Mr. K A Somashekara Rao, Bangalore
Mr. K A Rao – a commerce graduate was very passionate for Taxation subject during his graduation. After completion of graduation he decided to start his career in the area of his interest and started his own Tax Consultation Firm. As a part of work and a very common requirement of most of his clients during the tax filing season, he used to look for various options for Tax saving for his clients. When came to know about ELSS option offered by MF he used to advise his clients for investment in ELSS to save tax. After getting conviction for investment in ELSS, interest started building for MF and that interest only made him to start with Financial Advisory Business. He joined NJ as a Partner and took a new journey along with his Tax Consultation business. The Interesting Part in his journey is about his SIP book. His conviction for SIP – as a tool for long term wealth creation can be seen easily with the sparkling numbers in his SIP book. 3 years back his SIP book was standing at around 3-3.5 Lac which has now crossed a magic figure of 50 Lac. This achievement has not come just with having conviction for SIP but also one goal that he carries has made a major difference and that is - "Min. One SIP Per Client".
We are glad to presents an interview of a Tax Consultant who later became a Financial Advisor and looking forward to do wonders with his SIP Book. Team e-Saathi wishes Mr. Rao and his clients all the very best with a hope that each client become SIPiant !!
ES: Please introduce yourself and also share your vision and mission or goals in life.
Mr. Rao: I am Somashekara Rao, I have been working as a Tax Consultant since 1993 in Bangalore and also working as a IFA since 2007. "TO DO THE BEST & TO GIVE THE BEST"is my motto in life.
Maths always remains a favorite subject from the days of schooling and at the time of joining college opted for Commerce line. As a commerce student I had always an inclination towards Taxation part and that interest later turned into my profession. I started my Tax Consultancy firm in the year 1993.
ES: What inspired you to choose the career of a financial advisor / distributor?
Mr. Rao: As I was Tax consultant becoming financial advisor was by chance and self inspired. I always search for the new opportunities and work for it.
Advising & suggesting for tax saving is a very common job of a tax professional especially for Salaried class. ELSS is the product that I found as a best bet among many and most of the time I suggested this product.. After getting basic level of understanding about working of Mutual Fund I decided to start with Financial advisory. I got acquainted with MF in less time as already serving clients for ELSS. The concept of SIP I liked the most for long term wealth creation.
I had heard about NJ and its business model. I approached NJ's Bangalore team and joined NJ as a Partner in 2007. I liked the NJ's service offering and the concept of one stop shop for all financial needs.
ES:How did you handle the challenges in the starting phase of advisory ?
Mr. Rao: Struggling is a part of any profession. My uncle B.V. Krishnamurthy Retd RBI AGM. always filled a positive thought in me. He used to say this line to me "work hard, get knowledge, don’t be lazy and don’t expect returns it will comes its way". This helped me a lot to face all odds throughout this journey.
ES: Do you promote the idea of savings through MF SIP in your clients?
Mr. Rao: Yes, First I have started for tax savings scheme and later on, other product also to create wealth in long term. Major part of my business I built through SIP only.
ES: How much importance do you give to Insurance in you advisory practice?
Mr. Rao: I believe that everybody should have an adequate insurance cover for various type of protections. I also suggests my clients to have a Term plan and Mediclaim as per their need. Everyone should have TERM INSURANCE PLAN as it is of greater importance to protect your family in case of sudden death of an earning member.
ES:How do you educate and convince your clients for mutual funds, especially the first time investors?
Mr. Rao: I start with explaining the fundamental of Investment with a various concepts. Also knowledge sharing about MF product is must for me to make them understand and convince about investment in any MF Scheme.
The most common understanding I give to first time investors is Comparison of taxation between FD and Mutual Fund. Most of the clients are well aware with the investment in FD but most of them lack with the understanding of Real Rate Of Return one get from investment in FD. This understanding works very well for many first timers.
I also show them Client desk – a best reporting tool from NJ for Clients and explain the importance of it. Now a days I also recommend for NJ E-Wealth Account because provides a win- win situation for both Partner and clients with underlying benefits of saving in Time and Cost
ES: Winning the trust of a Client is not an easy task. How do you think you can win the trust of the Clients?
Mr. Rao: The added advantage I have got from my profession as a Tax consultant is the "TRUST" that I have gained all these years. Serving client in the best possible way retains the trust.
ES: What suggestion / advice you would like to give to new Partners who have yet not established themselves in the business?
Mr. Rao: Failures are the stepping stone to success. Learn from your failures, be updated, work hard, give service to clients promptly.
ES: Can you please share your short term and long term targets for your business.
Mr. Rao: A SIP book of 1 crore by 2018
Gratitude is the memory of heart. My heartfelt thanks to Mr Yatheendra (RM) for his 24/7 support , special thanks to Mr Tushar B. (Zonal Manager) for always being with me till date in this wonderful journey And big thanks to NJ TEAM.
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