Partner Interviews

June 23, 2015

Mr. Manish Rastogi, Kanpur

Manish from Kanpur had a dream to become Chartered Accountant, finally became a Financial Adviser. From childhood only he has an inner desire to do something on his own. That inner desire and conviction in equity asset class made him to start Stock Broking business after sudden death of his father. Later he forayed into MF business in 2007 after his meeting with Mr. Vivek Kumar from NJ. Manish believes that NJ India is a Lucky charm for him as he experienced an outstanding growth in his professional and personal life after he joined NJ. He believes that trust and transparency are much needed elements to build a financial advisory business and his 3C principle makes him different and ahead of other IFAs.

Team e-Saathi takes pride to present a short story of Mr. Manish Rastogi in his own words with our readers.

Before He Joined As An NJ Wealth Partner

The Beginning:
After completing graduation I made up my mind to become a Chartered Accountant. In a race to become a CA, I successfully passed an intermediated exam but was not able to appeared for final exam due to sudden death of father. Although there was no such emergency to take a job or to start a business after death of father, the passion of ”kuchh to karana hai jindagi me” never made me to sit quiet. As was a commerce graduate had a working knowledge and establishing a stock broking business requires less capital investment attracted me to start stock broking business.Finally I took franchise of one of the leading stock broker of India.

The business was going well, meanwhile one of my friend suggested me to take an LIC agency. On his recommendation I took LIC agency thinking that it will allow me to engage with existing clients, will be able to explored Insurance business and also a chance to earn more money. It was quite exciting, Today I am running my LIC business successfully. But stock broking business never gave me a level of satisfaction. I always wanted to see a smile of satisfaction on each of my clients' face, wanted to see all my clients wealthy. Somehow stock broking never bring that smile on my face and face of my clients and that always made me to think to look for other business. Meanwhile one of my friend who has already put his hands on selling MF, asked me to take AMFI exam. I hesitated for it & not convinced to take an AMFI but his one sentence forced me to think on it. He told me “ARN certify hoja jindagi me kabhi kam aayega“. Same as the case with LIC this time also with recommendation of friend I decided to appear for AMFI Exam and I cleared it. However, it was a nightmare for me to sell MF due to less understanding, less product knowledge, less support and also very little awareness among investors about MF.

The Defining Moment:
One day I visited my friend’s office. It was just a casual meet like we always have with friends, he was also a stock broker. When I entered into his office,I saw that he was chatting with one young guy who seems to be very confident and enthusiastic while explaining the subject they were discussing on. Interestingly, I started hearing their conversation without disturbing them. Within few minutes I got an understanding that he is explaining about a Mutual Fund Product and a platform that provides a comprehensive supports to IFAs to sell Mutual Fund. In between their discussion I asked few questions and again started hearing them. Now the interesting part of their conversation came when that person started giving explanation on Trail Income Model that MF offers to IFA to earn revenue. The concept of trail income model touched me.(It was easy to understand as already had familiarity with revenue model that LIC offers). As already had an ARN, I started thinking to get associated with this platform. On completion of discussion and getting understanding about the NJ Platform I decided to join as a Partner.

Friends, a young gentleman who inspired me, convinced me to join NJ “vo aur koi nahi lekin hamare Vivek Kumar the“. I always cherish that moment and a meeting with him. Support I received from him was outstanding from every aspect of business and even today when there is a requirement we go together to meet my clients.

Employees like Vivek Kumar & Bipin Singh are really a true wealth of NJ !

