Now that you have heard about a few of my mistakes, let me tell you more! So here it is: Overconfidence: It took me about 20 years of being in the markets to realize that understanding markets is difficult if not impossible. It is not the first few trades that make you confident – it […]
It is always difficult to sell and do business, especially if you think that the ‘other’ profession you do is teaching. Let me tell you about a friend who came to me enthusiastically to buy life insurance (3 stories actually) One was a good friend – he said he wants to pay Rs. 20 lakhs […]
Mumbai has a peculiar problem- exhorbidant real estate prices. However this does not mean economics is at work. I would know of many people who live far, far beyond their means. How does this happen? Well their parents are cash-flow poor, but asset rich. The children are asset poor, but have some cash flow. Take […]
On one side Mr. Swarup says financial products should become cheaper. He also says that the customer should pay for the advisor’s services. This is a great move the person who is getting the services can choose how much to pay. However the IRDA has one funny (weird) condition in its armory. There is something […]
If you are associated with financial services you know ‘misselling’ is a major problem. So I decided to see how much of misselling happens in other products and is it as damaging. The answer is a resounding yes. The financial services sector has regulators (RBI, SEBI, IRDA) who at least make some noises about misselling. […]
I hope you are not looking for the ‘mea culpa’ message of Raju…of Satyam…this is different! I recently met the MD of a financial services company – obviously I am not naming him/her. It also does not matter whether it is a brokerage house, mutual fund, life insurance company, bank or a distribution house. So […]