Protecting Future
In the world of finance and investments, Warren Buffett says, “If you don’t find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die.” Thankfully, there are people like Swapnil Kalbande, who with their financial acumen and investment prowess, will not compel their clients to work until they die, rather help them in making that extra money while they sleep.
Born and brought up in Nagpur, Swapnil completed his schooling and college education from the city of oranges. He has always been a bright student, which is evident from the fact that he appeared in the merit list of SSC examination. He is an engineer and during his engineering days, there was one thing that happened which he terms it as the turning point of his life. Swapnil says, “When I was in my third year of engineering, I decided to take part in a fashion contest. I was ridiculed by my friends and other students in the college since I did not have that kind of personality to make a cut in a fashion competition. Not getting bogged down by their comments, I took the criticism in my stride to work hard on developing my personality. It worked wonders as I went on to win coveted titles such as Mr. Vidarbha and Mr. Nagpur in the future.”
Gaining confidence from these successes, Swapnil decided to try his luck in Bollywood. He came to Mumbai to fulfil his dreams. Swapnil recalls, “I came to Mumbai with just RS. 2500 in my pocket. With no relatives there, I had to manage my own accommodation. Since there was a dearth of funds, I stayed at Kalyan railway station for as many as 45 days. To polish my acting skills, I joined Kishore Namit Kapoor Acting Institute. It was a pleasant surprise for me as in a few days, I got the opportunity to play roles in Hindi daily soaps like Kasautii Zindagi Kay, Kumkum and Kkavyanjali. I also bagged modelling assignments, including one for Bajaj Pulsar and Lakme Fashion Week. However, to my dismay, I lost all projects overnight.”
Lifting himself up from that shock, Swapnil started working as a trainer in Barbarian Gym, where he trained Bollywood stars like Salman Khan, Sonu Sood and Shahid Kapoor. Alongside being a trainer, Swapnil, with his friend Ankur Chawla, an entrepreneur, started delivering motivational talks. “Since 2007, we have trained more than a lakh people through our motivational speeches,” he avers.
Swapnil adds, “Everything was going fine. However one fine day it so happened that I was short on cash and I wanted to withdraw money from an insurance policy which had matured. I went to claim the amount and there I bumped into one of my students, who insisted I start working for an insurance company. It was a lucrative offer and soon I started giving motivational talks in that company.”
With cash in hand, Swapnil bought an insurance policy so he was the first client of his business. Later, he convinced his close ones to buy insurance policies. Swapnil states, “When I started working for the insurance company, I only sold the policies that were given to me by my bosses. Gradually, I started studying insurance in general, understood the nitty-gritties of it and started pitching policies as per the needs and requirements of people.”
He further adds, “I did not work like typical insurance agents, who are in constant contact with the clients till the policy is sold and once that is done, they simply vanish in thin air. I was the exact opposite of this. I was always beside my clients when they were in crisis and wanted to claim their insurance amount. I wanted to become a real hero and not a reel one.”
Swapnil burnt the midnight oil as he worked relentlessly to become a successful insurance agent. He visited 4500 houses in just two years. Though he achieved success with 1500 families converting into clients, it came with a pinch of salt, as there were many, who either did not entertain him or insulted him.”
Swapnil Kalbande along with his wife Yashshri
After gaining wealth of experience, Swapnil, a first generation entrepreneur, with his wife Yashshri Kalbande, started their own financial planning and investment company by the name of GroRight Wealth Solutions LLP. Yashshri has been the backbone of GroRight and with her rich experience of 16 years in the insurance sector, she is the one who helped Swapnil to start the company.
At GroRight, Swapnil and Yashshri, alongwith their team of qualified and experienced financial professionals offer an avalanche of investment avenues to their clients from insurance to mutual funds. Swapnil explains, “We are a team of 35 people and in addition we have a dedicated team of 10 for claim settlement. We offer different types of insurance, namely, life, health, travel, motor, property/fire safety, general and personal insurance. Additionally, we help our clients in selecting the best mutual funds and bonds, after taking into consideration their needs and requirements. Through our widespread investment options, we help clients in retirement planning as well.”
He elucidates, “Health insurance is different from life insurance. It is a service industry which operates 24*7. Over the years, we have scaled new heights and have become the numero uno in the health insurance industry in India. We are known for our after sales service. In the last one and a half years, we have catered to 650+ claims, out of which none was rejected. After the advent of COVID-19, the importance of health insurance and life insurance have increased. Given that the medical costs are skyrocketing, health insurance is a must in everyone’s portfolio. It is true that nobody can predict the future, but atleast we, at GroRight endeavour to protect the future by educating and helping our clients in investing in right insurance and other asset classes.”
GroRight has grown by leaps and bounds over the years. It has a whopping sum of 12000 clients, including celebrities and NRIs and is associated with requisite trusted companies in India. Swapnil posits, “We have clients from Iceland, US, Singapore and Qatar, in addition to India. Since medical expenses are cheap in India, the NRIs are attracted here.”
Apart from running GroRight, Swapnil has started giving product ideas on the basis of needs of customers to insurance companies which are also getting accepted. He mentions, “Documentation is of essence. There is a method for it. Many times the documentation goes wrong due to which people fail to get full claims in time. We know the exact documentation.”
GroRight’s future plans include becoming a web aggregator. Swapnil describes, “Our dream is to become a web aggregator, which means that we want to have our own portal, where customers can buy their insurance policies online. This will help us to cater to customers across India.” Riding in the values of integrity, discipline, consistency, teamwork and growth, GroRight’s mission is, “To increase retirement readiness for its clients and subsequent generations as they embrace the responsibilities of success by creating, implementing, and monitoring financial strategies consistent with their core values and to be a trusted partner for its clients and a respected leader in global asset management.” GroRight is not just a wealth management company, it is an investment adviser dedicated to empower people to gain from the market opportunities by understanding their needs and providing them with suitable investment options to meet their needs.
Over the years, GroRight has won over 200 awards across countries for their stellar work in the field of financial planning and investments. To name a few, they have won prestigious accolades such as Annual Council Awards (most prestigious award in health insurance) in Switzerland (2015-16), Paris (2016-17), Australia (2017-18), Rome (2018-19) and Milaap award in Switzerland (2018-19) and Germany (2019-20). Swapnil signs off by giving financial planning and investment advice. He concludes, “If a person has Rs. 100 with him/her, then he/she should save atleast Rs. 20, out of which Rs. 5 should be invested in SIPs, Rs. 5 in liquid funds, Rs. 5 in health insurance and Rs. 5 in gold or other asset classes. With respect to insurance, buy from a person, who has the knowledge and ability to settle your claim, rather than from a company, which has just a name in the market. You are not buying a product, you are buying a 24*7 service. Hence, more than the company, the person who is delivering the service to you is more important.”
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Read E Magazine : Swapnil-Kalbande-Oct-21.pdf
