19th November 2016
Mr. Dhaval Kakkad - A B.Com. graduate with an outspoken, self motivated & strongly determined personality. He made his debut in the field of advisory after his graduation in the year 2004. He started advising clients for their Insurance needs and in a very short span of time, he also started offering MF advisory in the same year. In his 11+ years of career, he has seen ups and downs in the business. The major setback was in the year 2008 – which even made him think to leave the advisory business. Recalling such memories, today he feels happy and satisfied while looking back on the day he decided to stick with this business.
Mr. Kakkad is now working with and serving 900+ satisfied customers, advising them in their financial needs and life aspirations. Team e-Saathi takes immense pride in bringing his success story to the readers of e-Saathi. We wish him luck for all his future endeavors.
ES: Please introduce yourself and also share your vision and mission or goals in life.
Dhaval: I will start with my vision and mission. I have a very simple vision and mission for my business and I am working towards it with great focus. I want to fulfill life aspirations & dreams of my clients through building & protecting their wealth.
I was born and brought up in Mumbai. The seeds to begin the journey in the Financial Sector were sowed right from my schooling. In school time, Maths remained my weakest subject, but when I was in class 10th, I decided to overcome this weakness and I started putting all my efforts in this direction and finally achieved success. After schooling, I chose commerce to go ahead with my career and successfully completed my B.Com. After graduation, I started with Insurance advisory.
But today when I see – The decision to be strong(convert my weakness into strength) in Maths subject was the turning point of my life, I would say this is the event which has had a lasting impact on my life, otherwise I would not have been able to pursue my B.Com. and also would have never been in this business.
ES: What inspired you to choose the career of a financial advisor / distributor?
Dhaval: During school and college – with my reading on investments and allied matters and with my own real world experience, one thing I learned was that there is a big GAP in financial advisory. I found that no one is available to help/give proper advise and guidance to people on their investments, insurance and other financial needs.
I saw that people used to do investments in traditional products, and had an orthodox thinking when it comes to investments, which has left their financial life in not such good conditions. I realized that expert advice was missing, there is no goal based approach to investments and no existence of financial planning to serve their needs.
I decided to be a bridge on the gap and as I see a very promising career opportunity in this field, I started with insurance advisory and also started providing MF Advisory after I joined NJ as a Partner.
ES:Setting the financial advisory business takes some time. How did you handle the challenges on the financial front in the initial period of the business?
Dhaval: Yes. You can not have a smooth journey in the beginning of any business. I also faced some common problems that normally would have been faced by all in the teething phase. It was difficult to explain MFs due to very little awareness of the product. Traditional thinking was also a barrier in explaining and convincing the clients. In general, on-boarding the clients for MF Investment was not that easy.
But in the middle of our journey, we all faced a major set back in the year 2008 due to stock market meltdown. Such period was painful for everyone – for investors it was a very tough situation to face and for advisors it was a big lesson to learn from. There were days when I thought, I would to do away with this business and do something else. I started figuring out & exploring other alternative business ideas. But my self motivation did not allow to me to change the track which I had already opted for and I took the decision to stick with my business. I am very thankful to all my clients who did not leave me and stayed with me – though there were few who left me but I never complained about it as at the end of the day it's their hard earned money.
I think this incident of 2008 has had a lasting impact on my business as a financial advisor !!
ES:How do you get clients on board, especially the first time investors? How do you manage client communications & segmentation?
Dhaval: On boarding the client is a very straight forward process for us. I believe that every client has his own thinking about investments and also they carry their own myths about many things. Emotional Quotient of clients also plays a vital role. I take interviews of clients and try to extract information on different aspects viz. assessing their current net worth, liabilities, their knowledge & experience of investment products, etc. I educate them on every aspect of investment. However there is one thumb rule which I follow before bringing them on board: They must be ready to remain invested for a time horizon of 5-6 years.
On communications side, I used to rely on phone calls and emails but as technology evolved and changes took place, I adopted the same. Now a days, I find WhatsApp as the best platform to be in touch with clients. Also at regular intervals I talk to clients, mostly once in 6 months.
