Q). Your Profile?
Answer: I am medical student, studying for a professional degree. I stay away from home in a hostel within my college campus. My course involves lot of money because besides the fees, hostel expenses etc. there are many other expenses such as books, journals, reference books, equipments etc., all of which involves lot of money.

Q). Are you into investments? If yes, then what type of investment?
Answer: Yes. Presently I have SIP’s started in my name in which regular/monthly investments are done.

Q). How did you know about SIP?
Answer: As I have said earlier, the course which I am pursuing involves lot of expenditure. But since I was very keen to pursue it as my career, my parents, grandparents etc. all have been very supportive and encouraged me to go ahead. But I used to be apprehensive about how would my elders manage the huge expense. It was then that my mother comforted me and said without having a definite plan they would not have been able to go ahead with funding for the course. Later, during the discussions about managing finances, she briefed me about the SIP’s that my parents were investing in regularly since some time and told me that since this was a regular investment which they have been doing, they definitely count on it to give good returns which they can utilise for funding my education.

Initially, I did not know about the nitty-gritties of SIP’s. But my mother’s briefing about it kindled an interest in my mind and I asked my parents in detail about this form of investment. They took me straight to the office of Add-On investments and there over a period of about 2 hours Shashikant Patole Sir explained in detail about how the SIP’s work in the Indian economy today and how it benefits the investors. Needless to say I was hooked, but of course, I thought I could not do much about it at that point of time because I am only a student, not earning and in fact, completely dependent on my elders for my basic survival also. But perhaps Patole Sir sensed what was going on in my mind. Right away he offered a suggestion/solution for me to have SIP’s in my name, though I was not earning anything on my own.

Q). What suggestion/solution was offered?
Answer: Patole sir asked me what were the kind of expenses that I incurred in my daily life in the college/hostel etc. As I was saying them he listed them and made a chart of the same. Then he showed me the chart and told me to analyse the same and decide where all I can cut down expenses, without compromising on a decent living. On analysing the chart, I was surprised! I myself found out that I could definitely cut down my expenses by about Rs. 1000-1500/- per month, without having to do any major compromises. He then said that if I can save this money every month then that is only required to start a SIP in my name too. I was bowled over by this idea and was extremely happy. He further suggested to my parents that if I did save money from my expenses, then they could contribute an equal amount as an incentive and thus multiple SIP’s could be started. My parents too readily agreed, and that is how my first SIP started. Over the period of time, my elders have been kind enough to increase the quantum of SIP’s in my name and I too have acknowledged their support and encouragement by being judicious in my patterns of spending the money which is given to me as ‘pocket money’.

Q). What has this whole exercise taught you? What would you recommend to young people/students like you?
Answer: It has taught me many things,

1. Money is truly liquid. We can mould it whichever way we want. Doing it the right way is important.
2. Saving is Earning.
3. Saving/Earning money boosts self-confidence.
4. Teaches to respect hard-earned money   
5. By adopting simple and correct methods money can be made to grow.
6. SIP is a very good way to sustain and grow your money.
7. Start SIP early if possible, it will definitely help you out in the long haul of life.
8. Get in touch with a smart financial advisor like Patole Sir to understand the way to start investing early and earn maximum benefits.

Q). What are your future plans?
Answer: Of course at this juncture, my future is to study hard and do well in my chosen field and then finally achieve my dreams. In the process, by understanding how my elders have been managing their finances to help me achieve my dreams, I have learnt that even my efforts, even if it is in very small ways can contribute to the efforts that my elders are putting in. As I said before, I have learnt to respect money. I have learnt that managing finances is in itself an art and once you do that, things work out in your favour. So my dear young friends, Trust God, Support your Elders, Make efforts yourselves and you will see the magic unfold. Do not wait for tomorrow. Today is the day, Go for it.

Mrs. Bindu Venugopal

Senior Technical Officer
R & D division of GOI

Q). With the investment field getting more and more complex, how do you think was AddOn’s guidance and expertise helpful to you?
Answer: I take great pride in saying that from a novice in understanding the various financial instruments available for an investor, I have graduated in doing an analysis of them myself and also guide new investors in putting their first foot forward. All this is because of the sincere guidance and knowledge given during the one-to-one discussions with Mr. Shashikant Patole. He and his team very patiently explains all the pros and cons about the various investments and gradually clears all the cobwebs that arise in one’s mind.

