Regulation and the need for agility
Author Kees Stoute, tells me the market in India wouldn’t improve till the focus shifts to having wealth advisors who are professional and skilled. A robust system of certification for financial planners and wealth advisors needs to be stringently introduced.
In the eighteen months alone that I worked on the book, the landscape of the wealth management business has changed. Regulation has evolved quite rapidly — the general direction being towards making the business more advisory-focused, less commission-led. The aim is to ensure that clients get objective advice that is devoid of the lures and temptations of the commissions doled out by creators to the sellers of products.
This has substantially impacted the revenue of companies such as IIFL Wealth. In January this year, Karan had warned me, that by the time my book gets published, his company’s proposition to clients would have completely changed. It’s driven today more by advisory and asset management fees as opposed to transaction and broking fees.
That adoption hasn’t completely taken off but it will need to. One senior wealth manager calls it a question of time. Essentially, SEBI is pushing mutual fund distributors to not have upfront commissions. They want the distributor to disclose the commission made to the client in a statement even if the mutual fund manufacturer hasn’t told investors.
Much like the confluence of the wealth effect and the ruptures in the global financial services industry created new vistas for growth, the current changes in the wealth management industry come from the combination of both the clients and regulators displaying greater maturity.
The changing nature of the industry has made the entry barriers to the business tougher. New players will need more capital to start off now, since they can’t rely on the quick revenue that comes from commissions. Asset management and advisory fees are usually structured on an annual basis. A company must be capitalised enough to offer client services and be able to wait it out for fees to come in.
Keeping pace with these forces will be critical for a big firm if it doesn’t want to lose clients. This convergence has provided a natural advantage for independent advisors and boutique firms because they can pivot to the new regulations without having to overhaul their technology and systems. It was the kind of nimbleness IIFL Wealth had been able to marshal in its first eight years but will find more challenging now as a larger firm. ‘It requires us to take strong, decisive calls,’ Karan says.
Could this be the next eight years of the company’s journey? Only time will tell but it does mark the end of an exciting phase, one that has coincided with dramatic forces shaping India.
Notes
1Author’s Note: Currency conversions throughout the book have been pegged to the exchange rate on June 7-8, 2016
2Anthony Shorrocks et al., Global Wealth Report 2015, Zurich: Credit Suisse AG, 2015.
3Sri Rajan and Prashant Sarin, India Private Equity Report 2010, New Delhi: Bain & Company, 2010.
4World Wealth Report 2015, Capgemini and RBC Wealth Management, 2015.
5Like this book’s definition of HNWI, the World Wealth Report 2015 also pegs HNWIs to those having investable assets of US$1 million or more, excluding primary residence, collectibles, consumables, and consumer durables
6Spotlight on the New Wealth Builders, The Economist Intelligence Unit and Citibank, 2014.
72015 Top of the Pyramid India: Decoding the Ultra HNI, Kotak Wealth Management, 2015, http://wealthmanagement.kotak.com/topindia/index.html
8“2.5 Lakh Millionaires in India in 2014, says report,” The Hindu, July 11, 2015, http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/25-lakh-millionaires-in-india-in-2014-says-wealth-x-report/article7409032.ece.
9Anthony Shorrocks et al.,Global Wealth Report 2015, Zurich: Credit Suisse AG, 2015.
10“World Economic Outlook: Adjusting to Lower Commodity Prices.” Washington: International Monetary Fund, 2015.
11Paul Krugman, “Our Invisible Rich”, The New York Times, September 28, 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/29/opinion/paul-krugman-our-invisible-rich.html
12Monika Halan, “Money Mantras for my Diwali,” Live Mint, March 14, 2016, http://www.livemint.com/Money/5h9P0VfemlNeo3MjcBEtBM/Money-mantras-for-my-Diwali.html
13The Great Unskilled, Kotak Institutional Equities http://www.kotak.com/kotaklp/Kotak-TheGreatUnskilled/GameChanger.pdf
“To Upskill 500 million workers, India Goes International,” ICEF Monitor, February 8, 2013, http://monitor.icef.com/2013/02/to-upskill-workforce-india-goes-international/.
14Madhav Chanchani & Sachin Dave, “Flipkart Picking Up 34% Stake In Digital Mapping Firm MaymyIndia In 1,600 Crore Deal,” Economic Times, December 4, 2015, http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-12-04/news/68771153_1_flipkart-spokesperson-myntra-mapmyindia
15Richard Kersley and Markus Stierli, Global Wealth In 2015: Underlying Trends Remain Positive, Credit Suisse, 2015, https://www.credit-suisse.com/us/en/about-us/research/research-institute/news-and-
16Asia Pacific Wealth Report 2015, Capgemini and RBC Wealth Management, 2015.
17“Gross Savings (% of GDP)”, World Bank, http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GNS.ICTR.ZS
182015 Top of the Pyramid India: Decoding the Ultra HNI, Kotak Wealth Management, 2015.
19Ron Lieber, “Why You Should Tell Your Children How Much You Make,” The New York Times, January 29, 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/01/your-money/why-you-should-tell-your-kids-how-much-you-make.html?_r=0
20
21Anthony Shorrocks et al.,Global Wealth Report 2015, Zurich: Credit Suisse AG, 2015.
