Question 1

What is the Starter Service? Why do you have one?

Accepted Answer

Financial planning is by nature a comprehensive exercise. But it can be simplified where we only 'start' with the basics & keep at that.

So that, for anyone who is young or all those who have never planned their finances don't put it off for another day because it feels like it's too complicated or too much to do at once or that maybe they should make more money before they even think of planning their finances.

What are these basics-Investing & Insurance.

Mutual Fund Investments & Health+Life Insurance to be precise.

This was the reason we built a ‘Starter Service’.

So that you can start young or old or in-between, but you ‘start’.
Because it’s never too late (or too early) to be a ‘starter’ ☺️

Read more here : https://www.ashoonya.in/financial-planning

Question 2

Who is this service for? Am I the right fit?

Accepted Answer

The Starter service is for 1st time mutual fund investors.

It is for existing investors who don't understand mutual funds & would like a certified financial advisor managing their investments

It is also for hybrid DIY investors who do a little themselves and the rest along with their advisor.

It is for all those who wish to get insurance but don't understand the technicalities or don't want to be duped by agents no more.

It is also for those who feel financial planning may be overwhelming and a step too big too soon & wish to start with something simpler first.

If you fit into any of these, you are the right fit for the Starter service.

Starting to look at your finances can never not be the right fit.

Question 3

What is the fee & what does it cover?

Accepted Answer

INR 6000 per client per year for Resident Indians.
$150 per client per year for NRIs/OCIs etc.

This covers :
- Mutual Fund Investments planned & managed
- NPS Investments planned & managed (National Pension System)
- Bond or Fixed Income Investments planned & managed
- All investments managed through an OIA (Online Investment we open on the NSE (National Stock Exchange). The OIA is free to open & free to operate lifetime
- Comprehensive Insurance covers for you & your family, analysed, implemented & managed. (Existing covers will also be checked to see if they’re correct & sufficient) This includes Health, Life & General Insurance
- Assistance with all Insurance claims (Insurance concierge)
- Annual reviews of all your Mutual fund Investments & Insurance
- Track all your Mutual fund Investments & Insurance 24/7 on our mobile app ‘Ashoonya’ free of cost (Regular fee for Ashoonya App 4999/- per year)
- 2 free consults with our financial advisor every year
- Unlimited E-mail & WhatsApp assistance all year round
- ITR filing (Optional add-on service) at 50% discounted rates
- Access to all our resources 'Educate' to help you understand your personal finances better

Question 4

Does the fee change often?

Accepted Answer

Our Starter service fee has changed only twice since 2015. So keeping 1st year fee extremely low & using it to acquire clients (CAC/Freemium ) isn't what we do.

If & when the fee changes clients will be given a heads-up well in advance. In fact we even take client feedback on how much the fee increase should be🙃.
 
This service & its fee has been designed with the small, first-time, beginner or DIY investor in mind.

Question 5

Why is the fee so low? (or so high)

Accepted Answer

Fee can be polarising. For some it is low while for others starting off with small investments it seems high.

Our attempt is to keep fee affordable so as to not price out anybody wanting financial advice or investment management.

At the same time we are very clear that we will not make the service free for clients & only make money on the backend which creates misalignment. We only want those clients on the Starter service who find value in paying an upfront fee to their Financial Advisor.

FYI we get a small % based fee on the backend from mutual funds and insurance companies & hence have kept client fee as low as this. We work with all mutual funds & insurance companies as partners & do not have exclusive tie-ups with any.
But it's important for you to know that we remain neutral & unbiased when it comes to any of our financial advice. Client interest as well as financial intelligence drives our advice, analysis & implementation.

For example : If your SIP investment is INR 50000 per month our effective fee for you works out to 1% in the 1st year, 0.17% in the 5th year & as low as 0.06% in the 10th year (Calculated on the basis of your cumulative investments with us that we manage)**

**Note : Other benefits of the Starter service like insurance planning, financial advice, free consults, NPS investments, free App access etc not even taken into this calculation.

Starter service fee is however waived off for all those who earn less than per capita income ($2000 pa) but still wish to invest & also for those who genuinely cannot afford it.

Question 6

Will I have 24/7 access to my mutual fund investments?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Full access round-the-clock.

On your OIA (Online Investment Account) opened on the NSE (National Stock Exchange) as well as via our mobile App called Ashoonya which will help you track your investments real-time.

