Challenge

One thing that came out was that most clients were looking for wealth preservation rather than wealth creation, and then smart compounding—how can you beat inflation consistently and create real return on your portfolio.

• There was a huge increase in the distribution of financial products post 2000. But India just copied the West. In the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s in the West, there was a broker-distributor model. You engaged with clients by doing PMS (portfolio management services), mutual funds, insurance and broking. Post the 2008 financial crisis, a reckoning happened and people began to distinguish between service providers.
• There could be differences from the perspective of cash flows. For retail investors, cash flows come from salary. Money that left over goes into financial investments through SIPs. For high net-worth individuals, cash flows may not be monthly. They could be in lump sum—through dividends, monetizing businesses etc. However, when it comes to asset allocation or investment objectives and horizons, all of that is more to do with risk appetite than wealth.