As we embark on the journey of the 5T$ economy, we strongly believe that the number of Millionaire investors in India would be growing at least 10 times from the current levels by 2030.
Indian economy is at an inflection point and from here assuming that our nominal GDP growth would be 10% (growth +inflation), then we are likely to see that number of jobs in the wealth management industry grows by at least 30% year on year for the next 10 years. The next decade would belong to India which will be known as “Atmanirbhar Bharat”.
So with this notion, this time we had the chance to connect with Mr. Vikas Agrawal, Managing Director, and CEO at AIF & PMS Experts India to shed some light on the role of a wealth manager and financial advisors. His insights will be helpful for both freshers and seasoned professionals who are planning to start a career in this industry.
Vikas Agrawal, Founder of AIF & PMS Experts India, is a management graduate with 16 years of experience in the wealth & Asset Management business in India. Formally associated with Motilal Oswal where he had an opportunity to meet the richest man of the world Mr. Warren Buffet at Berkshire Hathaway’s AGM at Omaha, US.
Interview Log – Vikas Agrawal
Q1- Please share a brief introduction about your role as a successful Wealth Management Leader.
In the Wealth Management Industry, you can call yourself successful only when your client creates wealth. At AIF and PMS Experts India, our first priority is to help our clients create long term wealth without having any kind of conflicts of interest or bias.
Being into wealth management, my primary role is to cater to high-net-worth individuals and ultra-high-net-worth individuals. For such clients, time is equal to money and that’s why we have to sound logical and practical to them. During these short meetings with such high network clients, we have to ensure that we build trust as their money will be in the safe hands and we shall deliver what we commit.
Q2 – What does a day in your life look like?
As a founder of AIF & PMS Experts India, it is our attempt to build a world-class wealth management arm, which specializes in alternate space in India. The objective of the organization is to educate the investor community as a whole. Thus, most of my days are planned in achieving our company’s core mission i.e creating wealth for clients. Some of my major tasks include:
Typically the day of a wealth manager is to stay updated with the latest market updates and share the crucial market updates with clients. My day is no different from any other wealth manager. So my day starts with:
- Checking the latest market happenings and current affairs
- Connecting with my existing clients in the morning and updating them with important market updates and having one-on-one discussions.
- Managing client’s behavior is the most critically important aspect.
As our goal is to help the clients in achieving their financial goals and make reliable investment decisions, I am always expected to be up to date with regards to various asset classes and its performance. Apart from this, I am also responsible for mentoring my team to offer meaningful propositions to my prospects and close the investment deals.
Q3- Please share some of your personal career insights and experience? Also, share your motivation behind pursuing this career.
I began my career in the Asset Management Business in the year 2004. Having spent almost 16 years in the Financial Industry, I got an opportunity to work with a brand like Motilal Oswal where I could not only learn what is called financial advisory but also developed expertise in the alternative asset class and Portfolio Management Services. With years of industry experience and understanding of the market, I have recently started my own company called AIF & PMS Experts India with the aim to empower the clients for making the right financial investment decisions.
The beauty of our industry is very knowledge-driven and what really motivates me is here, I get an opportunity to share my learnings and wisdom with my clients who in turn make the best use of the same and create long term wealth. I take pride in transforming the financial life of my clients.
Naukri Learning – With 16+ years of experience, according to you, what skills or characteristics make someone a seasoned wealth manager?
After spending 16 years in the industry, According to me, the most important characteristic of any seasoned wealth manager is to understand and examine the risk appetite levels of the investor very very carefully and basis the score, one should evaluate the solutions which ultimately match the needs of the client.
For example, if the client is looking at extremely lower volatility in the portfolio then there is absolutely no point offering long-only equity instruments.
Q4 – Generally, both wealth management and financial planning are considered as the subsets of financial advising. However, what do you think is the significant difference between wealth managers and financial planners?
Although it is common to use the terms Wealth Management and Financial Planning interchangeability, however, the roles of Financial Advisor and Wealth Manager are slightly different from each other. The journey of Wealth creation always starts with Financial Planning which is more of a goal-oriented focused on Cash Flow Management, Tax Planning, Investment Planning, and at the end Retirement Planning
Whereas the role of the Wealth Manager is to manage the wealth created by high net worth individuals. Therefore wealth managers should focus on preserving the wealth first, do the risk tolerance assessment, and then follow the asset allocations rules with full discipline. Here, discipline plays an imp role in the long run.
Q5-Which certifications do you hold and how these certificates have helped you in career growth?
I have an MBA in Finance from ISB&M Pune and also cleared the AMFI Mutual Fund Advisory Module. These certifications have really helped me a lot in the initial stage of my career in terms of understanding with the financial industry. It also gave me different frameworks that helped me understand the practical implications of those learnings.
“To my mind, in the investing world, what matters most is the wisdom which you develop from your experience.”
Q6 – Which certification courses do you recommend to aspiring wealth managers?
I would suggest aspirants look for professional courses like chartered wealth manager which are advanced in nature and updated timely. This would certainly help them gain domain knowledge in the Wealth Management Industry.
Q7 – Do you have any expert advice for our readers?
As Mr. Charlie Munger says:
“Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you wake up.”
This quote by Charlie Munger inspires me the most which clearly indicates that learning and enhancing our knowledge on the investing journey is the most imp aspect.
The more we learn, the better we get our investment-making decisions. So it’s time to:
a) Start early Investing
b) Follow asset allocation rules strictly
c) Do not ignore the power of compounding
Q8 . Are you hiring employees?
Yes, During the Covid-19 we did, now we are a team of four members and we are happy to expand.
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