The 3rd annual Wealth Forum Platinum Circle Advisors Conference was held on 23rd March 2012 at Mumbai. Over 150 advisors from 35 key cities across India participated along with senior management teams from 7 leading AMCs in the thought provoking conference, whose key topic was Growth Drivers.

The main aim of the conference was simple : in an environment where market and economic conditions are not exactly conducive to growth, it is very easy to slip into a negative frame of mind. But, it is exactly at these times that true leaders think out-of-the-box and come up with growth drivers that can turbo charge their own businesses - irrespective of the challenging macro environment. The idea of bringing together the finest minds in the IFA space and the best minds in the AMC space, with a focussed agenda and well chosen speakers was exactly this : to get the leaders within the IFA space to come up with ideas for growth, which can help drive business momentum forward.

The day began with a keynote address and then went on to a series of panel discussions on a variety of topics - each of which represented a potential growth driver for the fraternity. Some of the highlights of the conference have been covered in separate articles - which are listed below.

How to get clients to actually act on your advice

Raghav Iyengar, Executive Vice President, ICICI Prudential MF

You may be a good advisor who understands markets and takes good tactical asset allocation calls. But, how successful are you in actually getting your clients to act on your calls? At the recently concluded Wealth Forum Platinum Circle Advisors Conference, Raghav Iyengar shared his views on why many good advisors do not achieve the success they seek in getting clients to act on their advice and how they should possibly re-orient their own thinking on asset classes to achieve better results. Its time to think of a new asset class - and its called volatility....

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How to build, motivate and retain your team

Wealth Forum Panel Discussion

You may be a good advisor who understands markets and takes good tactical asset allocation calls. But, how successful are you in actually getting your clients to act on your calls? At the recently concluded Wealth Forum Platinum Circle Advisors Conference, Raghav Iyengar shared his views on why many good advisors do not achieve the success they seek in getting clients to act on their advice and how they should possibly re-orient their own thinking on asset classes to achieve better results. Its time to think of a new asset class - and its called volatility....

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Shape your practice to align with emerging trends

AjitMenon, Executive Vice President, DSP Blackrock Investment Managers

Only a fraction of all qualified advisors go on to developing really successful practices. One of the things that sets successful advisors apart from others is a keen understanding of emerging business trends to identify opportunities before most others do, and respond to changing dynamics before most others do. Its also about developing an honest assessment of your core competencies, which in turn helps you achieve clarity on how you can differentiate yourself in a competitive market and win clients in the segment you wish to focus on. To enable Platinum Circle advisors to do just that, Ajit Menon shared DSP Blackrock's perspectives on emerging business trends and a framework for each advisor to help build his / her own differentiation.

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How do you differentiate yourself to win market share?

Wealth Forum Panel Discussion

What makes a handful of India's IFAs so much more successful than others? Is it superior knowledge? Is it better relationship skills? While both are undoubtedly important, there is another crucial factor which determines success - how sharp is your business strategy, how clear is your customer segmentation and how easy is it for your prospects to understand how you are different from others. Winning market share is about differentiating yourself in a crowded market place - and that was the focus of this very absorbing panel discussion held at the recently concluded Wealth Forum Platinum Circle Advisors Conference on March 23rd, 2012.

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Retail penetration : moving from dream to reality

Wealth Forum Panel Discussion

There is no point in sitting back in frustration and doing nothing as we watch investors exiting mutual funds. There is no point in waiting for markets to turn the tide by turning bullish or waiting for regulators or the Government to turn the tide by offering tax and other sops. The dream of retail penetration can become a reality if each advisor does his or her own bit in their respective spheres of influence - just as these five advisors have done. Its about understanding what to pitch, how to pitch and when to pitch - that's the key to making mutual funds more relevant to the average Indian saver.

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Re-think customer on boarding to drive retail penetration

Navin Tewari, Head Sales & Marketing, Birla Sun Life AMC

At the recently concluded Wealth Forum Platinum Circle Advisors Conference, held in Mumbai on 23rd March 2012, Navin Tewari led a panel discussion on "Retail Penetration : moving from dream to reality". He made some powerful observations on why we as an industry have gone wrong with retail penetration and what are some simple steps that each one of us can take to make mutual funds a lot more relevant to the average Indian saver than they have ever been. It's all about re-thinking our customer on-boarding strategy, says Navin..

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Are IFAs truly independent and truly advisors?

Puneet Chaddha, CEO, HSBC MF

At the Wealth Forum Platinum Circle Advisors Conference held on 23rd March 2012, Puneet Chaddha prefaced his presentation with the caveat that his would be more a view of an outsider rather than an insider. An accomplished banker, Puneet has closely examined the MF industry over the last 1 year that he assumed charge of HSBC AMC. In his thought-provoking presentation, he urged advisors to take a long, hard, honest look at their business models and re-position themselves where required to emerge successful in the changing environment.

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