Delhi based financial advisory and wealth management firm, Marwah Financial CEO and founder Abhishek Marwah tells Jayshree Pyasi that affordable and authentic advice is their key differentiator.
Tell us something about yourself and your venture Marwah Financial?
I am a certified financial advisor with six years of experience in the Indian financial markets. Marwah Financial is a customer focused wealth management and financial planning firm. The company was founded to offer affordable and authentic investment advice.
How did the idea of starting ‘Marwah Financial’ come about?
During my graduation days I noticed two things about the financial services sector. One, this sector is prone to hard selling and mis-selling. Two, it’s a service which touches everyone, from a service class employee to a high net worth investor.
India is witnessing a growing number of professionals, getting six-seven figure salaries that need financial advisors to help them manage their money prudently and reach their financial goals. I could immediately spot an opportunity to create a customer focused firm in the sector.
What was the key motivating factor that drew you towards finance?
My fascination with stock markets began when I was very young. My father used to invest in stocks and I was very curious to understand about what it is and how it works. In fact I started investing when I was studying in college. Once I started I never looked back.
What is your differentiating factor?
Our differentiator is focus on wealth management and financial planning rather than just plain vanilla selling. Customer service and performance is our top priority with relationship and trust being the founding stone of our business.
What kind of a client base do you have?
We have five hundred plus clients. We have both domestic and NRI clients but our primary focus is Delhi/NCR. We focus on executives working in the corporate sector as they understand and value the importance of professional financial advice.
How do you reach out to your clients?
Reference is a great source of winning new business. We have a satisfied client base which refers us to new prospective clients. Also we have a business development team in place.
You have had six years of experience in the Indian financial markets. How has the journey been so far?
In the last six years I have travelled a small journey from having interest in financial markets to setting up an organization with professionals, setting up partnerships with multinational companies and having a vision of what I want to achieve.
The selling mentality and the stock market crash of 2008 was enough to drive retail investors from the financial services industry. I can sense that this decade will be of wealth management and financial planning rather than setting up distributor network and just selling financial products.
Tell us about your expansion plans and where do you see yourself five years down the line?
I would like to have physical presence across Delhi/NCR and other metro cities in India. I would also like to create an online model for personal finance and financial planning. Five years down the line, I would like to see Marwah Financial as a brand for authentic and affordable financial advice, enabling wealth creation for all our clients.
What would be your advice to aspiring financial planners and advisors?
Financial advisory runs across multiple areas like personal finance, wealth management, financial planning etc and works across multiple products. Anyone who has built up a good knowledge across these verticals is difficult to replace.