BackStarting early gave this couple the confidence to be aggressive investors
Both Anupriya and Nishith Jardosh have independent sessions with their financial planner as their risk profiles and goals are quite different
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Mumbai-based Anupriya and Nishith Jardosh have both decided to pursue their own areas of interest for a living after spending a few years working for consulting firms. Around 2010, Nishith decided to quit his job to start his own business. A few years later, just before their marriage, Anupriya too decided to quit her job to pursue screen writing. This was a significant move for both of them as it brought into picture financial uncertainty of not having a salary at the end of each month.
When Nishith decided to start his own business, he felt he needed professional advice on managing money. That is when he met Resha Haria, an investment adviser registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). He already had some investments and had to utilise some of his savings to start his business. “As I was starting my business from my savings, she (Resha) advised me to keep investments completely separate from the business, and touch that money only if extremely necessary," he said.
Nishith is a chartered financial analyst (CFA) and likes to analyse stocks and companies, but he was irregular with investments and did not have any goals. He wanted to set his investments and asset allocation right. “How much should I put in direct equity, equity mutual funds and corporate debt mutual funds? Resha advised me to go for stock investments at that time and emphasised that it would not be for a short term," he said. The reason for being aggressive on stocks was that Nishith was starting off early enough; plus, he was well versed in this field.
“The investment strategy for anyone investing on their own is the same. We go online and read a little about wherever we plan to invest and make our decisions. At best we spend a couple of hours in a week doing this. I understood and liked the fact that a professional adviser will be doing the same thing, but for 8-10 hours every day. This also included visiting the companies to get a realistic picture of the businesses. This, I was sure, would lead to an altogether different insight into those companies or products," he said.
The gains were evident, Nishith said. When he was investing himself in equity, with a little research, his returns were around 10% over the benchmark Sensex. This improved to around 30% above the index.
When Anupriya, too, decided to quit her job, Nishith advised her to consult a planner. “I wanted to start working as a screen writer and I knew that cash flow would be sporadic," said Anupriya. Initially, she was asked to build a separate contingency fund of around 6-8 months worth of expenses.
Both of them have independent sessions with their financial planner as their risk profiles, goals and philosophy about money are quite different. “We understood that our investment strategies need to be different. That helped me crystallise the picture of where my finances are and where I want to see them. Given my cash flow and the fact that I wanted lower risk, we decided to have less exposure to direct equity and more in mutual funds," she said. Though Anupriya too invests in equity, but a major part of her investments goes into mutual funds.
Nishith had earlier decided to be aggressive on pure equity for about 10 years. But when the couple decided to start a family, they started to gradually reduce the risk and diversify in mutual funds.
Apart from this, they enhanced their insurance cover. “Now we have taken a decent life cover and a proper health insurance for the family," said Nishith.
Anupriya added that she is consciously trying to reduce the risk on her investments. “I feel it is a good idea to be aggressive in early years of the career and then reduce the risk gradually as more responsibilities get added in your life," she said.
The couple also likes spending on vacations. And as they are expecting their first child, they plan to buy a house in the next 3-5 years. “We take a domestic and an international vacation each year to maintain a good mix of work and leisure. With the baby coming into the picture, things will change to some extent," said Anupriya.
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MY PLAN
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Name: Nishith Jardosh
Age: 33
Profession: Businessman
Name: Anupriya Jardosh
Age: 32
Profession: Script writer
Financial planner: Resha Haria, Sebi Registered Investment Adviser, GreenEdge Wealth Services
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