This story is from February 26, 2008

Do you know your wealth advisor?

Debojyoti Ghosh / TNN / Feb 26, 2008, 00:00 IST

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In today's hectic professional life, we might not always have the time to take care of our savings and plan our investments.

In today's hectic professional life, we might not always have the time to take care of our savings and plan our investments. While internet has made it easy to access information to independently manage our finances, making the best use of the information can be overwhelming. Most of us then tend to fall back on an advisor to develop a portfolio, plan for retirement or other goals.
But is it always the best advice you get? The financial advisory industry is booming with the entry barrier being very low."Quality advice is hard to come by and most advisors including big players wanting to make quick money opt for a revenue-based sales model as opposed to a need-based advisory model," says Daya Paul, a wealth manager.
Most large organisations and bank wealth managers tend to promote their own products under the garb of ��advisory services'. "The concept of private banking is not just product selling. A portfolio should be research oriented with products based on credibility and returns instead of commissions and pressing targets as is usually the case," says T Srikanth Bhagavat, MD of Hexagon Capital Advisors.
Professional financial help goes beyond picking stocks and mutual funds. A wealth manager should be able to impartially say which product is best suited for you among a range of them and why. "It's important to train financial advisors to focus on each client's unique needs. There has to be some empathy towards clients to create a heterogeneous atmosphere," says Narayan Ramachandran, MD of Morgan Stanley.

Samir Bimal, country head (private banking) of ING Vysya Bank, feels that within private banking, one should offer an investment view from across a range of financial instruments. "We follow an open-architecture based, advisory-led investment approach," he says.
One comes across insurance agents, chartered accountants, mutual fund distributors and other organizations claiming to be ��wealth advisors' "Age, experience and understanding of an asset book play a vital role in case of wealth advisors. There's no finishing school for wealth mangers," says Mrunmay Das of Das Capital Management and Advisors.

"A 25-year-old doesn't have the wavelength to match that of a 50-year-old person. Half of the investment bankers are clueless on areas like tax planning and regulation since they're fresh from B-schools. You should be exposed to various situations to gain experience."
Banks agree that while hiring from B-schools has seen a rise in investment banking sector, this does not always translate to inexperienced people handling portfolios.

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