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Advisors Conference
December 3rd & 4th, 2010, Mumbai
The 2nd Annual Wealth Forum Platinum Circle Advisors Conference was held in Mumbai on 3rd & 4th December, 2010. Over 130 of India's finest advisors - the top 1% of advisors from the top 20 cities across India participated in this event, alongside heads of some of India's largest national distribution companies.
In its first edition in Oct 2009, the Platinum Circle conference's theme centred around "Moving To A New Paradigm - From Distribution To Advice". This was shortly after the game changing Aug 09 regulations abolishing entry loads.
Conference theme : imbibing global best practices in advisory services
In the second edition, held in Dec 2010, the theme was more forward looking - anticipating the next level of change rather than reacting to change. The theme chosen was " Imbibing Global Best Practices in Advisory Services". Over this 2 day conference, participants were given a great opportunity to understand business models, regulations, sales processes and case studies of successful advisors from diverse geographies including UK, USA, Australia, South Africa, Hong Kong, Singapore and Netherlands, and draw useful learnings from there. Wealth Forum believes the next wave of regulations in India will inevitably focus on establishing regulations for the distribution and wealth management business - which will include not just education and licensing norms, but a whole new set of sales process and documentation norms that advisors will need to adhere to - just as their counterparts in several other markets already do. This conference gave participating advisors a rare opportunity to understand this important input from across several geographies - to enable them to be ahead of the curve and anticipate regulatory change and be prepared for it - rather than reacting to change.
Panel discussions amongst advisors provoked much thought and points for action, as did the presentations by AMCs who participated in this conference, including ICICI Prudential, Fidelity, JP Morgan, Kotak Mahindra, Axis and Principal.
The plenary session of the conference was chaired by Mr. K.N. Vaidyanathan, Executive Director, SEBI, who provided a perspective on the road ahead for the industry in a manner that few advisors had previously comprehended. His "open house" session was highly interactive and extremely useful in dispelling many a notion that had needlessly cropped up in advisors' minds about regulatory action and the future of the business.
Pictures, they say tell stories far better than words. Here therefore are the highlights of the conference, in pictures………………
Vijay Venkatram, Director, Wealth Forum, welcomes delegates to the 2nd Annual Wealth Forum Platinum Circle Conference.
A cross section of the leading 130 advisors from 20 key cities who participated in this conference
Alroy Lobo, Chief Investment Strategist, Kotak Mahindra AMC, gave the participants a rare and welcome glimpse of global best practices in investment management and articulated how a process orientation is absolutely critical to build scale and attract big ticket global investors.
Major Ashish Chadha, Chadha Investments, Delhi has a question for Alroy…………….
As does Shrikant Bhagavat, Hexagon Capital Advisors, Bangalore………………
The Plenary Session
The stage is set for the Plenary Session - on the dias are Neeraj Choksi of NJ India Invest, Rajeev Bajaj of Bajaj Capital and Sandesh Kirkire of Kotak Mahindra AMC
Neeraj Choksi of NJ India Invest spoke about the need to embrace regulatory change, adapt and keep moving ahead. He shared the NJ experience - the most recent example of which was their decision to whole-heartedly embrace the stock exchange platform across their channel partners and leverage its strengths - at a time when many are still debating the pros and cons of it.
Rajeev Bajaj of Bajaj Capital presented a report card on distribution - candidly spelling out the hits and misses for the industry in 2010 and steps that he felt needed to be taken by the distribution fraternity and by the regulators to build greater momentum in the business
Sunil Jhaveri of MSJ Capital, Delhi makes a point to Rajeev Bajaj
Vithoba Prabhu, Apex Wealth Mart, Bangalore shares a lighter moment with the group
Kapil Khurana, Amritsar has a question for Rajeev Bajaj
K.N. Vaidyanathan, Executive Director, SEBI joins the plenary session during Rajeev Bajaj's presentation
Sandesh Kirkire, CEO, Kotak Mahindra AMC gave a thought-provoking presentation on building businesses in the new environment. You can only move ahead once you acknowledge the facts and have clarity on the end game - Sandesh lucidly delivered both in a simple and direct way
K. N. Vaidyanathan, Executive Director, SEBI, in charge of Mutual Funds, provides his perspective on the road ahead for the distribution business.
Vaidyanathan busted many myths and addressed several of the advisors' main concerns even as he spelt out his clear vision on how he sees the business shaping up in the years ahead, and how advisors need to shape up to be aligned with the new realities.
Pramod Saraf, Indore has a question for the regulator………….
Nilakshi Louzado of InTrust Advisors, Pune makes a point to the regulator……..
