In 2018, after 20+ years of working in the corporate world, when I was looking for an alternate engagement to make my life more fulfilling and purposeful, Financial Advisory was the obvious choice. I was regularly involved in the personal finance education of my colleagues in the companies where I worked. My interest largely came from my engagement in investing in various markets across the world over time. To say that the knowledge acquired during that time was sufficient to give me a platform to succeed in Financial Advisory in India would be an exaggeration.
Being at the Right Place at the Right Time
At that time, I came to know about a fee-only Financial Advisory initiative in India, where a few Financial Advisers had come together to give honest, ethical, and transparent advice. This initiative was mentored and driven by three people:
- Ashal Jauhri, Founder of Asan Ideas For Wealth, a Personal Finance Social Media group with 1.3+ lakhs active subscribers.
- Professor Pattabiraman M, Owner of Personal Finance Education website freefincal.
- Melvin Joseph, Founder of Finvin Financial Planners, one of the pioneering Fee-only Financial Advisers committed to grooming young Financial Advisers.
Within the Indian Financial Advisory community, these individuals are the epitome of building an informal ecosystem to provide Financial Advisory service that is differentiated by ethics and integrity with the spirit of selfless service for the well-being of the community.
Motivated by this initiative, I reached out to Mr. Melvin to consider my inclusion in this group. He is sharp and observant. After a few basic questions, I was invited to attend the next meeting of Fee-Only India Advisors in Bangalore in December 2018.
It has been 5+ years and I can only say that it was one of the best things that has happened to me in my life. In my previous work stint, the purpose was to earn money to take care of my family. This stint is to give back to society by educating them about the right approach to financial independence.
Scaling Up
However, there are some limitations to my contribution for this purpose. Since I came out of an earlier career that was demanding, I have chosen to limit my Financial Advisory work, where I have decided to only serve approximately 50 clients in a year. While this helps me provide quality service with a personal touch and deep engagement, my effort is a drop in the Ocean when it comes to serving a burgeoning need of 1.4 billion+ people in India.
Lately, I have been thinking of compensating shortfall in my contribution by preparing 50 aspiring Financial Advisers with the necessary skills. The idea is to identify people who are passionate about Financial Advisory and have similar beliefs and thought processes and equip them with the right tools to provide effective Financial Advisory. I would like to get a commitment from them that they in turn will ready at least 50 Financial Advisers in their lifetime. With this, I hope to create a scale to provide better advisory coverage.
Together we can
If you have the desired qualifications and interest to make a difference in personal finance and life of fellow citizens, please write to me.
Please note that I am yet to create the relevant collaterals and framework to facilitate this plan. Hence do not be surprised if it takes me time to engage with you. My tentative plan is to achieve this in the next 5 years.
Together, we will try to address the gap in demand and supply of ethical and transparent Financial Advisers.
Disclaimer
The writer is a SEBI Registered Adviser and Founder of FinMyn (https://finmyn.com). He provides Fee-Only Financial Planning and Investment Advisory services.
He has advised many clients in India, the US, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Europe and Australia.
To know more about him, click on https://finmyn.com/about/.