Client Communication for SEBI Research Analysts: Telegram, WhatsApp and What to Say

Client Communication for SEBI Research Analysts: Telegram, WhatsApp and What to Say

Most Indian subscribers do not read their Research Analyst on a website. They read you in a Telegram channel, a WhatsApp message or a push notification, usually on a phone, often during market hours. That is where your service is judged. Two analysts with similar research can keep very different numbers of subscribers simply because one communicates on time, in a clear format, through the channel the subscriber actually opens.

This guide covers how to set up those channels, what to send and when, what to say when markets fall, how to run portfolio reviews, and which SEBI rules apply to every message. It is written for SEBI-registered Research Analysts (RAs) and for those about to register.

Pick the channel for the job

Each channel does one thing well. Use them together rather than choosing one.

Telegram: one channel per plan, one-way

Run a private channel, not an open group, for each paid plan. A channel keeps the feed clean: only you post, so a subscriber's opinion cannot be mistaken for your recommendation. Send the invite link only after payment and terms acceptance, and remove members when their plan lapses. Leaving expired members in a paid channel is a common leak of revenue and makes it hard to say who received which call. Our guide to running a Telegram channel as a SEBI-registered RA covers setup in detail.

WhatsApp: templates, opt-in and individual messages

Use the WhatsApp Business API rather than a personal number or a large group. Messages go to each subscriber individually, you can see delivery status, and approved templates give every alert the same structure. Collect opt-in at onboarding. WhatsApp works well for short alerts that link to the full note, and for renewal reminders that subscribers would ignore by email.

Email and the app: the full story and the record

Keep the long-form material, such as the research report behind a call, the monthly review and fee or terms changes, on email or inside your app. A short Telegram or WhatsApp alert should point to it. This split keeps chat messages short and gives you a clean written record.

SEBI rules that apply on every channel

The channel changes; the obligations do not. Under SEBI's January 2025 guidelines for Research Analysts:

• Every call needs a research report behind it. Research services must be corroborated by a research report containing the data and analysis behind them, and you must keep that report on record. A one-line Telegram call is fine only if the report exists.
• Keep records of client interactions for five years. RAs must keep records of interactions with clients, including prospective clients, starting from the first interaction, for five years (longer if a dispute is open or SEBI asks). The guidelines list forms such as signed documents, telephone recordings, email and SMS, and any other legally verifiable record. Export or archive your chat channels so you can produce them.
• No assurance of returns. Do not write "sure shot", "guaranteed" or target-hit claims as promises. This applies to a channel post exactly as it applies to an advertisement.
• Disclose your terms before you serve or charge. No research service may be rendered and no fee charged until the client has consented to your terms, including the Most Important Terms and Conditions (MITC).

Also include your registration details and the disclosures your research must carry, and keep public posts within SEBI's advertising rules. See our guides to social media rules for SEBI-registered advisors and the 2026 SEBI master circular for RAs.

A communication calendar subscribers can rely on

Consistency matters more than volume. A short update that arrives at the same time every week builds a reading habit. Four tiers cover most practices.

1. Recommendation and rebalance alerts (immediately)

Send these the moment you act, to every subscriber of the plan at the same time. Staggering the same call by tier or by channel gives some clients a better price than others. Each alert should state:

• the action (buy, sell, add, trim, exit) and the instrument with its NSE/BSE symbol;
• the entry or exit price range and, for a model portfolio, the target weight;
• a two- or three-line reason, with a link to the full report;
• stop-loss or review level where relevant, and the required disclosures.

2. Weekly update (fixed day)

A few hundred words on what moved the holdings, news on portfolio companies and events for the coming week, such as results or an RBI policy date. Send it on the same day every week.

3. Monthly review (first week of the month)

Month and year-to-date performance against your stated benchmark, what helped and what hurt, changes made and why. Use the same template each month so subscribers can compare. Our model portfolio metrics guide covers which numbers to show.

