The one key habit to make you and your firm Future Ready

Amar Pandit , CFA , CFP

Amar Pandit

A respected entrepreneur with 25+ years of Experience, Amar Pandit is the Founder of several companies that are making a Happy difference in the lives of people. He is currently the Founder of Happyness Factory, a world-class online investment & goal-based financial planning platform through which he aims to help every Indian family save and invest wisely. He is very passionate about spreading financial literacy and is the author of 4 bestselling books (+ 2 more to release in 2020), 8 Sketch Books, Board Game and 700 + columns.

January 2, 2020 | 3 Minute Read

Prof. John B.Kotter, Harvard Business School in his column “What do Leaders Do?”, said “Management is about coping with Complexity. Leadership, by contrast, is about coping with change”. 

 We live in an era of exponential change and growth, and the pace at which change is happening is wiping out industries. To continue to be successful as an IFA (whether you are at  ₹25 Crore or  ₹1000 Crore AUM), you must focus on unlearning old habits, processes, methodologies and relearn.

Think about which IFAs or Big Distributors were in the Top 10 or 20 back in the year 2000, 2005 and now. The list is different and this will be the reality going forward as every IFA will continue to face the 5 key risks that I spoke about in one of my posts. IFAs being in the top is not just a function of AUM or their clout in the industry but it is a function of whether you are the best at what you do, your ability to learn,  to invest,  to lead(and to inspire) and most importantly your ability to change. 

I can bet that you will see a radically different set of people in the Top 100 by the year 2030. These will be people who will invest in themselves and their firms, have an ability to emotionally connect with their clients, and will help their clients live their Happiest Financial Life. 

At the same time, this is the Golden Era of Wealth Management with amazing opportunities for people who are willing to capitalize on it. By this I mean, the wealth management industry is just getting started as you can see from the size of our Asset Management industry. Our entire Asset management space is around ₹26 Lakh Crore with Equity Mutual Funds (excluding balanced funds) of around ₹7.2 Lakh Crore (around USD 100 billion dollars). In the US there is just 1 scheme by the name of Fidelity Contra Fund which has USD 100 billion dollars. Just 1 Scheme which has 100 billion dollars. No matter how you dissect, MF Assets/GDP or several other ways, the message is loud and clear. The opportunity is huge and there is no reason why we cannot reach a ₹200 Lakh Crore in the next 10 years. 

However, there is a dearth of IFAs and more importantly a clear shortage of High-Quality IFAs. This is the best time for you to invest in being the best in your profession and taking care of your clients like no one else can.

Needless to say, any change starts with unlearning what you already know (This is the most difficult step). However, unlearning is the first step and you must relearn and commit to continuous learning to succeed in this golden era of wealth management. You must learn that the future of wealth management is not about product sales but about financial experiences and the financial coaching that you deliver for your ideal clients. 

To know more about financial coaching, how to identify your ideal clients stay tuned for more updates.

I hope you loved this post. Feel free to share it with your fellow IFA colleagues and friends. 

 My objective here is to add real value to as many IFAs as possible and help you build the wealth management firm of the future. Let me know your thoughts and if there any topics that you would like me to cover.