Every business has it's own set of core elements necessary to be successful. It is no different for a financial advisory practice. A study of all successful practices highlights few very common things that we believe are imperative for success in the business. In this piece, we highlight the six imperatives for success from the perspective of an IFA.

1.Skills & Education
The financial advisory profession is very closely linked to the IFA's skills and expertise on subjects associated with wealth management. It is a profession where the we need to keep learning and enhancing your knowledge & information. Beyond learning, we also would need to sharpen and improve our skills at preparing plans and presenting our ideas to the customers.

To stay relevant and meaningful to the customers, we will need to invest into technology, products and services again for which our knowledge and expertise will be at test. Running a successful practice as a financial advisor is challenging and it involves having the requisite skills, knowledge related to the below mentioned areas.

• Preparing financial plans and projections
• Asset classes, products & services
• Markets and its' developments
• Operational Processes
• Client desks /reports & Business MIS
• Established rules and regulations
• Managing compliances and books of accounts
• Skills in planning and managing practice

Being weak on any of these areas can hamper prospects for growth for us.

2.Beliefs
We are what we believe. Our beliefs are not to be considered as ordinary as they drive our actions and shape our philosophy and our approach to our business. It will be a win-win situation if we can identify our core beliefs and work at transferring those beliefs into values and actions in our professional lives. For example, if you believe in equities for long term wealth creation, you can do very well to share this with your clients. Understanding our core beliefs can help us greatly in shaping our business and planning for future...

Unfortunately, we do not often know our beliefs on things which are intangible to business. These beliefs can be unveiled when we ask ourselves questions like...

• What is that I good at and feel happy at doing?
• What is the true measure of my success?
• How best can I serve my clients?
• How important are knowledge & skills for me?
• How can I best grow my business?
• How committed am I to my business?

To be successful advisors, we need to have a strong set of beliefs that are positive for our business. As an advisor, we must give highest value to improving and safeguarding our client's interests. Our focus should only be on our business and as wealth management professionals, we must believe that the highest and best use of your professional knowledge and services is to improve and better the client's life. Without having these basic beliefs, it will be hard to succeed.

3.Relationships
Relationships are our most prized assets. And in order to grow as wealth managers, we must all nurture these assets. Over time, relationships which are nurtured rightly, will give birth to trust. And with trust, the relationship has the potential to grow much beyond the initial engagements.

Nurturing a relationship is an art; you can create a picture with many different strokes and colours by...

1. Knowing: Knowing the customer's financial & non-financial aspect important for your advisory role.
2. Respecting: Respecting the client for his beliefs, objectives in life and the mandate he has for you.
3. Caring: Being truly caring for the client's concerns and managing his priorities in his best interests.
4. Communicating: Keeping the communication channels healthy, substantive, informal, regular and open.
5. Connecting: Connecting at a personal level and exploring client's real objectives, concerns and motivations.
6. Collaborating: Adopting a two-way approach to preparing solutions and executing plans with client's active involvement.
7. Facilitating: Working effectively towards facilitating achievement of client's needs/objectives/goals as expected.
8. Delighting: Making clients feel satisfied and delighted with the association with you.

4.Products & Services
No business can sustain itself unless it has the right set of products and services for the segment of clients that it intends to serve. Being in the evolving financial services industry, it is also imperative for the advisor to have the right mix of product and service basket to meet the wealth management needs of the evolving clients becoming more aware and demanding. In a fast paced era where loyalties can be easily switched, the advisor needs to offer one stop solution to his client's needs.

The following are the reasons why having the right products & services is essential for any advisor

Client oriented

• Single window for meeting all /most of the client's needs
• Holistic review and planning for client's financial needs
• Consolidation of transactions and portfolio for clients
• Ease and efficiency in administration /operations

IFA oriented

• Attracting new clients for products/services not offered by other advisors
• Demotivating clients from moving /shifting to other service providers
• Increased share of wallet and client profitability by cross-selling & up-selling opportunities

5.Technology
Technology, systems and processes have today taken center-stage in almost every business. Traditional businesses and market places are also being shaken up by disruptive technologies. In financial advisory business as well, the there is growing trend for automation of client related processes, technology enabled transactions and communications.

For any IFA to grow the business, it is imperative today that he seeks maximum usage of technology and systems in activities that do not require his/her core knowledge or expertise. The IFA should ideally only focus on the role of client acquisition, advising, managing relationships and leadership. Further, it is also only logical that the technology be outsourced as the time, expertise, efforts and costs for developing these solutions by the IFA cannot be justified for the business he manages.

Applications of technology /systems in advisory business

• Business monitoring and MIS
• Transaction processing
• Consolidating client reports
• Communications & alerts
• Customer relationship management
• Financial planning & advisory tools
• Client Servicing
• Query and complaint management
• Marketing & sales promotions

6.Leadership
Perhaps no element is more critical and imperative for growth of your firm than skilled and effective leadership. The journey from a local area practice to a great business cannot be undertaken unless we have the leadership skills to do so. Leadership is much beyond just writing a designation against your name in a visiting card. Leadership is a role, a responsibility that encompasses all the following...