4. Quarterly review (written note or live session)

A deeper look at risk, drawdown, positioning and which theses are or are not playing out. Many RAs pair a written note with a recorded live session and keep the recording for subscribers who missed it.

What to say when markets fall

The biggest risk to a subscriber's result is often their own reaction during a sharp fall. Your job in those weeks is not to predict the next headline. It is to keep subscribers acting on the plan they signed up for.

Write before they message you

Send a short, calm note early in a volatile stretch, before subscribers start sending worried messages. It does not need a market call. It needs to show that you are watching.

A structure that works

1. Say what happened, plainly. "Markets fell this week on global news." No jargon.
2. Connect it to the plan, not the index. Remind them of the horizon and approach of the portfolio they hold.
3. Say what you are doing, including nothing. "We are not reacting to the headline. We rebalance on our schedule." Deliberate inaction, explained, reassures people.
4. Be honest about remaining risk. Say what you are watching and what would change your view.

Three things never to send

• A guarantee. "It will bounce back" is a promise you cannot keep and it breaches the no-assurance rule.
• A panic reaction. Promising to "get out before it falls further" trains subscribers to expect market timing.
• Silence. Subscribers fill the gap with fear, and many cancel at the next renewal.

A rules-based model portfolio makes this easier. When rebalancing is driven by targets and dated records, "we are sticking to the process" is a credible statement rather than a slogan.

Running portfolio reviews that subscribers value

For premium or one-to-one clients, a scheduled review is the most useful conversation you have. Quarterly suits most model-portfolio clients: monthly invites over-trading, annual is too sparse to catch drift. Book the next review at the end of each one, so reviews do not only happen after a fall.

Use the same agenda every time:

1. Restate the goal and the plan.
2. Performance against the right benchmark, over the quarter, the year and since start. A multi-cap portfolio should not be measured only against the Nifty 50.
3. Risk: the largest fall in the period and how the portfolio held up.
4. Attribution: which two or three calls drove the result, including the ones that did not work.
5. Rebalancing decisions, including what you chose not to change and why.
6. The client's concerns and any urge to act on recent news.
7. A dated written summary, sent within a day.

That written summary is also your record of the interaction. After a bad quarter, lead with the honest number, separate process from outcome, and explain what the plan says next.

Communication that keeps subscribers renewing

• Set expectations at onboarding. Explain the approach, typical holding period, how often you rebalance and that falls are normal. A subscriber who was told a 20% fall is possible handles one far better than a subscriber who expected a straight line.
• Remind before expiry, not after. Send a short summary of what the subscriber received, then renewal reminders in the weeks before the plan ends. WhatsApp reminders with a payment link are read far more often than email. See how to collect subscription payments as an RA.
• Give notice of fee changes. Tell existing subscribers well in advance and explain what has changed. Fees must stay within SEBI limits; see our guide to RA fee rules.
• Ask why people leave. A one-question message to subscribers who do not renew tells you more than any dashboard.

Complaints: acknowledge fast, resolve within SEBI timelines

Treat a complaint in a chat channel as a complaint, not a comment. Move it to a one-to-one channel, acknowledge it, investigate and respond in writing. Complaints lodged on SEBI's SCORES platform must be resolved, with an action taken report uploaded, within 21 calendar days. SEBI also requires RAs to publish complaint data on their website or app every month, by the 7th of the following month. Our guides cover handling complaints as an RA and the monthly complaint data format.

How AlphaQuark helps

AlphaQuark is built for this delivery model. Subscribers who pay are sent the invite to the Telegram group mapped to their plan, and expired subscribers are removed from it. Recommendations and model-portfolio rebalances go out as WhatsApp messages, app notifications and email from one place, and each one is stored as a dated advice record. Plan-expiry and payment reminders can go out on WhatsApp too, and the MITC e-sign and KYC steps happen before payment. You can run it all under your own brand with a white-label app and website. See the RA platform or pricing.