How Purnima Anand Built Her Reputation Across India and Southeast Asia

I mean competence can't be detailed. In financial advice, even if you have a big name, a small name in terms of the company, that person is trusting you as an individual. Back then was because it was a sink and swim situation always for me. I used to take a senior back then along with me on my meetings to just be my face.

And so you brought that kind of that expertise and specialism in building up a new office or new presence in that jurisdiction. Yeah, building that structure around their lives as well and taking away that pain. I think the legacy that I wanted to leave is I'm already a representation myself. There are less than 20% of women workforce in finance.

So it's something that they need to believe that this is where they belong as well. Hi, Punima. Thank you for joining us on the Hoxton Life Podcast. How are you?

Very well, thank you. I'm really glad that I managed to catch you today. I know it's been really hectic since you're only here for a week, but you were definitely one of the people I wanted to speak to. So maybe we can just start off by introducing yourself, maybe talking about who you are and what you do.

Well, I'm Punima Anen and I work with Hoxton Wealth. I've been working for 18 years, and out of which 12 and a half years has been in the financial industry, and that's how it all began. And so let's go back to your early career then. Am I right?

You didn't start in financial planning, you actually were in corporate sales as your first role. So maybe let's go back to that. You can tell us a bit about how your early career journey kind of started. See, I started working in the year 2008, uh, when I was campus placed while doing my postgraduation.

You know, it was still six months left, and you know, that's how it happens that you get placed. I was placed with a with a growing venture of an established company in India. Uh, and and that's how it started, you know. When you associate yourself or start working with a company like that, it uh which is new, growing, is is a lot challenging at every step.

Every day is new, and but the learning is immense, which you can carry throughout your life, you know, it starts shaping you there. And so, you know, it was it's it that's how it started for me. Yeah. I mean, at that time, 2008, there was there was a lot going on in the world in 2008.

So I'm sure you faced your own set of challenges um and a lot of growth during that first role that you were in. Oh hundred percent. I mean, I was um uh I was working for an internet company and my target audience was not using laptops. So the first step was to to be convincing them to be bringing that gadget for them and then eventually convincing them to be moving from the print media to the to the internet medium and stuff like that.

Yeah. So this was this was a different feeling altogether. Like you were like literally changing that era. And it was definitely difficult, challenging, but you know, you need to have that, you know, that that passion to be going about it and talking to people and and convincing them to be doing something which is gonna be eventually helping their work.

Yeah. Yeah, so it's was difficult, but yes, you know, it was definitely fulfilling doing something which was like literally changing that time. Yeah. And I can tell that you have a lot of passion and a lot of grit.

Um, you're you can t you can tell you're a very hardworking person. Have you always been like that? Or is that something that your career has kind of shaped and molded you to be? Like what personality traits do you think you naturally had that made you kind of suited for that career and also for financial advice?

I th I'm definitely a hard worker. You know, I always was amongst the top students when it was about studies, and that helps in this job. It requires a lot of hard work. That's like the base of it.

I'm definitely and truly a people's person, which just helps me to make it empathize with my clients, to understand their vision and to be giving them that comfort space and uh and listening to them properly to be really understanding their goals and and you know, and then be going about advising them. Obviously, you can tell you've had a very experienced career. You've worked in multiple jurisdictions, uh, you've built your career over 12 years in financial services and you were working for different companies, but after nine and a half years, you decided to join Hoxton Wealth specifically.

What made you decide that that was the right choice for you? I nine and a half years I was with a competition firm back then who was as well entering into India, and that opportunity stuck because I come from the sales background and I thought, okay, you know, my husband encouraged me to to explore it, and which I did. And and then I knew that this is gonna be uh be challenging but different and it's gonna change me. I took that challenge and give gave my exams and started from there.

So um I and it was very difficult uh back then initially as well because you know a lot of people in this industry uh would start by attaching themselves to uh to an experienced advisor first, yeah. Me learning the, you know, learning properly in terms of doing serious financial advising. But it was different for me in terms of me starting as a financial advisor myself, and I was doing the coordination and everything uh my own and and which definitely by doing that groundwork just transforms you as well as a person and then of course sets the base for your own journey as well.

100%. So you had that really strong foundation where you did all the coordination for yourself, you've you've already worked in those roles and kind of you know what you need. Um so when you got to a financial advisor role, um, it was much easier for you to, I guess, strategically build yourself up to grow. Yeah, it's uh, you know, it's a lot about I've been working in industries which are mainly male dominated.

