In an interview with Yogita Khatri of Myiris.com, Sumeet Vaid, founder and chief executive officer (CEO), Ffreedom Financial Planners says, ``Just like every ones health diagnostics and conditions are different in same financial plan differ from each family to family.``
With over 15 years of experience in wealth management & distribution of financial products Sumeet Vaid is already considered a veteran in the industry. Sumeet is currently the founder and CEO of - Ffreedom Financial Planners set up in March 2009. A graduate from Delhi University in industrial relations and personnel management, Sumeet started his career in 1995 with Bajaj Capital. At Bajaj, he was responsible for setting up the mutual fund desk. In 1998, he moved to Prudential ICICI Mutual and was part of the initial 10-member core team which was responsible for setting up the fund house. In 2005, Sumeet moved to ING’s start up venture in India, OptiMix as CMO. OptiMix had been set up as a standalone division of ING Investment Management (India). The entrepreneur in Sumeet finally got his due, when he decided to start Ffreedom Financial Planners - a venture with a focus on comprehensive financial planning, convenience and consolidation. Sumeet has been awarded CFP (Chartered Financial Planner) certificate by Financial Planning Standards Board of India (FPSB) for his expertise in financial planning.
> What drew you into financial advisory business?
My 15 years experience with mutual fund industry gave me enough insights and convinced me that being next to the investor is the real future and on basis of good quality financial advice one can create a win win long term business model.
> How has been your journey so far? Tell us something about your experience.
It has been very satisfying journey. Today Ffreedom Financial Planners is one of the few integrated financial planning firms in the country which offer fee based financial planning to its clients across the country with help of technology.
> How do you reach out to your clients? How do you win the confidence of your clients?
We reach to our clients thru positive advocacy i.e. referral we believe in giving our clients a wow to be referred to their family, friends etc.
> What kind of turbulent times did you face in your business and how did you tackle them?
In new business you go through challenges more so in the beginning. In our case we were luck to have professional team which helped us in developing process and technology which is helping up scale up.
> Do the media reports of mis-selling against distributors affect you?
We are not distributor we are a fee based financial planning the media reports and actions from regulators are helping us in our business.
> How do financial plans differ for people from different professions?
Just like every ones health diagnostics and conditions are different in same financial plan differ from each family to family. Financial plan is like family balance sheet it captures currents status of family in terms of money and also put a plan in place for taking care future of family in terms of risks, dreams and goals.
> What kind of advisory scenario you think will evolve?
Advisory industry has to move towards client centricity otherwise they will perish and one of the way to do that is financial planning as it helps you in charging fees and give good quality advice to clients.
> What`s the one thing that you would change in the financial services industry, if you had the power to make that happen?
I will wish that certified financial planner i.e. CFP certificate becomes mandatory. Advice to be delivered based on financial plan. This financial plan should be audited by regulators so that mis-selling stops.
> Going ahead, what are your plans? How do you plan to expand your business?
We are in process of creating scale with help of technology so that we can give good quality advice to all in consistent basis.
> What three books related to personal finance would you recommend every person read and why?
Read all books by ``Nick Murray``. He is father of financial advisory business.
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