Demystified: Does risk profiling complement fin planning

Ronak Morjaria- CFPCM, Research Analyst, Apnapaisa.com

Nowadays, lot of financial planners and investment advisors are going for risk profiling for their clients before giving them investment advice. Also, as per SEBI (Investment Advisers) Regulations, investment advisers are required to follow this exercise of Risk Profiling for their clients before recommending any investment.

Let us understand what is it.

What is Risk and Risk Profiling?

Risk means ‘chance of a loss’ or can be described at an act or a decision that may cause a loss. ‘Risk profiling’ is testing the willingness of a person to take risk. Asking the client few sets of “What if” kind of questions in different situations and scenarios; and also few questions on the client’s investment decisions are integral to risk profiling. Answer to these questions helps the planner to assess the risk taking capacity of the client and identify the risk profile of the client. There may be clients who can be completely risk averse while some can be risk seeker. For example, if the risk profile of a client is assessed as ‘conservative’, means that the client is not willing to take much risk and usually invests in fixed return investment instruments.

Willingness and Ability to take risk:

Willingness to take risk differs from client to client and his/her attitude towards risk. Willingness to take risk can be assessed by risk profiling which helps the planner to understand how much risk the client can take or how conservative or aggressive is the client with respect to his investment decisions.

Ability to take risk is completely different from willingness to take risk. Ability of a client to take risk can be assessed from the client’s financial position / status, nature and time for the goal. A client can be risk seeker, but his financial condition and obligations may not allow him to take risk. So, in that case his investments should be conservative.

Risk Profiling and Financial Planning We all know financial plan is a road map for achieving the financial goals. The assets of the clients are allocated towards different goals and fresh investments are recommended for achieving these goals. Generally risk profiling is done for recommending the asset allocation of investments necessary for achieving the financial goals. But, is risk profiling really helpful?

Lets take an example, if a planner has assessed the risk profile of a young client to be conservative (i.e. risk averse) and wants to plan for his child’s higher education after 15 years and the inflation adjusted corpus comes to Rs.30 lakhs. He has a very tight cash flow due to his existing home loan and has monthly surplus of Rs.5,000. So, considering his risk profile he should be recommended investment of 80% debt and 20% in Equity. Assuming weighted average return of 9.40% p.a. from such investment, he should invest Rs.7,650 per month to accumulate the desired corpus. While the same corpus may be achieved by investing 90% in equity via Mutual Fund SIP and 10% in Debt instrument since the time horizon is 15 years he can take risk. Assuming weighted average return of 14.30% p.a. from such investment, he should invest Rs.4,800 per month. So, how will he accumulate the desired corpus if he invests as per the risk profile? How will he meet the shortfall in his required monthly investment amount? He may have to compromise on his son’s education in future since there will be shortfall. The returns may not be guaranteed in either of the strategies; also there is a certain amount of risk too attached to the latter investment strategy and requires periodical review. But the risk taken would provide additional rewards and may help him achieve the corpus. 
  
 So, I don’t think risk-profiling complements the financial planning exercise. In cases where there are multiple financial goals, it can be very difficult to achieve all the financial goals. Also, investment in risky assets cannot be recommended for short-term goals even if the client’s risk profile is aggressive. Thus, risk profiling and financial planning doesn’t seem to go hand-in-hand. But yes, it can be a support mechanism, which will enable the professional planner to understand his client in a better light.

But recommendations can certainly be not based just on client’s risk profile as it may have certain restricting factors with respect to his age, income and time horizon of his goals. Whereas it is paramount that financial planner / investment adviser takes all these aspects into account before basing his recommendations.

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Mumbai Marathon and Financial Fitness!

Watching Mumbaikars run was a fun last week. After all they were not running as usual. They were participating in Mumbai Marathon, and not running for 8:02 CST bound fast train. The usual pain on the face was replaced by smiles and that made me think. The goal matters and sometimes that make the journey towards the goal more a fun, than pain.

Running is possibly the easiest type of exercise, next to walking. It does not require much of skills. Running a marathon, too, is possible if you know some basic rules about keeping your 'fit' body hydrated throughout the 42 km run. If you are physically fit and can train yourself well for few months, marathon is not akin to climbing  Mt. Everest. Personal financial fitness is like running a marathon.

