Once you meet AK Narayan, you quickly realize he is the sort of financial advisor that SEBI champions in the recent concept paper on regulation of distributors. Jayshree Pyasi traces his career graph and finds that fascination for numbers got him into financial services.
Narayan’s Yatra
Even though there was no one remotely associated with financial services in Narayan’s family, he decided to take this path as nothing excited him more than numbers. His fascination with money and numbers started in the year of 1982-83 when he entered capital markets as an investor of stocks and shares. A self starter he used to get inputs about economy and markets through newspapers.
After his CA he worked in executive positions in manufacturing companies. In 1990 he moved to Chennai from Coimbatore and got interested in an association that used to educate investors. This led gradually to an interest in advisory business and in the year 2000 he decided to start his own advisory firm in Chennai.
His qualification as a CA was one of the key things that contributed to his success and his friends who were working in good companies of the sector helped him in understanding the nuances of the industry.
“Business grew steadily as people were looking for a knowledgeable advisor who could give them genuine advice and that is what they got from A K Narayan Associates,” says Narayan.
Business Model
Narayan is predominantly an advisor who sells and distributes MF products. But, he also advises investors on how to structure their portfolio so that they can reach their goals whether they are short term or long term. He educates his investors on the merits and limitations of each product.
He runs a fee-based model. Majority of his clients are HNIs. He also advises a couple of big trusts and a good number of NRI clients. He has a relatively small percentage of retail clients in his firm. His current AUM stands at Rs. 60-70 crore.
Coping post entry load ban
With the ban on entry load, his revenues too got impacted. But he has been able to rise above the regulatory changes and made profits because he had minimal overheads. “I do not have any other branch and that helped me in keeping my overhead costs in control,” says Narayan.
Marketing Techniques
Being the president of the Tamil Nadu Investors Association, a leading member of IFA Galaxy and a member on SEBI's committee on Investor Protection, he regularly gets invites to speak to investors at various platforms. Narayan embraces these opportunities with open arms and during these sessions he speaks on the opportunities in the equity market.
Many of the participants in these sessions later become his clients. “Since I am an accountant myself and have tie-ups with a few chartered accountants, referrals from HNIs used to come to me. And whenever I go abroad to address training program in Muscat, Dubai and Singapore, I came in contact with people who later became clients,” says Narayan.
Unique Factor
From the beginning he has been against advising any structured products or complicated products that an average investor cannot understand. He prefers to sell products that are simple and cost effective for an investor. He passionately promotes the cause of equity and recommends an appropriate exposure to equity to all his clients.
Advice for other Advisors
There has to be trust between an investor and an advisor. Only then can this business run and the advisor should know what an investor wants. Investors are looking for knowledgeable advisors who can be counted on any time particularly at the times of global economic meltdown. Dependability and credibility are required of an advisor above all else.