The financial services industry is a rapidly changing professional environment. As the needs and desires of consumers change, firms engaged in managing money are also evolving. A registered investment advisor (RIA) manages the assets of individuals and institutional investors. He or she must be registered with the regulator in the jurisdiction where one is practising.
In India, SEBI (Securities & Exchange Board of India) is the regulator for the securities market. He or she must have requisite qualifications, certifications, experience, net-worth, infrastructure, pay registration fees, etc. to be able to get the registration certificate from the regulator. Post registration RIAs are required to keep all the client records including the KYC data, advice records, basis of advice, investment suitability, risk profiling, financial data, etc., do all the compliance, annual audit, continuity of certifications, continuous education, maintenance of net-worth, etc. for keeping the registration in-force.
What do clients get for paying us (RIAs) the fees? It’s not just for picking up of an investment product & help transacting it… it’s much beyond that.
Here are some of the ways in which we continuously attempt to add value to our clients lives.
We help you organise and declutter your financial life. We help you organize your finances, project the results of your savings and investments so you can see how well prepared you are for retirement, and help you make decisions with your money that will help you reach your financial goals as efficiently as possible.
We understand, analyse and help you invest for life goals. We assess your current financial health by examining your assets, liabilities, income, insurance, taxes, investments and estate plan.
We help you set realistic financial and personal goals. We will stay with you as long as you want us to help you reach your financial goals
We help you avoid take wrong decisions driven by emotions. We will tell you;
- What you need to do differently.
- How much you need to save.
- What type of mortgage you should have, if you should pay it off, or refinance or keep it.
- What to do with your existing insurance policies – Continue, make it paid-up or surrender.
- What type and how much insurance you need (this would include life insurance, disability, property, health insurance, critical Illness, etc.).
- How much to keep in your emergency fund.
- What changes might improve your tax situation.
- What rate of return you will need to earn to achieve your goals over a given time frame.
- Whether it makes sense for you to downsize later in life.
- What level of investment risk is appropriate for you by doing your financial risk profiling.
- We help you to be prepared for emergencies and transitions.
- We stand by your family members in case of emergencies.
- We educate you on the do’s and don’ts of money management. We help improve the quality of the financial decisions you make. We help you understand the relation between markets, investment risk, volatility and returns.
- We help you put your plan into action. We help you to save/invest regularly, bring in discipline.
- We do Asset Allocation & Portfolio Rebalancing on a regular basis and monitor its progress.
- We research the whole of the market and help you select the most appropriate low cost/ zero commission investment products / schemes suitable to you. We will not make any recommendations until we understand your requirements and financial situation.
- We avoid you make mistakes of getting into latest trends / fads. We help you stay on track to meet changing goals …changing personal circumstances …changing stages of your life …changing products …markets, tax laws and much more.
Being a SEBI Registered Investment Adviser, we act as a fiduciary – acting in the best interests of the client since we do not have any conflict of interest. We are independent and not tied up with any financial institutions such as banks, insurance companies, asset management companies, NBFCs, etc. to sell their products. This allows us to provide bespoke solutions and totally unbiased advice to our clients.
As a ‘Fee only’ investment adviser we are independent professionals and paid only by the clients and not from the commission on financial product sales. We do not earn any commissions or brokerage and our income is only the fees agreed and charged to the client on the services rendered to them.