While most IFAs focus on equity, Bhavik Udeshi made it by focusing on debt. Bhavik shares his recipe of success with Pallabika Ganguly.
Bhavik wasn’t the brightest of students so, during his
college days, his mother drove him into advisory business. He started by
selling LIC policies on a part-time basis. It marked the beginning of an
exciting journey that followed. “Surely, my mother made my destiny,” expressed
Bhavik.
After graduating, Bhavik was keen on other investment instruments available in the market. In 2003, he approached UTI to explore the mutual fund market.There, he was fortunate to meet a person who became a mentor and enlightened Bhavik on mutual funds. “When I approached UTI for its agency, I met Debjit Guha—currently the Eastern Head at Peerless Mutual Fund. He taught me the basics of markets. He also instructed me to follow the debt market,” recalls Bhavik.
When he ventured into the business, he was neither well-aware of equity nor debt market. Therefore Debjit took special classes for him and gave him umpteen knowledge about debt market. Bhavik developed an interest in this category since he got to know the pros and cons of the two markets and he also realised the fact that the market was too crowded with IFAs focussing on equity. He started reading more about this market and found that the debt market is bigger than equity and it is under penetrated. Therefore, he zeroed down on focusing in this market when there were only 5-6 IFAs who used to sell debt products. He started off by selling debt products like liquid, liquid plus and other debt schemes.
The early days were full of challenges as it was difficult to develop a client base. He informed all his relatives and friends about his new venture but it became difficult to ask for business from them, as they were already being serviced by some advisor or another.
Moreover, Bhavik was focusing on debt – an asset class that requires patience. Bhavik handled his clients patiently and explained the nature of debt market to them. “My USP was catering to the corporate segment with debt products. The industry was more reliant on equity that showed quick results; debt, being a volume game with low margins, needed patience. My calm nature and extensive knowledge about the debt market helped to handle the situation well,” reveals Bhavik.
There are a number of incidents close to his heart: he narrated one incident from his initial days that changed his career completely. “The incident happened during my early days of business in 2006. I was exiting from a metro station when I noticed a gentleman dressed in a safari suit in his mid-40s arguing with the railway official as he was not able to find his ticket. I approached him and asked if I could help. He explained to me that he had lost his ticket during his journey. So I immediately bought a ticket for him, and rescued him from the harassment. I got lucky as the person I had helped was the Director at a limited company which became one of my corporate clients,” explained Bhavik.
Starting with 20 clients, Bhavik today caters to 370+ clients worth an AUM of Rs. 300+ crores. 95 percent of his AUM and 35-40 out of his 50 corporate clients have investments in debt products. His patience and dedication towards his business has helped him to be a known face in the debt advisory market.
He aims to grow his AUM to Rs. 5000 crore in the next five years. To grow his business, Bhavik does not depend only on references, but also makes cold calls to increase his clientele.
His mantra of success: ‘Good, genuine advice along with patience. It helps to develop a strong bond with clients.’