Zankhana Shah, Founder of Money Care Financial Planning talks to Cafemutual about her journey into financial planning and her approach towards financial planning.
Tell us about your early career. Did you
always want to be a financial planner?
I’m a chartered accountant. After completing my CA I joined Deloitte Touche as a system auditor. I also have Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP, 1997) certification from National Institute of Industrial Engineering under my belt.
The journey into financial planning was a natural progress. I used to help my friends in picking up stocks. I worked as a trader in my father’s stock broking Firm - J. J. Bhabhera Securities. My friends and acquaintances used to take advice from me regarding their finances. I used to guide people in choosing post office schemes, debt products and insurance. But I didn’t do it a product distributor. It was just informal advice.
I worked for about a year in Deloitte after which I started my advisory practice.
What inspired you to take up financial advisory?
I always had the entrepreneurial spirit in me. A lot of people used to turn to me for investment advice. Being a CA, I had a knack for numbers. I sensed an opportunity in this space which gave birth to Money Care Financial Planning in 2002.
You are among the earliest practicing financial planners in India….
I passed CFP in 2005. I came across the CFP program much before it was launched in India. In fact, when I enrolled for CFP I taught the concept of Time Value of Money to CFP students, which was the first batch of CFPs. I also designed a questionnaire for one of the CFP modules. I’m among the first few practicing CFPs in India and the first lady planner. I was featured in Outlook when I took up financial advisory.
What kind of teething trouble did you face?
The
awareness about financial planning was very low. I have never been a workaholic.
After my marriage I had a baby and as any other woman I had to prioritize. Also,
I was a fitness freak and still am. These things impacted my practice’s
scalability. I never marketed my services. This industry is very different so as we do not believe in conventional sense of marketing. We are searching some online areas where we cater to more clients with their basic financial queries. I have always been catering to a
small set of clients. Right from the beginning, we operated as a boutique firm.
Tell us about your business model? What kind of services are you offering?
I guide on financial matters holistically as a financial consultant. The guidance is broadly based on clients expectation, risk profile, needs and life style goals, inspiration and life philosophy. We regularly interact and report on their portfolio and review the financial plan with them so that we achieve what we aspire to achieve all in transparent and confident way.
All of our services are based on well researched, customized and unbiased guidance about various investment vehicles in the debt and equity sphere like mutual funds, insurance products, fixed deposits, portfolio management schemes, RBI Bonds , post office schemes, structured products etc..
We serve a closed group and references of colleagues and client.
How much assets under advisory do you currently manage in mutual funds?
I manage Rs. 50 crore among 10 families which are very close to me. Majority of them are in the vicinity of 5 km from where I stay, which is the wealthiest area of Malabar Hill. My clients are very well informed so sometimes it’s just a second opinion they are looking for.