Mehran began his journey in financial services at a tender age of 19, selling music CDs and credit cards to earn pocket money during the day, studying at a night college to complete his education and in his spare time, trying in vain to multiply his hard earned money by trading stocks at a stock broking firm. At the stock broking firm, he learnt what not to do and that led him to take up a job in the wealth management unit of a large bank. 4 years as a wealth RM gave him a good exposure to the good and not so good aspects of the job, and in 2008, just after the biggest crash we have seen in recent times, at age 30, but with a lot of wisdom already between his ears, Mehran found his true calling when he set up his IFA practice, which he aptly named Ethix. Read on as Mehran describes his journey, which has brought him to his position today as a successful IFA who serves over 140 clients, with an MF AuM in excess of Rs. 65 crores.

WF : What led you to think of wealth management and financial advisory services as a career?

Mehran : I was around 19 yrs when my father encouraged me to work. So during the day time I used to visit door to door selling music CD's(which was a big trend then) and after that would visit a Parsi broker, Mr Khushru Kanga(my Guru) and would trade there. Despite him discouraging me from trading, my greed for quick money was there and I ensured I lost all my money in no time. I studied in night college, so had the time to earn and trade in the day time. My father would say, a person not having a mini bar at home and not owning shares is unlikely to be a Parsi. I made lot of mistakes in the stock market and a collection of those mistakes gave me experience. One day I called it quits and stopped trading for good. I decided to do my MBA from SIBM, but contrary to my expectations my poor academics coupled with weak placement season left me jobless. I had to work, so joined Times Group(off pay role) for space selling , the stipend was Rs 2,000 per month ,while I continued visiting my guru learning more about investments and stock markets. Thereafter I joined Standard Chartered credit cards department for a better salary but was still married to the stock market. I would visit call centre's in the night and wait in the campus to sell credit cards, during cold calls we would knock on doors ready with those typical sales smile, simply to see them get slammed sooner than they opened. The turning point came in 2004 when I visited HSBC bank to offer Standard Chartered credit card, I know it sounds weird but I was determined to sell a card to a competitor and I had taken this as a personal challenge. So this wealth RM asked me what on earth was I thinking by offering a competitor's product in their premises, to which I simply requested him to open his wallet, he had an AMEX card and the rest was history. I was hired as a service officer in HSBC and left as a wealth RM in 2008 to pursue what I always dreamt of. I never had any regrets about my past jobs, it built a foundation stone, it taught me about the grassroot realities and made me understand my customer psyche better. Now, I still carry a smile of a salesperson but a heart of an advisor.

WF : What prompted you to move out of HSBC's wealth management unit and set up your own advisory firm - especially at a time in 2008 when we were in the midst of the biggest market crash in recent history?

Mehran : During my stint with HSBC I realised that there was a big vacuum between clients and the portfolio managers, which was consistency of relationship. By the time the client develops a sense of comfort with the RM, he would climb up the corporate ladder by shifting or switching jobs. This made the client susceptible to inconsistent advisory service since every RM would have a different approach towards portfolio management. I sensed an opportunity, instead of a client being treated like a guinea pig what he/she preferred was long term relationship nurtured on trust and comfort which on an individual platform I could offer. I realized that opportunity only knocks once and that was in 2008 when the markets were rock bottom. The returns would be best when invested during worst market conditions. The rest was history, investment during 2008-09 not only delivered exponential returns to my equity investors but also increased my overall AUM manifolds.

WF : Why did you decide to focus on the NRI segment?

Mehran : In the debt bucket NRI's had better investment opportunities considering that the savings rate in their country of residence like Europe and U.S was petty as compared to India and also their NRE & FCNR deposits in India were just yielding around 2-5%-4% p.a. as compared other fixed income categories which were offering much better returns. Now the table has turned, NRE deposits are yielding attractive returns which makes fixed income products lesser attractive hence we are also focusing on domestic clienteles. Also, NRI's have deeper pockets and demand less of your time since they seldom visit India more than once a year, this allowed me to capitalise my time more on client sourcing.

