Hailing from an army background, Col Arun Gupta believes that by drawing up financial plans for army personnel and the retired, he is paying something back to the wonderful institution - the Indian Army. Jayshree Pyasi finds how this staunch army man became an advisor
From army to advisory
At the time when he was serving the army, army personnel used to stay away from equity because of the risk involved even though it was the only financial instrument that could deliver higher returns. Col Gupta recalls the day in 1975 when his senior Col Sharma took up the onus of guiding the men in his regiment about finances saying PPF was not enough to take care of their future. Drawn to equity by such talks, he was amongst the first people to dabble in equities and receive good returns.
“During my Staff Academy days, we were required to speak on a topic of our choice. My topic was managing personal finances, stocks and shares. At that time I was ridiculed because army and finances were poles apart. But at the end of the lecture, I faced a two hour Q&A round and Gen Rodrigue (the ex-governor of Punjab) sat me down for dinner to talk stocks,” says Col. Gupta.
This incident gave him confidence in his ability to guide people. And since 1980 he has been conducting seminars and training sessions to spread awareness about investing in equities - its long-term benefits and the power of compounding. In 1996 he left the army for personal reasons and became a stock broker and was later joined by his daughter. In 2000 he started his foray into mutual funds and insurance.
The business model
His largest clientele base is made of armed forces people. They come to him because they are sure that Col Gupta would never take them for a ride and because he never charges armed forces personnel. “Army is like a family to me and how do you charge family? It is my way of paying back to the institution,” says Col Gupta.
Earlier he was an advisor of financial products but for the past five years he has shifted his focus completely towards financial planning and has left the distribution part to his daughter Juhee Gandhi.
Among the top 100 distributors for ICICI Pru MF, Col Gupta does not keep a track of either the AUM or the client count. On being queried why he is unaware of this crucial aspect of the business, he says, “I am doing well for myself and at the age of 64 advising and financial planning gives me satisfaction. People are judged by the clothes they wear and car they drive and I am doing well in both the departments (laughs). I think by advising people I am making my clients do well in these departments. ”
Col Gupta has a financial planning model where he caters to army and retired people free of cost. According to him, people were comfortable in seeking his advice because of his age and his being a retired army colonel.
The many shades of Col
Calling Col Gupta a versatile person does not do justice to his multi-faceted personality. A graduate in Mechanical Engineering and a PG in Defense Studies he is an alumni of prestigious colleges like St Stephen’s College and IIT, Kharagpur. He is a compulsive traveler and has travelled the entire country and most of the world (29 countries and still counting). He is a passionate sports person and used to dabble in sports like boxing, weight lifting, athletics, squash, basketball and at age of 64 he indulges in golf.
The X Factor
Where every advisor wants to give clients a diversified basket of investments, he advises clients to stick to a single AMC. But he only advises those AMCs that have good performing funds across all categories. In his opinion that would make the AMC also take better care of the client.
“Diversification according to me is not about different AMCs but different product categories. I associate only with those AMCs that give good returns across different product categories that suit the client’s need. I sell financial plan not products,” says Col Gupta.
Advice for advisors
“Be right for your clients and rest would take care of itself as this business is highly client driven,” says Col Gupta.