Kavitha Menon, Mumbai based RIA
After completing my MBA, I started my journey as a wealth manager and later worked under the leadership of late Parag Parikh. Through this journey, I learned what it requires to be a successful adviser and how to earn client trust.
I realised there were hardly any fee based advisers in India and I decided to fill this gap by floating my practice in 2013. It was during this time, SEBI came out with RIA Regulations and I thought of registering myself as RIA to follow fee based approach.
When I started my practice, I thought client acquisition would be a challenge since the belief was that investors were not willing to deal with advisors working under the fee based model. But surprisingly, clients from my previous job were willing to come on-board and what’s more, were willing to pay fee.
Some of the key things that have helped me excel are:
- Be well-informed - update your knowledge and stay abreast of the latest developments in the industry.
- Be honest - You are a human being and it is not possible for you to know everything at all points of time. If a client asks you something you are ignorant about, admit it rather than offer half-baked or inappropriate solutions. Offer to come back after researching the topic or product.
- Be bold enough to ask for fees - Often, advisers don’t ask for fee because they fear losing clients. So ask your fees the way other professionals like doctors or lawyers do and you will be surprised at the number of people who will pay provided you add value
You are in a profession of changing the financial lives of your clients and charging fee is not a sin.
Advise for budding women IFAs:
Women are very intuitive in nature. Their empathetic nature helps them connect with clients more easily. This profession is ideal for women but they need to work hard and most importantly love their jobs.
Nisreen Mamaji, Moneyworks
I used to work for an advertising firm as a client servicing executive. Subsequently, I moved to Dubai for work and there I was offered a job at an insurance company. Though my nature of my job was essentially the same, I was exposed to financial services for the first time.
After I came back to India in mid 90s, I decided to build expertise in financial services and got associated with insurance and mutual funds companies. I pursued CFP to gain further knowledge in this field.
Over the years, I have graduated from being a distributor to an adviser. My clients have been with me from the beginning and I consider this as my major accomplishment.
Some of the key things that helped me excel are:
- Upgrade your skills continuously
- Be empathetic and a good listener
- Work with discipline
Advise for budding women IFAs:
I think this business is tailor made for women. Women are already successful in managing finances and they just need to upgrade their skills and ensure that they work with discipline.
Initially, acquiring clients is a hurdle as nobody will trust you easily with their money. So start with the ones who can be easily accessed by you.
