A rupee saved is a rupee earned. A truism no doubt, but one which seems to fly right by so many of us. If it's doing the math that scares the living daylights out of you, get help.

By Roshni Jayakar

Time is money. Nobody knows it better than you-the 70-hours-a-week slaving, all-work-no-play Jack. But why is it that Naveen-your happy-go-lucky colleague, who earns as much as you do-seems to get the best of what life has to offer. Like the 1.6 Ikon, annual holiday (last summer) in Phuket, and-you can't believe this-an original Omega. Simple. Life is what happens to you when you are busy making other plans. Naveen plans his investments. He makes every rupee he invests sweat for him. As for you, you are too busy meeting your deadlines. Thus, what you have to boast of in the name of an investment portfolio is a savings account, a life insurance policy, and a few underperforming stocks.

Money talks-if you are willing to listen. Listen to, say, investment advisors. Wait a minute. Wasn't it the Portfolio Management Services (PMS) hype that brought the Harshad Mehta-led stockmarket boom, and the subsequent crash, in 1992? You are right. But relax. That was then. Today, all PMS-providers have to get an approval from the Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

Your number-crunching jeeves

The investment advisors, or the private banking services, dotting Dalal Street's firmament today are nothing like their predecessors of the early 1990s. Explains Vijay Venkatram, 34, Manager (Private Client Services), HSBC Private Banking: ''Our services are useful to wealth-creators who are too tied up to do any investment planning of their own.''

Investment advisories come in all shapes and sizes. Broadly, this is how they map out:

1. One-stop shops like HSBC Private Banking, HDFC Bank, ING Barings Bank, and Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP);
2. A host of foreign banks offering risk-profiling and advisory on mutual funds; and
3. Brokerage houses offering private client services or portfolio management. These include Kotak Securities, DSP Merrill Lynch Securities, Enam Asset Management, and Parag Parikh Financial Advisory Services.

The one-stop advisories offer a range of investment advisory services and personal banking products-from loans against shares and car loans to credit cards and private client services. Notes Arpit Agarwal, 32, Deputy Head (Private Banking), BNP: ''We provide the sheer convenience of a single-point entry for all banking and private financial needs.'' Adds Abhay Aima, 38, Head of equities and private banking group, HDFC Bank: ''We look at advisory services not as a stand-alone product but as a means to build a long-term relationship with our customers.''

Most advisories insist on a minimum portfolio size, and it ranges from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 75 lakh. But how do you pick an advisory? In most cases, they do the picking. Says S.D. Nayyar, 58, CEO, ING Asset Management: ''We don't accept walk-in clients, we go by referrals.'' But as the client, you should ask the advisory to prove its credentials. Audited reports on past performance are a good source. While the fee varies from company to company, it rarely exceeds one per cent of the portfolio.

Jeeves@work

The advisories build customised investment baskets based on the client's spending habits and long-term needs. Once the client approves the investment-mix, the advisory buys and sells equities and other securities, provides seamless delivery of post-investment activities such as transactions, settlement, safekeeping of securities, and dematerialisation of the portfolio.

The services offered are comprehensive. Take a look at some such products and services available in the market. HSBC has two categories of advisory. The first examines the existing portfolio of the client and recommends how it should be invested to achieve his or her financial and lifestyle objectives. The second is an advisory on mutual funds, similar to those offered by other banks. Says Khurshid Kotwal, 32, Deputy Head (Private Banking), Commerz Bank: ''We have tied up with nearly a dozen mutual funds whose products we market to CommerzPlus clients as part of enriching their portfolio.'' BNP's ProsperWealth offers not only banking services, but also on-going personal investment advisory services to grow individual investment ambitions.

Compared to the one-stop shops, brokerage houses offer private client services and PMS. The way the PMS works is that the client gives a pre-specified amount to the brokerage house to manage for a fee. But you'll still need a bank for transactions. However, says Parag Parikh, 46, who runs an eponymous financial advisory: ''Since broking is our core competence, the services provided by us are niche and boutique.'' Now you know where to go for designer profits.

-Additional reporting by R. Chandrasekhar

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