Achieving financial fitness to reach your financial goals and completing marathon are two end results, and you need the right plan in both cases. Get the plan right and stick to it, and results will follow. A well written financial plan can help you take care of your financial investments and liabilities as you move on in your life. Just implement it and you are on the track, in the right direction. Marathon too is all about putting your training of several months in practice. For months marathoners run and train their hearts, lungs and legs to bear with the grind.

Marathoners train themselves for extended period of time, with consistency. If you run for a week and take a break for a month, then you should not expect to deliver what you learn in first week. Breaks and delays destroy the war chest you can build. Financial fitness too cannot withstand delays. More procrastination, less likely you achieve your financial goals. Also the financial plan has to be a well-rounded 360 degree activity. You cannot simply keep all your money in saving bank account or make one year fixed deposits in bank and expect great retirement. Invest across asset classes, just like a marathoners would practice climbs along with plains and run in the 'cool' mornings and in the scorching sun too.

Many winners of the marathon has pointed out the fact that it is less of a physical activity, but more a mental one. It requires overcoming the desire to spend half an hour in the bed in a winter morning. It requires hitting the track every day, irrespective of the season. It requires overcoming the peer pressure – you have to choose between late night parties and going early to bed – after all you have to hit the track early morning every day. In a country like India, 'why run marathon? Why not cricket?' can be a question that comes your way. Overcoming the behavioural issues is a task for most individuals hitting on the track of financial fitness. Trendy investments lure them away from financial plans. One bad year in equities, and investors fall for bonds. They choose to ignore their financial plan asking for allocation to equities. To become financially fit you have to keep doing the things prescribed by your financial plan and not what appears to be the latest 'in' thing.

Marathon is not a sprint, so does the journey towards achieving your financial goals. There are no short cuts to success in marathon. You have to keep running. Similarly do not go for 'get rich quick schemes' while achieving your financial goals. Time tested asset allocation based investments deliver superior returns. Also keep reviewing them at regular intervals. You should look at your portfolio valuation, outstanding loans, CIBIL credit scores at regular intervals to ensure that you remain on track. It is akin to a marathoner timing his each run.

Looking at all these things one can simply say that running a marathon is a possible task for most of us, and so does the case of achieving financial goals. So when are you hitting the roads?

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Can regulations for investment advisors make you safe?

Today in the world of financial exuberance and with the market being flooded with host of investment products, what many investors want is, to be in safe hands and a prudent advice to put personal finances in place. Some players in the financial services industry while offering third party investment products, have unfortunately resorted to the practice of pushing products rather than "advising" (taking into account their client needs and risk profiling) them, which has led to several cases of mis-selling and investors feeling betrayed. In case of mutual funds too, with a plethora of mutual fund schemes to invest in, many investors haven't been advised schemes appropriately (taking into account their investment objective, risk profile and investment horizon) infusing in them a feeling being duped, while many distributors have made hay - earned good commissions. The immoral act carried by many distributors has impacted the trustworthiness of mutual fund house . So have india's mutual funds failed you?

But now to correct this anomaly and crack the whip, the capital market regulator- Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has recently (on January 21, 2013) issued the much awaited regulations for investment advisors (vide a notification in the Gazette of India).

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Investment Advisers) Regulations, 2013 has enunciated requirements related to obtaining a certificate of registration, qualification, capital adequacy, period of validity of the certificate, and has also mentioned other general obligations and responsibilities on the part of investment advisors.

• Obtaining a certificate of registration - It has been made mandatory for those engaged as investment advisors to obtain a certificate of registration from SEBI. For those who are already acting as investment advisors immediately before the commencement of these regulations can continue for a period of six months from commencement of these regulations; or if they have applied for a certificate within the said period of six months, then until disposal of such an application. 
• Qualification - Moreover while granting the certificate of registration, it has been made mandatory for an investment advisor to have minimum qualifications at all times which can be:

a. A professional qualification or a post-graduate degree or post graduate diploma in finance, accountancy, business management, commerce, economics, capital market, banking, insurance or actuarial science from a university or an institution recognised by the central government or any state government or a recognised foreign university or institution or association; or

b. At least a graduate degree in any discipline with an experience of at least five years in activities relating to advice in financial products or securities or fund or asset or portfolio management.

