Inspired by the Cafemutual story of an Amravati based IFA, Mahesh Gattani who activated 500 SIP (systematic investment plan) in a single day, Ahmedabad based couple Bhadresh Sanghavi and Kavita Sanghavi have executed 741 SIPs in a single day. Surprisingly, the couple activated most of these SIPs offline.
Who are they?
Bhadresh was the Class 1 Accounts Officer with Gujarat Public Service Commission while Kavita is a homemaker turned IFA. Talking to Cafemutual about their journey, Bhadresh said, “Business and finance were two things that enticed me right from a young age. However, as my father was a government employee, I decided to follow his footsteps and joined state public services. However, the desire to own a financial advisory business was always there. When my wife, Kavita decided to start something on her own, I advised her to become a financial advisor.”
In 1999, Kavita floated her financial advisory business called Sanghavi Financial Services. They started with insurance and later added post office schemes, corporate bonds and company FDs. In 2005, Kavita became mutual fund distributor to increase her offerings. Since the business was growing fast, Bhadresh joined Kavita to help her in 2011-12 after taking voluntary retirement.
What motivated them?
Last year, when they came across the inspiring story of Mahesh Gattani on Cafemutual, they thought they could do a similar SIP run. This desire intensified when they came across another Cafemutual article of an IFA initiating record SIPs in April. Reading these achievements of fellow advisors motivated the couple to create their own record.
To make this SIP run more special, they decided to hold this activity on their son Anuj’s birthday on 12 June 2018.
How did they convince their clients?
Kavita and Bhadresh approached their existing client base of 700. The couple first approached clients who prefer lump sum investments to SIP. They explained to them that the market is volatile and many stocks are trading at higher valuations. In such a scenario, they told their clients that they should take a systematic approach to reduce market risks.
In addition, the couple approached clients who were investing without any financial goals in mind. The couple made their clients identify their financial goals such as children education and retirement. They advised them to start SIP to achieve these financial goals.
Another group they targeted was the second/third holder in joint accounts. They encouraged them to start investing in their own name even if it was a small amount.
The next move was to cross sell mutual funds to their clients who invest in insurance policies, post office saving instruments and company FDs. Most of these clients started with a small amount to test the water in mutual funds.
They also approached their friends and family members for SIP. Many of these investors had seen the AMFI advertisement and wanted to invest in mutual funds but were hesitant. To instil confidence among them, the couple cited the actual experience of their existing clients.
Over 300 families participated in the SIP run. Of the 300 families, 69 families or 170 investors were first time investors.
How they executed their plan?
The couple started this activity two months back. Since most of their clients prefer executing transaction offline, they ensured that they collected the application forms and post dated cheques much ahead of the SIP run.
However, clients who decided to start their SIP closer to their deadline, the couple used NSE NMF II platform to execute transaction.
Thanks to these activities, the couple executed 647 offline & 94 online SIPs with average ticket size of Rs.2,560.
So tell us when you are planning to start your SIP run in the comment section.