After Joined As An NJ Wealth Partner

A Business Journey:

Initial Days:
Frankly Speaking, a passion, conviction and optimism in me and about business never gave me a feeling of difficulty in establishing the business. Generally financial advisory business takes its own sweet time to go into full swing but existing client base of LIC helped me to stay with MF. So it was not so cumbersome for me to pass the initial phase of business establishment. However, acquiring a new customer in those days was bit challenging due to less awareness of the product and lack of financial literacy.
Dealing with clients:
A known practice among IFAs, I also started doing investors meet to acquire new clients by presenting them the wealth creation opportunity through investment in Mutual Fund. As already shared, I had an HNI client base that I built with my LIC agency helped me to establish Mutual Fund business. But I never tried to leverage client base of stock broking business. In initial days mouth to mouth publicity - a reference of new prospect by existing clients who had faith in me provided with an opportunity to build new client base for MF. Even today reference remains the main source for me that always introduced me with new clients. Thanks to all my clients!
- Trust. The trust is an important element that plays a big role in this business and I believe in winning the trust of clients by providing them the best in class services with transparent business approach. Winning someone's trust & trusting someone is always a challenge for everyone and when there is matter of investing it becomes a bit more difficult.
- Transparency. The other parameter is transparency that you have to show while dealing with your clients – a transparent business approach is also a success mantra for me. In a very first meeting with investors, somewhere I feel that it would be difficult to go ahead in building long lasting relationship then I stop myself to go ahead with them even though it could provide me a lucrative opportunity to make more money. I believe that a prospective investor should have a bit of trust in me especially when someone has recommended me. It is well understood that in just couple of meetings nobody would start trusting you but if overall mindset and approach of the investors does not suits me I hesitate to go ahead with them.
Investment Management Approach:
As far as investment approach is concerns, I prefer to understand the needs of a client and provid them need based and goal based advice. Getting detailed understanding of the clients financial situation and aspiration is vital for me.
Explaining MF product is the second most important step I take. To make them understand all about Mutual Fund is also a critical part, I explain them about pros and cons of investment in Mutual Fund and how it provides an opportunity to build wealth, to achieve life goals and fulfill other life aspirations.

Goal based Planning !
As said earlier after getting all required details and explaining about MF, I used to present them the all time best presentation provided by NJ – The NJ GAP. With this presentation I do explain them why to have financial goals and importance of it to achieve financial nirvana. While building the goal base portfolio I do consider the Risk Appetite of the investor and also where ever it requires to club Insurance. I suggest them with Health Insurance and/or Term Insurance in most of the cases as per requirement.

I believe that “There should not be any investment till you have a clear cut financial Goal”. On the part of communication, I always try to provide quality services to my client such as sending Monthly valuation report , explaining client desk services, regular meeting with them, portfolio reviews and an extra care when there is a case of redemption.
SIP That Speaks !
As convinced with investment in equity asset class and a specially investment through SIP in Equity Fund, I pitch SIP to every prospects I meet and urge them to start with it once they understand the concept of SIP and get convinced with it. But in case anyone left with any doubt in their mind (which generally happens with the investors who does investment first time into MF) or finds any reservation for investing through SIP or in MF then I recommend my clients to start with investment in debt funds and once they find it comfortable with investing in MF ask them to go with equity funds as per need.
Would like to share with readers of e-Saathi that I made all my equity AUM through SIP.
Let the trust factor established !
Trust factor is the core and heart in our profession of the financial advisory. Winning the trust of clients and my trust on them - with respect to their mindset is critical for me. We know well that Trust never comes all of a sudden when there is a matter of money. A proper guidance & understanding while building their investment portfolios, a timely review of their portfolios and commitment to provide best in class services to my clients are the trust building factors i always bank on.

The 3Cs: I personally believe that there are 3 basic pillars that helped my business to grow into manifold:

