Fee-only India (FOI) is a group of SEBI Registered Investment Advisors (RIA) and Financial Planners who only charge a flat fee (independent of the client’s assets, aka fixed fee). The group meets once or twice yearly to help build the advisory service. The last meeting was on June 24th and 25th, 2023. SEBI RIA Swapnil Kendhe reminisces on his journey with FOI.
About the author: Swapnil is a SEBI Registered Investment Advisor and is one of the sought-after advisors on the freefincal fee-only financial planners’ list. You can learn more about him and his service via his website, Vivektaru. His story: Becoming a competent & capable financial advisor: My journey so far.
As a regular contributor here, he is a familiar name to regular readers. His approach to risk and returns are similar to mine, and I love the fact that he continually pushes himself to become better, as you see from his articles:
- Want to build an equity mutual fund portfolio? Try these simple steps!
- Basics of Debt Mutual Funds Explained for New Investors
- Three Key Mutual Fund Terms All Retail Investors Should Know
- Debt Mutual Fund Categories Explained For Retail Investors
- Are you a conservative investor? Here is how you can grow your money smartly.
- SEBI Registered Investment Adviser Application Process: a step-by-step guide
- Looking for a fee-only financial planner? Here is a list of questions to ask before you sign up
- Should Mutual Fund Distributors Become SEBI Registered Investment Advisors?
- Everything you need to know about equity portfolio construction
- Should I pay a financial planner who only recommends index funds?
- Try these back-of-the-envelope financial planning calculations!
- Why good quality financial advice does not scale
- A fee-only advisor’s letter to his clients
There wasn’t any Fee-Only-India (FOI), and I wasn’t a SEBI Registered Investment Adviser (RIA) when I attended the first FOI meeting in Mumbai in September 2017. My Investment Adviser application was under process at that time.
Pattabiraman Murari made all the arrangements for this meeting. He called it a “Fee-only SEBI RIA meet”. The meeting was in a small room in a small hotel in Dadar that could barely accommodate ten people. It was enough for 9 of us; Melvin Joseph, Sukhvinder Sidhu, Shilpa Wagh, Chandan Singh Padiyar, Piyush Khatri, Vikram Krishnamoorthy, Swapnil Kendhe, Pattabiraman Murari and Ashal Jauhari. We founded Fee-Only-India that day.
Join over 32,000 readers and get free money management solutions delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to get posts via email! 🔥Enjoy massive discounts on our robo-advisory tool & courses! 🔥
Of the first seven advisers who attended the first meeting, four remain members of FOI to this day. Sukhvinder Sidhu and Shilpa Wagh surrendered their RIA registrations. Piyush Khatri left FOI. FOI was Piyush’s idea. He took the initiative for this meeting. Piyush also arranged the second FOI meeting at his rented apartment in Hyderabad.
This was the first time in my life as an adviser I attended an adviser meeting where nobody considered me impractical. I had always found it difficult to speak my mind with other advisers till then. I did not have to dilute my views in this group to fit in.
We have come a long way since that small beginning in Dadar in 2017. A few of us have struggled, persevered, and grown together. Melvin Joseph and Vikram Krishnamoorthy had already done their share of struggle and were established by the time we formed FOI. This helped because we had examples of RIAs for whom the fixed-fee financial planning model worked. This kept some of us motivated through our respective lean periods when we did not have much work.
Many great advisers joined FOI, who made it better and stronger. A few left, but our tribe kept growing, though slowly. Today, we are a diverse group of 23 fixed-fee financial planners with different professional and personal backgrounds. The belief in the fixed-fee financial planning model is what brought us together.
The fixed fee is not an easy model to work on. All of us are sacrificing some income to work on this advisory model. Other advisory models offer much more money to equally competent and hardworking advisors. But virtue is its own reward.
Unlike other adviser communities, which are much more professional, FOI operates more like a family. We try to do a two-day physical meeting every year. We just did one in Bangalore in June 2023. Every such meeting brings us closer. Though technically competitors, we genuinely care for each other’s success.
Sitting From left to right: Upsana Mondal, Priyadarshini Mulye, Ashal Jauhari, Akshay Nayak, Melvin Joseph. Standing from left to right: Vikram Krishnamoorthy, Avinash Luthria, Basavaraj, Tonagatti, Swapnil Lendhe, Vivek Sulegai, Sudheer Variar, Ajay Pruthi, Gursimran Singh, Preeti Zende, Satheesh Kannan, Salma Sony, Shashi Singh, Venkateshwaran Subramanian, S R Srinivasan.
We have differences of opinion on a few matters, but it’s a lot easier to deal with differences when you trust and respect each other.
We are also fortunate to have Pattabiraman Murari and Ashal Jauhari with us. Both have no monetary benefit from any FOI activities, but they put their heart out to help us. They still take as much interest in the well-being of fixed-fee financial planners as they did when we started in 2017. I wouldn’t have believed ten years back if someone had told me that people like these two exist worldwide.
