Known for his aggressive marketing and skill with numbers, Suresh Mohta is one of the most successful IFAs in the East. Pallabika Ganguly finds that Suresh has worked hard for his success
Finance is his strength
Hailing from a Marwari family, Suresh Mohta was always interested in the field of accounts and finance. After B.Com, he decided to join his father’s business. His father Mr G D Mohta was an insurance agent since 1996. Suresh took over his father’s 50 clients in 1996 and started building up the business.
“Finance was always my strong point and so I have always wanted to grow in this field. Fortunately, my father was already in this business so my entry into advisory business was fairly easy for me,” says Suresh.
Suresh believes in giving good service and maintaining relationships. His dedication and commitment towards his clients has helped him grow his business and acquire 400 clients and generate an AUM of Rs 25 crore.
“I regularly meet my clients and give them proper service. That’s why we get referrals from our customers,” claims Suresh.
His first new client was a hosiery businessman. He drew up an investment plan for them where he segregated their investments into three things - insurance, PPF and Unit 64 “My planning helped them to garner good returns and thereafter I gradually started building up my business,” said Suresh.
Suresh reveals that during 1986- 87, mutual fund companies had guaranteed return products which made it easy to persuade clients to invest in mutual funds.
Business Model
Suresh is an advisor who mostly focuses on referrals. He has been able to grow his business through referrals and generates 50-60 referrals in a year. He estimates that 70% of these referrals finally turn into his clients.
He does not charge his clients and believes in educating his clients about different investment products available in the market. He wants to start charge clients once he has proper infrastructure in terms of technology.
Marketing techniques
Suresh believes in aggressive marketing and personally meeting his clients. His continuous follow-up with new clients helps him to grow his business. If a new client declines to take his service, he does not lose hope. He persists with the client till he agrees to take his service.
Ban of Entry Load
The ban has not affected him as he believes that he been offering proper service due to which clients have stuck to him.
"SEBI thinks for investor protection and implements rules which ensures that IFAs have to win the client’s trust," says Suresh.
Future of his business
His customers wanted to look at their portfolio online so he developed his website and he is currently working on initiating online transaction. He sees the future in connectivity through internet and wants to be a master is that space.