The Hindu Business Line : `Investors have to ensure they are serviced by trained professionals'

Providers of wealth management services will over a period of time become selective in choosing their clients, especially so when KYC norms get more stringent, presages Mr Arpit Agarwal, CEO, Dawnay, Day AV Financial Services.

The latter - a JV between Indian and British partners that offers PMS, stock broking, corporate finance et cetera - has recently started doing business in India.

Excerpts.

Wealth management as practised in India is a medley, thanks to all manners of entities that call themselves "wealthmanagers". Agreed?

Product range, relationship manager skill sets and organisational strategy are the three key driving forces for this business. Investors have to ensure they are serviced by trained professionals who can provide them unbiased advice, executed through a diverse range of products and services best suited for the relevant client profile.

Product innovation in India is now chiefly limited to the asset management companies introducing schemes with different investment philosophies. Most wealth management organisations therefore land up offering equities, mutual funds, insurance and a very sparse selection of structured products to their clients.

In such a situation they appear to look no different from each other. In fact, organisations offering wealth management services really do not have too much of a choice. And they have to start looking at alternative investment products in order to differentiate their product range and at the same time provide research support of a very high quality.

Where will Dawnay, Day position itself in the market?

Dawnay, Day AV offers its own proprietary products, along with best-in-class third party product distribution platform through a team of qualified wealth managers. Clients will experience, over a period of time, a judicious mix of equities, fixed income, mutual funds, insurance, structured products, commodities, real estate, private equity and corporate finance products.

Besides, there will be unbiased advice. We have set up a separate company, Dawnay Day AV Analytics Pvt Ltd, exclusively for conducting research by a team of analysts. We will bring to our clients our overseas experience and track record in areas like real estate and private equity.

How do you think investors - consumers of wealth management services -- see these services?

Let me tell you that wealth management is an experience and a relationship of trust that develop over a period of time with equal commitment from both the client and the service provider. The selection of the wealth management organisation should be made carefully.

This should be based on its commitment to the business and the organisational philosophy, the quality of the wealth management team and its ability to innovate and introduce quality products backed by credible research.

Aren't we expecting too little from wealth managers in some ways?

Well, organisations will also over a period of time, especially with KYC (Know Your Client) norms getting more and more stringent, become selective in choosing their customers. This relationship, once formed, will survive the test of time and deliver the desired results only if both parties consistently demonstrate their commitment to each other.

The mantra is to always have realistic expectations.

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