What makes an investor choose an advisor or a money manager and stick with him through the rollercoaster ride that markets take him on? What begets trust in the eyes of an investor? A simple one word answer : dependability. Mr.Dependable - a joint initiative between Religare Invesco and Wealth Forum - aims to help you explore all the dimensions of what it takes to be seen by investors as Mr.Dependable, and thus build your financial advisory practice on a robust foundation of trust. After all, dependability is finally what money management is all about.

In the Advisor Insights series of Mr.Dependable, we profile advisors who embody the spirit of Mr.Dependable. Advisors who are sharply focused on the 4 pillars of dependability - consistency, integrity, responsiveness and diligence - and who have built their practices based on trust earned through being dependable. Manohar Kamath of Prudent Investment Centre, Chennai is one such advisor whose clients completely trust him, not because he gives the savviest advice in town, but because he is a dependable and trustworthy friend.

Around 4 years ago, when Wealth Forum first interviewed Manohar Kamath (Click Here), what came through clearly was the simplicity and humility of the gentleman - traits that no doubt help his clients gain confidence in him. When we spoke to him again recently, what stood out is the consistency in his approach.

Manohar Kamath ventured into financial advisory after serving Corporation Bank for 28 long years. Its now 12 years since he made this career shift, and his approach has remained steadfastly the same, through this entire period which has seen the market make some of its sharpest swings. His clients are largely retired individuals. He has 80 active clients whose AuM with him is around Rs.25 crores. Here's how he describes his approach.

Service orientation

"Giving excellent service is the most important aspect of building strong relationships. My clients see me as a complete financial advisor, and I help them with all their personal financial matters, not just mutual fund investments. Whether it is tendering matured FDs for collection, or paying their water tax, house tax - they look to me for all these personal financial matters and I help them with everything. Some of my clients are elderly and not very mobile - for them, this kind of service is extremely useful. When I take up an issue, it is my responsibility to see it through to completion. Whether it is a transmission case or an FDR maturity or any other matter, I ensure that the matter is resolved satisfactorily."

Accessibility

"I work every day, including Sundays. Whenever my clients want to meet me, I am there for them. I make it a point to meet every client at least once a month. This has now become an expectation from their side - they want to meet me every month. Phone conversations are fine, but they do want to meet every month, and I make it a point to do this. These meetings give them a lot of comfort and helps reinforce their faith in me."

Fees

"I charge for all my services - whether it is for transactions or service issues. I even charge Rs. 150 per redemption that I process for them. For fresh investments in mutual funds, I charge 1.25% for transactions less than Rs.5 lakhs, 1% for 5-15 lakhs and 0.75% for 15-25 lakhs. Even for SIPs, I charge a fee for the first 12 months. But, if clients start a 3 year SIP, I waive the charges - it is one way of nudging them to commit to longer term SIPs."

"Clients pay my fees and are happy to recommend me to their friends too. When clients develop faith in their advisor, fees is not a big issue. You should win the trust of the people first. Honesty and integrity are very important - as important as having a strong service attitude. Once they get the faith in you, they are prepared to do anything for you. I don't go for any canvassing, only word of mouth gets me new clients."

What makes Manohar Kamath Mr.Dependable?

The four pillars of dependability in our view are consistency, integrity, responsiveness and diligence (Click Here). Manohar Kamath embodies all these key qualities, which are amply visible to his clients. Little wonder that his clients insist that they want to meet him every month - because they depend on him for all their financial matters. Little wonder then that he is able to charge fees from retired individuals - a segment that is usually regarded as the least amenable to paying fees. That's the position he has put himself into, by being Mr.Dependable.

All content in Mr.Dependable is created by Wealth Forum and should not be construed as views of Religare Invesco MF.

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