- August 7, 2024
- Posted by: CFA Society India
- Category:Events
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CFA Society India successfully concluded the 9th edition of India Wealth Management Conference (IWMC) in Mumbai on August 02, 2024. This flagship wealth management conference attracts leading wealth advisors, investment specialists, and other thought leaders who offer insights and deliberations around the opportunities, risks, and portfolio solutions for professional wealth managers in India in an evolving financial landscape.
The 9th IWMC focused on domestic and global wealth management trends as investors focus on long-term sustainable growth, personalization at scale, and diversification at a time when India presents opportunities as the fastest-growing major economy and when artificial intelligence and technology are expected to witness a deeper integration into wealth management practices.
The conference started with an address by Shamit Chokshi, CFA, Director, CFA Society India, Principal – Offshore Fund Investments, International Business at ICICI Prudential AMC, wherein, he recognized India as a standalone asset class and added that the role of wealth managers and investment advisors are extending beyond the traditional investment planning and financial management. He touched upon the trend in wealth managers setting up their respective practices with a long-term focus as individuals, NRIs, and family offices seek financial planning extending over two to three decades.
“It is the core mission of CFA Institute to lead the investment management profession by establishing the highest standards for education, excellence, and ethics,” said Arati Porwal – Country Head – India, CFA Institute who delivered the conference opening remarks by reiterating the role of CFA charterholders as guardians of the various financial dreams of their clients. She emphasized on the importance of upskilling, building competencies, and being future-ready.
During the session ‘Global Wealth: Money in Motion’, Daniel Farley, Chief Investment Officer, Investment Solutions Group, Executive Vice President – State Street Global Advisors discussed the fundamental shift driven by technology that is being witnessed in the global wealth management industry that is otherwise a century old. He spoke at length about the role of digital tools and data analytics in creating personalized and efficient client experiences. Daniel noted the expected rise in the number of millionaires and emphasized a holistic approach to wealth planning by focusing on the overall objectives of the client rather than simply looking for winning ideas. He called it ‘prioritizing Investor Alpha over Investment Alpha’.
The next session on ‘Wealth Management: The Road Ahead’ by Umang Papneja, Managing Director & CEO, Julius Baer India, started with an overview of Indian GDP growth over the past two decades and the exponential rise of wealth assets in India in the process. He spoke about the opportunities for wealth managers in India for the years ahead of us. He highlighted the importance of educating wealth managers as well as the new generation of investors inheriting inter-generational wealth, also noting that the lookout for talent in the wealth industry needs to be across India. He projects equities to become a larger part of asset allocation in the next decade supported by initiatives by the Government of India and the favorable taxation equity instruments enjoy relative to other asset classes.
Satish Ananthaswamy, CFA, Senior Managing Director, UC Investments, Head of Asia, Co-Head of Real Estate & Co-Head of Asset Allocation, led the next session on ‘The Story of UC Investments’. He spoke at length about the investment strategy of the USD 180 billion financial portfolio of the University of California as the university pursues multiple objectives including endowment, pensions, and student research. He spoke about the importance of organizational culture in managing investments at UC while taking the participants through the journey of the UC investment portfolio and shifting asset allocation across decades.
The specialist session ‘Behavioral Investing’ by Nimesh Chandan, Chief Investment Officer at Bajaj Finserv Asset Management, was a full-fledged discourse on multiple behavioral aspects of investors and the importance of being aware of the biases and addressing the same by having a proper process and networking with the right set of people in approaching investment decisions.
The specialist session on ‘Wealth Management: Talent Landscape’ had Navin Upadhyaya, Chief Human Resources Officer, 360 ONE, address the myth that wealth management is just about sales. Navin discussed different opportunities for value addition across areas such as product development and portfolio management, along with functions such as taxation, finance, and US GAAP.
The session on ‘How to Build and Manage Wealth over Generations’ had Hemendra Kothari, Non-Executive Chairman, DSP Asset Managers, take the audience through his personal journey as he built businesses and collaborated with various global institutions for growing the same. He touched upon the importance of building two-way trusts while building partnerships and fostering a constant give and take as an effective mechanism for resolving conflicts. The audience also had the opportunity to learn about his contributions to the field of wildlife conservation.
Bijal Ajinkya, Partner at Khaitan & Co., led the session on ‘Succession Planning: The Why, The How, and The What’ where she covered in greater detail the multiple facets concerning succession planning when it comes to passing on personal assets and businesses to the next generation. Especially for businesses, she highlighted the importance of leadership succession and management succession. In the later part of the session, she also spoke about various operational nuances of succession plans.
The last session on ‘AI in Wealth Management’ was led by Vikram Srinivasan, CEO and Co-Founder at Needl.ai. While discussing the role of AI in financial practices, he spoke about the importance of exercising care when implementing AI in the organization and having the right mentors to navigate such implementation. He reiterated the role of artificial intelligence in augmenting human capacity.