Conviction:
Without having strong conviction in Equity asset class and in Mutual Fund for Long term wealth creation, it would be difficult for me to guide & convince all my clients. As I already said trust is a vital for me and also for the business, from very first meeting I explain pros and cons of investment in Mutual Fund and also make them convince by explaining the risk associated with it and the underlying wealth creation opportunity. Let me tell you its The Conviction and Confidence of clients eventually only that eventually results into long lasting relationship.
Let me put in this way as far as conviction in business is concerns, If Standard of Living of an IFA has not been improved since the time they have started their business then there is no right for them to be in the business. It means they lack with the required conviction with what they are doing, the product they are selling and the product they are advising hence they should stop doing business. My question is: Without having conviction in the business how one can continu with it ? So conviction is the first pillar to build financial advisory business.
Communication:
I strongly believe that communication plays the most important role in our profession, That’s why I organize client meet on regular basis, carry out other activities to make them aware and give updates on products & services and take care to be in touch with clients at every stage of investment process starting from first meeting.
I explain them the usage & importance of Client desk and help them to make it accessible to them. Ask them to enter their other investment details to have a overall view of their investments which might have spread across the various products and different asset classes. Sharing with them MCS Images-Videos & other marketing material which provides product insight and update, regular meeting with them and review of their portfolio is a part of my business practice.
Commitment:
I am always committed to provide best in class services to all my clients. And always ensure that there would never be a scope of miscommunication and misunderstanding between me and my clients that may result into a broken trust.
Would like to share one experience of my life that clearly demonstrates application of these 3Cs.
2007,2008: The Years of an Indian Equity Market:

A period of an Indian Equity Market that everyone wants to forget and never want to experience it again. This time period thought a big lesson to all equity lovers.

Remembering those days ..

The so called Bull Run of an Indian equity market suddenly ended, that made everyone fear to deal with stock say it’s an equity investor, a stock broker, IFA or any entity who has invested their money or advised someone for investment in equity or someone has managed to bring money from investors into equity market either through Direct Equity route or through MF route.

I had witnessed a mark to market loss in the range of 40-60% in my investor’s portfolio. Investment of Rs. 1 Lac went down to a valuation of Rs.60K . No one was able to justify what happened to their investment and why it has happened. This was the time when – A phase of Bull Run before this burst made people to invest heavily without understanding the underling risk of equity, a practice of miss selling and providing misleading information has put all investors at a fix. A greed of investors to make a big money in short time made every investor to learn a lifetime lesson. I still remember, advisers,stock brokers etc. all have started avoiding phone calls from their investors, phone calls from investors used to went unanswered and people even chose to change their contact numbers. Everyone wanted to come out from market by redeeming all their investments and even people started asking to stop their SIPs though they had conviction in the concept.

But I took different path and decided to be with my clients. I started meeting each of my clients, make them understand the situation, explain them concept of long term wealth creation through Equity and decided to be in touch with them. I gave all efforts from my side to make them understand to stay invested and if required advised for changes in asset allocation in their portfolio. Tried to communicate the conviction to them again and again. “Main ne bahot mehnat ki hai use time pe”:) But hard work, faith of clients and the market all rewarded me at the end.

Do you know the out come of all these efforts ? The faith of my clients in me made it possible that not a single SIP was stopped from them though there was no new lump sum investment. You can imagine the valuation of such SIPs which remain continued from that time period.

Answers of below 3 questions will make you understand the importance of these 3Cs.

Would this have been possible if I did not had conviction in my business and the product that I am selling ? Answer is NO.
Would this have been possible If I had stayed away from investors and did not face or did not go and communicate with them ? Answer is NO.
Would this have been possible if I did not had that commitment level to make them understand to stay invested ? Answer is No.

So would like to advice all new NJ partners that please implement these 3c in your business practice.

Sharing with readers, the target I set for coming 2 years is to reach at Rs. 100 Cr. AUM mark.

In the end would like to thank Team e-Saathi for providing with me an opportunity to share my views and experience with other partners!

Thanks and all the best!

June 05, 2015

Mr. Vijay Mallipeddi,Ms. Manavi Financial Services, Vijayawada.

A Young Software Engineer from Vijaywada, working in an MNC in Hyderabad, earning handsome salary had finally decided to leave job last year. His first step on the path of becoming an IFA was taken at the time when an e-mail from HR asking an investment proof was received in his Inbox. That mail made him curious to know about Investment products. His desire to learn more and urge to guide colleagues made him more convinced to look for part time Fin. Advisory business. He started part time business along with the job in year 2007. Later he joined NJ as partner in 2009.With his strong business acumen and understanding of various aspects of financial advisory business and trust of his clients made him to achieve a sparkling success in short span of time.

