Though Rishiraj Maheshwari pursued Bachelors in Computer Applications, his inclination was always towards marketing and sales. To pursue his passion, Rishi completed his MBA in Marketing and Systems from Canara Bank School of Management & Studies in Bangalore.
He hit the ground running during his MBA third semester when he got placed with Indiabulls Securities from campus. As a relationship manager, Rishi used to consult clients for investing in equities. This is how he found his calling. He felt financial services space could have a bright future and thus continued in this field.
His subsequent stints were with Edelweiss, ICICI Securities Private Wealth and Royal Bank of Scotland, where he advised high net worth families. From these stints, Rishi learned a great deal about the needs and expectations of dealing with the wealthy. Rishi says that HNI clients understand the market dynamics well and are open to paying fee for the value we add. “Private bankers have not been able to provide the right solution to their needs which I’m trying to fulfil,” says Rishi.
While Rishi rose through the ranks in his corporate career, he decided to strike out on his own to be closer to clients. Caught by the entrepreneurial bug, Rishi thought he could leverage his network and understanding of the business and fill the void of offering goal based advisory services to high net worth clients.
In 2015, he floated his boutique advisory firm RISCH Wealth which caters to HNIs and family offices. Rishi manages around Rs 50 crore in mutual fund assets while 500 clients have subscribed for his stock advisory services across the globe. Most of his clients have come through referrals.
As margins shrink and competition heats up, Rishi feels that it is high time advisers should look at outsourcing their investment management function. Rather, he believes that advisers should focus on their core competencies, which is managing client emotions and business development.
He says that advisers today have limited bandwidth for setting up an in-house advisory team. With a multitude of tasks right from business development, marketing, to managing the team, Rishi feels that advisers who are often one-man army may find it difficult to focus on research. To overcome this hurdle, Rishi had been looking for outsourcing his investment management function for HNI clients. “Morningstar is the right entity to manage a mutual fund portfolio for my clients. I have been actively advising my clients to subscribe for the Managed Portfolios launched by Morningstar in India. Monitoring, reviewing and rebalancing portfolios requires access to the right data and Morningstar is best equipped with it. Also, risk profiling helps finding the right asset class mix best suited to achieve their goals,” says Rishi.
Rishi has been a firm believer in the concept of asset allocation which he follows to the hilt while drawing up financial plans for his clients. He believes asset allocation can reduce the overall risk and enhance returns.
Rishi steers clears of advising fancy structured products or even new fund offers. He recommends products which have stood the test of time. Going ahead, Rishi plans to provide the entire bouquet of services under one roof. He believes that as the Indian economy prospers the number of wealthy individuals in India is set to boom and there will be a huge demand for advisers to preserve and grow this wealth.
When asked what is his secret sauce, Rishi says, “I remain in touch with clients all the time. I don’t believe in pushing products. It is all about maintaining relationships. You have to understand their needs and have a proper asset allocation strategy in place.” One of the main goals of the uber rich is that they are looking for wealth preservation. “Though no one can time markets, my focus has been on investing in equities when valuations are attractive,” says Rishi.
When not advising clients, he can be seen playing badminton and golf. During weekends, Rishiraj likes to go on vacations and immerse himself in books which keep him going.
