Case study of how innovative information tools can help in standardizing and scaling up financial service practice. This was featured in "Information Matters" a journal published by Synapse Information Services, where I worked for over 8 years and led the team that worked on this project. To know more about Synapse, visit: http://synapse.co

1. CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT | EDUCATION
Promising
a secure
Tomorrow
Most people agree that financial planning is important,
but few manage to move beyond mere thought to something actionable.
How can financial services companies spur them into action?
POOR level of Financial
Literacy in India is
a well-known problem. People put in a
lot of effort in earning money but very
few manage money well enough to create
long-term wealth. Investment decisions
are taken in an ad-hoc manner in the
absence of a proper financial plan (or
a process of meeting your life’s goals
through proper management of your
finances).
At a conceptual level people agree that
financial planning is important. But
when it comes to implemtation very few
manage to go from thought to action.
how can we make it happen?
Indians and Financial Planning 55
87% 73% 93% 82% 91%
people do not plan do not have adequate have never invested do not understand what believe that the govt.
for their retirement Insurance in equities exactly a Mutual Fund is guarantees the return of
money invested in Bank FDs
(Source: India Investment Survey 2007-08 conducted by IIMS and CNBC TV-18)
INFORMATION MATTERS | ISSUE 3

2. Religare: A process presentation was also designed to train the in-house financial advisors at Religare Finmart
on how, when and where to use the Finanacial Planning tools
great product I have, why don’t you buy it…” to “Let me While one-to-one human interaction is indispensable
understand what do you need and then I will suggest a in the delivery of financial planning, one of the ways in
product that is right for you”. which companies can reduce this dependence is by using
2. Lack of industry standards and absence of well- innovative tools.
established systems and processes including
comprehensive software for financial planning is a big These tools can be a combination of communication tools
challenge in delivering the promise. that educate and inform as well as technology tools that
3. The business income generated from client needs to simplify and automate the sales process.
justify the number of hours an advisor spends on working
for a client. This may also require a client to pay fees for A change in approach from ‘Product Sales’ to ‘Financial
these services and the culture of paying for advice is new Planning’ makes sense for consumers as well as financial
58 amongst Indian clients. services providers.
how long it takes for the benefits to reach a wide
MoneyMentor (www.moneymentor.in) creates white- section of individuals will depend on how much and
label information and software tools for financial how fast the financial intermediaries invest in human
service companies, which help them in acquiring, resources and such innovative tools that deliver the
educating and building relationships with their promise of financial planning.
customers. We partner with financial companies and - Deven Shah, Raghu Fasalkar,
institutions to guide investors and financial advisors. Umesh Chavan
INFORMATION MATTERS | ISSUE 3

3. Invest in Tools that Educate
If there is a big market of consumers requiring
financial planning services, why haven’t the financial
intermediaries successfully implemented this in
practice?
One of the key challenges lies in the fact that the
process of understanding, educating and advising
investors has a high dependence on human resources.
This creates multiple challenges in execution:
1. Knowledgeable and well-trained financial planners
are in short supply. Most companies have an army
of salesmen that will now have to be trained for
changing the approach from saying “here is a
Investor Education Booklet prototype
3
3 Financial Calculators
Easy to use calculators that advisors use to find out the correct
investment amount for retirement, insurance, asset allocation and
other financial goals like buying a house, children’s education etc
4 Presentation to train Financial Advisors
A comprehensive presentation to train the
advisors in delivering financial planning services
using the tools provided
5 Dream Map (Client Profiler + Financial Plan)
A tool that helps clients list down their financial goals 57
in a simple manner and allows the advisor to suggest a
plan to achieve their dreams
INFORMATION MATTERS | ISSUE 3

4. Sell the Concept along with the Product
Traditionally, different financial products have been
sold by different people. In the last 5-7 years, most
financial intermediaries (from corporate distributors
and brokers to independent financial advisors) have
started offering a wide range of financial products under
one roof. hence it makes immense business sense for
financial intermediaries to offer financial planning as a
‘service’—a service where a financial advisor takes time
and understands the personal profile of a client, identifies
his needs, commitments and aspirations and then creates
a financial plan which includes advice on investments,
insurance, tax, retirement etc.
This approach will not only help financial companies
in earning higher revenue per client but will also build
relationships, which can result in long-term revenue. One example of the Retirement Planner software made by MoneyMentor
CASE STUDY : Religare Enterprises Limited
We worked with Religare enterprises Limited (ReL) one of the
leading integrated financial services groups in India, to create a set
of financial planning tools for their chain of branded stores called
‘Religare Finmart’. With it’s positioning of ‘Powering your Dreams’,
Religare Finmart offers financial planning solutions and products
that satisfy all the insurance, investment and loan requirements of
an individual.
here are examples of some Financial Planning Tools designed
for Religare:
56
1 Lead Generation: Financial Planning Seminar presentation 2 A booklet on Financial Planning
for prospects and clients customised for different age-groups A 16-page guide that helps people
and professionals understand how financial planning can
improve their lives in a very real sense
INFORMATION MATTERS | ISSUE 3