…….and the regulator got of the dias to engage more closely with the advisory fraternity
Brijesh Dalmia, Dalmia Advisory Services, Kolkata, has a question …….
…….as does Bharat Bhushan of Money Options, Delhi
Vaidyanathan took on all questions with a straight bat - providing the much needed perspective to advisors on a whole host of issues that had them worried and concerned
Sangeeta Jhaveri, Prescient Financial Services, Mumbai makes a point to Vaidyanathan…..
Dhruv Mehta, Mumbai expresses his views…….
Ramesh Bhat, Aniram, Chennai seeks a clarification…..
……as does Shiny Sebastian, Affluenz, Kochi
The regulator shows the way - literally and figuratively to Roopa Venkatakrishnan and Mona Fakih of Mumbai, with Jignesh Desai of NJ India Invest looking on
Need more clarity - sure, says Vaidyanathan as Dilip Dey, Kolkata and Bharat Phatak, Wealth Managers, Pune join Roopa Venkatakrishnan
Understanding the UK business models and regulatory environment
Ed Dymott, Head of UK Fund Partners, Fidelity International flew down from UK especially for this event, and gave a fascinating overview of the distribution and advisory models in UK, the regulatory changes there and how advisors are adjusting to the new paradigm in their market.
Suraj Kaeley, Director of Sales at Fidelity International gave an overview on how one can imbibe learnings from across the globe to introduce innovations in the Indian market. He provided a brief curtain raiser on Fidelity's new product development initiatives in India
The first case study of the conference - Dominique Vinecombe of Regency Investment Services, UK. A recorded interview with Dominique was played, where she gave very useful insights into how her firm has developed and changed over the years, how she is responding to the regulatory changes in the UK and the kind of sales processes that advisors need to abide by in the UK.
An attentive audience soaks in lessons from the UK market
Ranjit Dani, Think Consultants, Nagpur has a question for Ed
Shyam Sundar, Peak Alpha, Bangalore clarifies doubts with Ed
An FII perspective on India
Raj Nair, Fund Manager, JP Morgan Pacific Regional Group provided a very interesting perspective of how FIIs view the Indian market and how India stacks up in their reckoning. Most advisors had only heard second-hand about FII perspectives on India - here was a great opportunity to interact with one such leading FII representative
Lalit Somani, Hyderabad has a question for Raj Nair
Mukesh Gupta, Wealth Care, Delhi shares a lighter moment with Raj
Bharat Phatak, Wealth Managers, Pune shares his perspectives with Raj
A K Narayan, Chennai makes a point to Raj
Panel Discussion : Future of retail distribution in the new environment
Vijay Venkatram introduces the panellists : Neeraj Choksi of NJ India Invest, Rajesh Jha of Jain Investment, Mumbai, Shirish Patel of Prudent Corporate Advisory, Mumbai and Ashish Modani of SLA Investment Centre, Jaipur
Rajesh Jha discusses the challenges and opportunities in rendering an advisory based service to retail clients at the present low margins
Neeraj Choksi talks about retaining focus on right selling, on SIPs and on increasingly relying on technology support to continue delivering service to retail clients
Shirish Patel discusses some of the value added features that Prudent Corporate has introduced to help its channel partners
Ashish Modani reiterates his firm conviction that a fee based retail advisory model can be very much a reality in any market - and discusses his own success in establishing such a model in Jaipur
Dilip Dey, Kolkata has a question for Ashish on charging fees from retail clients
Understanding the Australian business models and regulatory environment
Case Study - Indy Singh, MD, Fiducian Portfolio Managers, Australia. In a recorded interview, Indy Singh provided a fascinating insight into how regulations have changed over the years in Australia, how business models have adapted to these changes, his own story of how he developed a $ 3 bn AuM sized advisory business and words of advice for Indian advisors as they begin the journey that Australian advisors have been through in the last 20 years
Ravi Kohli, Bluechip Capital, Delhi adds his perspectives to the case study discussion on Australia
B Srinivasan, Shree Sidvin, Bangalore seeks clarity on a point
Ashish Goel, Vista Wealth, Delhi makes an observation in the case study discussion
Understanding business models and regulatory environment in Hong Kong and Singapore
Brian Tan, Head of Sales, JP Morgan Asset Management, Singapore, flew down especially for this event and shared great insights into not just the business and regulatory environment in Hong Kong and Singapore, but also gave a fascinating peek into forthcoming regulations in Hong Kong. His insights on sales processes in these markets and the regulations around them were much appreciated by participants
Vivek Gupta, Delhi has a question for Brian Tan
Implementing global best practices in India