Besides the aforesaid, the regulator has also made it mandatory for the investment advisor to have a certification on financial  planning / funds / assets / portfolio management / investment advisory services either from the National Institute of Securities Markets (NISM) or from any other organization or institution including Financial Planning Standards Board India or any recognized stock exchange in India provided that such certification is accredited by NISM. It is noteworthy that certifications will be required to be complied not only by the investment advisor himself, but also by the partners of an investment advisor and / or representative of an investment advisor, within two years from the date of commencement of such regulations and the certification would be required to be renewed before the expiry to ensure continuity in compliance.

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Story of average Joe: Here`s how you can plan your finance

It was a Tuesday afternoon when Mr Joe (name changed) walked into my office. He was an extremely confident individual and was bubbling with optimism. Mr Joe is 37 years old, is married and has one child (8 year old). He currently has no liabilities and his total net worth as of today is Rs. 2 crores (excluding his self occupied property). The present was not as much as a surprise as the past. Joe hailed from a middle class family with not much of surplus money. The very fact that he could just about make ends meet was by itself an achievement.

One fine day about 20 years back Joe lost his parents, he was 17 years old then and the financial situation worsened. There were times where even buying basic food provisions for home was a very difficult task. He started working , doing odd jobs like delivering milk packets, newspapers or even working as a waiter in a hotel while completing his studies. If this was a situation 20 years back and today Joe is in a better financial situation than many 37 year old with fancier degrees ,what is the reason. What are the things he did right which probably many of us are not doing?. I probed him further to find out and the secrets started unraveling slowly.

1) Income minus savings is expense:

Joe followed this golden mantra of financial planning joe throughout his life. More often than not savings is the balancing figure that we are left with after our expense. The problem today is that not just are our expenses on a higher side but also the modes of spending have increased. I remember when we were kids shopping meant buying a shirt or a trouser for a festival or birthday and that too from the shop across the street. Today we go to a mall. A mall is described as a beautiful place where you go empty handed and come out with 4 bags of which 3 of them you don’t know why you bought. Joe realized very early on that one cannot achieve financial success if one spends more and saves less.

2) Power of compounding:-

I am often reminded of a story where a priest asks a king for rice as reward for his services. However the grains of rice should be kept on a chess board and doubled with every square. Even before the king could reach the last square of the chess board he was a pauper and the priest was a rich man. We would have heard this story of power of compounding time and again but how many of us followed this. Joe maintained this discipline right from the start by doing systematic investments and he realized that the most crucial thing for money multiplication is not just the quantum of investments one does but also the time period till which he does that.

3) Ceiling on desires:-

We often do not draw a line between what is a need and a desire. Many times our desire overrules our need and the financial decisions in this regard are generally sporadic in nature. For e.g. I have seen people with high credit card outstanding and also taking further loans to either buy a home theatre or a luxurious car. Joe was very clear of these concepts right from the start and he involved his wife in his financial planning as well so he could succeed in terms of the support he receives from her. Most financial planning fails because in a family both husband and wife are clueless on what the other is doing regarding their investments. Once we are clear on this demarcation financial planning is a an easier exercise.

4) Portfolio allocation:-

To decide how much should we invest in different asset classes helps us build balanced portfolios as per our goals. The general tendencies to invest is looking at the fads. So if gold does well everyone jumps for it. Similarly the demand for equities will start surging once the market touches new highs. Joe took the help of a financial planner to help him allocate his money correctly in different asset classes as per his needs after considering his tenure and risk taking ability.

5) Risk and insurance planning:-

The hardships of life had taught Joe that the most predictable thing about life is its unpredictability. He knew that only a good and sufficient health and life insurance cover could protect him and his family during uncertain times. He always made sure that he assessed his insurance needs on a constant basis and increased them taking into consideration his responsibility and time value of money.

