It was his passion towards mutual fund advisory that made Rajendra Bhatia choose this as a career. In a conversation with Ravi Samalad, Rajendra shares his journey of shift from his family business to setting up a successful boutique advisory firm
Rajendra Bhatia started his financial career in 1995 with general insurance. Subsequently, he became a DSA for ICICI Direct.com & Anagram Securities. He was simultaneously advising clients with their investments. Prior to this, he was actively involved in the family business of manufacturing of iron & steel for 7 years. But it was his passion for financial advisory that drew him towards his goal.
Rajendra completed his B.Com from Mumbai University and went on to obtain a CFP degree from FPSB (India).
He started distributing mutual funds in the year 1999. A year later, appreciating his hardwork, sound knowledge & leadership skills, Prudential ICICI AMC appointed him as an independent Agency Manager for coaching & guiding fellow advisors on finer aspects of mutual funds. He excelled in the same and his team size was soon over 75 advisors. By 2005, he was managing almost Rs 100 crore of assets.
Rajendra got his first MF client through a referral from a friend in 2000. He prides himself on the fact that ‘reference’ is the biggest source of acquiring new clients. He is still managing his portfolio of his first client. Some of his other mutual fund clients developed when he was a DSA with ICICI Direct. His success mantra has always been to strive hard to understand clients’ needs and develop the ideal solution, considering the clients’ needs.
He was always passionate about being on the advisory side of the profession. Thus in 2004, he co-founded a small boutique advisory firm, Arthashastra Financial Planners. In a short span of time, Arthashastra has been able to add value to its customers by offering effective investment solutions. Arthashastra has always stood up to its vision - “To create value for all stakeholders through competence, reliability & trust in all our actions.”
Although ULIPs were the most popular products among advisors due to their lucrative commissions, Rajendra stopped canvassing them post-2004. “I found the combination of term insurance and mutual funds more efficient than ULIPs,” says he. Now, he deals only in term insurance policies and is nowadays promoting purchase of term policies online.
When asked about his expansion plans, he puts it succinctly, “Success in advisory business is more like a marathon than a 100 meter dash. “ He plans to expand his team.
He is also one of the co-promoters of Next Advisors. The group which will soon launch an IFA platform aims to help in the business growth of other IFAs by leveraging technology, information and training.
The key to his success has been his knowledge, integrity and passion to serve. He is a keen learner, likes reading, travelling and networking.
His long term vision is to create a unique personal finance institution, comprising successful professionals and practitioners from varied fields of finance, synergizing as a team to help grow each other in growing their businesses.