It is a privilege to be part of a group like FOI. May FOI keep attracting advisers whose hearts are in the right place. May the tribe of fixed-fee financial planners keep growing in India.
🔥Enjoy massive discounts on our courses, robo-advisory tool and exclusive investor circle! 🔥& join our community of 5000+ users!
Use our Robo-advisory Tool for a start-to-finish financial plan! ⇐ More than 1,000 investors and advisors use this!
New Tool! => Track your mutual funds and stock investments with this Google Sheet!
We also publish monthly equity mutual funds, debt and hybrid mutual funds, index funds and ETF screeners and momentum, low-volatility stock screeners.
- Do you have a comment about the above article? Reach out to us on Twitter: @freefincal or @pattufreefincal
- Have a question? Subscribe to our newsletter using the form below.
- Hit 'reply' to any email from us! We do not offer personalized investment advice. We can write a detailed article without mentioning your name if you have a generic question.
Join over 32,000 readers and get free money management solutions delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to get posts via email!
About The Author
Dr M. Pattabiraman(PhD) is the founder, managing editor and primary author of freefincal. He is an associate professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. He has over ten years of experience publishing news analysis, research and financial product development. Connect with him via Twitter(X), Linkedin, or YouTube. Pattabiraman has co-authored three print books: (1) You can be rich too with goal-based investing (CNBC TV18) for DIY investors. (2) Gamechanger for young earners. (3) Chinchu Gets a Superpower! for kids. He has also written seven other free e-books on various money management topics. He is a patron and co-founder of “Fee-only India,” an organisation promoting unbiased, commission-free investment advice.Our flagship course! Learn to manage your portfolio like a pro to achieve your goals regardless of market conditions! ⇐ More than 3,000 investors and advisors are part of our exclusive community! Get clarity on how to plan for your goals and achieve the necessary corpus no matter the market condition is!! Watch the first lecture for free! One-time payment! No recurring fees! Life-long access to videos! Reduce fear, uncertainty and doubt while investing! Learn how to plan for your goals before and after retirement with confidence.
Our new course! Increase your income by getting people to pay for your skills! ⇐ More than 700 salaried employees, entrepreneurs and financial advisors are part of our exclusive community! Learn how to get people to pay for your skills! Whether you are a professional or small business owner who wants more clients via online visibility or a salaried person wanting a side income or passive income, we will show you how to achieve this by showcasing your skills and building a community that trusts and pays you! (watch 1st lecture for free). One-time payment! No recurring fees! Life-long access to videos!
Our new book for kids: “Chinchu Gets a Superpower!” is now available!
Must-read book even for adults! This is something that every parent should teach their kids right from their young age. The importance of money management and decision making based on their wants and needs. Very nicely written in simple terms. - Arun.Buy the book: Chinchu gets a superpower for your child!
How to profit from content writing: Our new ebook is for those interested in getting side income via content writing. It is available at a 50% discount for Rs. 500 only!
Do you want to check if the market is overvalued or undervalued? Use our market valuation tool (it will work with any index!), or get the Tactical Buy/Sell timing tool!
We publish monthly mutual fund screeners and momentum, low-volatility stock screeners.
About freefincal & its content policy. Freefincal is a News Media Organization dedicated to providing original analysis, reports, reviews and insights on mutual funds, stocks, investing, retirement and personal finance developments. We do so without conflict of interest and bias. Follow us on Google News. Freefincal serves more than three million readers a year (5 million page views) with articles based only on factual information and detailed analysis by its authors. All statements made will be verified with credible and knowledgeable sources before publication. Freefincal does not publish paid articles, promotions, PR, satire or opinions without data. All opinions will be inferences backed by verifiable, reproducible evidence/data. Contact information: letters {at} freefincal {dot} com (sponsored posts or paid collaborations will not be entertained)
Connect with us on social media
- Twitter @freefincal
- Subscribe to our YouTube Videos
- Posts feed via Feedburner.
Our publications
You Can Be Rich Too with Goal-Based Investing
Published by CNBC TV18, this book is meant to help you ask the right questions and seek the correct answers, and since it comes with nine online calculators, you can also create custom solutions for your lifestyle! Get it now.Gamechanger: Forget Startups, Join Corporate & Still Live the Rich Life You Want
This book is meant for young earners to get their basics right from day one! It will also help you travel to exotic places at a low cost! Get it or gift it to a young earner.Your Ultimate Guide to Travel
This is an in-depth dive into vacation planning, finding cheap flights, budget accommodation, what to do when travelling, and how travelling slowly is better financially and psychologically, with links to the web pages and hand-holding at every step. Get the pdf for Rs 300 (instant download)