• Having the clear, collective and shared vision for future
• Recognizing talents and sharing responsibilities with others
• Setting realistic but bigger goals and guiding progress
• Setting processes and establishing service standards
• Taking ownership and leading change
• Creating the 'right' culture and ethics in the firm
• Establishing relationships and nurturing networks

Conclusion:
Establishing and growing a business is not easy in a competitive environment for IFAs. However, the market and the opportunities for growth are immense. There is clearly a gap in the market and it is upto the IFAs to equip themselves and grab the opportunity present. The six imperatives for success are like a check-list for those advisors who have a vision to expand their scale and capabilities and for whom the success is placed at a much higher pedestal. At NJ, we have tangible answer to few of these imperatives like product & services, technology and skills /education to some extent. However, for the imperatives of Beliefs, Relationships and Leadership, the NJ Partner has to outgrow himself. The stage is set for you, and now it is upto you to set up the play and deliver your blockbuster show. All the best.

{s}
[[script type="text/javascript"]]
$(document).ready(function(){
new DiscussionBoard("divDiscussionBoard", "138", "http://www.njwebnest.in/esaathi/index.php/discussion").load();
});
[[/script]]
{/s}

Financial advisors and distributors often wear many different hats while practicing. The roles can be broadly described as – Advisory, Administration, Marketing or Sales & Operational in nature. Most of the roles are very basic or primary to the nature of our business. However, to excelling as a financial advisor to a client means a lot more than handling queries and submitting application forms. Financial advisors will need to act and be financial guides or mentors to their clients. In this piece, we will talk of some of these additional, refined 'other' roles which financial advisors should look forward to play with their clients...

Primary Role:
Before we start talking of the 'other' roles, here is a brief listing of the primary role /responsibilities which advisors are expected to play. These roles, depending on your business practice, should never be ignored or compromised for any reason.

• Identifying risk appetite
• Managing asset allocation
• Ensuring protection
• Helping in tax planning
• Doing Financial Planning
• Distribution of financial products
• Handling grievances

Other Roles:
As earlier said, financial advisors also need to act as financial guides /mentors to their clients. It is something which is very subjective and wide in scope. Here is a listing of the roles/responsibilities which trusted and skilled financial advisors can play with their clients...

• Controlling emotions: The real role of the financial advisor is actually controlling emotions of the clients. It is about making him act rationally and logically, even in face of extreme scenarios. Controlling emotions will require skill, confidence, facts & proper communication from the advisors.
• Encouraging Savings: All advisors carry this role of encouraging savings behaviour in their clients. And it is time that we advisors adopt a proper strategy and pitch in order to do so instead of trying to firing on all cylinders.
• Helping out of debt: As a financial guide, one is expected to help clients avoid debt trap and to payoff debts as soon as feasible. Given the credit savvy generation with high income, this becomes an important role of advisors. One should again prepare and follow a proper method of comparing and evaluating debt repayment strategy for clients.
• Regular communication: This is something that forms of the essence of a relationship. A powerful, relevant, informative, interesting, regular and brief communication strategy has to be adopted by advisors. The communication strategy can cover different modes /channels where appropriate messages/contents will be communication for purpose of information/updates or promotion.
• Putting financial records, accounts & documents in place: A financial advisor must follow this important bit of role wherein he helps consolidation of all information, records and documents in place for the clients. One can effectively use online Client Desk for consolidation of financial records. Beyond this, one can also guide clients in managing/ updating accounts w.r.t. - nomination, joint holding, contact information, etc. Consolidation of documents can be done as per convenience/scope of engagement with the clients.
• Help in tax fillings: Beyond tax advice, clients would also appreciate if we can help them in filing tax returns by informing of due dates, assisting with online filling, etc. Some advisors often also help clients register and enter records on many online sites offering tax return preparation /submission services.
• Handling issues in financial products: It is obvious that advisors will be handling queries/issues in financial transacted through them. But how about helping the client & family for such complaints/issues which are through other financial advisors? This is a good way of winning the trust of clients and many advisors are very happy to play this role.
• Ongoing financial guidance: As a financial guide and mentor, you should be the go-to person at the top of the mind for the client for any matter where an expert opinion is required on any financial matter. On an ongoing basis there are many things where the financial advisors can be of help, provided that some prior study and research is done by the clients. With proper inputs, financial advisors can help clients to - decide between options with varying financial implications (ROIs), do cash-management, do repayment of loans, make buy /rent decisions for properties, structure salary packages, decide on choice of home loans and so on.
• Financial literacy: Financial advisors are expected to help clients become savvy investors with adequate financial literacy. One is expected to help client become aware of areas like – asset classes, investment products, insurance coverage types, tax saving avenues, comparison between different financial products and so on. One is also expected to help clients become careful and smart enough to not fall prey to the many online scams, phishing accounts, identify theft, etc. in an era where e-commerce has gained prominence. One is also expected to help clients become aware of ponzi, quick-money, multi-level marketing schemes which make huge promises.
• Writing of Wills: An important element in overall wealth management is wealth transfer. Financial advisors should also help clients in this aspect, subject to the nature of relationship and engagement enjoyed with the client. An advisor can help in creating awareness, updating records in the accounts with financial institutions, preparation of Will, playing the role of an executor to the Will, and so on.