A line that speaks everything of him - his passion and his ambition. "The first celebration is when I reached 1000 Cr, below this may not be a big achievement"

Glad to share the views of this inspiring and dynamic personality with all the readers.

What inspired you to choose the career of a financial advisor / distributor?
By Profession, I am a software engineer with Science background. In Jan 2006, our company HR has sent a mail to all employees to submit their investment proofs for FY 2005-06. At that time I had very little knowledge about investments and financial planning. I’ve a good friend of mine who guided me to invest in ELSS. I did my first MF investment in Feb 2006 without knowing anything about it. With me few of my colleagues also invested in ELSS.

This is the turning point for financial career. Somehow I’m not comfortable with that investments I did as don’t know what I did. This situation forced me to know what it is and out of curiosity I started reading on my own. By Apr 2006, I stated my tax planning for 2006-07 through SIP in ELSS. With me 5-6 of colleagues also started their SIPs.

Slowly people started asking me how to plan, what are the better investment options…slowly I started enjoying this subject and I understood that equity is best investment asset for long term and started believing in the asset class and suggested people to invest in equity through SIP. Until Aug 2007, I’m suggesting people passively and they are investing through my friend who working in a company.

In this process, with my 1 ½ year experience with people, I understood that people have very less knowledge about their investments. Most of the people used to tell me I’m paying 50K insurance premium but they don’t know how much sum assured they have. And most of them feeling that insurance is an investment and really they don’t know why they are paying those premiums.

These type of scenarios made me to feel that there is so much of vacuum exists in financial knowledge and there is good business opportunity and at the same time we can help our friends and colleagues. My journey as a mutual funds distributor started in Oct 2007. From day 1 I believed in SIP, so my main focus and suggestion to customers is invest in equity through SIP.

Please share about your career and experiences before becoming a Partner / IFA.
I started my financial advisor career in 2007 as a part timer, by profession I’m a software engineer. I’ve build the business out of sheer passion. In Sept 2014, I’ve decided to quit my job and take forward the advisory business. 31st Dec 2014 is my last working as a software engineer and end of 12 year career.

How did you get to know about NJ and what convinced you to become a Partner?
In 2009, when there are discussions about removal entry load and reduction of upfront commissions, I thought that this is the time where we have to do business aggressively. I started looking for opportunities where I’ll get some help in the form of on-line reporting and good guidance in business. At that time, I got reference of KSV Narendra Kumar of NJ Vijayawada. I had a more than 2 hr discussion with him. That is the first time where I felt, I’ll get good guidance and knowledge from narendra and from NJ. Because of Narendra and his knowledge only I became partner. In 2011, I’ve transferred my business to proprietary entity “Manavi Financial Services”

What makes you to leave your past job and to start Advisory business ?
First point is out of passion and at the same time, there is a lot of opportunity in financial advisory. Still there is so much of vacuum in financial advisory for the customer centric advisors.

You are very convinced on equity asset class for long term wealth creation. The question is how do you convince your clients? Is any standard sales pitch / approach towards this?
Although I am from a science back ground, from past 7 years I’ve invested lot of time to enhance my knowledge. I’ve enough information in convinced to equity asset and I’m very happy to share the information to customers. You say about, Indian population demographics, future earnings increase of Indian public, increase in productivity levels of Indian workforce, increase of surplus incomes of Indian families by double income….

Do you promote the idea of savings through MF SIP in your clients?
From day 1 I’m convinced with SIP and only sold SIPs. If some customer is ready to invest 1 lac at a time, I ask him to give 50K one time and 5K SIP. In fact I am very week in selling one time investments and NFOs.

Please share with us any practices /activities related to client acquisition that you follow. What is your advice to fellow Partners on this front?
As a part timer I never tried any activities for getting customers. From my initial days, I advised my customers which is better for them. Most of my business was build purely on references and also I never asked for any references. My motto of doing business is educating the customer, and help him in taking the decision and give him which is best to him.

