We live in a highly globalized world today where it is commonplace for professionals to move across countries for work. With the number of expatriates growing higher than ever, financial planning and investments have also crossed boundaries and become global. As a consequence, there arises a need for financial advisors who are well versed in rendering cross-border financial planning services.

Atwal Financial, a London-based financial planning advisor, is one such name that has carved a niche for itself in the said space. Founded in 2008, the organization provides cross-border financial planning services globally for individuals and businesses.Additionally, the firm also delivers financial solutions such as appropriate property, planning and protection strategies to various international clients.

Turning Portfolios Around
For several years, Indian nationals have been moving to the UK for work, while earning pensions there. When they moved back to India, they had to deal with financial advisors who had no expertise in cross-border advisory. “We identified that there was a lot of bad advice being thrown around. As

a consequence, existing transferred pension portfolios were not just performing woefully bad, but were very much in the negative,”explains Ranjit Atwal,an industry veteran and founder of Atwal Financial and its India Desk. The company is an expert at remedying such situations and turning portfolio performances around by organizing and managing these pensions.

Specially tailored for expatriates andforeign nationals living and working in India,Atwal Financial's services help unleash the true potential of aclient’s monetary assets

When Atwal Financial’s The India Desk comes on board, its financial advisors perform a sound analysis of the portfolio and identify the objectives and risks involved. They make the charges leaner and cleaner; as a consequence, the returns become more visible and their pension starts to grow. The company continuously manages their client portfolios by appointing a full-time Financial Strategist who provides clients with a personalized and extensive quarterly review. “This involves providing on-going assistance about what to buy and when to sell,” adds Ranjit.

Service Portfolio
Specially tailored for expatriates and foreign nationals living and working in India, Atwal Financial's services help unleash the true potential of a client's monetary assets. The firm has built a strong roster of services that aid foreign nationals to manage their asset portfolios

better. Leveraging its cumulative years of experience in the cross-border financial advisory sector, the company has built an all-round portfolio of services which includes protection plans, property purchase, mortgages options and foreign currency exchange amongst others.“Our flagship service is asset management of already existing transfers of UK pensions into a QROPS arrangement. “This knowledge is exclusive to our firm; no other firm in India has this competency,” says Ranjit.

Building Trust with Clients
In a world where every organization is working to make technology as its differentiating factor, Atwal Financial still prefers to go the old school way. “We undertake the classic approach to client servicing of meeting face-to-face. This harbours trust and transparency, which is a critical component of the financial consulting sector. Our business is not based on obtaining a high number of clients so the need for financial technology is not a priority. Our expertise is for a specific type of client that only we, in India, are capable of servicing.” Ranjit elaborates.

The firm has built a strong network of financial associates spread across Asia and Europe. Atwal Financial also encourages its associates to keep building on their competencies through undertaking external examinations and certifications. In order to keep its overhead cost low,and pass the benefit to its clients, the management runs lean operations. In the years to come, the firm intends to continue rendering professional and cost-effective services to expats and NRIs returning to India in all aspects of cross-border and local financial planning services.