Yeah. Um, surrounded by a lot of men and you know, and and and of course I was young back then as well. So I was always thinking that I'm uh I have to work harder. Uh, you know, and in terms of I mean, I used to see around myself also was was I was thinking that for every meeting I'm preparing myself more than you know what the rest people were like.

I I used to think like that. I don't know actually, but yeah, I'm you know it takes a lot to be to be getting into a meeting and preparing for that. So it was definitely, you know, uh challenging that way. Uh to be making sure that you're utili if you're utilizing somebody's time, is you're doing full justice to that and doing that value addition, you know, time is the most precious thing that somebody can give to you.

Yeah. And uh and that just, you know, is to be ensuring that you're making the most of that time and as much as is possible to be doing the value addition by doing all the stuff that it takes. Yeah, a hundred percent. And would you say that when you were growing and learning in that in different companies, would you say that your job role now looks similar to back then?

Does how does Hoxton Wealth and uh your role now compare to um what you were doing back then? Uh I've matured in the role, of course. Uh the base remains the same. That I was always into client interaction roles and it has massively changed over the period of time, yeah, as it rightly should be, in terms of uh, you know, not just markets maturing, your clients understanding more, and is your journey as well in terms of keeping on upgrading yourself to be making more sense for people is you know is definitely it's it's ever changing and you're changing every day and it never stops, you know.

So um, yeah, so it just has to be like that, and what and that's the best part about it, that you're not ever bored, and there's so much to do and there's so much to learn that it can never stop for you, and and hence, you know, it becomes a career for you. Yeah, yeah. And was that part of your reasoning to join Hoxton well upgrading? So having that clarity in mind, knowing that okay, this is what you want to do, is then you need a company who would appreciate that and would give you that space to enable you to to be carving your niche, you know, and be able to do the right things, you know.

And yeah, and that was the reason for my moving from uh from another company to this company. Yeah. Um, when I was doing very well as well, you know. I was the only one representing in London from India office year on year, basis by performance.

Uh, I literally set that base for them because as I said, they were as well entering back then in India, and I was the only female advisor who started. There were definitely other females but started as coordinators, and um and because of that constant face that was there, you know, is a lot of trust that I built. And yeah, I mean, you know, it was uh it was we still do very niche kind of work, and hence, yeah, was a lot of hard work that was needed to be representing uh, you know, not just a company, but but the solutions that you're offering as well, and yeah, and so as yourself in the process.

Yeah. And so you brought that kind of um that expertise and specialism in building up a new office or new presence in that jurisdiction. Um, you kind of brought that expertise over to Hoxton well. So, you know, you already had worked in India and set up that office and uh grown that team, and now you know you've kind of brought that as your niche uh to Hoxton, I guess.

Yeah, that's uh that's actually what I did with my first company as well, that I set the base uh, you know, in a market which was new for the coming generations to then be uh following that step. And so as with with you know with my previous company is you know, it was very difficult back then to because people were not aware about something like that. And, you know, in terms of um, you know, the being an international company, the the value addition that we are able to do, uh, you know, we we are unlike a bank who's just you see at every corner is you know is different from that.

So is a lot of you that you carry along with the solutions is definitely um something that I could set up uh for them. Uh and then was for the other people as well joining up when people used to ask that, you know, um that okay, you know, and I've I was an example set up already that if I can, you can. Um, you know, is what I used to to be doing as well. And I actually, you know, with with a lot of work that it needed, as I actually I think did quite well.

Initially was definitely because I was young, I was um uh the only struggle was that, you know, you know, as much as I was making sense for people was a lot of times that um that it was about their lifetime savings was was they didn't want you delving into it. Back then was because it was a sink and swim situation always for me. So I thought I used to take a senior back then along with me on my meetings to just be my face, and I used to do all the talking, and then I in the process, um, you know, by doing all the homework and everything, could onboard some great clients who then eventually turned out to be my spokesperson and referred me in the industry and helped me uh to get into various circles.

A hundred percent. And so those uh kind of clients that um you built with you along the way, you talked about how in the beginning you had to like earn their trust and because you were quite young, but now you've you've been with some of those clients since the beginning, like since onboarding them. Um could you talk a little bit about the types of clients that you service um internationally? Are they local?

Um, what kind of services do you offer? Um, and how do you meet their needs as like um kind of complex individuals? I work between India and Southeast Asia with Hoxton is a lot more flexible in terms of what you're able to do with your global clients. Yeah.

And they're all professional uh individuals, um you know, uh specializing, specialized in their own industries and fields. Um, you know, and I have clients who started their first plan with me as well, their financial journal journey literally, and I have clients who are withdrawing their pensions with me. Okay. So yeah, I mean all sorts of individual clients, um, and they're unique in their own way.

