Meet Mr. Vibhash Desai, Mumbai
From being a successful businessman to a successful Partner, Mr. Vibhash Desai story is one of conviction, hard work and smart grip on business. Vibhash is dedicated for the purpose of wealth creation for his clients is not hesitant to say that he is an expert at making client's money work for them. With a target of 1,000 Cr. AUM by 2020, we are sure that there is much more to be seen from this dynamic personality from Mumbai and we wish him the very best in his endeavors.
Please share about your career and experiences before becoming a Partner / IFA.
I started my career with TATA Exports Ltd in the year 1981. After working for 13 years with Tata’s the Entrepreneur bug hit me in 1994 and I resigned and decided to start business of manufacturing and trading of Plastic packing items for Pharmaceutical companies. Business was doing well but I always had a desire to have multiple source of income. A friend suggested stock broking bolt. As I was looking out for new Opportunities I became Sub-broker of leading broking house in the year 2004. I witnessed the Bull market of 2004-07 and also the subsequent meltdown.
How did you get to know about NJ and what convinced you to become a Partner?
I was Stock Broker since 2004 and I had seen the best and the worst period of equity market. Some of my clients made money others lost money and people started having doubts in equity investments. However, I was very convinced about equity as an asset class and was looking for a full proof way to create wealth in equity. After extensive research I came to the conclusion that for creating wealth in equity you need to have best research and knowledgeable team to identify the right stock.
I found out that mutual fund investment will help me to achieve the goal of creating wealth in systematic and structured way. I was looking out for a platform to start mutual fund advisory business and one of my friend who was a NJ partner referred me to Mr. Prakash Rane Agency Manager of NJ Andheri Branch. I got convinced about the business model of NJ from day one and today I can say with pride that I have joined the best Partner and the best Agency Manager available in the entire MF industry.
What kindly of initial challenges did you face in your financial advisory/distribution career?
This is in fact a good question because one can easily imagine that I must had leveraged established client base of equity business, but let me tell you the scenario was entirely different for me. The broking clients were having a different mindset so initially I concentrated on building new client base for mutual fund business. I started doing client meets and other business promotion related activities to acquire new customers. The support and guidance I received from my Agency Manager and local NJ team was commendable. On my part, I 100% followed the instruction of NJ Team and made 25 clients per month for the initial 18 months. The market was down and out after January 2008 but I continued relentlessly to acquire 25 clients – big or small, for the initial months of my business and the rest is history.
You are very convinced on equity asset class for long term wealth creation. The question is how do you convince your clients? Is there any standard sales pitch / approach towards this?
Yes, I am very much convinced about equity as an asset class and believe that proper investment in equity through mutual fund is one of the best ways to create long-term wealth.
As far as convincing the client is concerned, I follow the simple procedure. I make them understand that “why” is more important then “how” in investment. My job is to clear their “Why” i.e why they want to invest. What are their goals for which they want to save or invest ?. The best way to explain this is to show them these two presentation of NJ viz. Power of Equity and NJ GAP. These two presentations easily convince them about the advantages of investing in equity through mutual Fund for long term wealth creation.
What is your strategy to manage the mutual fund portfolio of your clients? Please share of any standard practice being adopted to manage this?
I ensure that each client meets me once in a year to re-view his/her portfolio. I do not believe in frequent changes in the portfolio but ensure that asset allocation of my clients are as per their goals and risk appetite. I do not keep a standardize questionnaire but try and ask simple question and listen more to my clients. I believe that “questions are answers”. The more you will listen the more you will learn about your clients. I keep things simple. The advisory business is very simple but by devising various strategies we make it complicated for us as well as for our clients.
Please share your practices on managing communications with your Clients.
I am in a business and to grow my business I need to invest both my Money and my Time. I need to spend money for growing my business and spend time to spread awareness. I Invest aggressively in my business, created my own brand and organized investment meets around my area. I Use NJ BizMall effectively and intelligently for product awareness and product related communication.
Please share with us any practices /activities related to client acquisition that you follow. What is your advice to fellow Partners on this front?
Our raw material is clients. We need good client base to increase our business. So we should always be in a client acquisition mode. Talk to all about the advantages of investing in a systematic way for their financial goals. Use all available mode to be in the news, distribute leaflets and news letters in and around your locality. Be visible and available. Ask for good references from your satisfied clients, friends, relatives and business associates. One thing is clear every one invests, its upto you whether he invests through you or someone else. Be the FIRST one to approach ALL for investments.
How much importance do you give to Insurance part in your own advisory practice?
Insurance is an integral part of Overall Financial Planning. Insurance is for “Protection of your hard earned money and not just for protection to your life and health”.
I simply follow Sampoorna Shuraksha Concept. This concept helps clients to protect his life , health and most important his investment corpus which is for his financial goals and not for any unforeseen emergencies of any family members.
Your experience with NJ's technology initiatives in terms of various Desks for Clients & Partners ?
NJ technology is the best in the industry and I am saying this because of the feedback I receive from my clients who are in different profession including best of best technology companies. The client and partner desk is so user friendly and innovative that we get all the information with a click of a button. The MCS initiative is a HIT among all my clients who forward it to their friends and relative and I create my brand as well as good references
Say something about NJ TADA ? How you see it ? Would you offer this to your client ?
TADA is a Good Initiative by NJ in terms of fast, accurate and paperless investments in Mutual Fund and other products. As we want to attract young investors we have to be TECHNO SAVVY and TADA is best to achieve this goal.
On line platform is the future and I am definitely planning a campaign to introduce this to all my clients with in a year time.
How do you assess /see the future of financial advisory business in India? What suggestion / advice you would like to give to new Partners who have yet not established themselves in the business?
Financial Advisory business has huge potential in India as financial awareness among the general public is very less. We are in fact in the business of spreading financial knowledge to our clients and make them understand the advantages of having planned goal oriented investments. This is the best profession to be in this century. A recent Yahoo survey has rated the Financial Advisory business as the top 10 profession of the world in this century.
My advice to the new IFA is that there is no alternative to HARD WORK and there is no short cut to success. Please come with a long term conviction and with a spirit of entrepreneurship. Have a faith in yourself and the Growth Story of India. India is set to grow and the market and the investor’s money will grow manifold. Always think first of your clients. Try your best to make money for your client , make them rich and your job is done.
How much importance do you give to Asset Allocation while offering solution to clients need ?
I always tell my clients that asset allocation makes money and not the asset class. Putting your eggs in more than one basket is always an intelligent choice rather than putting all in single basket. But the reality is that many a times the advisor community as well as educated investors ignores to do Asset Allocation. Majority of the clients have over exposure to Real Estate and Fixed deposit and very less allocation to equity and equity related investments. Our main job as an advisor is to decide on the RIGHT asset allocation of each client and make then aware of the importance of asset allocation. Our 80 % work is done if we make client understand the importance of asset allocation.
Can you please share your short term and long term targets for your business?
I am passionate about making 1000 family Crorepatis I believe that if I am successful in creating wealth for each of my clients then eventually it will grow my own wealth and business . As I already announced in NJ PBC 2014 event my short term target for Dec. 2015 is to cross 100 Cr. of AUM and I have targeted to make 1,000 clients CROREPATIS by 2020.
We thank Mr. Vibhash for sharing his views in such detail with us and also wish him and his clients the very best in realising their goals in life... Team NJ E-Saathi
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