How ARQ Revolution is changing the way you manage your money…

Dhimant Patel was an exasperated investor! Being a successful architect in Ahmedabad, Dhimant had little time to worry about his equity portfolio or planning for his financial future. The whole thought came to him only when his father suggested, with all the wisdom of his years, to seriously start taking control of his financial security. If Dhimant thought this was a simple task, he was gravely mistaken. His problems began the moment he started talking to financial advisors and brokers on how to best manage his finances.

Following are few of the genuine concerns that Dhimant had

• Most financial advisors were willing to give him actionable tips and investment advice but only a few were willing to help him with solid personalized advice
• Financial advisors and brokers wanted him to open a demat account and start trading by just following their advice, while Dhimant wanted something more reliable
• Dhimant was looking for a financial solution that was uniquely suited to his needs, but what he got was off-the-shelf and one-size-fits-all solutions
• Most brokers and financial advisors that Dhimant met were making a pitch for products rather than making him the centre and pivot of the entire financial solution

It was at this point that a major client of his recommended that Dhimant try out ARQ!

So what exactly is ARQ?

ARQ is an investment engine from Angel One that gives customers solutions that is uniquely suited to their specific needs and requirements. For example, if you are an investor who is 35 years old with a high level of risk appetite then the solution offered is unique to your situation. ARQ overcomes the problem of “one-size-fits-all” and provides customised solutions to the client. For example, Reliance Industries may be a good investment idea for Investor X but SBI may be a better choice for Investor Y. This entire intelligence is collected, processed and ratified by the computer. ARQ program has enough intelligence to understand your profile, interpret the fit of the recommendation to your needs and ensure that the overall context and proportion is maintained. This is ARQ’s key differentiator.

But how exactly does ARQ achieve all this? Well, that is what Robo Advisory is all about. What you will see in front of you is a simple computer churning out solutions for you. But behind this solution, there is a massive combination of high-end programs, robo capabilities, and sophisticated algorithms working in tandem to generate the desired personalised solution. The advantage of ARQ is that there is no human intervention in the entire progression. From the process of interpreting your data, to tabulating your responses to sifting through mountains of data and ideas to giving you a unique solution; the entire process is automated. ARQ is, thus, an efficient machine-led intelligence service at your fingertips.

But, Dhimant had some very pertinent questions about ARQ.

How much capital does Dhimant have to allocate for ARQ?

ARQ is not a portfolio management service (PMS). Hence there is no question of minimum investment required for ARQ. To reiterate, there is no minimum investment amount requirement. The only condition is that an investor has to open a demat account with Angel One, which can be done in just 1 hour.

But don’t machines work based on past data?

This is where ARQ makes a difference. While ARQ most definitely takes into consideration past data, the solution is entirely based on future potential. So if you are being recommended to buy Tata Steel, it is not because of its past performance but because it has potential to perform in the future and is best suited to you and your portfolio investment strategy.

But if everyone gets the same recommendation, how is it different?

ARQ is about the investor and not about the stock! It is quite unlike an ‘off-the-shelf’ solution. The subject of ARQ is “You the Investor” and hence every recommendation will be based on that. ARQ solutions start with what is appropriate for you and then works backward.

Can I use ARQ along with my own research?

That is not recommended. An ARQ solution is as much about discipline as it is about data, research and machine intelligence. To get the best impact of ARQ it is advised to religiously follow the ARQ recommendations in letter and spirit. That also makes ARQ fully accountable for your action.

How does Dhimant believe that ARQ system is doing its job correctly?

The proof of the pudding lies in its eating. Currently, ARQ recommendations are available for equities and mutual funds and in both the cases, ARQ portfolio has comfortably outperformed the passive index. This outperformance has been consistent!

Why Dhimant felt that ARQ was a revelation and a revolution…

A close friend from the US had mentioned to Dhimant that Robo Advisors were growing in the US and after looking at ARQ he was hardly surprised. Dhimant had also read a white paper by Infosys which projected the total Assets under Management (AUM) of Robo Advisory at $2.2 trillion. With the global markets becoming increasingly data driven, there was the need to sift through mountains of data in microseconds and customise a portfolio recommendation for consumers. Dhimant was also confident that ARQ was the right solution for him as it put him, the investor, at the centre of the total financial solution.

What applies to Dhimant, equally applies to each and every investor. When you can write a smart program to create a smart algorithm to give you an unbiased solution, then why look beyond? After all, that is what the Angel ARQ is all about!