Mr. Chirag Girishchandra Shah, Nadiad
Mr. Chirag Shah hails from Nadiad - is a city and an administrative centre of the Kheda district of Gujarat. He has experience of over a decade in the business of personal finance, he advises his clients on Life and General Insurance, Corporate Fixed Deposits, NCDs, Various Bonds, Personal tax advice and Mutual Funds. He likes to chase big targets & wants to double the AUA and SIP book every 2 years. Chirag believes in providing financial products related education and awareness to clients and with an aim to achieve the same he used to share his views with his clients in a newsletter - "Gujarati Rokankar".
Team e-Saathi presents an interview of a partner who has passion for investments since childhood and believes that investments is there in his blood. We wish all the very best to Mr. Chirag Shah for his future endevours.
ES: Please introduce yourself and also share your vision and mission or goals in life.
Chirag: I am Chirag Shah from Nadiad. I completed my Master in Commerce in 2004, I started my career in this field by joining ICICI Prudential Life Insurance company while studying. It helped me to understand the basic fundas of investment world.
I feel financial literacy amongst us is very low, I would put it like this, 'some investors are not investing their money but murdering their hard earned money'. Many investors around us are very casual; I want to show them the right path.
I always wanted to create an image of a guardian of investor's money, not just a product seller but value adder not just to their investments but to their life as well. I am in the process of making myself an advisor that investors of my city can't ignore.
ES: What inspired you to choose the career of a financial advisor / distributor?
Chirag: Actually, my father is a very good investor himself. I am still getting inspirations from him, I grew up watching him invest in different asset classes. He also invested in Mutual Funds way back in 1996. I have seen account statements and wealth creation happening. I used to the MF terminology like NAV, units etc since school days. These things always fascinated me. I am not wrong if I say, 'investment' is in my blood. In fact, I had never thought of doing anything else, it just came naturally to me.
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?
Chirag: You need to be patience during the initial years as in any other business. Most beautiful thing about this business is that you don't need to put any capital to start and run your business. All you need is to invest your time and efforts. At initial stage I was operating from home than I moved to Office of my cousin, who is in general insurance business. After 2-3 years I got settled and had sizable client base so I purchased my own office. I did regular print advertising during initial years that helped me create branding.
ES:What made you to join NJ as NJ Partner ?
Chirag: When I was doing Life Insurance business, I was looking to start mutual fund advisory but unable to decide from where to start and with whom. Around that time one of my friend gave me a reference of NJ RE Mr. Anil Talaiya, I immediately asked him to contact me, He introduced me to NJ, You know what, when no one was aware what mutual fund is he introduced me to technology platform of NJ and explained valuation report and all. I completed all the formalities at very first meeting and cleared AMFI to become NJ Partner. It's must mentioned that the 'Partner' term first used by NJ in the industry.
ES: Do you promote the idea of savings through MF SIP in your clients?
Chirag: Of course, does one have any other option? Whether you are an investor or a broker, nothing is better than doing SIPs. At all time investors won't come to you with lumpsum figure cheques. One needs to be disciplined to be successful in this field as an investor or advisor. So, SIPs are just what the doctor is ordered. It infuses discipline and controls expenses if you are looking at investor's point of view. Each installment is a small step towards a financial goal. It creates regular source of increasing revenue if you are a broker. It is good to see that there is lots of awareness amongst the investors about SIPs.
ES:Client communications is an integral part of your business. Please share any best practices / services related to communications adopted by you.
Chirag: Like, god reminds us every day that he exists, the same way you need to remind your clients on regular basis that as his / her financial advisor, you exist. You never know when the client has investable surplus, so it is important to catch his or her attention by sending him quotes / product information / market updates etc on regular basis. I stay connected with my clients through emailers / facebook / whats app and my own newsletter 'Gujarati Rokankar' . MCS is also excellent tool for communication, one must use it.
ES: Tell us more about your newsletter 'Gujarati Rokankar'
Chirag: First time, this idea of starting own newsletter came in 2008. I wanted to guide and share lots of things to my investors. I felt the need of a medium to advice or inform my clients in writing. Generally advice given orally has no records or proof, Sometimes I also give them reference about what I wrote in past and what is happening now. I know exactly what to convey to my clients, I put the matter in very simple Gujarati language and present to them each quarter along with valuation report. It also covers seminars and other investor initiatives conducted by me. It is something which separates me from others, and helps a lot in brand building as well.