Whenever I’m going to a customer, I never think about whether I’m getting a business or not. Always my intention is, today I’m going to a person to give some financial knowledge. I never bothered about closing of the business. But I’ll go with full confidence and information and suggested customer which is good for him.

Client communications is an integral part of your business. Please share any best practices / services related to communications adopted by you.
I’ll be in touch with customers, through Email, SMS and WhatsApp. We are active on social media also. At the same time, I’ll not try to bother the customer with more and more information.

I’ll try to meet or call the customer at least once in 6 months and do review of his investments.

From past one year, MCS images and videos are also helping us a lot.

Please tell us your approach /method /process to selecting mutual fund schemes for your clients for investment.
I’ll follow suggestions from NJ, as well as I do my research. I’ll keep pool of 15-20 funds and distribute those funds to all the customers. At most I’ll not give more than 4 funds to any customer.

I tempted to give good performing funds with good respect and service to advisors. Win-win is the motto here.

What advantages do you feel TADA offers to both Clients and Partners?
With TADA, the ease of doing business is great. In this summer, the weather is not supportive to go out and interact with customers, but still TADA made us to do very good business. TADA will save lots of time of partners and also we can promote liquid funds and short term debt funds very aggressively with TADA, where as it is not viable in physical form.

Please share with us any instances / examples related to TADA which highlights its' importance and advantages in real life.
With the help of TADA, in recent fall (May 2015), we are able to do more than 30 Lac one time investments in 2 days from 20-25 customers which is not possible by meeting them and closing the business.

How do you assess /see the future of financial advisory business in India? How can we as Partners be ready / prepared to make the most of it?
Still most of the Indian investments are either in land or gold. With more and more younger people are coming into jobs with more surplus money in their hand and with the increased inflation pressures, people are thinking about alternative investments. In coming years, there will be lot of people who is looking for quality advises and we need to be ready with required infrastructure. TADA is definitely one of the best tools we have.

Opportunity is unlimited. Today’s generation (around 30) need 5-10 cr before they retire. If you are successful in acquiring 1000 customers, min AUM you will have is 5000 Cr. This example is, if you work alone. If you can build your own team? Sky is the limit.

Self evaluation and assessment is something we all should do regularly. How do you assess your own self and/or your business? Are there any specific parameters you refer to?
Every day before going to sleep, just I’ll think a minute about what I did today for the business. It need not be closing the business, but whether I did something for the business or not. I never had a target in mind, keep on meeting new customers and keep on increase your live SIP. Business opportunity is unlimited. The first celebration is when I reach 1000 Cr, below this may not be a big achievement.

I’ll keep an eye on my live SIP, and also redemptions. How the SIP book is increasing, redemptions are out of compulsions or out of panic.

Winning the trust of a Client is not an easy task. How do you think you can win the trust of the Clients?
I always believed one thing. What is good for the customer, advice the same to him. If somebody is risk averse and don’t want to take any risk, I suggest them to invest in either PPF or in PF. Of course in these cases also I’ll get some SIP from such customers as well. And I’ll explain them the risk they are taking by investing in so called safest investments.

My goal in advising Equity is, I want to create very good examples in equity. Already we have created few.

Please share your experiences in working with NJ as a Partner.
Working with Nj will definitely helped me in grooming my skills. Helped me in change of thinking prospective. Initiatives like Print shop, MCS images & videos are awesome.

What suggestion and advice would you like to give to the existing NJ Partners to further strengthen their business?
This advisory business is an ocean; it’s your ability how much you will draw from that ocean. Each and every person we met need not to be our customer. We have many opportunities outside waiting for us, just try to meet as many people as possible. One more suggestion is, better try to do less business in relatives and close friends, at the same time let them know that you are in this advisory field and you can help them in case they are looking for good advice. Never ever insist them to take advice invest through you.

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