Dear All,

Please find below a very good article as appeared in Cafe Mutual of a advisor whose success will be a lesson and motivation to all of us:

Rags to riches, he was a waiter and now owns three firms

Sachin Karate left his home in Akola at the age of 16. He served as a waiter in restaurants by earning Rs. 1,700 per month as salary. Today, he owns three companies and aspires to achieve Rs. 100 crore AUA in mutual funds. Read his rags to riches story.

What is your background? What were you doing before venturing into financial advisory? 

I come from a very poor family from Akola, situated in Maharashtra. My father was a cycle rickshaw driver. We were seven members in our family and my father’s income was never sufficient for all of us. I faced a lot of challenges in my childhood. Sometimes, we did not have enough food to eat. My parents used to quarrel on family issues every day. My entire childhood was spent in poverty with no peace of mind. Our house was too small for the family to stay. I had to walk 10 km to reach my school, sometimes barefooted and sometimes with empty stomach. 

In 1998, immediately after completing secondary education, I left my home at the age of 16 with a hope of getting a job in Nashik. When I arrived there I had to deal with a series of challenges -  sleeping on railway platform, going without food for several days and being all alone in an unknown place. My search for a job ended with me becoming a helper in a restaurant. As a helper I used to earn Rs. 20 per day by cleaning the floor and utensils. 

But I was relieved that at least I got a place to stay. I became friends with waiters and with their company came host of bad habits. I realised, this was not taking me anywhere. I changed several jobs that paid me marginally better than the previous one but it was still the waiter’s job. I knew I wanted to be elsewhere-someplace bigger and better! 

What inspired you to get into financial advisory? 

It happened by chance. I used to work as a waiter in a restaurant in Nasik and in 2004, someone suggested me to sell insurance policies. I saw an opportunity in this and so I started selling insurance policies from morning till evening and worked as a waiter at night. 

How were the initial days of your business? What kind of challenges did you face? How did you overcome the same? 

I was new to this city. Making contacts was my first priority as people did not trust me easily. My first commission from insurance was Rs.2,100. For the initial three years, I invested my earnings in enhancing my knowledge by buying books and by enrolling for courses. After gaining confidence, I quit my job as a waiter in January 2007 and took up insurance advisory as a full time job. During this time, my bank balance was only Rs.17,000. I wanted to reach out a wider audience. So I spent Rs.12,000 for putting up a stall in an exhibition.  I took personal loan and bought an office in 2007. 

How did you acquire clients? 

I was selling life insurance and my next step was to get the mediclaim agency. To expand further, I took up mutual fund advisory in 2008. I used to put up stalls on the roadside to grab people’s attention. Today, I have around 200 clients including 10 HNI clients. In 2011, I completed my CFP and alongside passed a certification for ‘Capital market dealer’ by NISM.

How much assets under advisory do you manage in mutual funds? How did you manage to get it? 

My current AUM is Rs.7 crore in mutual funds. Recently, I got Rs.11 lakh insurance premium from a single family. A HNI client invested Rs.45 lakh in mutual funds and another HNI client started SIP of and Rs.70, 000 per month.

What were your biggest learnings as a financial advisor?

I believe education is important to succeed in life. In 2004, I completed my B.com from an open university. People are mean, they come and go. But one should take it in their stride. I always try to inculcate good habits, be with good company and believe in upgrading my knowledge constantly.

Please share a memorable moment in your financial advisory journey.

There are many moments to share. But, when people come and thank you for helping them in managing their finances, I consider this as my biggest achievement. 

Apart from mutual funds, what are your other businesses? 

I run Varad Training Academy which is a training firm for insurance agents. I’m also into organic farming. 

What is your key to success? 

I am hardworking and do not easily give up. I have faith in god and this makes me grow stronger. I work for my dreams without any compromise. My advice to aspiring advisors is to be positive, polite and serve people who are in need. Stay humble and stay focussed. At one time, I did not have a shelter. Today, I own a flat worth Rs. 30 lakh, have a car and own five acres of land. What are your future plans? My strongest desire is to possess an AUA of Rs.100 crore within the next two decades.

Read more at: http://cafemutual.com/news/tarraki/189-rags-to-riches-he-was-a-waiter-and-now-owns-three-firms

regards

aknarayan

Dear All,

Please fine below an article for your reading:

Things Successful People Don’t Mention In The Workplace

Obviously, in order to gain the trust and friendship of your colleagues, you need to open up to them. However, there’s a very fine line between giving just enough information about yourself and giving too much information about yourself. If you mistakenly reveal the wrong things, it could mean the end of your career (or, a little awkwardness at least). You need to learn how to stay on the right side of that fine line and find ways to open up without revealing the things that should be kept to yourself.

