Faqs

The CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER^CM  credential is the most desired and respected global certification for those seeking to demonstrate their commitment to competent and ethical financial planning practice. CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER professionals meet initial and ongoing education, experience and professional development requirements, pass a rigorous exam that assesses competency, and adhere to a code of ethics, pledging to provide financial planning in the interests of clients and with the highest ethical and professional standards.

The CFP^CM certification program in India is now directly administered by U.S.-based Financial Planning Standards Board Ltd. (FPSB Ltd.), owner of the international CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER certification program outside the United States.
FPSB Ltd. partners with its global network of Affiliate organizations to administer CFP^CM certification programs in 27 countries and territories around the world, representing a global CFP professional community of over 181,000 at the end of 2018 (with over 1,500 CFP professionals in India)

CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER^CM or CFP^CM is internationally recognized qualification in Financial Planning offered to finance professionals. CFP^CM  Certification is a mark of excellence granted to individuals who meet the stringent standards of 4 Es- Education, Examination, Experience and Ethics.

The Chartered Wealth Manager^® (CWM^® ) designation offered by AAFM^® USA sets the global standard in the finance profession especially Wealth Management & Private Banking and is a symbol of excellence.

Awarded by American Academy of Financial Management^® USA, (AAFM), the CWM^® credential signifies that he/she has demonstrated the knowledge and skills required to effectively execute critical functions related to Onshore and Offshore Wealth
Management including Wealth Enhancement, Wealth Preservation and Wealth Transfer.

CHARTERED WEALTH MANAGER^® (CWM^® ) is a Wealth Management Certification that comprehensively deals with all aspects of wealth management like Investment Strategies, Life Cycle Management, Intergenerational Wealth Transfer, Relationship Management, Behavioural Finance, Alternative Products, Real Estate Valuation and Global Taxation.

Any person seeking financial piece of mind or looking to match his or her financial actions and resources with personal goals can benefit from our services.

We provide financial planning and advice to clients from all income levels.

• Retirement: When will I be financially independent? How much will I need and how do I get there?
• Taxes: How can I reduce my taxes?
• College: What is the best way to save for college? How much should I save?
• Budget: How can I reduce debt or save more?
• Insurance: Do I need life, disability or long-term care insurance? If so, how much and for how long?
• Investments: What are the best investments for me?
• Estate Planning: How can I make sure my estate is handled the way I would like?
• Special Goals: What is the best way to financially plan for and finance that new home, special trip, gift or other goal?
• Financial Check-Ups: How is my plan proceeding? Do I need to make any changes?

We begin by focusing on your goals, objectives, priorities and values. Your goals may be short- or long-term.

For example, we have helped our clients achieve the following common goals:

• Saving money on current or future income taxes;
• Buying a first home;
• Providing children or grandchildren a high-quality education;
• Reaching full retirement by a certain age;
• Enjoying worry-free financial independence;
• Leaving a legacy for loved ones or a cause important to you.

Whether you are just starting out, are on the road to achieving your goals, or need a new strategy, you can benefit from the professional advice provided by our financial planners.

Next, our CFP^CM, CWM^® complete an in-depth review of your current financial situation. We determine how you can best achieve or continue working towards your financial goals. By focusing on cash flow, investments, taxes, pensions and retirement plans, estate planning, insurance coverage, savings opportunities and other general financial matters, we design a customized financial plan for you.

Finally, to achieve the intended results, we can help you implement and monitor your plan.

Simple, just send a mail to info@smartfinwealth.com or Call 0674-2430950 or send message thru contact form  and we will send you a checklist with a schedule of our services and charges and we can get started.

We will be happy to answer any questions you have about financial planning or SmartFin Wealth Management’s services, fees or philosophy and how these might serve your needs.

SmartFin Wealth Management is a financial advisory and wealth management business, which helps individuals define their financial objectives, works out a financial plan to meet these objectives, and then executes and manages this plan.

Updated statements on Insurance (Unit Linked), Mutual Fund and Equity portfolios are sent on a quarterly basis. However, these can be also be provided at any point, on request.

When you become a SmartFin Wealth Management client, we would review the investments that you already have and advise you on whether to hold or sell specific schemes. Thereafter, we would monitor and update you on these along with your new investments.

Financial planning is a process, not an event. This multi-step process provides you with two important things:

1. An in-depth review of your current financial situation by a CFP^CM, CWM^®
2. A blueprint that shows you how to achieve your goals and objectives for the future.

Our process consists of Six-Steps and is completely client-centered. Our focus is 100 percent on YOUR financial goals. The purpose of a financial plan and the process through which it is developed is to match your financial actions and resources with your goals.

Initially, the work on your end involves providing our financial planning team with some financial data and information about yourself, including your goals, dreams, or challenges. From there, through a series of checkpoints, a CFP^CM, CWM^®  advisor will develop and present you with your financial plan. We’re a client-focused business and work hard to make the process as easy as possible for you. In addition to providing you with professional advice on your most important financial concerns, we can also provide implementation support and monitoring if needed.

SmartFin Wealth Management asks all new and prospective clients to complete a Fact-Finder Questionnaire as an important first step in the financial planning process. The questionnaire gives our team a snapshot of your financial picture, including goals and risk tolerance. All responses are kept 100% confidential.

Your responses help our team and you prepare for the Initial Meeting. This meeting provides a review of your goals and current financial situation. We will determine whether our services will give you a plan to meet your goals and the cost of these services. This meeting will also provide you with an opportunity to ask any other questions you may have.