22Karl Shmavonian, “What The Billionaires List Tells Us About Asian Emerging Markets,” Forbes Asia, March 13, 2013, http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesasia/2013/03/13/what-the-billionaires-list-tells-us-about-asian-emerging-markets/#45aa79076636
23World Giving Index 2014, Charities Aid Foundation, 2014.
24“Top 100 US Foundations by Total Giving”, last accessed May 26, 2016, http://foundationcenter.org/findfunders/topfunders/top100giving.html
25The Scorpio Partnership Global Private Banking Benchmark 2014, London: Scorpio Partnership, 2014
26Matthew Allen, “History Bites Back at Swiss Private Banking”, Swissinfo, February 22, 2013, http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/roots-of-wealth_history-bites-back-at-swiss-private-banking/35033852
27Agence France Presse, “Swiss Private Banks Make History With Results Release,” Live Mint, August 28, 2014, http://www.livemint.com/Companies/FDLzSpBxXxLeWMYKXtQQOI/Swiss-private-banks-make-history-with-results-release.html
28V Shoba, “Here Come The Wealth Managers,” Open Magazine, March 20, 2015, http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/business/here-come-the-wealth-managers
292015 Top of the Pyramid India: Decoding the Ultra HNI, Kotak Wealth Management, 2015
30Tali Sharot, “The Optimism Bias.” Ted video, 17:40. February 2012. https://www.ted.com/talks/tali_sharot_the_optimism_bias/transcript?language=en
31Ben Carlson, “How Our Memories Shape Market Cycles,” A Wealth of Common Sense Blog, February 17, 2015, http://awealthofcommonsense.com/do-the-markets-have-memories/
32India Wealth Report 2015. Karvy Private Wealth, 2015
33Nilesh Shah, “Why Do We Prefer Physical Assets Over Financial Assets,” Live Mint, February 6, 2013, http://www.livemint.com/Money/HUBmmC7lF9mBqF9QtS1evL/Why-do-we-prefer-physical-assets-over-financial-assets.html
34“Funds Mobilisation Finally Moves Up,” Value Research, December 18, 2000, https://www.valueresearchonline.com/story/h2_storyview.asp?str=380
35Global Wealth and Asset Management Industry Outlook, Ernst & Young Global Limited, 2014.
36Chishty, Sameer, Erasmus, Maureen and Jeff Oberstein. Winning In Wealth Management. Bain & Company, 2011, http://www.bain.com/publications/articles/winning-in-wealth-management.aspx
37Author’s Note: To make it easy for my readers, I have decided to use the first names of IIFL Wealth’s founders from here on, mainly to avoid the conf
usion from Amit and Yatin’s shared last name. Also, having interviewed the three of them multiple times over fifteen months, I feel this is a liberty I can take to make the story read better.
38Asia-Pacific Wealth Report 2007. Merrill Lynch & Co and Capgemini, 2007.
39Chishty, Sameer, Erasmus, Maureen and Jeff Oberstein. Winning In Wealth Management. Bain & Company, 2011, http://www.bain.com/publications/articles/winning-in-wealth-management.aspx
40Chishty, Sameer, Erasmus, Maureen and Jeff Oberstein. Winning In Wealth Management. Bain & Company, 2011, http://www.bain.com/publications/articles/winning-in-wealth-management.aspx
41Lonnie Howell. “A Shake-up And Shakeout For Global Private Banking.” hubbis.com, May 19, 2015. https://www.hubbis.com/articles-content/4125
42“MF Distributors Income Jumps 84% To 4,729 In FY’15,” The Hindu BusinessLine, August 11, 2015, http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/markets/mf-distributors-income-jumps-84-to-rs-4729-in-fy15/article7525931.ece.
43Adajania, Kayezad. 2015. “The Year of Fine Tuning Mutual Funds”. Live Mint, December 31. http://www.livemint.com/Money/uHyfMKfbSeimz31zp2qE1O/The-year-of-fine-tuning-mutual-funds.html
44“Worst Sensex Crash In Seven Years, fourth biggest in history,” IndiaToday, August 24, 2015, http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/worst-sensex-crash-in-seven-years-fourth-biggest-in-history/1/460612.html
45Arpan Sheth et al. India Private Equity Report 2015. Mumbai: Bain & Company, 2015.
46Reeba Zachariah and Partha Sinha. 2015. “Startups Challenge Listed Cos’ Valuations; At $16 billion, Flipkart Beats IOC, Tata Motors.” ETRetail, September
47Arpan Sheth et al. India Private Equity Report 2015. Mumbai: Bain & Company, 2015
48Hugh Son, “A Money-Managing Robot Is About To Join BofA’s Thundering Herd,” Bloomberg, November 6, 2015, http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-06/a-money-managing-robot-is-about-to-join-bofa-s-thundering-herd
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