Kiran
left her cushy job at a bank to pursue her dreams. She is happy today
that she enjoys the trust and confidence of her clients.
Kiran is a science graduate and has done her MBA in Marketing from MET Institute of Management. After finishing her MBA, Kiran took up a job with a company called ‘Brilliant’ which manufactured mineral water.She was handling institutional sales for the company. Her task was to sell 20 litre water jars. “It was difficult to sell 20 litre of jars at that time as not companies were using such huge bottles,” recalls Kiran sitting in her Nariman point office.
Subsequently, Kiran took up a job as a Management Trainee at Bank of Madura in 1998. Kiran was is the first batch of management trainees hired by the bank. In 2000, she joined UTI Bank (now Axis) where she worked till 2005.
Her stint in both these banks exposed her to various facets of banking. “I was selling mutual funds to clients at Axis Bank. However, the staff was not equipped enough to advise on mutual funds. The concept of mutual funds was alien. The bancassurance model had just started and it was scared to recommend products without any expertise. Being a banker we did not know about financial products,” recalls Kiran.
Kiran always wanted to be an entrepreneur but had no clue where or how to start. One day she came across an article about the financial advisory profession in Intelligent Investor magazine (now Outlook Money).The article talked about the prospects of becoming a CFP which inspired her to pursue CFP.
After giving birth to her baby, Kiran wanted to take a break for a year to nurture her child and simultaneously pursue CFP. Unfortunately the bank didn’t have a sabbatical policy at that time and Kiran had to quit her job. Her parents didn’t agree with her decision to quit a safe job but she stuck to her guns and pursued her dreams.
She empanelled with a few fund houses while pursuing CFP. Kiran didn’t start off with just distributing funds. She had conviction in the concept of financial planning and wanted to apply this holistic approach to make a difference in client’s life. She started championing this cause among her prospective clients and soon they started appreciating her advice.
Since Kiran started her practice at a time when there were very few people running it on professional lines, she had to chart her own course. Not many people were offering financial planning services when Kiran started off. “There were not many financial planners who I could to turn to for advice at that time. It was a trial and error method,” says Kiran.
“As a banker I presented products to them but after becoming a CFP I asked them what they need. That’s how the conversation started. People realized the importance of financial planning. They are still my clients.”
Clientele
In 2006, Kiran started offering basic financial plans to her acquaintances, friends from banks and family members for a fee of Rs 2500. To grow her client base Kiran started giving presentations at corporates but the conversion rate was not very high. Then she started writing personal finance articles in media through which she started getting enquires.
Kiran has a mix of retail, professional, salaried, retired, young working professionals and HNI clients.
She also has a lot of women clients with whom she shares a good rapport. As a woman she feels she is able to connect well with their issues and concerns. “Women like the way I simplify jargon. I relate to their issues so much so they even ask me if they can afford to have a second child or whether they should switch jobs!”
Future perfect
Kiran draws a parallel from her early days when she used to sell mineral water bottles. “Earlier not many people used such jars and now everyone uses them. Similarly, nobody knew about mutual funds earlier and now most people invest in mutual funds or know about mutual funds. Going ahead more people will know about financial planning”
Kiran seems clearly excited about her work. “As a financial planner we feel happy when clients achieve their goals.”
With the arrival of SEBI Investment Adviser Regulations, she plans to take her business to a bigger scale. She plans to register with SEBI as an Investment Adviser but she’s awaiting clarity on a few issues. “I’m here for the long haul,” asserts Kiran.
Kiran caters to a small set of clients. She wants to build a boutique firm which will cater to around 150 clients to whom she will provide 360 degree solution. Among her future plans include providing estate planning services to her clients for which she is preparing groundwork.