In an interview with Yogita Khatri of myiris.com, Nandish Desai, Chief Financial Planner, Wealth Care says, ``ELSS funds are my personal favorites. The industry is dynamic and I have accepted that. I would love to have ELSS stay as a tax saving instrument.``
> Could you please tell us about Wealth Care? What prompted you to set up a private wealth advisory firm? How has the journey been since so far?
When I started my financial practice, I had no organization in place. Someone suggested me to name my firm so I called it wealth care. That`s the first name that came in my mind. I am currently partner to jagoinvestor which is originally created by Manish Chauhan. Wealth Care is part of jagoinvestor, as I am a part of it. Manish is a very dear friend and a fantastic human being. It is a privilege working with him. I had no financial knowledge 3 years back. I and my father were struggling to have someone guide us on our family assets. I met 25 people at that time, for all those 25 people I was just one more business target to be accomplished. It was not a human being sitting in front of them it was commission sitting in front of them. That was a point I decided to get in control of my finances, I did my certified financial planners program (it is not yet complete). I organized my own finances, some of the people around me trusted me and gave me a chance to work with them on their financial life and that`s how I could set-up my practice. I also teach in an MBA Institute as visiting faculty where I train other budding financial planners. I have now coached people across India and abroad. The journey so far has been very very exciting. It is a privilege helping people with their finances and transforming their relationship with money.
> How has life changed after Aug 2009 - when the entry loads were abolished?
No my life has not at all changed after entry load got abolished. I find SEBI committed to investors life and that is a good. I am confident on what I do and I am very comfortable charging fees for my value additions. In fact my client list has grown after the change happened. I am much freer to say that I am not a commission agent I am a financial transformation agent.
> What is the profile of clients that you mange today? Are clients clear in their goals? What steps do you take to bring clarity to their goals?
My clients are mostly professionals and business people. Most people see financial planner as magicians, some kind of santa who will help them achieve each and every thing in life. I don`t use a boring questionnaire to jot down their goals; I make them write a few sentences on it. The best place to solve all your problems is on paper. That brings in the clarity. My approach to financial planning is non-linear in nature. I pull them back from the future to the present. How about making this year (2011) as their best financial year yet. I believe the best financial futures are created in the present moment. Some goals go against them. Looking at high retirement corpus or children marriage expense or children education expense gives them stress so I make only one goal important in their life that is wealth creation. Investors should fall in love with the process of wealth creation. That`s my job.
> With the markets correcting from the month of January, what kind of portfolio rebalancing should a retail investor look at now?
My clients are not market driven, they don`t panic by corrections, and they are very clear with where their money is invested and are extremely happy with it. I make my clients take the risk that is required rather than taking unwanted risk. They don`t need frequent re-balancing. Investors make money when they have the understanding of the instrument they have invested in instead of re-balancing. The game of money is played to win rather than not to lose.
> Equity-linked Savings Schemes (ELSSs) are the best initiators for investments in mutual funds but after the Direct Taxes Code (DTC) they will become irrelevant. How is it going to impact the industry? Please share your thoughts with us on same.
ELSS funds are my personal favorites. The industry is dynamic and I have accepted that. I would love to have ELSS stay as a tax saving instrument. I don`t understand why it should not be continued. People are happy, fund managers are happy, agents are happy. I trust our finance minister in taking a wise decision in the Budget.
> How do you see various debt instruments performing given the volatile markets and rising interest rates?
Most debt instruments don`t beat inflation. I am not very fond of them when it comes to investing my money or my clients`. No matter what they are here to stay as safety is attached to it.
> What are the aspects that matter to you when selecting funds for your clients? Your top 3 equity fund picks and debt fund picks with key attributes you like in them?
I look for the investment objective, expense ratio in selecting a fund. I don`t believe in naming top funds. I am not committed to any fund or fund house but only to my client`s money and their prosperity. Ok let me try to pick some equity funds DSP Micro Cap, Birla Sunlife Frontline Equity, ICICI Junior Nifty Index Fund. Debt funds are Birla Sun Life Dynamic Bond, HDFC MIP.
> Financial literacy and customer education is seen as a step towards helping the common man take right investment decisions. What initiatives have you taken in this regard?
My partner Manish Chauhan runs Blog jagoinvestor which is touching 9000+ readers every week. We discuss each day how we can add more and more value to people`s financial life. He takes care of the writing part and I take care of other things that we are doing. Our life is dedicated in making a difference in people`s financial life. I have personally conducted and lead financial awareness sessions in Pune, Mumbai, Ahmadabad and some small towns like Mehsana. I have designed workshop that can transform people`s financial life; we intend to do that in near future for our readers and investors.
> Have you as a team set a goal for the next three years for Wealth Care? How do you plan to expand your business?
Yes as a team we have our goals set for the next 3 years. We will come up with very exciting, innovative and value adding products and services for investors in 2011.
> Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?
Work on your relationship with money; stop seeking free tips and advice (it`s expensive in nature), spend less time on Facebook (social networking) and more on your personal finance. Invest in yourself, choose to work on yourself, fall in love with the process of wealth creation, you have one financial life and make the most out of it.
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