Masarrat Mona Fakih, the founder of Allegience Advisors has an unusual background for a financial advisor – she has been a model, fashion designer and banker. Jayshree Pyasi traces the story of Mona’s success and determination.
“Mumbai is a city that houses immense opportunities for the ambitious”
Mona left her family business in Bhiwandi for Mumbai as she felt there was more scope for growth in Mumbai. She tried modeling, graphic and textile designing, banking and working for AMC before she realized that advising people on financial matters was her field of excellence.
“The initial struggle and coming of age”
After Mona finished her graduation, she took up a job in textile and graphic designing but soon tragedy struck as her dad passed away. She had to quit her job to be with her mom. While her family expected her to join the family business she chose to pursue her own destiny and moved to Mumbai.
But all was not rosy for her as she lost focus and wanted to earn only for sustenance. So, in those clueless times, the next development in her professional life turned out to be quite a blessing in disguise. Mona got a job offer from HSBC in the sales department. She worked hard and realized that she had an aptitude for making numbers work magic.
But things took a wrong turn during 1997 Malaysian crisis when a lot of lay-offs were happening. She was asked to be in a department that was not her forte. Eventually she quit her job. After that she took up some modeling assignments and started to work as freelancer for ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund. Her performance stood out and she became the top individual distributor for ICICI at the national level. She generated a business of 35 crore for ICICI Prudential in a span of six months.
“The setting up of Allegience Advisors”
Mona worked for ICICI Prudential for two years but she felt a certain level of dissatisfaction as she was not able to offer her clients a wider range of products. In order to serve her clients better she decided to float her own advisory firm. Allegience Advisory was started in 2000 by Mona and two other partners. Mona’s initial clients were diamond merchants whom she met during her modeling assignments.
Things turned bleak when her partners quit the firm following the technology bust. That was a trying time for her. But she rose to the challenge and was able to amass a good clientele. Some of her clients were earlier dealing with top international banks and Mona takes great pride in the fact that she has been able to wean them away.
Allegience Advisors
In the decade long run the firm has created an impressive AUM of 300 crore and stands among the leading advisory firms in Mumbai. Allegience Advisors caters to corporate, SME and high net worth clients – many of whom happen to be celebrities.
In all the years the focus of the firm has always been corporates and HNI's.
“Defining your client segment gives one clarity and focus. Knowing your client segment helps you in understanding the services needed by the client. It was always clear in my mind that my firm would be a boutique advisory firm,” says Mona. “Allegience believes in servicing few clients but serving them well. The idea was to focus on large value and not on client numbers,“she adds further.
The X factor
Mona is a firm advocate of smart work without keeping a tab on the hours clocked. She believes that longevity is the key to success and not immediate gains.
“I think that when you advice people one is not advising them for three months but for five years so I do not see the need of meeting a client repeatedly. This is where I steer clear of traditional Indian mindset in which client wants to meet the advisor often. I am firmly against churning of a client’s portfolio; I think a client should not look at their portfolio for two years,” says Mona
Words of advice
“During the 2008 slump we suffered a lot of losses due to our investments in a large international AMC. That taught us a lesson and I would like to share it with other IFAs. The learning was to bank on funds that are driven by good management and processes rather than personality,” concludes Mona.