How to prepare for a Wealth Management

Interview

As you all know, a good preparation before the interview will increase your chances of cracking that
dream job. Post an MBA/ CA/ or a recognized certification in Wealth management - you can actually
start a fast paced career in the Wealth Management space.

But first, you need to have a broad understanding of the roles and the outlook of this industry with
some key data, to crack that interview. Remember, there are thousands of people like you, and there
are just a few jobs available.

Roles available in Wealth Management:

Front End: Typical roles offered at front end are Acquisition Manager or Relationship Manager.

Some banks also employ graduates as Relationship Officers (ROs) in this area.

The role of the Acquisition manager is to build clients and meet revenue targets for the firm, whereas
a relationship manager manages relationship with existing clients, and usually cross sell/up sell
products on customer requirement. The fine distinction is between that of sales role (AM) and a
Business Development role (RM). Some banks call the first person the RM and the second as the
Product manager (PM). Don’t worry about it as long as you understand the distinction.

Acquisition Manager needs to have product knowledge, whereas Relationship Manager needs
intelligence to offer solutions to clients apart from product knowledge.

For mid-market segment (clients having net worth of 25 lakhs or less) both client acquisition and
relationship management are being looked after by one person.

For premium segment (clients having net worth of 30 lakhs or more), client acquisition and
relationship management are being looked after by different people.

Also, there is a Service Manager catering to transactional needs (remittances, cheque book etc) in
the premium segment.

Career progression for an RM is usually in terms of relationship he manages. He/She continues to be a

relationship manager but manages a bigger client relationship as his/her experience grows.

Note: Please note that most of the roles available in the Wealth Management sector are in the front
end. Most MBA (Freshers) join at this level.

 
 

Mid-Office Roles:

Mid-Office typically acts as a support system to the front end. Typical roles available are in systems
and analytics.

They act as a Decision Support System (DSS) by storing and analyzing customer information and
sending recommendations to people at front end accordingly.

They also monitor the client portfolio mix, and send recommendations if any changes need to be done
in the portfolio on the basis of customer’s risk profile and expected return.

Back-end Roles:

Back End roles are few and limited. Typical roles offered here are in research desk.

Research desk shortlists the most active investments to target from the universe of thousands of
investments available in the market and recommends them to the front end guys.

Criteria for short listing usually are past performance and market outlook in coming months.

A research advisor role begins with short listing of schemes and sending recommendations to front
end. Over time, the role will evolve into where obtaining experience one runs his/her own model
portfolio, tracks performance and publish reports for client reference.

Companies that recruit in Wealth Management Space:

Wealth Management as an area has a big universe; this is because a variety of firms hire for wealth
management professionals. These include:

• Private/Foreign Banks: ICICI Bank, ING, Barclays Bank etc.

• Brokerage Firms: IIFL, Karvy Private Wealth, Way2Wealth etc.
• Private Wealth Management Firms: DSP Meriyll Lynch Limited, BNP Paribas etc.
• Life Insurance Companies: ICICI Prudential etc.

Sector Outlook:

The wealth management sector in India is poised to witness tremendous growth. The country's
economic growth is making larger sections of its population prospective customers of wealth
management providers.

• India currently has the fourth-highest number of HNWIs in the Asia-Pacific region after Japan,
China and Australia. In 2011, there were 251,000 HNWIs in India who, together, hold a total
of US$1,083 billion.

• The number of Indian HNWIs is expected to grow by 85%, to reach ~ 465,000 individuals in
2015. HNWI wealth is expected to grow by 97%, to US$2,134 billion in 2015.

 
 

Is MBA a must?

Definitely an MBA helps. Subjects studied during MBA helps to gain product knowledge and
understand economic outlook better, which proves crucial in initiating a meaningful dialogue with a
client. However, opportunities are also available for graduates in many cases.

Interviewer looks for:

Typically interviewer tests:

• Domain Knowledge
• Business Awareness
• Analytical Ability
• Sales and Marketing Skills

Common interview questions:

• Tell me about you?

It's probably the most asked question. Be careful not to explain everything from birth to
present day. Remember, this is your chance to sell yourself – just give a quick highlight about
education, focus on your career highlights – especially if anything relevant to Wealth
Management.

• What is your understanding of Wealth Management?

Wealth Management is the process of meeting financial objectives of client by investing his/her
wealth in a systematic manner based on his/her risk profile.

• What is a Mutual Fund?

A mutual fund is an arrangement where lot of people pool money to invest together and share
profits in proportion of their investment. It facilitates diversification and offers professional
management of funds.

• What is Asset Allocation and what is it based on?

Asset allocation is the process of distributing the client’s investments across various asset
classes, and is based on the risk profile of the client.

• What types of products will you offer to someone with a networth of 10-15 lakhs, and how will
it be different from someone with a Networth of 1 crore?

10-15 lakhs networth customers come into the category of what is called Mass Affluent - and
they should be offered standard products such as Mutual Funds, Insurance etc.
1 crore net worth customers may tend to be more informed and come under the category of
High Net Worth customers - they should be offered direct investments basis their risk
profile - equities, bonds etc.

 
  

Please note that interviewer would lay special emphasis on your business awareness, thus you need
to be updated with:

• Sensex/NIFTY values and trends

• Which sectors are performing?
• Any change in regulations etc.

So you must read the newspaper (or a financial website) daily.

Additionally we strongly recommend to research on the organization before going for
interview - key financials, awards, promoters, products etc. It’s a must!

Good luck and I hope this helps.

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