PMS Strategy & Portfolio Manager FAQs

The SEBI (Portfolio Managers) Regulations, 2020 (“Regulations”) specify "a professional qualification in finance, law, accountancy or business management from a university or an institution recognized by the Central Government or any State Government or a foreign university or a professional qualification by completing a Post Graduate Program in the Securities Market (Portfolio Management) from NISM of a duration not less than one year or a professional qualification by obtaining a CFA charter from the CFA Institute"

Please fill in this form and let our team help you understand whether you qualify.

The Regulations specify that an "experience of at least five years in related activities in the securities market including in a portfolio manager, stock broker, investment advisor, research analyst or as a fund manager", "Provided that at least 2 years of relevant experience is in portfolio management or investment advisory services or in the areas related to fund management." 

Please fill in this form and let our team help you understand whether you qualify.

Yes. Please fill in this form and let our team identify the resources available to make this easier for you.

The Portfolio Manager will be employed by GoldStandard Wealth and is required to comply with all pertinent laws, regulation, rules, policies and codes specified by the authorities and GoldStandard Wealth from time to time. The Portfolio Manager is also responsible for investment decision making for the Investment Approaches (IAs) managed by them and managing client relationships with investors who have invested in these IAs.

The employment may be non-exclusive to the extent that other activities sought to be undertaken by the Portfolio Managers do not conflict with their portfolio management role and responsibilities. For example, a Portfolio Manager may continue with Mutual Fund Distribution since there is no possible conflict between their role as a Mutual Fund Distributor and a Portfolio Manager. On the other hand, a Registered Investment Advisor advising on equity investments cannot play the role of a Portfolio Manager since there can be timing and sequencing conflicts that may confer a benefit to one set of clients over the others.  

All additional activities can only be undertaken with the written permission of GoldStandard Wealth and the firm's decision on the existence of a conflict will be final.

Only those employed as Portfolio Managers with GoldStandard Wealth will manage IAs. No other employee will manage an IA, unless dictated by special circumstances mentioned in the employment contract with each Portfolio Manager.

GoldStandard Wealth has undertaken considerable effort to draft terms that address all the requirements that Portfolio Managers may have. Customized contracts will result in differential treatment and terms. This will erode trust between Portfolio Managers and GoldStandard Wealth due to concerns about benefits offered exclusively to certain Portfolio Managers. As such, GoldStandard Wealth's terms with all Portfolio Managers will be the same. In case any changes that confer incremental benefits to Portfolio Managers are introduced in the future, these revised terms will be offered to all existing Portfolio Managers as well. 

This approach will ensure that all Portfolio Managers know that they are being treated equally and that no Portfolio Manager has been given a benefit that is not available to all.

The GoldStandard Wealth terms with the Portfolio Manager designate the latter as being primarily responsible for managing their investors and managing their investors' funds. Since there will be multiple Portfolio Managers in GSW, this approach avoids conflicts of interest for GSW. As such, the Portfolio Managers are primarily responsible for raising the assets managed by them either directly or with the assistance of distributors empaneled by GoldStandard Wealth.

GoldStandard Wealth will provide the profiles, IAs and performance data of Portfolio Managers to prospective investors and allow them to make a choice. Portfolio Managers must consent to be a part of this facility and accept the associated terms and conditions. Details of all consenting Portfolio Managers will be shared with prospective investors without any filter.

GoldStandard Wealth has entered into agreements with the best intermediaries and service providers in the industry with intention of benefitting from their expertise and holding them accountable to the highest service standards. As such, intermediaries and service providers will be allocated business based on the GoldStandard Wealth's experience with the services offered by them. Portfolio Managers may express their preferences, but the final decision on their selection will be taken by the operational team(s). 

This has two exceptions:

Distributors: While Portfolio Managers can deal only with distributors empaneled with GoldStandard Wealth, this will typically include all distributors registered with the Association of Portfolio Managers in India (APMI). Portfolio Managers can choose which distributor they want to deal with from those empaneled and decide on the terms between them. Dealing with unempaneled distributors is not permitted.

Order & Client Management System (OCMS): GoldStandard Wealth has agreements with 2 OCMS providers and Portfolio Managers can choose which one they prefer. Details of the two providers will be shared with the Portfolio Managers during their onboarding.

