As we step into a new year, it is important to delve into what we learned from 2020 and what we intend to achieve going ahead. Having clear and actionable goals helps us strategize and draw a game plan to achieve our ambitions. We asked advisers/mutual fund distributors about their plans for 2021 and how they intend to achieve them.
I plan to put into practice the learnings from behavioral finance
- I wish to develop expertise and knowledge in the behavioral aspects of managing money. I’m in this industry since 2008 providing financial advice to my clients. I have realized that inaction brings more value to the investors’ portfolio than frequent changes in their investment strategy or style. Hence, to add move value to my service, I plan to learn behavioral finance and learn how I can bring those values into investors' portfolios.
- To reach the masses, I plan to conduct financial wellness sessions (online/offline). It brings confidence in us and at the same time, it is an opportunity for me to showcase my knowledge to prospects. Hence, I plan to start this initiative to reach a wide range of people in a big way in 2021.
- After reaching a certain level of business growth, I have noticed that I cannot handle all tasks on my own. Hence, in 2021, I have decided to build a team of qualified, trusted, and professional team to manage all my backend tasks. At the end of the day, for any business to grow in a big way, we must have a team. - Basavaraj Tonagatti, Basunivesh.
I wish to generate long term wealth for retail investors
- I intended to expand my geographical reach by tapping clients from every state with the help of technology.
- We are in the business of creating wealth for investors. So far, my focus has been on catering to high net worth individuals. Going ahead, I intend to acquire more retail investors to help them become HNIs.
- Currently, our country has one of the lowest penetration in equities, especially from retail investors. To increase awareness about the virtues of investing in equities, I intend to focus on investor education to help investors understand the importance of wealth creation by becoming shareholders of companies. - Rushabh Desai, Mumbai-based mutual fund distributor.
I intend to build a tech-enabled practice
- We are nearing completion of our larger mission, which is to develop an ecosystem, where small advisers/mutual fund distributors have access to a cutting edge digital app and platform, which would enable them to scale up by reaching unserved masses in a cost-effective manner. This will help them lend a hi-tech and hi-touch approach to client management. In lieu of this, we are involved as an adviser, mentor and co-opted Unnatt, which is a B2B2C, which aims at assisting smaller IFAs to grow their businesses and aid in end to end business management. 2021 would see us bringing in AI-enabled investment advisory into the Unnatt platform.
- Our vision for 2021 is to build a digital one-stop-shop that provides financial products, wealth planning and legal compliance services under the aegis of Tech Vedaa Business Solutions, our new venture. - Shifali Satsangee, Funds Ve’daa.
I want to expand my team and make greater use of technology
I believe 2021 will be a golden year for advisers. I can imagine a tsunami of new investors looking for financial advisers since we are in a very low interest rate regime with a buoyant stock market. The economy is also looking to accelerate big time in 2021. We need to be adequately prepared to be able to serve these new investors. Here are our biggest goals to capitalise on this opportunity for 2021:
- We will move into a larger 2,125 sq. ft. brand new office to kickstart 2021 in a grand style. The new office should re-energise all the team members to take a fresh guard and set higher ambitions for 2021 and beyond. We look forward to crossing Rs 1,000 crore assets under advisory in 2021.
- We plan to continue investing in technology to offer a seamless client servicing experience on their entire wealth. Zoom has been the biggest find for the adviser fraternity and in 2021 we will try to leverage it to have the maximum client meetings done through Zoom to increase productivity.
- We presently have eight financial advisers in our team. We are looking to hire four more financial advisers in 2021 and also invest in training them so that they can be more confident in advising our clients. - Gajendra Kothari, Etica Wealth
Have you drawn up your plan yet?
