Vishal Kapoor, CEO, Bandhan Mutual Fund In Conversation With Nidhi Sinha, Editor, Outlook Money

OutlookIndia

Vishal Kapoor, CEO of Bandhan Mutual Fund, emphasised on the importance of right time for retirement planning, at Outlook Money’s 40After40 Retirement Expo in Mumbai.  He shared key insights from recent research and raised concerns about the delay people often experience in taking action, often due to inertia rather than financial constraints. He added that a significant number of individuals regret not starting their retirement planning earlier.

Transcript

00:00So that was a fantastic presentation and lots of insights about how people are behaving

00:13and also it kind of shows that, you know, retirement preparedness, which we have been

00:19talking about, it's really low and the good part of course, what I saw was that, you know,

00:25more people are wanting to go on that path like you were mentioning, but where it goes

00:31and how it goes is a big question and my question, the first question that I'll ask you is about

00:38that also, that a lot of people say they have started planning for retirement, but there

00:44are a few who actually know what to do about it, where to invest, you know, how much they

00:51need and other details that are critical for making a proper retirement corpus.

00:58So what should, what is the way forward for them?

01:01Right.

01:02So thanks, thanks Nidhi, thanks for the opportunity as well to present some of our findings.

01:09And the point you've raised is very real, I think, you know, that comes out loud and clear,

01:14that there is an intent, but somehow we are procrastinating, we are pushing it to tomorrow,

01:19and you know, some of us are admitting, actually I don't know where to go, and that's just

01:24out there.

01:26I think, you know, if we resolve to do it today, I think there is enough opportunity, you know,

01:34in this hall for us to get started.

01:37I would think that this is not something which, along with my profession, I can hope to do as

01:45good a job off as I think.

01:49And therefore, this is definitely an area I would get professional advice on.

01:55Not that, you know, some of us may feel that, no, no, it's not very difficult, I can do

01:59it on my own.

02:01But a one or two percent difference over a long period of time can actually add so much

02:05more wealth to my corpus or growth to my corpus that it's often unbelievable.

02:13And if you can get someone who, you know, who you have trust in and is a professional,

02:20is regulated, I would think that is probably the best way to go.

02:25Because someone who will be able to guide you through this labyrinth of financial terms,

02:31whether it's term insurance or SWP and, you know, hybrid funds and things of the other.

02:38And keep it simple for you, tell you this is the corpus that you should aim for, hand

02:43hold you to make sure you get there and then be able to sort of use it or help you use it

02:49in your retirement years.

02:50I think that can be done by a professional.

02:52So I would highly encourage that seek out and get a professional.

02:56So in fact, I noticed another thing that, you know, the number of people who are going

03:00to advisors, whether it's bank officials or distributors, there's a large ecosystem right

03:07now, it's not just RIAs, has slightly increased over the people who only depend on family and

03:14friends.

03:15So, do you think this will, you know, move in the right direction?

03:19No, so I think it's very heartening to see that it's already moving in the right direction.

03:26Because like I mentioned in the earlier research, we used to see a lot more of us dependent on,

03:31you know, our family members or friends to guide us through this.

03:36And clearly technology has played a part.

03:38So it's not just access to individuals or bank officials or other financial experts, but

03:45even online today, there are beautiful tools one can go through.

03:50Pretty much most mutual fund or insurance companies, their own sites will show you or give you enough

03:57tools to be able to plan for a copper, see how you can deploy it, play around with the

04:01numbers, see what missing out on a few years means, etc.

04:05So I would encourage that that's a great trend.

04:08There is more awareness, there is more knowledge, but a lot more to be done.

04:13And this is something I hope continues in this direction.

04:15Right.

04:16And also the element of caution in terms of, you know, there may be a lot available on

04:22the internet which may not be genuine or may mislead people.

04:27No, and very important point because I think sometimes, you know, it's sad to see that,

04:35you know, an entertaining video, it should really be entertainment gets missed, messed up

04:39or it's you looked at like financial advice.

04:43So, please be cautious of this.

04:46We do see in the industry a lot of very interesting numbers, almost unreal numbers coming out of

04:52people who look like experts.

04:54But, you know, you have to be careful about who you're listening to, what you're doing.

04:59I would prefer that please go to regulated entities and everything on the internet is not regulated.

05:05So, keep that in mind.

05:06And, you know, the one saying in financial markets is that if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.

05:14So…

05:15Right.

05:16Absolutely.

05:17So, one more question to you, Mr. Kapoor, is, you know, we all kind of say, all the experts

05:24say that you should start early and so that you have the time to build up the corpus.

05:31But the report also shows that, you know, most people start late actually.

05:36So, how does this cohort, and we have a lot of people from this cohort today, deal with

05:42the situation?

05:43I mean, because there is a large possibility that they may lose hope.

05:47Yeah.

05:48So, certainly I think within this cohort, I hope no one is losing hope, you know, I don't

05:56think this is something that is… that can get worse, it can only get better.

06:01So, to that extent, just in case you have not started, start today.

06:07For everyone in this… in this room, right, I don't think there is any other real way

06:13to get out of this.

06:15Because the earlier you start, the earlier, the more conscious you become, the better your

06:18chance of really enjoying your golden years.

06:22Like we've discussed, there are some pitfalls on the way.

06:25So the more aware we are of pitfalls, hopefully we have a better chance of avoiding them.

06:30And that's all I think we should try and do, which is where I think that instead of

06:34trying to do it all ourselves, you know, going to experts who are regulated, who have a sense

06:40of responsibility, finding out some information ourselves, probably gives us the best chance

06:46of success.

06:47Right.

06:48Thank you so much.

06:49And on that note that, you know, it's not the time to lose hope, even if you are late.

06:54Any time is a good time to start, right?

06:57Thank you so much Mr. Kapoor for this conversation and presentation.

06:58My pleasure.

07:05Very much, I appreciate it.

07:08My pleasure.

07:15Thank you for listening.

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