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As a mark to celebrate Raksha Bandhan, Cafemutual spoke to a few leading distributors and advisors who onboarded their brothers, sisters or cousins as clients. Let us see how these MFDs/advisors have onboarded their siblings and cousins as clients:
Rajesh Sodhani, Sodhani Investments, Jaipur - "Don’t chase them. Give them space.”
My brothers, cousins and I were once having a friendly conversation about our professional lives. However, many people do not understand what we really do. So, I added them to my WhatsApp broadcast group and started sending them my short write ups on equity markets, mutual fund investing and other topical issues.
Overtime, when they understood my job and my professional acumen, they approached me for guidance.
One key learning here is that you will have to give them time and space to understand. Don’t chase them, instead, wait for them to approach you.
Sachin Karate, Varad Financial Services, Nashik - "This Rakhi, gift your sibling an SIP.” 
A couple of years back, I gifted a SIP to my sister during Bhai Dooj, a festival similar to Raksha Bandhan and recommended her to continue investing thereafter.
In this process, she learnt about SIP in a practical way. Also, seeing her investments grow, she increased her monthly contribution eventually. Today, she is doing couple of SIPs that are linked to different financial goals.
Suresh Sadagopan, Ladder7 Advisories, Mumbai - "Appoint a teammate to offer professional services to siblings.”
At times, family members feel awkward and may hold themselves back from asking questions that they might have asked other MFDs/RIAs. They may hesitate to ask you questions like how you can add value to my portfolio and how you are different from others.
To address this issue, I first tell them about my profile and then appoint a teammate who can address all their queries and concerns. They are more comfortable asking tough questions to my teammate. This approach has paid off well and today my sister and all my cousins are my clients.
Viral Bhatt of Money Mantra, Mumbai - "Focus on winning professional confidence.” 
My brother and I once had a casual talk on investments and returns. I asked him a couple of questions to understand his financial situation. Based on his inputs, I created a financial roadmap for him that was suitable for his risk appetite.
This gave him comfort about my professionalism and he was keen to have a more detailed discussion. Eventually, he also noticed my structured approach to creating a financial roadmap. And most importantly, he sensed my seriousness to guide him just like any other client of mine.
Today, I manage his portfolio along with the portfolio of one of my cousins.
