Jitendra Saraf’s passion for finance pushed him into the financial world from his family’s textile business and now he has a fulfilling financial advisory business of his own, write Rajendra Palande & Anju Yadav. Read on to know Saraf’s interesting story.
Mumbai-based Jitendra Saraf, better known as Jimmy, was in his teens when he got interested in financial investments. At the age of sixteen, when most children are deep into books to pursue their future course, Jimmy joined a stock broking firm to learn everything about trading and investing in equities.
But the Harshad Mehta scandal shortly thereafter shattered the stock market and also his dream. He then moved to manage the textiles business of his father, who owns looms in nearby town of Bhiwandi.
Textiles were not where his heart was. Money matters always attracted him. He returned to the world of finance starting with insurance in 2001, when private sector companies first began to start operations. In nearly a decade, he has built a financial planning business with assets under advisory of Rs 12 crore.
Finance was his passion but insurance was something he hated. The company he and his partners floated was into selling personal loans and credit cards of a large foreign bank in India. The company subsequent became corporate agency of Tata AIG Life Insurance. As a corporate agent, all the partners too had to obtain a license. Jimmy reluctantly obtained one. And that proved to be the turning point of his life.
He separated from his partners in 2002. One of the managers at TATA AIG coaxed Jimmy into joining the company as a business associate and sells the company’s life insurance products.
Jimmy’s attempt to sell TATA AIG’s life insurance products to his relatives and acquaintances failed. He calls it a “natural” market, but it was not to be so for him. They might have been upset at the fact that he had become an insurance agent.
He then started chasing the “cold” market, which involves approaching people who did not know him. That’s when he found a launch pad. He approached a friend who owned a call centre, which served the credit card department of a large foreign bank. He succeeded in convincing all the 175 employees of the call centre to buy an endowment policy of Rs 1 lakh each.
In a day, Jimmy sold 175 policies complete with all documentation. The employees only had to sign on the application forms and the know-your-customer documentation was obtained from their employer’s records. From someone who would shun life insurance agents, Jimmy had himself overnight become a star insurance seller.
His business prospered and he even bought a car early on with his own earnings. That’s when his “natural” market turned responsive and he started getting business from his relatives and acquaintances. Today, he deals in general insurance, equities, and fixed income to complete financial planning for clients. He now has about 1,000 clients.
He had no formal education in finance. All the skills he has were natural to him. “I am a Marwari and Marwaris develop business acumen right from childhood,” is how Jimmy explains it.
He credits his success to TATA AIG’s business associate model. The model provided him stability, good income and a long career ahead. Jimmy was one of those whom Tata AIG had sent to Switzerland for about a week last month.
His success in the so-called “cold” market did wonders to his confidence. And, made him understand the key thing in financial services – customers need good service and from a person who understands financial planning. To sharpen his skills, he also attended training sessions in financial planning.
“I never took training in my life before joining this industry. But when I started taking professional training, it helped me a lot to improve myself and my business prospects. Basically my approach became more professional.
He continues to sell mutual fund as it is a must to meet the financial planning requirements of his clients. His clients know well they would receive a good service from him and willingly pay professional fee claimed by him.
“Give right advice and good service” is Jimmy’s mantra to grow his advisory business. “Knowledge, patience, right advice and quality service” is the recipe for success in financial advisory business, he says.
Jimmy does not complain about the scrapping of entry load on investments in mutual funds, but feels the regulator should equally weigh the needs of both the customers and distributors.