H P Shah, CEO, Value Plus
Biz@India
March-April 2014
Family office is in its nascent stage in India
H P Shah, CEO, Value Plus
A capitalist with extraordinary knowledge on wealth management, financial planning and established track record of emerging profitable relationships with HNI individuals and entities, H P Shah possess broad perceptive on varied aspects like financial planning, estate planning, succession planning, philanthropy and capital markets. Shah is a pertinent adviser and has an inherent skill to examine and determine objectives and risk and provide solutions working with clients, families and their advisors.
• Tell us something about your organisation. When was it initiated and how has it evolved over the years?
We are the only multi-family office in Gujarat. Value Plus is a leading Vadodara-based firm with presence at Surat, Bhavnagar, Jamnagar, Los Angeles and USA. With more than three decades of multi-faceted experience, we are catering to happy and satisfied families, including Ultra HNIs, corporate, MSMEs and topnotch professionals. Strong conviction and mutual trust have been the pillars of our ongoing successful story. With their constant hard work, expertise, and experience, our highly qualified team of professionals have created a blend of human intelligence and technology to evolve a fruitful association with our valuable patrons.
We have successfully served 5,000 plus HNI and UHNI clients and families till now.
• What kind of services do you provide and how can these benefit the UHNWIs?
Our three major services – wealth management, risk management and business advisory – revolve around the mission of growth, safety and happiness. We have successfully achieved our mission by hedging against the dynamism of markets, economy and lifestyle across the globe.
• Are your existing clients single family units or multiple families?
We mainly deal with multiple families.
• What is your firm’s investment philosophy?
Value Plus believes in long term wealth generation, risk minimisation and wealth preservation and our investment philosophy too revolves around these attributes. Whether it is recommending on equities, commodities, international currencies, mutual funds, or real-estate or insurance or may be giving suggestion on a family’s business activity; we focus on the long term benefits and come to a conclusion only if it suits the three key attributes mentioned. Essentially, we take a 360 degree view of our recommendation and only if it fits well in the overall growth plan of the UHNI family, will it be recommended.
• How are your teams structured to deliver services to the clients? Do you have different services for different UHNWIs – inheritors, selfmade and professionals?
Yes, we have different services for inheritors, self made and professionals. They are tailor made for each considering that each of the categories is at different stages of wealth generation, accumulation and preservation. The importances of individual services in the set of services need to vary accordingly.
• What are the top three characteristics that distinguish your firm the most from your competitors?
a. Confidentiality and trust built with customers over past more than three decades
b. Uniqueness of our services in our geographical location.
c. Client specific range of services without any bias
• What communication methods have you used with your clients?
We have a structured three pronged system of communication with clients which includes periodic predefined personal meetings, regular updation emails and through our seminars.
• Do you provide any client education programmes? Please mention.
Yes. We organise on a regular pre-defined periodic basis, various seminars for our clients / potential clients on various relevant issues concerning UHNIs. These cover topics such as Taxation, HUFs, and latest trends in wealth management as also theme-specific topics of interest to UHNIs.
For instance, you may note that we are organising a seminar on ‘Will, Family Settlement and HUF-related laws in context of Tax planning and compliances’ in next couple of weeks at Vadodara, Gujarat.
• What is your approach towards risk management?
Apart from wealth generation/ accumulation, we give high importance to risk management while advising to UHNIs. Our basic approach is to optimise risk-adjusted returns for our UHNI clients. Our unique approach has been appreciated by our various clients. We use tools of portfolio insurance, asset insurance and legal protection to provide a holistic risk management cover to the clients.
• Is there any impact of economic slowdown on the demand? Are clients more cost conscious or quality conscious in the times of slowdown?
The recent slowdown has created some impact on demand in terms of slower accretion of new clients. However the slowdown has also given us the opportunity to explain our existing clients the benefits of our varied services, especially our risk management practices. This gives us further confidence to handle new clients.
• What kind of potential do you see for the Indian family office business? What is your outlook? What are the current trends and opportunities?
Our view is that family office as a concept is in its nascent stage in India and hence the potential for this is immense. Out perception is that the Family office business will be one of the fastest growing sectors in the next five – ten years, as Indian economy comes out of the recent slowdown and picks up momentum in the next few years. Though the concept is catching on slowly, we feel that the more awareness creation of the concept and its benefits is needed not only on our part as service providers but also on part of various related forums. We take our own initiatives by conducting seminars and talks on the concept so as to create awareness.
