At a time when many MFDs/advisors faced difficulty in ensuring business continuity due to the nationwide lockdown, Mumbai based advisor Gajendra Kothari of Etica Wealth acquired over 120 new clients and grew his AUA by Rs.50 crore between April and December 2020.
His secret weapon: Use of technology to set up virtual office.
Gajendra feels that 2020 has been a blessing in disguise for MFDs. The year 2020 has clearly established that investments can be discussed and completed through virtual platforms.
“Today, location is no longer a hurdle to conduct educational sessions for clients. Earlier, fund managers were accessible to those MFDs staying in Mumbai or some big metro cities. However, with technology, fund managers have started taking sessions for clients sitting anywhere,” Gajendra said this at Aditya Birla Sunlife Mutual Fund – Cafemutual’s popular webinar series ‘Lessons from the Masters’.
Gajendra was in conversation with K.S.Rao, Head - Investor Education & Distribution Development, Aditya Birla Sun Life MF on setting up a virtual office in the new world.
Gajendra said that he took inspiration from some of the top surgeons as they manage to do 20-30 surgeries in a day with the help of virtual meetings.
Gajendra feels that MFDs who wish to take business to another level must spend time and money in technology. He further believes that while artificial Intelligence (AI) cannot replace financial advisors but financial advisors using AI can replace those who do not use AI.
Today, Gajendra is working on digitalizing every aspect of his business in the next 3-4 years.
Actionable recommendations
Gajendra has acquired new clients through webinars during lockdown. He took up several courses on subjects like Facebook ads, email marketing, mastering Linkedin, SEO marketing etc. to reach out to greater number of clients in the past 9 months. Such courses are available on educational websites like Udemy for around Rs.500.
Gajendra believes that MFDs should go beyond mutual funds to grow business – they should consider offering tax planning, insurance and so on depending their client needs. “You can look at collaborating with fintech companies to enhance client experience,” he said.
Here are some of the digital tools recommended by Gajendra
- Evernote - This is like a note taking tool where your employees can note everything during meetings and share it easily
- Last pass - An application to remember all passwords.
- IFANow - Here you can manage back office reporting, build financial plans, conduct online transactions on behalf of clients, manage billing & invoicing and make use of a sound CRM system too.
- GreytHR, Quikchex - Both are employee management apps where employees can view their payroll or leave information and even apply for leave
- Yazdi tantra- Gives latest tips on technology and digitalization
Finally, a word of caution from Gajendra - MFDs should undertake a proper demo before buying any app or software.
