2021 is ending soon. Can you give us a sneak peek into your 2021?
It was a year that looked normal in the beginning but descended into Covid wave 2 by Mar 2021 end. We started working from home and there was a sense of déjà vu. This time around, we were prepared well.
From a business viewpoint, I would say we were steady in this period. We were migrating from an individual RIA to a corporate RIA model and there was a lot of work around that. As normalcy was setting in, we commenced working from office in October. Overall, it was a good enough year for us.
What are the two key lessons that the year has taught you?
The first lesson learnt is - if things can go wrong, they will. The second is - we need to learn to navigate turbulence. Resilience is important and we need to train our people to thrive in chaos.
What are your aspirations for the coming year? What are the new things that you would like to implement in your professional and/or personal life?
We are hoping for a post-covid normal year in 2022. We would like to implement many initiatives where we deepen the dialogue with our clients and strengthen our connection. We want to anticipate their needs and serve them.
We would like to move higher and engage them to achieve peace and clarity through our initiatives and interactions.
What is that one thing that you feel could have been done differently last year?
We could have rolled out some of these client initiatives in 2021 itself. More personal calls could have been made to ensure personalised touch in our services.
What trends do you think MFDs/RIAs should watch for in 2022?
The world will continue to be turbulent. A lot of money has been printed and circulated keeping the markets afloat and that will come home to roost. There are already stresses seen across the globe. China seems to be having problems that could domino through the world.
Advisors need to realise that caution is the watchword for the next 2-3 years as the after-effects of covid pump-priming will ripple through the globe. Advisors need to stay vigilant and cautious about the investments they are suggesting and focus on keeping the customers focussed on their planned path rather than taking enticing short-cuts. They will need to communicate more and stay engaged with their clients to ensure that they stay the course.
