The Hindu Business Line : Catch 'em young at Alipore...

ALIPORE, the chic Kolkata neighbourhood where every other house has a millionaire residing in it, will soon have an investment advisory boutique aimed, among others, at children.

One of the city's stock broking firms has lined up plans to offer what can easily turn out to be a special service for the rich and the not-so-rich kids who live in the area.

The service is based on the premise that minors, especially those who are in high school, should start an investment career of their own well before they shift their focus to bigger things in life. Young savers - tomorrow's skilled investors - need to learn the art and science of investment in the very early stages, it is felt.

The move has been initiated by Mr D.P. Poddar, who heads Poddar Investment Services.

The plan, he explained, is to offer some serious counsel to the young who are just beginning to handle monies of their own.

Alipore, as some people in the city are fond of saying, enjoys a unique reputation: The highest concentration of millionaires in India. And all of this without having a committed investment advisory establishment in the area, it is pointed out.

The area, which also houses the historic National Library and the charming Horticultural gardens, has quite a few prosperous neighbourhoods acting as its satellites. New Alipore, for instance, too can serve as one of the boutique's hinterlands, says Mr Poddar, who also manages a Web site named www.investpath.com.

"We are aware of the locale's potential. It has people with lots of surplus money, not all of whom are able to create further wealth. More importantly, not many are familiar with enduring concepts like asset allocation and systematic investment plans," he said, adding that patrons can well include children and housewives.

Rookie investors, it is pointed out, should be introduced to disciplined investment programmes, ones that can take care of needs such as higher education.

In fact, the mindset of Indian middle-class parents is already seen to be changing.

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