Question 7

Will I have full control over my money?

Accepted Answer

Absolutely 100% Yes.

At no point in time do we have access to or control over client money. We only have functional advisor-level access to your investments/insurance, all of which can only go through with client authorisation every single time.

Question 8

Who will I be doing these consult sessions with & taking advice from? Who will manage my investments & plan my insurance?

Accepted Answer

Sangeethasruthi Sundararaman, our co-founder. She is an economist & CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) with 12 years of experience in the financial planning space & is a subject matter expert in the investing, insurance & tax domains.

Read more about here here : https://www.ashoonya.in/meet-our-team

She personally works with all Starter clients. None of our core work is handled by trainees, interns or RMs.

Question 9

What happens if I don’t renew the service?

Accepted Answer

All benefits including app access, fee waivers, advisor consults, investments & insurance claim assistance are put on hold if service is not renewed within 3 months of expiry.

For a complete exit all fee due till date of exit will have to be paid including all fee waivers or discounts, if any.

More than 90% of our clients have been with us for over a decade. Our client dropout rate is extremely small.

Question 10

Why is the fee higher for NRIs?

Accepted Answer

The financial legality that goes into managing investments & insurance for an NRI is more complicated & requires more man hours as well as expertise. It isn't just a play on dollar parity. Hence the fee is higher.

Question 11

Do you have a referral program?

Accepted Answer

Yes.

We offer a 50% discount on 1st year fee for all your referrals who sign up. 25% waived off on their fee & 25% credited back to you.

Question 12

Can I invest myself (DIY)?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We have a resource archive called 'Educate' & an easy-to-use App called 'Ashoonya' which will help you DIY.

Question 13

Will you also help with tax-saving investments like ELSS mutual funds etc?

Accepted Answer

Yes.

Question 14

If I have questions on something other than my Investments and Insurance or old insurance policies or if I want to also insure family members, parents, parents-in-law will you advice?

Accepted Answer

Yes.

The Starter service includes mutual fund investments for you & insurance for you & your family**.

**Family = Your spouse, your dependant children, your parents & your parents-in-law.

Question 15

I would like to also invest in my child's name & have my spouse invest too. Do you do that?

Accepted Answer

Yes.

As a Starter client investing in your child's name as an add-on is offered free of cost till the age of 18. No add-on fee there. Post the age of 18 their fee will be discounted at 50% lifetime.

In fact we encourage clients to start investing separately in their child's name earmarked for their child as soon as the child is born. Imagine the power of compounding over 18 years & more.

Add-on for your spouse will be billed at 50% discounted fee lifetime.

As a client your family members** don't pay full fee ever.

**Family = Your spouse & children

Question 16

What is Insurance planning that you cover in the Starter service?

Accepted Answer

We've observed from experience that most of us have multiple (RUBBISH) insurance policies we've accumulated over a period of time for various reasons ranging from investing for children, money-back on maturity, tax-saving, obligated to some family member/friend working as an insurance agent etc.
 
Its time we understood what insurance really is, how it works, what our requirements of insurance are & get unbiased insurance advice & planning from a Financial Advisor.
 
Insurance planning in our Starter service covers : 
1. Advice on & implementation of correct & accurate Health Insurance for you & your family**
2. Advice on & implementation of Life Insurance for you & your family**
3. Lifetime claim assistance

**Family = Your spouse, dependant children, parents, parents-in-law, dependant siblings.

ashoonya

Shoonya is Zero | Ashoonya is Infinite

Frequently Asked Questions-FAQ

What is the Starter Service? Why do you have one?

Who is this service for? Am I the right fit?

What is the fee & what does it cover?

Does the fee change often?

Why is the fee so low? (or so high)

Will I have 24/7 access to my mutual fund investments?

Will I have full control over my money?

Who will I be doing these consult sessions with & taking advice from? Who will manage my investments & plan my insurance?

What happens if I don’t renew the service?

Why is the fee higher for NRIs?

Do you have a referral program?

Can I invest myself (DIY)?

Will you also help with tax-saving investments like ELSS mutual funds etc?

If I have questions on something other than my Investments and Insurance or old insurance policies or if I want to also insure family members, parents, parents-in-law will you advice?

I would like to also invest in my child's name & have my spouse invest too. Do you do that?

What is Insurance planning that you cover in the Starter service?