The art of managing finances -By Shruti Nagori from IFMR Sri City

My summer internship was my first step into the corporate world. I worked as an intern at Impetus Wealth Management in Mumbai. I had always heard of people complaining about their workplaces and it's culture, colleagues, work, boss, etc. Even I was worried about my firm. I had no prior experience of working anywhere. As I walked into my office with butterflies in my stomach, I saw everyone was busy working. Having no clue what to do I sat there for 2 hours. Then my mentor called me for the first meeting. He was Mr. P.R. Dilip, Managing Director of Impetus Wealth Management. He spoke to me for 2 hours and I realized how lucky I was to get an internship opportunity here and meet such a great human being who was always concerned about his clients more than about his firm. So here is my journey where I learned the art of managing finances.

Wealth management lessons I learned during the internship

Wealth Management is such a field where everyone should learn about it. If you are not able to manage your wealth properly then you will end up disappointing yourself. We are sure that we don’t want that. Right? Learning the art of managing finances while keeping the risks in mind and future goals is not easy. My internship gave me a special inkling towards wealth management. Sooner or later I had to look up to this as a career opportunity. Moreover, the learning process depends on the person teaching you the concept. Learning the art of managing wealth and keeping ethics in mind from the MD’s point of view made me like the concept of wealth management. This was once in a lifetime opportunity. I believe that this is the best start I could ever get in my corporate life. 

When I learned to handle clients and the art of managing finances

Basically my internship was just about learning. As a part of this, I was asked to gather the financial data from a client. I analyzed everything and prepared a financial roadmap. Besides that, I had to do my own research on the current investments done by the client’s suitability for his future and the scope of growth possible. After analyzing this and keeping the exposure to risk, I had to search for financial products that would keep his wealth safe with good future returns.

Also, the goals of the client were kept in mind while suggesting the plan of action for him. I researched for mutual funds, fixed deposits, ELSS, monthly income plan, insurance products, PPF, NPS, Bonds, etc. I also got to know about international trends in the financial world. Also, I was able to understand the financial products that people preferred. Culture drives financial habits. I learned about how culture influences the decisions of people and how a wealth manager takes all this into consideration before suggesting anything to the client. The learning part of my internship was amazing. 

The unique work culture of the company 

The work culture here was very different from what I had already heard of. The employees at Impetus were the most helpful people I have ever met. Whenever I approached them with a question, they would spend hours explaining to me even in peak trading hours. They told me to contact them anytime I had a doubt during the research.  They would always be ready to help improve my art of managing finances.

My mentor, Mr. Dilip showed me how a boss should behave with his employees. He was so good that whenever we would go he would always keep his work aside and teach us for hours. Moreover, he would tell us about everything from the relevance of Indian mythology to International beliefs, different cultures, current trends in the market with the upcoming future changes and all the struggles to life lessons. He is a true inspiration and role model. I also had other interns with me. We learned together and shared knowledge. This internship gave me friends for life.

I am thankful to my mentor, to all the employees of Impetus and my fellow interns who made my summer internship journey beautiful and memorable.

This article was submitted as a part of Become an Author conducted by Dare2Compete.