The first step we take with new clients is scheduling a Get-Acquainted or Initial Meeting. Our financial planners will take the time to understand your situation and concerns, figure out if we can help, and give you a project bid for our services.

We charge Rs. 1000 for the Initial Meeting. If you hire us, the meeting is complimentary.

We charge the Rs. 1000 fee because our financial planners take the time to review your short-, medium-, and long-term financial goals, financial statements, spending needs and assumptions, and other information. This will make the Initial Meeting a valuable interaction for you whether you choose to choose our services or not.

As a financial planner and investment consultant, SmartFin Wealth Management believes in the following fundamental principles with regard to designing an investment portfolio and making specific recommendations:

• Purpose: The purpose of a client’s investment portfolio is to fund current and/or future financial objectives. In short, to achieve a goal or goals.
• Design: The design of the portfolio must take into account the client’s financial objectives, tolerance for risk, time horizon, income needs, liquidity needs, and special considerations such as income and estate taxes.
• Future: No one can predict the future. It is “difference of opinion” that makes a market. Investment and economic experts provided with the same information often come to different conclusions. We do not suggest that we can, or that any of the money or mutual fund managers that we recommend, will make the correct decision every time. We do believe, however, that studying the historic trends and relationships of investment classes, and the philosophies and approaches of successful investment managers, can provide valuable insight.
• Allocation: The appropriate allocation of investment assets for your goals and risk tolerance is the most important component in developing an investment portfolio. We believe that having a diversified, well-balanced portfolio, following long-term buy-and-hold strategies, and having patience will increase the likelihood that you will achieve your long-term financial objectives.

Fees for Financial Planning are based on the actual time involved in meeting with you in person or online, researching and analyzing your current situation, and providing specific recommendations and implementation assistance (if appropriate).

Many of our prospective clients chose to use one of our Initial Service programs for a flat fee. More complex situations may be billed at an hourly rate. You will receive an estimate at the conclusion of the initial meeting.

Financial planning fees are determined on an hourly or project basis using our fixed or hourly rates. The total fee for a financial plan varies depending on the specific needs and complexity of your situation.

During our initial meeting, you are given a fee estimate for different recommended services or selection of one of our Initial Services programs for a flat fee. At that point, based on the services you actually choose, the estimated fee amount is written into a service contract and is based on the estimated number of hours required.

Holistic financial plans usually fall in the Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 25,000 range.

That is entirely up to you. SmartFin Wealth Management can provide assistance implementing your plan or simply provide services on an as-needed basis as determined by you. Because financial planning is a process, not an event, we offer Follow-On Services: periodic or annual reviews and day-to-day consultation as requested or needed.

At SmartFin Wealth Management, we look at various factors while selecting schemes for a particular portfolio such as:

• Your personal goals – If your goals require an aggressive portfolio, the schemes we select will reflect this.
• Your personal preferences – You may not want to invest in say Tobacco companies or because of the company you work for, they may be a conflict in investing in competitor companies and hence we will keep away from funds which are invested in such companies.
• Your risk appetite – Your willingness to invest in more volatile or aggressive schemes, this is also assessed with a risk profiling that we ensure is done for all clients.
• Diversification – The portfolio needs to be well diversified without heavy exposure to any sector or market cap, unless that is doing well at that particular time. Care will have to be taken to reduce such exposure when this does not hold true.
• Scheme Attributes – Objectives of the schemes; sectors and companies it plans to invest in, track record over markets ups and downs.
• Fund Manager – His past track record, views and philosophy
• Fund House – Philosophy, credibility and track record.

Financial Planning is a ‘PROCESS’ (Six-Steps Process) in which we assess:

• Where you are now?
• What you may need in the future? And
• What you must do to reach your goals?

Financial Planning gives you a road-map for your future financial goals and objectives. It is like a Map or Guide which helps you reach the exact destination in the desired time by properly utilizing the adequate resources.

Buying specific stocks or mutual funds is only one, and, ultimately, a relatively unimportant piece of our entire service array. Our clients hire and retain us as advisors because of a coordinated matrix of services we provide. We serve our clients as comprehensive wealth managers, providing personal financial planning & advisory services, including the monitoring of investment portfolios. The benefits our clients receive include:

• Expert recommendations and objective implementation to help clients achieve personal financial goals – i.e. financial independence, wealth transfer to family or charity, expansion of lifestyle, and many more.
• Financial roadmap – An action plan optimizing cash management, debt, investment, insurance, employment benefits, and wealth transfer opportunities.
• Ongoing advice – we serve both as an initiator of planning opportunities and as a sounding board – about any matter in any personal financial area, such as Cash & debt management, Insurance planning, Estate planning, Income tax planning, Employee benefits, stock options, restricted stock, deferred compensation, Investment strategies, private placements, mutual funds, separate account managers.
• The coordination of investment plans with financial planning objectives throughout retirement.
• Determination of a strategic investment plan for target returns, tolerable risk, and expected outcomes based on what is necessary to meet crucial client goals and/or, beyond those, what is available to accomplish opportunistic objectives.
• Ongoing monitoring of stocks, bonds & mutual funds and managers.
• Well considered, though generally infrequent, changes in stocks or mutual funds due to new opportunities uncovered by our on-going research.
• Consideration of income, gift, and estate tax implications of any portfolio actions.
• Portfolio rebalancing to maintain the target asset allocation.
• Year-end tax loss sales as appropriate and available.
• Efficient coordination with tax preparers of information about capital gains/losses and taxable income for tax estimates.