At
a time when the fund distribution is undergoing a host of regulatory
changes, Roopali and Deepali are confident of finding their niche.
After finishing her MBA in finance, Deepali Sen took up an accounts job in a steel company in Lucknow. She moved to Mumbai after her marriage. Since Deepali could not land a job with a similar profile in Mumbai, she took up an opportunity to work with a mutual fund distribution firm in Mumbai.
She entered the mutual fund industry in 2000 by joining Kothari Pioneer Mutual Fund (now Franklin Templeton) where she spent nearly eight years. Later, she joined ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund and was a part of the founding team at Axis Mutual Fund.
Through her decade long career in mutual funds business, she has held responsibilities of dealing with all channels – IFA, banks and national distributors. She found that all manufactures were pushing ‘flavor of the season’ products to their distributors. Deepali wanted to connect with investors which gave birth to the idea of floating her own advisory business.
Deepali decided to join hands her friend and colleague Roopali Prabhu for this venture. They had worked together at Franklin Templeton. Roopali had more recently worked with Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. They formed a Limited Liability Partnership and christened it Srujan Financial Advisers. ‘Srujan’ is a Sanskrit word which means create.
Both Deepali and Roopali had cushy jobs and were doing well for themselves. But the entrepreneurial bug caught them. They believe that since there is a dearth of financial planners, there is a great opportunity for financial planners like them in India.
Business Plan
Their main focus is on getting people’s financial lives on track. “Our vision is to create money-life balance for our clients. We want the clients to strike a balance between their money and their lives both on a psychological as well as material level. Money fulfils a need within us. The role that money plays in our lives is unique for each of us. We want this uniqueness to get reflected in the financial plan we write for them,” says Deepali Sen. They stay away from recommending direct stocks and structured products.
They have enrolled 15 clients so far and their target is to serve at least 35 clients by year end. They plan to acquire all types of clients – retail, HNI or institutions.
They are trying to spread the word about their practice through their friends, acquaintances and colleagues. Deepali has started giving presentations at corporates and at the Rotary club chapters about financial planning.
Deepali has recently released her e-Book – Why greed is good. Deepali has penned this e-Book elucidating 11 life stories which establish the cause effect relationship of various components of money management in a lucid and easy to understand manner for a lay person. Encouraged by the positive response generated by the e-Book, she is soon planning to print the book so that it can reach a wider audience. She is hoping that her book will establish credibility among her clients.
Deepali describes their jump into financial advisory as a ‘big leap of faith’. Having started their journey very recently, they are willing to experiment with new ideas in the belief that the time is ripe for a change.