It is very difficult to find the right financial advisor for your investment needs. Even if you somehow create a list of top financial advisors in your city or locality, it is more difficult to choose the best financial advisor from the list. Because if you make the right choice, it will completely change your financial planning canvas for lifetime but if you make the wrong choice the risk of losing compounding benefits is very high!
When you hire a financial planner or a financial advisor for taking care of your investment portfolio which comprises various investment avenues like, fixed deposits, bonds, mutual funds, retirement plans, child education plans, provident fund and many more, you are kind of hiring a chief financial officer who is going to do all the mathematics and magic on your behalf.
You are going to work with him may be for rest of your life so that you both are well aligned with your financial goals and hence you need to follow a very closely controlled process while doing so. If you hire the best financial advisor, you will experience a complete peace of mind while focusing completely on growing your portfolio.
[lwptoc]Who is a Financial Planner or a Financial Advisor?
Financial planners or financial advisors direct their clients on financial matters ranging from corporate investments to personal finances. Financial advisors showcase the best techniques on how you can save your money, invest it in various financial assets through a range of platforms and ultimately grow your fortune over a period of time.
If you have specific financial goals like tax planning, retirement plans, education planning for kids, buying house etc they can help you in understanding your goals from the investment point of view and provide you with a set of asset allocations so that you can reach your goals in desired time.
It is very important to identify your financial goals before finding a financial planner. You can do it by simply documenting your goals based on your priority levels. In addition to identifying the goals you also need to decide on the capital that you wish to invest to achieve a particular goal as well as the risk appetite for the same.
Why you should consult the best financial planner?
A lot of investors have variety of financial goals at regular intervals which cannot be discussed at one go or in a single meeting so you will need a person who can guide you through the ups and downs in the market to reach your financial goals that you have planned throughout your life span.
A wrong financial advisor will not necessarily run away with your money unless he or she is involved in unethical and fraudulent business activities. On the contrary even if the advisor is following all business ethics and has all the qualification needed to practice financial planning, he or she may take careless investment decisions, lose your hard earned money and you might end up with losing a big chunk of your investment and never be able to beat devils like inflation. So it is very important to carry out your own due diligence before choosing the right financial advisor who can best address your financial goals.
How to find the best financial advisor?
The most important thing to remember is that many financial advisors work like salesmen! They usually apply high-pressure sales tactics to influence you to buy what they are selling without giving a toss about your financial goals.
Such advisors put less time in understanding your budget, your future plans and investment appetite and straight away start explaining the investment plans. A lot of advisors give you false commitments and promise unreal investment returns. They will have sugar coated assurances which will put you in endless financial struggle for lifetime.
So, is there a straightforward solution for selecting the best financial advisor? The answer is yes, there are numerous ways to find the right financial advisor.
Here are some qualities that you need to look for while finding & choosing the best financial advisor!
1) Experience of Financial Planning:
This is the most important factor in the checklist to find the right financial advisor. Whenever you are searching financial advisor, may be online or offline, you need to first check since how long has he or she been practicing the financial planning? You need to check their asset under management, how many clients have they served so far, what returns they were able to achieve or deliver since they have started, how many cycles of financial crisis have they faced so far and many more of such investigations.
This will give you an idea regarding their experience in dealing with real life or real time financial solutions. Many advisors are also working as part time advisors where they are primarily working somewhere and they do financial planning work as a part time business, always beware of such professionals as they might not be that much serious about your investment goals and subsequent returns! Mostly such part timers are incompetent and do not have substantial advisory experience!
2) Ethics followed by Financial Planner:
An ethical financial advisor never commits false returns that are unreal. The best way to track an unethical financial planner is to check what returns he or she is offering. An ethical financial planner always explains you the terms and conditions of investment plans in a straightforward way. Ethical financial advisors also have clear disclosure on their websites, sign up forms etc. You can also check their registration with SEBI and do quick background checks before investing.
3) Compatibility with Financial Planner:
This is another important factor to choose a right financial advisor. You should be compatible with the advisor as there will be lot of discussions happening between you and the advisor in line with your investment portfolio. It is similar to your relationship with your doctor, legal advisor, chartered accountant in fact you will more often meet or speak with your financial advisors than any of these professionals.
So you need to have a friction less relationship with the financial advisor and clear understanding about his or her working style and investment philosophies. An introductory call or meeting is enough to figure out whether you will be able to gel up well with the advisor.
4) Referrals from Clients:
What could be better if the financial advidsor’s clients are referring his or services services! To start with you can check client testimonials on website or ask investors like you if they can recommend a good financial planner.
If you have kids, you can ask you friends or colleagues of your age who also have children and have previously invested in any education plan or retirement plan. You can ask about their experience in consulting with a specific financial advisor, his or her working style, communication frequency, ease of doing transactions and of course the returns they are getting.
If you are a graduate and just joined a firm, you can ask your seniors about their perspective on investing in various financial assets and the level of assistance they are getting from their financial advisor. If possible, ask your colleagues who are at the same stage of life as you and try to find a planner who has highest success ratio and experience in dealing with the financial assets you are interested in.
5) Trust Value:
Last but equally important element in an investor-financial advisor relationship is the trust. You are putting your efforts in building a corpus for your future and you are giving your hard earned money to the advisor, so it is essential to share a great bond with your financial advisor.
Working with a financial advisor whom you do not trust is similar to taking tiger training sessions from someone who is not standing in the cage with you and giving all the instructions from outside the cage, one wrong miscommunication or investment decision and tiger eats you instead of your trainer.
So it is very important to have complete faith in your financial advisor, even during ups and downs in the market, whether your portfolio keeps surfing the waves or hits the bottom, you need to be thoughtful while dealing with the advisor.
These are few qualities in the checklist that you must evaluate before choosing the right financial advisor. It is always recommended to hire a financial advisor instead of gambling on your portfolio by investing on your own.
Why Chitale CFS Pvt Ltd?
Chitale CFS Pvt Ltd offers wide variety of investment avenues for short as well as long term investment needs. With more than 30+ years of experience, we are one stop solution for a number of financial products like Mutual Funds, Insurance, Bonds, Fixed Deposits etc. We serve our clients with highest standard of transparency and integrity by putting investor’s interest first.
You can contact us by calling on +91 8999116127 or email us at [email protected] or [email protected]
Mutual fund investments are subject to market risks. Please read the offer document carefully before investing