As a registered Portfolio Manager, you are currently required to maintain a net-worth of Rs 5 cr. at all times, employ at least two experienced resources, maintain physical infrastructure including an access controlled dealing room with video surveillance and recorded phone lines among other onerous compliance and regulatory requirements. This means that you need to maintain an office space, staff and service providers capable of keeping you complaint with prevailing regulations. All of this put together can be quite expensive. 

Moreover, the amount of time and effort you need to invest in managing the operational and regulatory complexities only diverts your attention from your core responsibilities of managing clients and managing their money. 

GoldStandard Wealth lifts all of these burdens, reduces your expenditure to a fraction and frees you to focus on performing better and growing your client base.

GoldStandard Wealth's MF Access Pass is a great way to protect yourself from losing large investors to direct plans. As a Portfolio Manager, you can launch an IA that invests only in MF schemes and ask all  your large clients to invest in this IA. Since Portfolio Managers can invest only in Direct Plans of MF Schemes, client costs reduce sharply even with a reasonable portfolio management fee. This makes it a win-win situation for the investors who benefit from reduced costs, and you, who not only retain these clients but also become a Portfolio Manager.

RIAs and RAs face a couple of serious challenges in scaling their business. The first is the ability to get paid separately by each investor periodically. This can be especially challenging when the number of investors under advice increase. The second is the absence of a track record despite years of diligent service and providing profitable investment advice to investors. Working with GoldStandard Wealth negates both, allowing you to work at a scale which is impossible in the current structure.

So whether you are advising on mutual fund investments or directly into equities or even debt, GoldStandard Wealth offers you an opportunity to break out of your shackles and achieve greater heights. 

There are many qualified and experienced investment professionals who have stepped away from formal responsibilities in the corporate world for a variety of reasons. They have found their peace of mind and solace in managing money for their family and advising friends. Whether it's taking care of their elders or raising children, circumstances can and o change with time. When this happens, these experts have very little proof of their achievements through this time.

Working with GoldStandard Wealth can change all this. When circumstances change and they have more time to dedicate to professional pursuits, these experts will have a track record for the performance of their investments over time which they can use to either grow their business or rejoin the workforce.

The most important advantage of becoming a part of GoldStandard Wealth becomes apparent only over a period of time. As your IA generates a track record, you would be able to display that as proof of your expertise, proof that is not available as an MFD, RIA, RA or when managing family wealth. With this track record, you get the ability to grow your business not only through word of mouth, but through displaying your prowess as a Portfolio Manager to a much wider audience. This puts you on a path to growth and success truly deserving of you expertise and capabilities.

As mentioned earlier, GoldStandard Wealth has entered into agreements with the best intermediaries in the country. This includes the best research houses in the country, GoldStandard Wealth will give Portfolio Managers access to the best and latest research along with selective access to broker conferences etc. GoldStandard Wealth will also provide remote access to Bloomberg for a nominal fee. All of these are expected to contribute to the performance of the Investment Approaches (IAs) managed by you.

With GoldStandard Wealth, your clients gain the ability to access their portfolios and transact online, and you gain the ability to work from anywhere in the world while managing your clients and their portfolios seamlessly.  

Moreover, GoldStandard Wealth will provide you with marketing support to maintain your client relationships and grow your business. Apart from regulatory collateral which is included with the basic services, for a nominal annual fee, Portfolio Managers will be able to access customized marketing collateral including festive greetings, enhanced portfolio presentations and advanced portfolio analytics among others.

Since continuing with current activities will be the preferred option for most, the least disruptive way to engage with GoldStandard Wealth is by selecting the MF Access Pass. Since investments in MF schemes are inherently free from conflict, this option allows one to continue with their current engagements seamlessly. MFDs, RIAs, RAs can use this option to gain access to the direct plan portfolios of their clients which can supplement the existing assets managed by them, actually growing their business while experiencing the benefits of becoming a part of the GoldStandard Wealth. Those managing family wealth can move their direct plan assets to the IA managed by them. Everyone who chooses this option starts generating a track record from the time their IA is launched.