The Indian Constitution describes Meghalaya as a sixth schedule state and classifies its locals as a scheduled tribe. The Income Tax Act exempts scheduled tribes from paying income tax and hence it is less likely for them to possess a PAN. Hence, locals prefer keeping their money at home and are also reluctant to open a bank account.
Given this background, imparting financial literacy amongst locals and familiarizing them with mutual funds becomes challenging. However, Shillong MFDs Gajendra Kumar Roy and Rajat Das saw an opportunity here.
Cafemutual spoke with the dynamic duo to know what motivated them to establish their presence in these markets.
Cafemutual: How did you acquire new clients and build your client base?
Gajendra and Rajat: In our initial days, we reached out to personal and professional acquaintances. Amongst these, we first approached prospects having some educational background, as it was relatively easier to convince them.
We used to make multiple calls and schedule five meetings daily. Our meetings were simple and data-backed.
Gradually referrals and word-of-mouth publicity came into play and our client base grew further. In addition, we also conducted IAPs on personal finance at various educational institutes, which created traction amongst young investors.
Cafemutual: How did you address the situation where locals largely didn’t have a PAN?
Gajendra and Rajat: We primarily focused on convincing locals about the importance of mutual funds and their benefits like inflation-adjusted returns, affordability, etc. Once convinced, we spoke to them about the documents needed and promised them full support to procure these, which we did fulfil.
Cafemutual: What about client retention? How do you ensure there is no hole in the bucket?
Gajendra and Rajat: It is important to stay connected with clients. We schedule calls every quarter to understand and address their concerns. This helps us to decode their psychology and guide them to overcome their biases.
About Gajendra and Rajat
Gajendra and Rajat are friends turned business partners. They share a common interest in finance since their college days. The duo left their corporate jobs at the young age of 27 to form Gajraj Financial Services. In a short span of three years, they have onboarded over 700 clients and have built a book size of Rs. 60 crore.
The duo’s success story has been motivating many fresh graduates to explore mutual fund distribution as a career opportunity.
Do you also have a success story to share? Do write to us at newsdesk@cafemutual.com and stand a chance to get featured on our website.
