What inspired you to get into financial advisory?
I was completing my CA and wasn’t keen to start regular tax or audit practice. I completed my CA in 2000. In the same year, we thought of establishing my financial advisory firm ‘Think Consultants’ along with my friend Parag Paranjape and my brother Amit Dani. We wanted to utilize our knowledge of accounting, taxation, financial management in financial advisory.
What is your background? What were you doing before venturing into financial advisory?
We do not come from a business family and therefore starting business was completely shocking for my family. Before passing CA examination and starting ‘Think Consultants’, we used to file income tax returns and was into petty accounting jobs for pocket money.
How were the initial days of your business? What kind of challenges did you face?
The initial days were quite tough. We had no clients and network. We were too naïve and innocent to understand how this industry functioned. So getting clients was almost impossible.
It was in 2003, during ICICI Dynamic Fund NFO, we started getting a grip of this industry. The credit goes to Pankaj Jawanjal of ICICI Prudential. He took us to a western region conference in Goa in the same year where we met all the industry stalwarts which inspired us and gave a clear vision of what we wanted to do. Many AMC officials including Manish Ranjan of Reliance MF, Amit Bivalkar of DSP BlackRock nudged us to follow my dreams.
In 2005, with the help of Amit Biwalkar, we met Bharat Phatak and Ajit Khasnis of Wealth Managers India, Pune. We consider them our gurus and mentors. This meeting transformed our lives and our road to financial advisory became simple.
How did you acquire clients?
The first set of clients were extended family and friends. We asked them to invest Rs. 5,000 and told them that they can expect better returns than fixed deposits. They were happy with the returns they got. Thereafter, most clients have been referred by existing happy clients.
How much assets under advisory do you manage in mutual funds?
We manage around Rs. 325 crore in mutual funds. The assets have accumulated due to the sheer power of compounding.
Tell us about your business model? What kind of services are you offering?
We offer only one service – financial advisory. We help our clients talk about all aspects of money - it could be buying assets, taking a loan, tax planning, creating backups, education planning, estate planning and so on. Our clients consult us on all aspects of their life involving money. But a large part of our income comes from commissions from mutual funds.
What was your biggest learning as a financial advisor?
Follow your mind and always act in the client’s interest even if it does not earn any income for you immediately. Patience is the key to our success.
Please share a memorable moment in your financial advisory journey.
There are many special moments. When clients’ thank you profusely in front of a large gathering saying this could not have been possible without our efforts, it makes us happy. We have become an important part of their family. We even advice clients while they are quitting a job or pursue their interests like singing or starting a restaurant.
What is your key to success?
We never force investors to invest in mutual funds. Our focus has always been to educate and help them take decisions on their own. We have consciously attempted to not to cheat clients and this has helped us grow in this industry.
What are your future plans?
We believe we are work-in-progress. We want to adopt global best practices in our firm. We aim to be the preferred and trusted firm for anybody seeking financial advice and we will do whatever it takes to be there.