Conclusion:
Carrying out the 'other' role by the financial advisors helps one to build trust, get closely involved with the clients and their family and ultimately become financial guides & mentors to the families. This should be the aim for any financial advisor. However, it is something that will take time, will need effort and hard-work and will also need better time management and organising skills. To begin with, we should first decide to what level we wish to extend the scope of our services /relationship and how do we plan to make sure the expected results are delivered to the clients? It is something that needs good thought and planning on your part. The possible benefits though are attractive enough for those who can answer the questions in the most cost-effective, productive and planned way.

{s}
[[script type="text/javascript"]]
$(document).ready(function(){
new DiscussionBoard("divDiscussionBoard", "125", "http://www.njwebnest.in/esaathi/index.php/discussion").load();
});
[[/script]]
{/s}

India's millennial population; that is people born after 1982, are 400 million plus and counting, meaning one third of the country's population. It is more than the entire population of US & UK combined. While all major countries are ageing, India is becoming younger, we are set to become the youngest country in the world by 2020, with a median age of 29, and with 64% of our population in the working age group, said India's envoy to Sri Lanka, while delivering a lecture on foreign policy in Colombo, last year.

This data illustrates the change that's taking place and defines the future, we will be living in a country dominated by young people. And it also highlights the need of the hour, to direct our focus on the new cadre of people, the Millennials, our next client base.

The Millennials exhibit certain unique characteristics and have some distinct requirements, and one of the most prominent among these characteristics is excessive reliance on Technology. This is the first generation of people who have have grown up with computers, and experienced the evolution of mobile phones, first hand. They book train tickets, movie tickets and hotels online, they pay their electricity bills online, they date online, they study online, they purchase their clothes, shoes and even groceries online, precisely they are enveloped within technology. The millennials tend to heavily rely on technology as against their senior counterparts, who form our major client base today. Now we need to gear up and equip ourselves for our future client base, the tech savvy Millennials.

The implications of this extreme penetration of technology are varied for our business. Let's learn how the new wave will impact us and how it will change the way we do business.

• Traditional instruments: The good part about invasion of technology is the Millennial generation is open to newer and modern investment products. This is because of ease of investment in modern products like Mutual Funds and increasing awareness, both due to technology. So, you would not have to stress yourself out in convincing the client to look beyond their bank FD and traditional life insurance policy.
• Vigilance: People check for reviews before going out to a restaurant for dinner, or a movie, a hotel, or even before buying a new night cream. So, they would obviously seek for reviews before buying an investment product. Hence, you must be very careful in sharing information with your young clients, as they will research and check the facts. In this view, the role of your website also becomes paramount. Many advisors have a website for the sake of having one, you know just in case someone cross checks, but this approach may not work for too long. Your website is a gateway to your business, it gives you an opportunity to talk about your services, products, your business ideology, your USP, etc. The probability of your prospective young clients visiting your website is high, plus it will also work as an efficient lead generation mechanism. Hence your website must be maintained and be drawing out the best of your business at all times.
• Social Media: The Millennials are also a set of social media fanatics. So, when your clients are on Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter and WhatsApp; Social Media marketing becomes inevitable. Social Media will probably be the biggest platform to get leads, as well as to disseminate information among existing clientele. Like your website, content management on your social media pages too becomes pertinent.
• Robo Advisory: Another aspect about increased use of Technology which exercises a significant impact on the advisory business is inclination towards Robo Advisors. Since the millennials trust Technology, there are chances that they would bend towards Robo Advisors. Robo Advisors pose as a strong opponent, but you have this one element which can help you beat the competition, and that is 'personal touch'. NJ's technology initiatives, like various desks, online tools, E-Wealth account, facilities like Partner Initiated Transactions, etc., are all aimed at eliminating your role from the redundant tasks, and empowering you with more time to spend with people. You can conquer your Robo rivals by offering not just an overwhelming investing but also a superior technological experience.

The above are a few among the many offsprings of the technological wave that has already hit. The Millennials, our next target market, have accepted technology with open arms, and so should we in order to survive and grow. Technology offers an impeccable opportunity for us to prosper in our venture, let's not let it go.

{s}
[[script type="text/javascript"]]
$(document).ready(function(){
new DiscussionBoard("divDiscussionBoard", "1106", "http://www.njwebnest.in/esaathi/index.php/discussion").load();
});
[[/script]]
{/s}