Arif Zakaria has been a prominent actor both in television and films. He has received the National Film Award for his role in Darmiyan as Emmi Begum. Recently he played the role of a police officer in Jism 2. Besides being a dynamic performing artist, he has turned in to an active investor of late. He shares his investment strategies in an interview with Cafemutual.
Unlike salaried people, film people such as actors and directors do not have a regular fixed income or a fixed retirement age. Given the uncertain nature of your work, what are the special challenges in managing finances?
After spending a long time in the industry, I am well aware about the high and low earning seasons. My annual expenses do not vary too much. So, as per my expenses, I set aside a kitty for spending annually… But it’s always a battle to match the inconsistent income avenues with expenses. It’s a challenge for any artist whether dancer, artist, musician……
Who manages your financial affairs?
HSBC Bank helps me out with all my investments. Besides, investing in mutual fund and insurance, I also invest in realty. I personally evaluate and analyses the properties before investing.
Have you invested in stocks or mutual funds or insurance? Any experience you can share with us?
I have been investing in mutual fund for over 5 years. I also have an insurance policy and since I believe in conventional investments, I have invested in bank FDs too.
It has been a good experience so far because I haven’t lost any money. Market has been fluctuating and so are returns….I believe that investors need to have patience while investing. The only issue that I faced while investing through bank is that that its relationship managers are frequently transferred. So, almost every year you have a new executive handling your account. It takes time for them to go through my profile properly and then manage it and simultaneously it is also difficult for me to sit down every time with a new executive and brief him about my nature of investment. I have raised this issue with the bank and they have resolved it. So, since last year the bank has pro-actively managed my portfolio.
Have you considered engaging the services of a professional financial advisor?
I am open to it and I would be happy if someone gives rational advice about investments. I am looking forward to hire an individual advisor who would provide me with quarterly updates and monitor my portfolio regularly.
Any investment that you repent making.
No, but I repent starting investments late. It is only from last one and half years that I have been actively involved with my investments. After entering the investment world, I realized that I should have taken these decisions long back.
Are you a financial savvy person?
No, I do not get sufficient time to look at it. But I go through my returns of the portfolio quarterly.
Do you have a financial goal you wish to achieve in the future?
Yes, I want to build a corpus for my retired life so that I can spend my retirement days in comfort.
Have you ever read or do you read financial newspapers?
I glance through the newspapers whenever I get time. I also read Economist.
If a budding actor who has just got a big break were to seek your guidance on managing her finances, what would be your advice?
They should be proactive on investments because the flow of money is inconsistent. They should be aware about various investment avenues so that they know what to do if they get a large chunk of money suddenly.
