Subhabrata Ghosh, a more recent convert to the cause of financial planning, works with missionary zeal to promote the concept.
Subhabrata Ghosh is one financial advisor who is trying to create
awareness about CFPs in Kolkata. Paying for getting a financial plan done by a
professional CFP is a new concept in India, more so in east India. Subhabrata
and his fellow CFPites have formed a CFP group in Kolkata. This group is
creating financial literacy by hawking ‘financial health check-ups’ outside
some important locations in Kolkata and personally talking to interested
investors.
The cumulative effort and hard work in these campaigns is paying off as more people are getting drawn towards professional financial planning.
But how Subhabrata (‘Subho’ to friends) came into the financial planning profession is an interesting story. The entrepreneurship bug bit Subhabrata Ghosh early on in his career. After graduating in 1993, he started a computer hardware business. And as they say, life had other plans for him.
In 2003, he teamed up with his wife to sell general insurance. “My wife had worked with Bajaj Allianz earlier. I had noticed that she had the right product knowledge and the persuasion power to convince a client. I told her to utilise these strengths and start her own business, and I helped her,” says Subho. His wife was an excellent partner in the insurance business. Subho admits that his wife is better known than him in the insurance business.
Soon, Subho empanelled with Metlife Insurance in 2003 and closed his hardware business in 2006. He was hungry for more. He entered the mutual fund space in 2006 as a sub-broker with NJ India Invest.
Subho wanted to carve out a niche for himself. Opportunity knocked when Anil Talaiya, Eastern Zonal Head at NJ India Invest, conducted a two-day financial planning workshop and IFAs had to develop a financial plan from the data provided to them.
Subho’s financial plan was selected as the best one. That was his ‘aha’ moment when he grabbed MetLife offered to sponsor its IFAs for the CFP course, Subho grabbed the opportunity and has not looked back since.
Armed with his IT background, Subho started his own advisory service aggressively using technology to market his advisory service. “In Kolkata, 95% of investors are not aware of the concept of financial planning. I try to utilize social media—Facebook and LinkedIn—to upload new write-ups on financial planning and make the public aware about the importance of planning for the future,” he says.
He has clients spread across India. Subho has also managed to enlist a few NRI clients. It takes him around 10 days to finalize a plan and he charges Rs 15,000 per plan. Subho is not in in a tearing hurry to expand his client base (around 200 now); what is important is spending quality time with clients so that they are adequately serviced.