Everybody is different, yeah. And then you live that, you know, different journeys with them in terms of them having their different goals attached to you, and then you're streamlining that. And so obviously, the clients that you've had for such a long time, there's an element of um consistency that you've um that you've built with them, you've shown them consistency over a long period of time. Um, but you also offer them something that you know other advisors don't.

I feel like in this industry, it's different to others in that customers will come to a company, for example, and if it has a big name, then they're more than likely to trust it. But in financial advice, even if you have a big name, a small name in terms of the company, that person is trusting you as an individual. Sure, it gets to a point where people are coming to you for the stuff that isn't your direct 40 at times as well, and they would just want to be discussing any financial decision that they make with you is definitely something which is uh fulfilling and very uh is is a lot of responsibility as well that you carry.

So you have to be conscious with regards to catering to everything that they expect. Um and then just be knowing your stuff, right? And even if you don't know to be do to be putting the research behind that and be able to actually deliver what you say in terms of giving the comprehensive advice. That's actually a really interesting point because in Hoxton we like to um shout about our client reviews.

So um clients will leave reviews for advisors, especially if they feel like they've received um excellent service, and obviously your clients shout about you a lot. How would you describe your personal and professional identity? You know, what makes them come to you consistently and what makes you so s so unique? It's definitely the genuine intent that goes behind it.

Uh, and I always believe that, and I tell it to my clients as well, that you have to be lucky to be getting hold of a good financial advisor to be making a massive difference to your lives because it does that to you. Yeah. And, you know, so uh I think and then it's it's the trust uh which is clearly um important and and it just doesn't come like that. Yeah.

Uh you really have to be doing what you're saying and and and be having keeping your clients first and helping them actually, you know, in the process and making them making them realize as well that it is a lot um a lot of support that goes behind them when it when they live this journey with us, uh, you know, is I think is is purely uh bringing your individuality to this and it automatically comes if you're passionate about it. And if this is something that you know, okay, if I'm going for a meeting is is okay, this is this is I'm gonna I'm gonna talk about and and this is we're gonna start now and this is what it is gonna change in somebody's situation and then it's gonna be next days, and they also look forward to it, right?

So yeah, I mean that's yeah, building that structure around their lives as well and taking away that pain. Yeah. And I love what you said about genuine intent because um I think that's the difference. Like you're not just um advising them, you genuinely care about their lives and making an impact.

What's the most rewarding part of giving advice for you? Um I think for me is gonna be people coming to you for, as I said, for ever anything and everything when it comes to financial matters. Um and then you and you getting referred. Yeah, there's gonna be a client saying that, okay, you know, you need to speak to this person and I've mentioned you, and and then then when that person talks to you is gonna start by saying that I've heard good things about you, uh, is all which is very fulfilling and rewarding, you know, and you and you feel that you've made that difference, you know, which uh and your job is and you're in a job which is helping you to be able to to be deliver and achieve that as well for yourself.

Can you think of any times that when you were advising clients that maybe that element of empathy or the the relationship that you built where it made the difference, it it got you that extra step forward with with a client? I think women uh bring empathy and long-term vision to the financial advice world. And that definitely helps in terms of um making it easier for clients, you know, because it is about legacy planning as well and ensuring that, you know, whatever we're doing is their families are protected also.

So is you know, is that understanding that okay, how important this is going to be for their spouse as well and what it means for their children. Yeah. Uh is definitely, you know, that that requires a lot of empathy and properly properly delving deeper and you know into clients' financial situation. I love what you said about um how women have that long-term planning, that long-term thought and and vision.

Usually when I ask people a question about what makes women perfect for financial advice, um, I hear a lot about the empathy side, but actually women innately have to do a lot more long-term planning than I think men do um on a daily basis and and throughout our lives. It's one of those skills that I think is overlooked and why people might not think that women uh are suited for this kind of industry. You know, yes, you have to work hard, you have to know your stuff, you have to be prepared and um have grit.

But I also think that um women are actually quite naturally inclined to a job like this where you're handling people's lives and um you're not just managing their assets, you you have to stay with them and um help them to determine, you know, family planning, their legacy planning, what's happening with their kids with um, you know, long-term plans. So I just really like that you you mentioned that. What do you think would help women carve out a space for themselves in uh financial advice?

See, the base remains the same that confidence and competence both are needed. Um believing in yourself, uh you know, putting across your points in a room full of men, uh, you know, is is something that you know you you you learn and you you you know you enjoy and you understand why is it going to be relevant. And then of course knowing your staff, putting the work behind that. I mean competence can't be pretense.