Here are 9 things that successful people do not discuss at the workplace, or even if they are out for a fun night with their colleagues.

1. Their Facebook activities

Your co-workers and employer should not be on your Facebook friends list. If they are, they see everything you post, and you may post something that could get you into trouble at work. If you must have them on Facebook, set up a separate account and don’t post anything personal on it.

2. Their negative opinions of others

You will never work at a company that doesn’t have at least a few incompetent people, but you should never tell anyone you work with that you think others are incompetent. This will do nothing more than make you look like someone who is negative about others.

3. Their thoughts on politics and religion

These are two topics that should never be discussed with your co-workers and business colleagues. They are very sensitive subjects — people take their religious and political beliefs very seriously.

4. Their partying habits

You may like to have a few drinks on the weekends. That is your decision to make, but no one in your workplace needs to know about it. If you come into work everyMonday morning talking about how loaded you were on the weekend, you are soon going to be seen as a party person and not someone to be taken seriously.

5. Their incomes

While it is okay to let your family members know your income if they are interested, it is not something you should share with your co-workers. This can make things seem more competitive and bring on resentment if others make less.

6. Their bedroom activities

This is another topic that is off limits in the work place. You don’t want to hear about what your co-workers are doing in their bedrooms, and they don’t want to hear about your bedroom activities either. Some people may be very offended by this kind of talk, so it’s best left out of the workplace.

7. Their ideas about what others do in their bedrooms

No one’s sex life is any of your business, and there is no need for you to talk to your co-workers about the sex lives of others. The same goes for talking about sexual orientation. Basically, leave the sex at home — where it belongs.

8. Their negative feelings about what they do

Never tell your colleagues that you hate your job. No one wants to hear you complain. It will just make you be seen as negative and not a team player. Bosses will pick up on this and you could end up being replaced by someone who really does want to do your job.

9. Their latest dirty or offensive joke

Most of us love a good dirty or offensive joke, but there is a time and a place. The workplace is not that time or place. Some may find it funny, but others may take great offense.

Following the lead of successful professionals will help you to lead a tactful work life — without worrying about offending coworkers or jeopardizing your position.

Dear All,

Please find below a good article as appeared in Cafe Mutual for your reading:

How do advisors define their ideal clients?

Financial advisors say that openness, faith, and comfort level are three main traits of their ideal clients.

Banali Banerjee Jun 26, 2015

Typically, many advisors tend to onboard all types of clients when they start their practice. Over time, advisors evaluate the psyche of each client and decide to work with a certain set of clients whom they are more comfortable with.   

We asked advisors as to what is it that they look for in an ideal client. 

Faith 

Faith is an essential factor to forge a long term relationship between an advisor and his client. “According to me, my ideal client should have faith in me and he should also willing to trust me. There have been many instances where we have parted ways with clients solely because of lack of trust,” says Vinod Jain of Jain Investments. 

Suresh Sadagopan of Ladder7 Advisories says that although every client has a different story to say, he prefers only those clients who follow what he advices. “Doubting a financial advisor is never helpful. I have met many clients where they do not follow our advice.” 

Comfort 

Lovaii Navlakhi of International Money Matters says “A certain level of comfort should exist between us and the client.” 

“My ideal client should be someone that I feel totally comfortable dealing with,” agrees Vinod. 

Openness 

A financial advisor expects openness from clients. “We expect clients to be open. Unless, they give us the freedom to know about their investments, our advice will not yield any benefits,” says Vishal Dhawan of Pan Ahead Wealth Advisors. 

“My clients won’t appreciate if I give incomplete information to them. Similarly, I also expect my clients to be open about their investments. This is essential otherwise the trust cannot be built,” points out Suresh.

Set a target audience 

Narrowing down on a target audience is one of the way advisors can find their ideal clients. Shifali Satsangee of FundsVedaa says, “Defining our client base has helped us in identifying our niche market where we desire to build our focus. Our ideal client base comprises prospects who desire to achieve their financial aspirations and those who recognize the importance of financial planning and wealth creation as a means to reach them. We focus only on HNI segment.” 

Also, having a well-defined target audience helps advisors improve their expertise in specific areas and in turn improve their efficiency. “We deal with wealthy clients who come with a certain minimum ticket size. Catering to a niche helps us to improve our efficiency,” says Vishal. 

To sum up, besides the ticket size, faith, openness and comfort level are the main traits which advisors look for in their ideal clients. 

Let us know what is your definition of an ideal client?

