Hyderabad MFD Venkatesan Srinivasan of Essar Exim and Financial Services currently manages an AUM of Rs. 300 crore from over 1,000 clients. While talking to Cafemutual, Venkatesan shared how he got inspired to join the MFD business, the role of NJ Wealth in his journey, formation of his client base, his approach for client retention and engagement and what modern MFDs can do to make sure they maintain their relevance in the lives of their clients while talking to Cafemutual. Here are highlights of the conversation:

Entering the MFD business

Venkatesan entered the world of mutual funds with a desire to guide the corporate clients of his tax consultancy business financially. He was already working for a life insurance agency on a part-time basis and over time, he decided to become a full-time MFD to guide more executives in the corporate sector with their investments.

Forming the client base

Venkatesan recounts that his initial client base got formed due to his interactions with his young corporate clients from insurance business where he inspired them to save a part of their salary for investment in mutual funds.

He also continued his regular and continuous interactions with corporate employees through their organizations in form of investment awareness sessions played a key part in a rapid growth of his client base.  He adds that his tax consultancy also helped him to acquire new clients.

Approach to client engagement

Venkatesan shares that besides basic activities like portfolio review, rebalancing, greetings on special occasions, he believes in a lot of knowledge sharing with his clients. He frequently shares interesting insights into the world of mutual funds with his clients in form of posters, short videos and webinars.

Venkatesan also conducts regular customer meetings where he tries to have fewer people to ensure one-on-one interactions. For this, he tries to divide such customer meetings based on geographical zones of Hyderabad (East, West, North and South). He shares that NJ Wealth helps him to guide his clients in such sessions which explains the benefits of investing in mutual funds and doing an SIP.

Client retention

Venkatesan says that his strategy for client retention is to ensure that there is goal-based planning for every investment. He adds that a client who sees his financial goals getting fulfilled will automatically trust the MFD and continue investments with him.

Client education and goal alignment also plays a key part in Venkatesan’s strategy for client retention. For goal alignment, he asks MFDs to focus on pain points of their clients like long-term housing loans and try to guide them towards a future where the clients can pay their investments through EMIs and also have some savings left for their other financial goals. He believes that MFDs should focus on multiple financial goals of their clients to provide comprehensive financial planning.

Approach to acquire corporate employees

Venkatesan says that MFDs in cities which are corporate hubs like Hyderabad can acquire corporate employees by approaching the HR, admin or finance team of their employers first to conduct free sessions. He adds that when MFDs conduct such sessions, the law of averages can help to achieve a good number of client conversion. He also advises MFDs to not approach companies as salesmen but as professionals looking to share their knowledge.    

Role of NJ Wealth

Venkatesan thanks NJ Wealth for the knowledge, support and guidance provided throughout his distribution journey. He adds that his association with NJ Wealth has made his business easier and more streamlined.

He also appreciates the range of tools offered by NJ Wealth, including goal mapping, NJ-recommended portfolios, the mobile app, the portfolio review tool, and the ease of availing loans against mutual fund investments.

Advise to MFDs

Venkatesan advises MFDs to acquire knowledge and analytical skills first. He also recommends MFDs to ensure a good support system and have tools like a mobile app to help their clients approach them at their convenience.

He adds that MFDs should have professional etiquette and have a clear purpose while interacting with the clients. He also suggests MFDs to distribute products related to wealth management like PMS and AIF to serve their affluent clients.     

He concludes by asking MFDs to ensure their legs, brain and hearts work to ensure they meet enough clients, gain knowledge and form great relationships with their clients.

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