I interviewed Azeem Jagani of Composite Investment Services, Mumbai on a balmy Monday evening. He was rushing back to his office from a client meeting. Seeing him so energetic at the fag end of the day, I was curious to know his secret. His answer was, ‘if you love your job, there is no mental fatigue’. Through a quick chat, we try to understand how Azeem plans his day.
Typically, Azeem’s day starts with a quick read of the newspaper to stay abreast of the latest happenings. Apart from newspapers, he also makes it a point to go through research reports to identity the best investment options for his clients. On some days, he participates in concals with CIOs and fund managers to understand their investment strategy.
Normally, at work his day starts with client meetings. He meets between 15-20 clients in a day. These meetings could be about adding new funds or related to performance or service issues. While initially both client acquisition and servicing activities were well balanced, post the SEBI scheme rationalisation and tax law changes, more time is spent on servicing the 5000 + client base these days.
He makes it a point to schedule the day’s meetings a day in advance to ensure that the he does not lose crucial morning hours in scheduling. Typically, these meetings run until late afternoon post which he quickly reviews his emails and responds to any pending client queries. While his service team handles majority of service requests, he handles all queries related to financial plan or investment portfolio.
Though the official office timings are 9 to 5, more often than not it is extended until 7. Saturdays are particularly busy as majority of his salaried clients schedule meetings on Saturdays. This is why he finds Mondays to be more relaxing than Saturdays.
Meditation and spending time with family help him unwind after a long day at work.
