Based in Calgary, Alberta, Girish Agrawal (Leading Financial Consultant of the Year, Agrawal Associates Private Wealth Management – Canada) helps clients in ten areas of their financial lives: investment management, retirement planning, risk management, tax planning, cash flow planning, debt management, estate planning, business planning, intergenerational transactions and philanthropic solutions.
Agrawal Associates provides wealth management solutions for their clients. We chat with Girish Agrawal, who explains what the firm provides to clients.
“At Agrawal Associates we look at everything from retirement planning to debt management, cash flow management and more. At the end of the day, our goal is to ensure our clients are happy, healthy and wealthy — in that order.
“Our firm boasts a significant population of oil and gas professionals, medical professionals, business owners and retirees. Those are our primary demographics; however, when we speak about the ideal client there are three pieces of criteria that we follow:
• Personality match. It has to be a personality fit on both sides, where our approaches and styles match.
• Value addition. By joining us, I must be able to determine the client will gain value. If they are already doing okay, I will let the client know of some small adjustments they can make with their existing advisors.
• Business value. While we want to see some value for our business, this piece is secondary if the other two criteria are met.
“When we work with clients, we work with their existing advisors as well — lawyers, accountants, etc. — to create a synchronized plan. Agrawal Associates doesn’t simply provide investment solutions — we provide support and guidance in ten areas of wealth management including business, tax planning, and risk management. Our job is to assess the financial impact of client’s choices and intentions, and then we work with their other advisors to ensure clients receive an effective solution to their needs.”
At Agrawal Associates, Girish is the Principal, with more than 25 years of financial accounting, tax, business, investment and estate planning experience. He explains his areas of speciality.
“With a solid understanding of financial concepts, I have been able to develop further ways of creating and identifying solutions for clients. It has also allowed me to create a vision and ethical standards for my team and my practice, to ensure clients are served in the most appropriate manner.”
Girish concludes the interview by outlining the firm’s plans for 2017 and beyond.
“Our priority is always growing and expanding service levels for clients — what else can we do for them? It’s important to me that our team continually looks at how to make life more efficient and comfortable for our clients.
“Improving service is one key factor to expanding our team, and also giving back to the community. Calgary has been struggling economically over the last few years with the drop in oil prices. By hiring three to five new team members in 2017, we can give a few individuals the support they need to feed their families. It’s an initiative we’re encouraging other business owners to participate in as well.”