We salute Joe who is a commoner and a common face in the crowd but is miles apart from the common man in terms of his financial stability. Joe has set examples of how mere financial discipline could lead to financial independence. Finally when my meeting with joe came to an end he said “ I came to meet you sir so I could take my financial planning to a different level now I need a much early financial retirement, let’s work towards it”

This is the story of The Average Joe.... Nothing average about him.

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11 awesome tips to save money you never knew!

How to save that extra buck? That’s the question on everyone’s mind. Kripananda Chidambaram of Fintotal Insights and Resources  suggest "11 awesome tips to save money you never knew!"

The author is a director at Fintotal Insights and Resources.

1. Walk down to the station if it's just 15 minutes. If not, then bus. This can, surprisingly, save you loads of money in long term.

2. Throw away your credit card. The interest charged is more than 30 percent.

3. Buy Non-Perishable Items in bulk with friends.

4. Shop a lot! But only during sale. And look out for discount coupons and codes.

5. Have 3 months contingency fund in your account. Don't touch unless emergency.

6. Educate yourself on Personal Finance basics. It's easy and can have tremendous positive effect in your life.

7. Skip CCD. Hang out at your nearest chaiwala or a dhabha.

8. Have a fixed automatic amount transferred to a mutual fund at the start of every month.

9. Eat lite before going to Fine Dine. Good for your body and wallet.

10. Take less than 5 minutes to write down to your expense every day.

11. Buy Generic Medicines. It costs 10x less than branded medicines.

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Financial Planning for elderly

Mr. Iyer was not only surprised but also relieved when his son Rahul visited him and presented a detailed financial plan for his retirement which covered everything right from meeting his basic expenses to covering needs like hospitalization. Rahul is back in the US now and working for an IT giant in Silicon Valley having taken care of one of the major financial goals of his life. He made it happen with a disciplined approach towards investment.

Financial planning for elders/parents is a completely overlooked need. It however forms a crucial part of the portfolio/investment planning especially if you are residing outside India and your parents are in India. Financial Planning is similar to setting a road map; it’s a 360 degree plan and should account for contingencies too. It helps to plan for the unforeseen by making a provision for the same.

Planning needs to be followed by disciplined execution i.e. Investments. Here we can consider investments made by the parents during their young age i.e. the savings from EPF/PPF and also investment done for them by their children. However NRI’s have limited options for doing investments in India and the same has been mentioned below;   

Investment avenues for NRI’s in India

Following are the investment avenues wherein an NRI can invest on repatriation basis:

• Government dated securities / Treasury bills 
• Mutual Funds 
• Bonds issued by a public sector undertaking (PSU) in India. 
• Non-convertible debentures of an Indian company 
• Perpetual debt instruments and debt capital instruments issued by banks in India. 
• Shares in Public Sector Enterprises being dis-invested by the Government of India 
• Shares and convertible debentures of Indian companies under the FDI scheme 
• Shares and convertible debentures of Indian companies through stock exchange under Portfolio Investment Scheme

Following are the investment avenbues wherein an NRI can invest on non repatriation basis:

• Government dated securities / Treasury bills 
• Units of domestic mutual funds 
• Units of Money Market Mutual Funds 
• National Plan/Savings Certificates 
• Non-convertible debentures of a company incorporated in India 
• Shares and convertible debentures of Indian companies through stock exchange under Portfolio Investment Scheme 
• Exchange traded derivative contracts approved by the SEBI

The avenues which are linked to markets like mutual funds bear higher risk as compared to debt securities. However one can consider investing in equity mutual fund schemes if there is sufficient time for their parents to retire. If the retirement term is near then it will be recommended to invest the same in debt oriented avenues.

Planning for needs:

Planning for the elderly requires that certain basic needs are taken care off with a conservative approach. Needs like monthly pension required and medicinal expenses are a must. One can plan early by taking a health insurance which supports during the later part of the age; ideally it is always recommended to take one in the early age as premium is low, cover is high and even some of the ‘pre existing diseases’ get covered. Post retirement the corpus built from investment should be parked in debt avenues which provide regular income, however if the payout is high then one can consider tax free avenues in order to reduce tax burden if any. Tax free bonds could be one of the avenues; with returns of  7 percent - 8 percent and also help save tax for the investor.  