So it you know, it's so it's it's a combination of both, you know, and and once you know your staff is your you're confident to be knowing that okay, this is for for making that change to somebody's life is something that uh that comes with um with hard work and and taking them head on and and understanding the uh uh you know the power of that as well. 100%. I think you've already gotten to the place in your career where uh you are an example for a lot of women who are coming up and maybe starting their careers in the same um kind of path that you took when you built your career.

What legacy do you hope to leave um or how do you hope to inspire women who are kind of coming up behind you? I think the legacy that I want to to to leave is I'm already a representation myself. There are less than 20% of women workforce in finance. So is something that they need to believe that this is where they belong as well.

Yeah. And and can and is a lot of freedom, you know, in a lot of ways, not is is very empower empowering as a career. And and I want to as well say that, you know, it just to be in to be making people aware and you know, be telling to to them that they can carve their space in the global uh, you know, financial world and is something that is life-changing, you know, not just for themselves, for and for their clients both. Amazing.

I think uh as well it's just going about building relationships, um seeking mentorship and and making that financial difference, you know, so and can do it by bringing empathy to the role as well. So I think if it can impact women to know that they belong here as well is something that I would definitely want to leave for them um, you know, by setting up an example myself and understanding and knowing that even if whatever it takes is is we've lived through that and and is something which which is rewarding for us.

100%. I think um that's a good point that just being here and being visible is um making an impact. It's it's leaving that legacy. You know, people can hear your story and um maybe they might have a similar story.

They might even think, Wow, you know, her story is so different to mine, but she's managed to make it in a especially in a space where it's very male dominated and you've had to forge your own path. I think a lot of women will see that, and you know, that's starting the trailblazing process. It's it's starting that legacy that you're leaving behind. So obviously you're at a point now where um, you know, you Are you at that peak of your career, or not really peak, but you're you're kind of established?

Um Hoxton is always evolving, and you know, we're always entering new jurisdictions and opening up more services. How do you see your role evolving um over the coming years? See, Hoxton is um is one of the fastest growing companies and is very progressive, uh changing with times. That's what is needed, and I'm gonna follow that uh, you know, in the process, you know, and and thinking that with the technology and and fintech, that is of course, you know, integrating that and and becoming a part of that is is something that I definitely foresee myself to be keeping on doing because this is something which is an ever-evolving industry and and there's no looking back.

And then for you personally, um, are there any new frontiers that you want to achieve? Is there any anything else that you think, okay, you know, I've reached this point, I would like to reach um this next goal? Yeah, I'm always thinking about giving more exams all the time and uh to be adding more stuff to what I do. Um, of course, you know, um is you're you you have a lot of existing clients to be taking care of.

Um but yes, I mean there's no end to this uh world. And um and yeah, I'm I'm aiming to do some exams uh for the US stuff, adding these extra things to my advisory bracket, uh, you know, in order to be able to help more people. Some people get to a point in their career where they're comfortable and they um they might kind of get complacent, but um, I think it's right. You're right in saying that there's always that extra step that you can go.

So if you were gonna um speak to someone now who is at the start of their career, what advice would you leave for them? What what lasting advice would you give them um to carry with them through their career? I would just say that don't wait for the for it to come to you. Just just mm you know, uh find your seat and and be on it and and just be ready to to to give it it give it your role and um and you know and that is gonna be and as I said, sitting as a live example is gonna be uh very rewarding and uh you know is going to be life-changing for sure.

Yeah. And is is an industry which can definitely uh be a career for you because you know it's not like sitting at on a desk and just be doing the repeat repeated stuff. Yeah. Is you know, it can completely transform you as a uh as a person and and you know, is is so much to do in this and definitely be making that change uh into people's lives as well.

Amazing. Well, thank you, Hanima. This was honestly really insightful, and I'm I feel like a lot of people watch this and think, oh, um, you know, maybe they didn't know your story before, but hearing your story hopefully will spark that little change in somebody and and hopefully open them up to the opportunity of uh working as an advisor or um maybe new jurisdictions and the opportunities that are out there are endless. So I hope so too.

I mean, that's the idea. Yeah, amazing. All right. Well, thank you for coming.

And um I hope that people take this with them and um I hope that it was insightful for you as well, opening opening up about your career. Wonders the same, yeah. I mean, it was like literally in running in front of my eyes. Yeah.

My journey of 18 years. Okay, Paninama, thank you so much for um for joining me on the Hoxton Life Podcast. I really hope this is helpful for someone. It was definitely helpful for me.

So I hope that somebody takes this and um it spurs them into action. So well, I'm happy, I'm glad that, yeah, the idea is that.