Q).What according to you are the key essentials an investor needs to keep in mind before investing or choosing the right advisor?
Answer: In simple words, an investor must truly understand, WHAT he is doing, WHY he is doing, HOW he is doing, WHEN he has to do, WHAT are the risks involved, WHAT are the benefits involved, HOW long he has to remain invested, WHAT all other options he have, etc before investing and the person who makes him/her understand all of the above guidelines is his ideal advisor. I sincerely applaud the work efforts and ethics followed by Team Addon in educating a potential investor and turning him into a life-long believer in the various modern but effective methods of investments. The efforts put in by Team Addon in meticulously gleaning the best of investment portfolios available and suggesting them to an investor are really admirable. 

Q).Would you recommend AddOn, considering its expertise, services, development and office administration ?
Answer: I would strongly recommend potential investors to get in touch with Team AddOn and to avail of their expert and sincere advice in investment matters. The launch of the website of Addon Investment is definitely another feather added in the cap of this successful venture started by Mr. Shashikant Patole and is a proof of its mantra of constantly evolving itself, so that its customers like me are also constantly and continuously upgraded and updated, thus leading to the enhancement of my financial health and wealth; and likewise of all its customers. I wish it all the very best and a huge success. Definitely this portal will be of immense help to the investor and will truly be an AddOn to the existing assets that are already there under the AddOn Investment shed, i.e., Mr. Shashikant Patole himself and his very efficient office administrator Mrs. Shidha Nambiar.

Q).Considering its present set-up and its successful ventures, where do you visualize AddOn Investments 20 years from now?
Answer: Yes, that is an interesting question. Interesting because, in the recent past whenever I have interacted with Mr. Patole and his team, I have observed new and modern technological inputs. Of-course, the launch of this website is an important new technology being added to AddOn Investments. I guess, Team AddOn is being infused with the next generation ideas and ideologies. I, as a person believe immensely in the capabilities, dreams and aspirations of the young generation. Therefore, in the long run, coupled with the excellent guidance of the present Team AddOn and methodically and scientifically implementing the newer visions put forth by the next generation (His son Aneesh) at Team AddOn, I visualize very diversified, bright, shining, promising and hugely successful ventures being started successfully at AddOn Investments.

THANKS TEAM AddOn AND WISH YOU A HUGE SUCCESS.

Mr. Sanjeev Munje

Retired Vice President, I.T.

Q).Since how many years are you investing in equities & what difference does investing through an investment consultant like AddOn makes?
Answer: I have been investing since last 15 years but the initial 10 years were either thru agent recommendations or non-structured study. This changed to a studied approach after I met Mr.Shashikant Patole around 5 yeárs back. As I was initially apprehensive and still self-studying, we had long discussions on various aspects of portfolio management which immensely & constructively helped me in clarifying investment fundamentals and more precisely, the importance of goal oriented & balanced portfolio creation & management.

Q).What are your views regarding the Investor Awareness Campaigns carried out by AddOn on various social media platforms?
Answer: I must appreciate Mr.Patole here, as he has been consistently upgrading AddOn with respect to various technology platforms. The many presentations, charts, articles and news items he shared with clients are perfectly timed, source independent & authenticated, educational, reader friendly and best of all, very useful. They contain applied knowledge which can be adopted and implemented immediately. I particularly like his proactive updates & advice with sudden market movements, major policy announcements and approaching deadlines.

 He has understood the necessity of readymade & actionable advisory updates for his clients, who are busy and don't have time to search & read thru various sources to get such valuable guidelines.

He has also understood the various options available on different social media platforms like Email, Whatsapp, FB, Twitter, Instagram and is making creative use of them to reach maximum number of customers in all age groups.

Q).Inspite of the presence of direct plan in the market, you choose the option of investing through an adviser, what are your perspectives behind it?
Answer: Investment, for a new investor or a seasoned investor, is for tax saving or wealth creation or both. Many investment avenues like direct plans are available in market for retail investor. However, only an adviser can provide you with a brand-independent, unbiased and goal oriented analysis of all investment avenues to have a customised investment strategy. This is very important because every investor has unique investment needs & goals and hence the investment strategy has to satisfy those.

