockbroker offering financial services. The early challenges were of survival. Surviving the two scams from Harshad Mehta to Ketan Parekh, were itself a miracle! Dealing with these challenges was mainly through knowledge and keeping with the changing times by imbibing knowledge and upkeep with technology. Embracing change, rather than opposing it. Trial and error, accepting huge investments to be made in technology, in the people in your own self, and putting in a great deal of hard work. Not knowing exactly what will happen, but knowing for sure that change was happening and jumping at the given opportunities and accepting the norms of regulation, compliance as a necessity. Networked and constantly kept in touch with the peers.

How would you define your business proposition – HNI focussed / retail focussed or a mix of all segments?

Mix of all segments, but generally veering towards HNI focussed and Professionals.

How important is it to define what your business model is and what type of clients you will seek? In the early stages, should one go after any business that comes your way, or should you be very clear about your customer segmentation?

Very important and even in the early stages its difficult to choose, you could always prefer to accept the business that fits into your space and outsource if it does not, but try and retain your client as totally yours.

How important is marketing in an investment advisory firm?  What kind of marketing do you think works?  For example, direct mailing, newsletters, investment seminars, social networking etc?  Or is it largely word-of-mouth that counts?

Now, after two decades, it definitely is largely word of mouth that counts. Yes, you need to be around and make your presence felt in the form of being a member of a local club, attendee at seminars, etc.

What, in your opinion, do clients look for when choosing an advisor?

They look at someone they can trust, who deeply understands their requirements and is on their side in helping and guiding them towards the financial planning they so ardently desire. Especially in challenging times as these, they need someone who can handhold them through their stages into a peaceful retirement and at every stage of life changing moments.

How important is it to be able to offer the widest range of investment options? Is there merit in being focussed on only mutual funds or does one have to offer insurance, PMS, direct equities, bonds and maybe even property? Is it important to aspire for 100% of wallet-share of your client? Is it an impossible aspiration?

It is very important if one could offer a wide range rather than widest, but more important than aspiring for 100% wallet share is that one should be the first point of contact for advice for any financial decision or product buy that the client wishes to do.

What has been your biggest moment in your professional life so far?

Getting the CA qualification, and twenty years later the CFPCM. and after twenty eventful years, with all various qualifications like AMFI, IRDA, etc. thrown in, the professional edge has always been a great moment to cherish.

What has been the biggest challenge you faced in your professional life and how did you deal with it?

When after 11 years in stockbroking, during the scam when all of a sudden, my franchisee with a stockbroking firm came to an abrupt end as they were declared defaulter, and my goodwill was at stake was the biggest challenge. Restarting my innings again and adding to insurance and mutual fund distribution and achieving top performance, the Million Dollar Round Table qualification and attending their annual meet every year at USA since 2004 was a stamp of a comeback of sorts, thanks to my clients faith reposed in me.

In an advisory business, where clients place their trust in you personally, how do you manage to scale up and grow without losing touch with your old clients?

Delegation, efficient use of technology and focussing my role as client contact while operations are delegated, and try and maintain a niche profile rather than dilute myself.

How do you try and differentiate yourself / your firm in a competitive market place?

Professionalism with proper advice. Hitech is good, but Hi touch is better!

What are the key challenges that you have faced in trying to scale up your business and how have you tried to overcome these?

Technology requires a great deal of money, a great deal of time, and at times, with ever changing technology, obsolecense takes place very quickly. Overcome the same with me being the key driver of technology updation, and always keeping myself updated with the industry news and norms and attending the various forums and conferences.

How do you see the investment advisory business changing in light of the no load regulations and SEBI’s desire to see the evolution of a fee based model?

It is certainly a sea change happening. A new paradigm of sorts.

How are you aligning your business to the new regulatory environment?  What changes have you made / are you making in your business to sustain profit growth in the future?

The constant updation and knowing how changes are happening in the rest of the world, aligning towards the same has been a constant endeavour. From being only a stock broking person to adding on mutual funds, life and non life insurance and finally combining it into a comprehensive advisory financial planning service is what has been happening, and hence, the shock is perhaps much lesser.

What is the secret of your success?

Hard work. In the words of the late Nani Palkhivalla, the definition of a true professional is: One who has thorough knowledge of his profession, one who has the courage to speak in public what he thinks in private and, the higher one reaches, the humbler he becomes.  And, I have been always keeping the above definition of a true professional in mind and going along those lines.