Mutual fund distributors have been facing challenging times of late due to regulatory changes such as upfront commission ban and reduction in TER.
While some experts believe that the recent regulatory changes may discourage new entrants to the industry, a few professionals have quit well paying jobs to become a financial advisor.
These advisors remain confident of the opportunity in the MF space despite recent challenges.
Cafemutual talked to some of these IFAs to know their motivation for joining the industry.
Vishal Mahajan and Vikrant Katoch – Founders of RupeeXpress
Vishal and Vikrant started their journey in August 2018. Prior to this, they had worked for around 15 years in the BFSI sector. Vishal’s last stint was with SBI MF while Vikrant had worked for UTI MF.
Vishal and Vikrant started their advisory firm RupeeXpress after sensing a huge opportunity in the advisory business in their home state, Himachal Pradesh.
Both of them believe that they can overcome the regulatory challenges by increasing their volume. The duo has already acquired many clients through IAPs. They leverage their connections at various private and government bodies to conduct these investor awareness programmes. This strategy has helped them reach a large group of retail customers. Vishal and Vikrant have also acquired some corporates as clients – these are people who have known them when they used to work at SBI MF and UTI MF.
Anant Ramola, co-founder of Arthaprise Financial
Anant Ramola, Dhananjay Kumar and Kunal Khatri started their advisory journey by floating Arthaprise Finanicial in November 2018. An IIM Calcutta alumnus, Anant has 16 years of experience in wealth management business as he had worked with Kotak Bank and Almondz Global.
Over the years, Anant realised that there is a huge demand for professional financial advice among investors. Also, the desire to become an entrepreneur was among the major factors that pushed Anant to become an IFA.
Anant is confident that he will grow his business despite recent regulations, which reduced profitability. Already, in this short span of time, Anant has acquired many HNI clients and has been managing their investment portfolios.
Bhupender Singh – Founder, Investment Planet
Before starting his career as an IFA in September 2017, Bhupender Singh had around 25 years of experience in handling sales at UTI MF and ING MF.
He believes that establishing strong relationship with clients help advisors grow business. “Despite regulatory headwinds, I am confident that I will grow my business. I believe advisors can grow business by creating personal connect with clients. I can say that I am not just an advisor to my clients, instead, I am advisor to his entire family,” he says.
Another approach to grow business is focussing on goal based financial plan. Singh encourages his clients to invest in mutual funds through SIPs for their retirement, children’s education, and so on.
Mohammad Iltaf Husain
Iltaf Husain started his advisory journey in early 2017. Prior to this, he has worked with wealth management firms for 13 years.
The Delhi IFA managed many HNI clients in reputed organisations such as Barclays and shared a good rapport with many of them. At least 40 HNIs came with him when he set out on his own.
The recent regulatory changes do not worry Husain as he deals with other financial products such as PMS and AIFs. He believes that advisors should look beyond mutual funds to grow business.