Moreover, in today's tech-savvy scenario, most advisers have a technology backbone to provide you online & user friendly portfolio management.

Q).As you know, AddOn is backed by a distributor channel ‘NJ India Invest’, which avails the adviser and investor with their key services, was this a matter of concern for you?
Answer: Not at all. In fact, it was a boon for us to have a robust technology platform of NJ India, providing us with a complete online portfolio management. Both the options, Client Account for online review & analysis of existing portfolio and Wealth Account with Demat for online portfolio management including purchase & sale, are very handy tools for all classes of investors.

Q).‘Sampurna Suraksha’ is the main concept and belief of AddOn, as an investor what is your outlook on it?
Answer: 'Sampoorna Suraksha', as the name implies, is in sync with the basic philosophy of a Financial Adviser to create customised portfolio management strategy for a customer to satisfy his financial goals. But this concept goes still ahead to create a customised, holistic financial security solution including Wealth Management, Wealth Creation, Life Insurance, Home Insurance, Vehicle Insurance and Will Creation.

While Portfolio Management tries to create & manage wealth, Sampoorna Suraksha tries not only to create & manage wealth, but to completely secure the wealth & wealth creator from financial security perspective. It even includes services to take care of the wealth & assets as per wishes of the wealth creator after death.

This will be very much useful for today's busy customer who needs customised, holistic solutions for financial security before & after death.

Q).You have been a loyal and observant investor of our unique concept ‘MARS’, how is your experience with it?
Answer: MARS provides us an AUTOMATED solution for portfolio management as per our risk appetite. This is different from the online Client Account & Wealth Account mentioned above. These accounts are to buy, sale & review the portfolio where the buy-sale decisions need to be taken by customer. Going a step ahead, MARS provides us portfolio options as per our financial goals & risk appetite and manages all buy-sale transactions to achieve the goals.

This frees us from the continuous monitoring & decision making involved in portfolio management and still we can achieve our goals along with online monitoring of the same. This is a good product, especially for new investors, who can directly start their wealth creation journey without any hassles with MARS.

Q).To sum up,  what is your advice to fellow investors regarding savings strategies and picking their ideal adviser?
Answer:

• I am giving below steps to move toward a comprehensive personal financial management, from my personal experiences so far.
1. Write down reasons to start investment like Tax Management, Insurance for security, Wealth Creation.
2. Identify your priorities from above.
3. Identify how much can you invest every month and distribute the amount in identified priorities.
4. Now comes the important step - In order to know the various products where your distributed amount can be invested, you have to either search and analyse various options in market or get carried away by the sales talk of agents or find a Financial Adviser (FA).
5. Identify some prospective financial advisers and discuss with them to know following:
6. FA should be brand independent and unbiased about any financial product.
7. FA must be aware of goal oriented investment and balanced portfolio management.
8. FA should have a technology platform to provide you with online portfolio management options with continuous technology up gradation.
9. FA should be knowledgeable and keen to update the knowledge on ongoing basis.
10. FA should be proactive and empathetic to understand your requirements and provide you a customised solution for complete financial management & security.
11. Lastly, you should be able to always discuss your needs & views with your FA because financial management is a two way process and will be effective only if you can discuss and conclude collectively.

Q).Can you suggest any areas of improvement where AddOn needs to work.
Answer: There are no critical areas as AddOn is already doing a great job of providing top of the class solutions coupled with comprehensive customer communication. The main things to be appreciated are the customer-centric approach, customer empathy, strong technology orientation and knowledge base.

Following are some areas where AddOn needs to always concentrate:

1. Customer needs from personal discussions, feedback, customer meets.
2. Solutions based on customer needs.
3. Technology up gradation.
4. Automation in communication and solutions.
5. Studying latest investment trends, tools and including same in customer solutions.

Now AddOn is embarking on launch of their website and will be easily available on internet for communication with and from customers. I wholeheartedly wish AddOn a very bright future ahead and urge them to carry on the brilliant work they are doing for customers to help them protect, create & secure their financial assets.

 With best wishes,