Read more at: http://cafemutual.com/news/business-development/300-how-do-advisors-define-their-ideal-clients

regards

aknarayan

There is more to personal finance than investing

Dear All,

Please find below a good article of Mrs. Uma Sashikant as appeared in Economit Times for your reading:

There is more to personal finance than investing 

This week's story is about someone whose personal finance skills I have observed for the longest time. Usha returned to her hometown 18 years ago, with two girls aged 7 and 3, after the unexpected death of her husband. Both the girls are today engineers, working with top firms and standing proudly by their mom, whose money management skills helped the family rise from the brink. Usha focussed on what she knew best—dealing with money sensibly. This story is about her attitude towards money and her balancing act of the present and the future.

The most common mistake lottery winners, pensioners and others who get lump sums make, is the mixing up of principal and income. Usha was a simple homemaker and the household's only source of income ceased when her husband died. When Usha got the group insurance payment after a month, she made her first major money decision. 

She would treat the payout as stopgap income to sustain her family. Before it ran out, she would work towards getting the rest of her dues. After that, she would not touch the principal. It was all that she had to secure her girls' future.

Many of us do not realise the need to plan and execute, especially in money matters. Usha had to realise her dues before the initial money got over. She allocated a specific amount for her monthly expenses and spent her days relentlessly following the paper trail and chasing government clerks. In the next 10 months, she realised the funds that were due, and got her widow's pension activated. She did not grieve and grovel. She chose to get out and get things done.

Money management is a personal preference. My deepest understanding of why some people will not look at equity investing comes from conversing with Usha. Her only choice was the bank fixed deposit. She drew no interest and simply renewed them. She refused to look at any other option.

Even the post office was not her preference, simply because any premature withdrawal would come with a penalty. In all my years of telling her about equity, her response was standard: This is all I have for my children and I cannot take any chances with the principal. She saw the high returns as the lure she should avoid, and no amount of statistics could change her. She was assiduous about her Form 15G and renewal of deposits. Accounting and paperwork was a natural skill and she leveraged that.

Financial independence is critical to emotional wellbeing. Usha belonged to a large family that rallied around, ready to chip in with finances. But Usha's growing up years where her widowed mother depended on her kin, had left some scars. She knew the toll that dependence takes on the confidence and attitude of the family. She did not want that for herself. She says she would not be what she is without her family, but she kept her head high by refusing to seek monetary help. The emotional support is what she needed most, and got aplenty. Many had to compel her to accept assistance, and Usha liked it that way. She wanted to be able to tell the givers that she already had enough. It also kept in check the givers' eagerness to interfere.

Usha learned to convert her money dealings into a win-win approach. When she sold her house to move closer to her maternal home, she paid a large part payment, and negotiated with her seller to repay the balance in installments , without seeking a home loan. She knew that her seller was also a simple middle-class man struggling to manage the cash flows. She saved over the year and gave him a lump sum every January.

That was the time the seller was struggling to meet his tax-saving investments, and Usha's money helped him to immediately do his 80C investments. Usha knew how cash flows worked. She intuitively understood how to structure them. 

In simple middle-class communities, the need for money is always unexpected and hand loans from one another is the first call. 

Everyone knew that Usha had lump sums put away. She told me that others in need can't help seeking those who have it, and the need is to draw the rules, instead of a downright 'no' or a destructive 'yes'. She found a balance instead. She created a small rotating corpus. She lent it whenever her immediate family was short on cash, but the money had to be repaid. Usha would have been a successful banker if she went to work. She funded a few crises in the family, provided working capital to her kin who ran businesses, and enabled friends to pay lump sum fees. A tiny part of her principal was devoted to her community, and I revel at her ability to find a sensible way to give. In running the household, savings should be based on principles, not transactions.

Her spending mantra was simple: All basic needs would be fully covered, and the home would have no conversations of shortage. 

Every task in the house that needed payment for a service, she took on herself, so she could save. There would be enough money for education and books. Good home food was cooked and enjoyed. But there would be no eating out or lifestyle expenses. The home ran like an efficient office where resources were optimised. Usha managed to save each month from the meagre pension, since she was determined. 

There was not a single dry eye when she conducted her daughter's wedding with grace and pride. Usha's story tells me that not everything in personal finance is about income and investing. There is a lot to learn about attitudes to money, discipline, patience and perseverance in spending and saving. Usha's daughters have already begun mutual fund investments. She tells me she can begin hers when the second daughter is also married. She knows the principal she has is now hers, to make decisions. She will be ready for conversations about asset allocation then.

The author is Chairperson, Centre for Investment Education and Learning.