Advisorkhoj: Aggregating Investor, Advisors & Manufacturers onto a Single Platform
Date: Tuesday , December 01, 2015
Indians usually fall prey to wrong and unregulated financial schemes due to ignorance about savings and investing. Due to this, most of the investments are made without minding long-term financial planning. Lack of investment awareness and unavailability of financial advisors have further darkened the path, as not even 10 percent of the Indians are insured. However, with deepening internet penetration, proliferation of online channels and regulatory push, Indian financial advisor business is taking baby steps towards evolving the way it has progressed in developed countries.
Advisorkhoj.com, a one-stop unbiased Investment Awareness website, has taken the first step towards bridging this gap in 2013 by educating investors through its blog, research & queries and finally helping them to make the transaction with the financial advisor who may be available in their neighbourhood. The Bangalore-based company has pioneered the concept of aggregating all stakeholders (investors, advisors and companies) onto one place where manufacturers and financial advisors can promote themselves, and investors can judge/choose them based on the awareness they acquire from Advisorkhoj platform.
Building Its Own Destiny
Though the portal was soft launched in the end of 2012, it struggled till the second quarter of 2013 devoid of a proper technology vendor. The company that sourced its first employee and raised angel funds through its own network rebuilt Advisorkhoj with its own tech team, which adapts to the industry dynamics. \"We started the business with our personal investment, for which we made some sacrifices in our personal lives. We do not regret it for a minute,\" remarks Pradip Chakrabarty, Founder & CEO, Advisorkhoj.com. Vesting keen importance on recruiting \'right people\', initially the company invested on hiring and developing right talents for priority areas namely technology, content and marketing, instead of exploring diverse business areas.
Today, the company can boast of having one of the best content in its domain, which has endowed Advisorkhoj with six asset management companies as clients for whom it does content on investment awareness. Advertisement being one of its main revenue sources, the company currently has 12 clients apart from Google Ads and offers digital marketing services for 12 Asset Management Companies. Advisorkhoj provides investors a comprehensive set of resources to execute on their investment decision through its network of nearly 40,000 financial advisors spread across 1,200 locations apart from online channels. The uniquely built Mutual Fund Research section is easily understandable and meaningful even to the first time Investors. It receives a large number of queries from very basic things to complex scenarios everyday and promptly replies to them. Advisorkhoj allows one to download any application forms & scheme brochures, and also connects to respective companies and their financial advisors. Investors can do their retirement and future goal planning using its tools and calculators.
Moulding Future Business Leaders
\"Efficiency is crucial, but creativity is much more crucial,\" asserts Pradip. This is why every Advisorkhojer is instilled with entrepreneurial spirit (technically & culturally) to take the business to the next level. The closely knit self-motivated team that supports each other personally & professionally enjoys flexible work hours, work-from-home option and holidays to suit different cultures. Hence, there is always someone available almost 24 hours even during holidays. The company gives them freedom to shape their own professional abilities & careers within the organization and encourages everyone to bring forth business ideas.
While junior Adversorkhojers attain on-job training technical training, seniors are tasked with the professional development of juniors and are encouraged to develop as good business leaders beyond their technical domains. The company that endeavours to see its juniors as Advisorkhoj\'s future business leaders anticipates arranging formal technical programs depending on business requirements.
Bright Future Ahead
Advisorkhoj\'s domain specific portal is keenly evolving with new regulations, statutory changes, participation of foreign entities, opening up of Insurance industry and change in business models for financial advisors. The much precise offerings and clients appreciation has taken Advisorkhoj to new heights altogether (even when compared to big players in the space). The company further aims to elevate its traffic and other engagement parameters to the next level by leveraging its technological capabilities, partnerships and strategies. The company that is currently shedding its spotlight on mutual funds foresees expanding into life & non-life insurance areas. Advisorkhoj is further scaling up its business model, launching new endeavours and increasing team size. Advisorkhoj.com envisions providing an online platform where all the different financial services industry stakeholders (manufacturers, distributors & consumers) can engage with each other and eventually transact business. \"We want to be the one-stop online resource of choice for all the mutual fund investors and financial advisors in India and be seen as a major player driving deeper penetration of a large variety of financial products through digital channels,\" concludes a determined Pradip.
Panel:
Key Management:
Pradip Chakrabarty, Founder & CEO
This serial entrepreneur is a well-respected & connected industry veteran with about two decades of experience in financial advisory business. Having deep domain knowledge and leadership skills, he is easily one of the top 100 Investment Advisors in India who strives to transform every Indian into an informed investor.
Dwaipayan Bose, Co Founder & COO
An alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad, Dwaipayan is a Finance and Consulting professional, with 13 years of management experience, mostly in MNCs like American Express and Ameriprise Financial, both in India and the US. In his last role, he was the CFO of American Express Global Business Services in India.
Headquarter: Bangalore
Clients: ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund, Birla Sunlife Mutual Fund, Reliance Mutual Fund, SBI Mutual Fund, DSP Black Rock Mutual fund, Canara Robeco Mutual Fund, Sundaram Mutual Fund, Principal Mutual Fund and UTI Mutual Fund among others
Achievements:
- Registering nearly 40,000 advisors across 1,200 locations - Four revenue streams - One of the popular websites in India with current Alexa ranking of less than 10,000 and 100,000 respectively in India and globally - 12 leading Asset Management Companies as clients
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