WF : What is the value proposition you offer and how do you think it differs from what many banks offer?

Mehran : We offer a lifetime of relationship which no RM/portfolio manager would be in a position to offer in a bank or any broking firm because here we are not employees but entrepreneurs who don't switch jobs and believe in long term association.

WF : Without the backing of a large brand, you have now built up an MF AuM of 65 crores and serve over 140 clients. What in your view made your clients chose you over large brands?

Mehran : In this industry the biggest brand is TRUST and that is what we have capitalised on. Our Brand Ethix symbolises doing business with ethics and honesty. There have been several instances where we have requested our clients to invest into avenues which we cannot offer e.g When NRE rates last year was around 9.50%(tax free) we encouraged all our NRI investors to deploy their funds into NRE deposits instead of fixed income with us. We lost substantial business but won our clients trust for a lifetime.

WF : What are the key challenges and opportunities in serving the NRI segment?

Mehran : NRI's visit India on occasions and can be very demanding when it comes to service. Also, while away they need to be kept abreast with the latest events and developments in India. We capitalise on this by extending the required service.

WF : You are now making good inroads in the domestic Pune market as well. What strategies do you adopt for new client acquisition, especially when investor sentiment towards financial products is very low?

Mehran : Referrals is what gets me most of my clients. I also am an active contributor of articles in Parsi Times - a weekly community magazine, which is widely followed by Parsis not only in India but overseas as well, especially in Canada and the US. This does help me get good referrals. In our community, trust is a very big thing. Once you win clients' trust, they are happy to refer you to their friends.

WF : What are client expectations from an advisor? Is alpha generation your responsibility? Is portfolio performance your responsibility? What are the deliverables - whether said or unsaid that clients expect from quality advisors like yourself?

Mehran : An advisor is accountable for all the aforesaid responsibilities; if he washes his hands off these responsibilities then he should be a distributor. A clients most important expectation is delivery of returns. Whether you charge a fee or not, whether you exercise time consuming financial planning or not , whether you pay his electricity bill or not, it all boils down to numbers i.e. returns. If this is not delivered then everything else is futile. Client first see quality in returns and thereafter relationship, service, trust, etc, etc. To generate an alpha is not difficult if asset allocation is strictly adhered to, then portfolio by itself performs.

WF : In what ways is life as an entrepreneur different from your earlier avatar as a wealth RM in a bank?

Mehran : As an entrepreneur I have the flexibility to exploit my full potentials and be accountable only to clients and myself. Here, I independently propose the products and not what others want me to propose. Here, the taste of success is much sweeter since you are responsible for it. However, as a wealth RM in HSBC it offered me the platform to gain experience and groom myself.

My family comes above all the rest and now I get ample time with them. As an entrepreneur I can now play in my own backyard while as a wealth RM I had forgotten that I even had a backyard.

WF : What are your biggest learnings as an IFA over these last 5 years?

Mehran : A customer doesn't care how much you know until he knows how much you care.

WF : Where does the concept of a platform fit in for successful young IFAs like yourself? What would motivate you to move to a platform and what are the key deliverables you expect from a platform?

Mehran : To be honest, I have not really felt the need for a platform, at least at this stage. I subscribe to a good research software, which helps me with my fund research and analysis. I have a good back office software which also gives online portfolio viewing capability to my clients. This is particularly useful for my NRI clients who can track their portfolios online, at any time. Beyond this, I really don't need anything more, at this stage. I suppose beyond a point, additional technology can confuse more than it can serve. I like to keep things simple and am happy with what I have.

WF : Where do you see Ethix 5 years from today and what do you see as your key growth drivers in the years ahead?

Mehran : Ethix, would be a brand to reckon with. 5 years from now Ethix would be amongst the top 5 individual IFA's in Pune. Our key growth drivers would be assessed by our value systems and relationship management skills.

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