Empower Yourself - SM, a great tool you can use

The IFA Galaxy 2017 Annual Summit concluded yesterday and the theme was LEAP - Learn, Evolve, Adapt and Prosper.  The below is my piece published in the Annual Souvenir.

Empower yourself

(Social Media - a great tool you can use)

Many years ago, (maybe 20 years) as I was driving down Mount Road in Chennai, I saw a huge hoarding with an advertisement for the Economic Times that has I remember and recollect often. It had a picture of a ferocious canine looking down menacingly at a little cat that was sitting surprisingly calm, unafraid, staring right back! The caption of the advertisement read – THE POWER OF KNOWLEDGE. The picture made me stop driving and look again. The dog was chained to a post and could not move and the little cat was aware of it. This knowledge gave her the power to sit calmly and stare back!! Made me laugh then, but this has stayed with me.

The simple message from this – Knowledge IS power! Empower yourself through knowledge. In whatever field we are and whatever profession we follow, we can grow, evolve and adapt only if we have a continuous learning process in place.

Social media – a means to empower ourselves

As professionals, it is imperative to read, stay in touch, get information and in depth knowledge about every aspect of our business. I need not mention the various sources of getting information and means of knowledge, but wish to emphasize here on using social media as a wonderful means to empower oneself. I was surprised that someone suggested to advisors not to spend time on social media! We have five sense organs to gather knowledge from the world outside. I consider social media as a sixth sense organ we can use to get access to information. Those who do not use this great tool to learn and get ideas are simply shutting out one means of knowledge.

Bloggers today write on a range of topics - from personal finance basics to in depth analysis of securities, from detailing products and methods of investing to behavioral finance. These will give you far more knowledge than anything you read in the financial papers. Twenty odd years ago, the above advertisement pulled me to the paper, but in general, mainstream media often does not measure up these days with shallow and biased analysis. These are shared on various media.

Many on social media often mine data and give in depth commentary of major events like the budget which is often lifted by print and TV media. Media now-a-days lifts tweets of leaders etc. and presents this as news! In fact, the world gets to know future US Policy from the US President’s tweets only!    Unbelievable is the fact that information is available absolutely FREE to us when one pink paper is charging to read its stuff online.

In additions to the blogs we follow, twitter and facebook are simply a must to get a pulse of what is happening in your profession. Conversations of investors, commentators and analysts give a great insight on events and on regulatory developments. Unlike mails, you will almost certainly get a response on social media to a query you put to an expert. And, it is instant. I mean, imagine getting almost instant responses from a Professor of Finance at a Management Institute or from a fund manager! I have learnt more seeing the approach of fellow professionals on social media than from any relationship manager.

Are we clued on to the thoughts, needs of investors and clients? If you aren’t using SM well, you are simply missing out. Responses to a simple post on FB will give you more information that you think.

We are in a situation where the mutual fund industry is growing much faster than we thought it would. Investors are maturing in their outlook and there are big changes coming in the way the advice is given. Products are manifold. My simple message – among the various sources of knowledge, learn to use SM well. It will serve you well in the years ahead!