ES: How much importance do you give to Insurance in you advisory practice?
Chirag: Insurance is like foundation of one's financial life. How can you build a multistory building without working on its foundation? Sameway, you cannot think of wealth creation without insuring possible risks of life. If you don't insure yourself and only focus on investments than you are doing fundamental mistake. You need to protect the wealth first that you have today and that you are going to create by tomorrow. I always insist my investors to have Personal Accident, Mediclaim and Term Insurance first.
ES:How do you educate and convince your clients for mutual funds, especially the first time investors?
Chirag: I have a list of prospective clients and references. Every month I regulary do a small group meeting of such prospective clients at my office, this program called 'SmArt Investor Program'. I also do basic program on mutual funds called 'Mutual Fund ABCD' where I explain to them benefits of mutual funds and what other mutual fund can offer beyond equity. I invite them to these programs, I send them updates through the sources we talked about and send my own newsletters.
ES:Your experience with NJ's technology initiatives in terms of various Desks for Clients & Partners ?
Chirag: Fabulous, I think, NJ is pioneering in creating these technological initiatives, industry learned a lot from NJ's long term vision. On Technology front, NJ has always delivered before time. It makes the job of advisor very easy. Clients also remains updated about his investments.
ES: What advantages do you feel NJ E-Wealth Account offers to both Clients and Partners?
Chirag: I would only say that E-Wealth Account is not just the technology, It s an employee for free that does your work. It also provides great flexibility to clients. Client can park short term money in liquid fund frequently without any trouble of signing forms and writing cheques. Switch to one AMC to other without getting money back. There are countless benefits, list can be very long.
ES:How do you assess /see the future of financial advisory business in India? How can we as Partners be ready / prepared to make the most of it?
Chirag: I think business of financial advisory has very bright future in India, though challenges will come, an advisor need to prepare himself for that.
I don't think average Indian investor can be sustained without an advisor. I have also seen many people that they don't know where to sign on cheques. Many investors thinks that SIP and Mutual Fund both are separate products. Hence, roll of an advisor will always be meaningful to the investors.
Mind you, give it a status of full time job, be serious, it's certainly not child's play. It's a very big market, many regions still untouched.
Always think of Investor first, stay updated, get your fundas cleared, think how you can add value in advising your client. You need to be passionate and enjoy your work for being successful.
ES:Self evaluation and assessment is something we all should do regularly. How do you assess your own self and/or your business? Are there any specific parameters you refer to?
Chirag: True, but I have not given much time to assessment, I believe in doing my job up to the satisfaction of myself and my investors. My investors keep providing me with references that are proof that they are very happy being advised by me. That is the indication that they value my advice and give me further lift to do the job more efficiently.
ES:How much importance do you give to Asset Allocation & Risk Profile while offering solution to clients need ?
Chirag: Asset allocation is a key to build client's wealth, you can't give proper advice without deciding asset allocation or knowing the risk taking ability of your client. Thanks to NJ, today we have a system in placed called MARS which does asset allocation at regular intervals and offer different strategies that may suit as per risk profile of a client.
ES: Winning the trust of a Client is not an easy task. How do you think you can win the trust of the Clients?
Chirag:Gone are the days when business was done on relations, we live in very professional era, thus for a sustainable business it is very critical to win the trust of a client. An advisor should never compromise on ethics, be transparent, never give any advice which is not in best interest of a client. Each client is an extended family member of an advisor.
ES: What suggestion / advice you would like to give to new Partners who have yet not established themselves in the business?
Chirag: Come in this business for long term, be sure that it s not job of MR, its job of a doctor. Don't be afraid of regulatory and other changes, face them. Allocate certain budget to create your brand, do investor meeting / seminar at regular intervals, address your clients yourself, don't be dependent on outside speakers. Communicate effectively with your clients.
ES: Can you please share your short term and long term targets for your business.
Chirag: I have very simple target to double the AUA and SIP book every 2 years.
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