Meet Mr. Praveen Khemka, (SPK Consultants Pvt. Ltd.)
Meet a Tax Consultant who has made his name as a financial Advisor in historic city of Kolkatta. Mr. Praveen Khemka has been in action on multiple fronts - be it TADA, Real Estate, Mutual funds and even technology usage. He is a man whose believes in convincing clients with his own conviction which perhaps is among the key reasons for his success.
It gives us great pleasure in bringing the interview with Khemkaji to our friends...
You are a Tax lawyer. What inspired you to choose the career of a financial advisor / distributor?
Apart from being a Tax Consultant & lawyer, I use to take keen interest in financial planning of my clients. Gradually, I discovered that, I have been providing financial solutions to my clients but every time, I have to rely on other distributors/agents for addressing their issues. Then I came to know about NJ and empanelled my Company as a distributor of financial products.
Do you have any practice of client segmentation. If yes, on what basis do you do so and what differentiation in service offerings do you offer to these client segments?
Generally, I don’t have the concept of client segmentation. But, while planning their investments, I do have a mental segmentation depending on their job / earnings, risk bearing capacities and needs. Generally, we try to offer our best services to all our clients irrespective of their profile. We take extra care and promptness when a client needs fund and asks for redemption.
You have a relatively high degree of HNI clients. What has been your approach and experience in promoting equity mutual funds to your clients?
I have been personally investing in equity since many years, then, I started my own investments in Mutual Fund. I take keen interest in understanding financial reports of Companies and Govt. policies. On the basis of my own experiences and knowledge from seminars, training sessions, I have been able to explain the concept of Equity Mutual fund and asset allocation to my HNI clients. I always try to discuss on these issues when we meet and try to promote a positive environment. My own conviction impresses my clients very much.
What is your approach to advising clients on their mutual fund portfolio? Have you adopted any standard practice.
Being a Tax Consultant, I have an advantage of explaining the return on investment from Pre-tax and post tax angle. To begin with, I advise my client to save taxes by investing in ELSS. I also explain them the benefits of SIPs and show them the historical returns. I also explain them the benefits of investing in Debt funds vis-a-vis Bank F.Ds. or other deposits.
Emphasis is given on the notional loss due to inflation and rising cost of living. I never advise my clients to expect a very lofty return but do assure them of a return which can beat inflation and is better than other available investment options. I also use financial calculators and tools to show their needs and savings requirement. Gradually, my clients, themselves asks me to invest in good funds and also increases their savings year on year. We also review the investments from time to time.
How much importance do you give to Asset Allocation & Risk Profile while offering solution to clients need ?
Since, I personally believe in the concept that “one must not keep all eggs in one basket”. Even If my clients ask me to increase the exposure in any performing asset class, I politely explain them the risks involve in it and discourage them to do that. I do keep in mind, the fund requirements which a client may have and accordingly plan their investments. I also keep in mind the age of the investor and his earning potential. I try to be little aggressive in case of younger clients but in case of Senior Citizens, I try to be bit conservative. Thus, I give lot of importance to Asset Allocation and risk profiling.
You have been very active in promoting Dahej real estate opportunity to your clients. What is your view on Real Estate as an investment for clients and how do you shortlist potential clients for promoting this opportunity?
As I believe in asset allocation, I feel one should have investment in landed property also, if it is safe and is through reliable source. Before promoting Dahej, I personally visited the area and took views from independent sources. Then, I made my own investment. I then made a list of my clients, who have liking for real estate and can afford to have an investment with a long term horizon. I short-listed only those clients who can afford to invest and forget the investment for a bit longer period and won’t call me to know the appreciation in prices every year.
In your personal experience, what have been the advantages offered by TADA to both clients and Partners?
First of all, if any Partner ignores TADA, he is missing a very big Opportunity in his career. TADA has opened the flood-door of opportunities. If a Partner uses it wisely, it can do wonders for his business.
For clients, it is very useful as it saves him from many procedural hassles and expedite the investment in organized manner with lot of flexibility and advantages. e.gchange of bank mandates, nomination facility of all fund houses in one go. Risk of signature mismatch is eliminated. Urgent redemptions requests can be given at any time and place. New investments can be made by switching or online purchases across fund houses without visiting advisors office. No need to run after physical forms. etc...
You already have about 50% of clients in TADA and are aggressive in promoting TADA. How do you convince your clients who are more comfortable with physical mode to switch to the TADA mode?
I first give a demonstration of a TADA account and show various options available there. I also make some fresh purchases and redemption, if needed. Then, I take them back in history and explain how our life has changed when physical shares were converted to demat form. Then, the benefits as mentioned above are explained in detail. I feel, any sensible investor, will not refuse to open a TADA account after understating its features properly.
You prove to be a tech savvy person with active usage of NJ desks, including Client Desk. Tell us about the NJ's IT solutions that every Partner should adopt and enjoy the benefits.
Every Partner must visit his Partner Desk as a daily routine and as and when possible ask his manager to explain the options and features being added from time to time. He will certainly come across many surprises and will be benefited.
He should also try to open Cient Desk for his clients but in a phased manner to a little matured client. From my experience, I have found that my business volumes have improved after I started allowing my clients to access their portfolio themselves. This enables the clients to understand the volatility and seasons them. They will gradually stop asking irrelevant questions.
Winning the trust of a client is not an easy task. How do you think you can win the trust of the clients?
First of all we must never under estimate our clients. Now a days, clients are well informed and we must also try to educate them to our capability. I have experienced, honesty and sincerity never goes waste. Sooner or latter, the client is certainly going to appreciate and compare the advisor with its peers.
The most important things is the knowledge and updation with time. If any advisor take out time and attend training sessions, it will sharpen his skills and he will certainly gain respect and Trust of his clients. There is no harm in saying – “I will study and find out…” in case he is not aware of any particular query. He must not try to impress his clients by replying on assumptions.
What do you find as the most challenging part of the financial advisory and how do you manage it?
The most challenging part of the business is to meet high expectations of the clients. We know the situation can never be controlled and is very un-predictable. It is better to be realistic and from the core of our heart, we should our-self believe in what we say.
If we don’t have the conviction to invest our own funds then we are not suited to advise others on that behalf. So, in most cases, I personally invest and test the product before promoting it. This helps me in gaining conviction. Knowledge and Patience are very important tool to manage this business.
Please share any business targets that you may have set for AUM, Equity Sales and TADA accounts going forward?
I believe, if we are working honestly and sincerely, AUM is certainly going to rise. Though, I have not set any targets but we try our best not to miss any business opportunity. I do have a desire to have at least “100 young Crorepatis” made through my investment planning in next 10 years (apart from my HNI clients). Going forward, I would try to have almost all business done through TADA.
What are the important characteristics you think necessary to get success as Financial Advisor /Distributor? How can we strengthen these characteristics in ourselves?
Realistic goals, practical and easy approach thorough constant knowledge up-gradation, filtering of negative forces and Positive thinking are most important characteristics.
If a financial advisor himself is a successful person then only he can give hope to others so first he should be full of enthusiasm and his personality should reflect success. A financial advisor should never beg or request for business rather he should have clarity on the product and should convey it without ambiguity to his clients.
What suggestion / advice you would like to give to new Partners who have yet not established themselves in the business?
I will advise my fellow friends to have faith and patience in what you are doing. It is always said that there is no short cut to success. I will say with conviction that our Indian financial market is huge and lot of opportunity is stored in here. Do update your knowledge from time to time and deal with your client’s investment with compassion and sincerity. Never ignore your clients query and try to go out of way to solve their other financial problems. Their blessings will certainly bring good luck to you.
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