With appropriate planning, one can not only help his/her parents leave a legacy that will last generations but can also help them in growing and creating wealth continuously throughout their retirement. Following principles can be considered to achieve the same:-

1. Avoiding Financial Mistakes
2. Make sure they have enough liquid funds for any financial contingency 
3. Monitor and review portfolio constantly

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'S' for Shopping or Saving?

While the whole world is celebrating the International Woman’s Day today, you should not miss out this opportunity to express gratitude towards all the women in your life, you could give them flowers or ornaments but how about going a step further? You could look forward to empower the women around in your life by guiding them towards financial security. 

Generally the first thing that a woman who has spare cash will think of is ‘Shopping’, but when it comes to ‘Savings’ or financial planning, women seem to take the back seat.  Today we see a large number of women venturing out and working alongside the male in almost every profession. They are not just independent, but also capable enough to make themselves financially secure. But many a times we see that they pass on the responsibility of financial planning to their father, brother or husband. So it’s your responsibility to create awareness of financial planning amongst the women around you and educate them on money management and investments. 

Below are some investment avenues where women can look to park their money:

• Ensure Insurance: Insurance is first & vital step in any financial plan. Life insurance is necessary for every working woman. It will give financial protection to their dependents in case the worst occurs.

Note: Insurance should be taken for financial risk protection only not for Investment or Tax planning.  

• SIP by SIP: Every investor, be it a man or a woman should focus on investing on a regular basis. Systematic Investment Plans (SIP’s) will enable you to invest small amounts through Mutual funds in periodic installments. The SIP mode is a good investment option for working women; it will also encourage house wives to invest their monthly savings.  
• Axe the Tax: Tax saving schemes is also an investment option for women. Tax-saving is meant to be done keeping your financial goals in mind and not just to save a few pennies. While National Savings Certificate (NSC) and Public Provident Fund (PPF) are good tax-saving instruments, tax-saving mutual fund schemes (ELSS - Equity Linked Savings Schemes) are also options to look out for as well. 
• Bank on Banks: Fixed/Recurring Deposits are also options for women to grow money slowly but steadily. If they have a decent sum of money, they can go for a fixed deposit but if they want to invest a small amount every month, a recurring deposit is also an option.  
• Hold the Gold: For most Indians, gold is more than just an investment. Especially women, as they love to own exquisite jewellery. From an investment perspective, we would recommend you opt for gold ETF’s rather than physical gold. Apart from the fact that in case of physical gold there is danger of theft, other advantages of owning gold ETF’s are:

o    Reasonable: you can buy gold in small proportions

o    Pure: Backed by real gold of high quality

o    Convenient: You don’t have to worry about its security

o    Value: Trades like a normal equity share on the exchange - in tandem with domestic gold price

Different AMC’s also provide investment options via SIP in Gold funds.

While the above options are a bunch of different investment avenues from different asset classes, it is also important to diversify the corpus across a few of these investment options and create a balanced portfolio.  

Thumb rule for asset allocation - ‘Don’t put all your eggs in one basket’.

In other words, rather than putting all their money at one place, spread it across different asset classes, to reap maximum benefit and balance out the risk factor. A sensible asset allocation decision will align the assets according to the needs of the women in your family. It is strategic as it looks into the foreseeable future and builds the allocation bearing the risk, return and liquidity needs in mind.

Nevertheless asset allocation can be decided by measuring risk that is involved with each asset class.  Therefore before women take their investment decision they need to consider both aspects of risk – their risk appetite and the risk level of the investment options being considered.

An appropriate risk allocation, along with overall total risk and return targets, should be thought of as the blueprint of diversifying portfolio risk, while asset classes are the bricks and mortar used to execute the design.

Click here to measure and calculate a suggested asset allocation and savings required. Moreover, as she takes her first step towards making herself financially secure, you could just stand by her side, support her financial dreams and you will see her bloom as a confident, independent financial pro who can make choices beyond grocery lists, handbags and beauty products. Who knows, she may even show her gratitude by helping you meet your financial dreams too!

PS: While we appreciate your efforts to guide the woman in your life towards financial planning, you are still not excused to do away with gifts and celebrate her womanhood.

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