I do not believe in Client Segmentation. For me, every client is equal with respect to various aspects of business. "My Client is My Strength". We never know what will happen in future, hence providing importance to everyone is important. I had experienced it in the past - especially in 2008 stock market meltdown.
ES: Tell us about your experience with NJ's technology initiatives. Specifically adoption of NJ E-Wealth in your clientèle.
Dhaval: I am a fan of all the tech initiatives taken by NJ. Technology brings in transparency, ease and it has its own benefits. I am taking benefits of almost all desks . For clients, let me tell you that I often pressurize my clients to use the Mobile Apps. and C-Desk to check their investment details. In my case spreading awareness & making clients use apps. and desks has worked very well and I am also being benefited with this approach.
As far as E-Wealth is concerned, it is the need of time and NJ has done well to bring it on right time. Now a days, I accept investments with E-Wealth A/c only. EW is a must for every new client. Today, we are managing around 350+ EW A/cs. For all existing clients, transition is going on and we are doing it successfully. While doing this exercise, we face some difficulties in bringing the client on EW Platform. But we believe in philosophy of change. You need to change with time. Adopt Change. Adopt Technology.
We are advocating the same to our clients by spreading awareness and educating them about technology benefits. Slowly but steadily we are increasing our counts.
ES:How much importance do you give to Asset Allocation & Risk Profiling while offering solutions to clients' needs?
Dhaval: Yes. Everything has its own importance with respect to providing advice and Financial Planning. I do goal planning as per the need of the client and after doing relevant assessments, re-balancing of portfolio is also an important aspect which I follow.
Having said this, I have my own experience and I manage my clients and their investments in my own style of working. It is difficult to stick with planning always. Many times, some events in life of an investor disturb the plan and result in a mess. Insensibility of clients & bad decisions about not to stick with the plan – there are many such cases in existence. At last you have to obey the client's decision. In India, I believe it will take time to develop such understanding in the minds of investors and to provide a comprehensive FP. In India, it will take time to reach such a mature market.
ES: Winning the trust of a Client is not an easy task. How do you think you can win the trust of your Clients?
Dhaval: There can be many parameters to win the trust of a client. But I stretch more on after sales support. As per my belief, after sales support is very important. Say in my case when we receive any query from a client, I personally remain involved in it till the time it gets resolved. For us TAT is 48 hrs to resolve any query. My personal experience says it has given me an edge in building a strong relationship with my clients. This approach of mine has made me gain the trust of clients and also the growth I witnessed in business. When you resolve a query, it gives you a big relief. It's a feel good factor for anyone.
ES: What suggestion / advice would you like to give to new Partners who have not yet established themselves in the business?
Dhaval: I believe in this Rule: "Do What NJ Suggests To Do". "Follow NJ" This is the simple principle I have adopted. My simple advise to all partners would be .
Don't Fear. Don't Lose Focus. There Are Changes And There Will Be More To Come.
Be with NJ. Follow NJ !!
NJ has always remained ahead of time. They always come up with new initiatives to combat with changes happening in the industry in any area. Further I would like to say few words....
NJ has become the main source of change in my life. Impressed with their Wealth Creation Philosophy. They always care about everyone, be it a partner, client or industry persons. Many times I recommend other IFAs to Join NJ who are working with other entities in the industry and there are Partners who joined NJ on my recommendations. When I hear that they are happy to be a part of NJ and the experience with NJ is better than their earlier entities, it brings a smile on my face with satisfaction and make my conviction even stronger in NJ. NJ offers an unmatched platform in the MF Industry in India - The most competitive one.
I am open to help other partners also and never hesitate to share my USP for doing business. At Borivali office, I used to take training sessions, give my advice/suggestions and share my ideas on various topics during discussions with other partners.
ES: Can you please share your short term and long term targets for your business.
Dhaval: Right now we are focusing on reaching the magic figure of Rs. 100 Cr. AUM in coming 3 Years and we have targeted to complete Rs. 1 Cr. Of SIP Book in coming 8 months.