Rajeev Bajaj of Bajaj Capital shared the Bajaj Capital experience in implementing global best practices in their financial planning and wealth management verticals. The candour with which he explained his learnings and experiences were much appreciated by participants
Shyam Sundar, Peak Alpha, Bangalore clarifies a point with Rajeev Bajaj
Advice embedded solutions for the Indian market
Karan Datta, National Sales Head, Axis AMC draws upon international learnings and a lot of work done within Axis AMC to showcase why advice embedded solutions are the need of the hour in India - especially when dealing with retail clients and clients with relatively lower levels of risk appetite
Mona Fakih, Allegience Advisors, Mumbai asks Karan a question
Ashish Chadha, Chadha Investments, Delhi makes a point
Shaibal Bhadhuri, Investors Point, Dhanbad raises an issue
Sumeet Vaid, Ffreedom Financial, Mumbai makes a point
Yogesh Sharma, YS Capital, Mumbai has the last word on this debate
Panel Discussion - Implementing global best practices in India
Vijay Venkatram introduces the panellists - Sumeet Vaid, Ffreedom Financial, Mumbai, Lovaii Navlakhi, International Money Matters, Bangalore and Hrishikesh Parandikar, Karvy Private Wealth, Mumbai
Hrishikesh Parandikar discusses some of the challenges in a process vs product led approach when soliciting HNI business in India
Lovaii Navlakhi discusses some of the global best practices he has imbibed as well as what his home-grown experiences have taught him in terms of winning and retaining clients' trust
Sumeet Vaid is firm in his convictions that the time is indeed ripe in India to take fee based financial planning to retail clients - across the country. He doesn't share the view that this global best practice may remain confined to urban mass-affluent pockets in India.
Ritu Mathur, Megriar Advisors, Delhi makes a point
Changing trends in the global asset management industry
Karun Marwah, Head - Business Development, International Business, ICICI Prudential AMC gave participants rich insights into the dynamics of global asset management, the way in which global asset managers look at asset allocation, their challenges and opportunities and within that context, the opportunities for Indian markets and Indian market participants
Vithoba Prabhu, Apex Wealth Mart, Bangalore has a question for Karun…………..
…………as does Sapna Narang, Capital League, Delhi
Aashish Somaiyyaa, Head of Retail Sales, ICICI Prudential AMC took the participants through the dynamics of evolving a product strategy, using very effective analogies with something everybody in India relates to - Bollywood
Understanding business models and regulatory environment in South Africa
Case Study - Prem Govender, Mosswick Investments, South Africa. In a recorded interview, Prem shared very useful insights into the evolution of advisory regulations in South Africa, the way in which their equivalent of a "variable entry load" mechanism functions, the mandatory sales processes, the distribution channels and their relative strengths and weaknesses and the secrets of her own success as an advisor.
Panel Discussion - Scale up or be a focussed boutique?
Should IFAs aspire for growth - AuM, branch network, teams etc or remain high quality focussed boutiques? How do you decide what's the right strategy for you : that was the key question posed to the pannelists, who included Brijesh Dalmia, Dalmia Advisory Services, Kolkata, Hemant Rustagi, WiseInvest Advisors, Mumbai, Shrikant Bhagavat, Hexagon Capital Advisors, Bangalore and Ranjit Dani, Think Consultants, Nagpur
Brijesh Dalmia prefers growth - but within his clearly defined areas of core competency - wealth management for affluent individuals within Kolkata and satellite areas. He is not enamoured with a multi - location business, as he strongly believes in the personal touch in such a business model
Hemant Rustagi discussed some of the challenges in attempting a scale up - the key issue being attracting and then retaining good quality talent. In a people oriented business, this is the biggest challenge - more than capital. Management bandwidth is also a serious challenge for many advisors, he opined.
Shrikant Bhagavat stressed on the importance of putting robust processes in place before aspiring to scale up. Many advisors continue to adopt a highly individualisitic and therefore informal style - which comes in the way of scaling up. Putting in well documented, repeatable processes in the first step for any entrepreneur who has ambitions of scaling up
Ranjit Dani acknowledged that though he has been exposed to many lessons in practice management from the world over, implementing them is still a "work-in-progress" at his firm.
Tamanna Varma, Vinayaka Investments, Delhi has a question for the panellists
Ashish Modani, SLA Investment Centre Jaipur makes a point
Nilesh Gurnani, Indore shares an observation
Exam time? Not really ! Advisors filling up feedback forms - candid opinions on what they liked about the conference, what they didn't and what more would they like to see in future Wealth Forum conferences
5 minutes of time spent in giving quality feedback……..
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