My Investment Mantra

Arundhati Bhattacharya,

Chairperson & CEO, Salesforce India

Arundhati Bhattacharya opened a PPF account when she joined SBI at 21. She believes in sticking to instruments she understands and so stays away from crytpos and NFTs; she has bought gold NFTs, though. She believes women should focus on regular returns while deciding long-term strategy. While high expectations lead to excessive risk-taking, too much caution delivers poor returns, she cautions.

Top three investment areas/instruments

There is no top three. I believe in building a diversified portfolio. Due to age, my risk appetite has come down, so has my ability to withstand illiquidity. I aim for regular reasonable returns.

Best investment advice

Probably the same as everyone else — don’t forget inflation and taxes while taking investment decisions.

Advice to women on managing finances

Do it yourself. Use advisors if you don’t have time or need help but be involved. Don’t blindly hand over money to someone else to manage. Be realistic about how much risk you can take, but don’t be so afraid that you take no risk at.

Daisy Chittilapilly,

President , Cisco India and South Asia

Her financial literacy started in early teens with parents familiarising her with the banking system. She started investing, mainly for tax saving, after she started earning. Her first investments were LIC policies and post office savings. She calls herself a moderate- to low-risk investor with exposure to time-tested assets such as large-cap stocks, real estate, PF and FDs. She believes both women and men should be financially independent. Among new-age instruments, she has digital gold but stays away from cryptos and NFTs due to regulatory ambiguity.

Top three investment areas/instruments

Stocks/mutual funds, real estate and PF.

Best investment advice

Very early on in my career, one of the leaders said you must buy your first house before 30 and second one before you are 35. When I bought my first house at 20, it was a good thing to do, because I realised I was squandering away a lot of my salary. So, it increased my savings. I don’t know if it’s the best advice somebody can get now but it was good for me then.

Advice to women on managing finances

One thing I find difficult to accept is that women know how to manage their careers but delegate money management to husbands, fathers or brothers. Of course, advice from every quarter is good, but women should know where their money is and what it is up to.

Radhika Gupta,

MD & CEO, Edelweiss

Radhika’s mother and grandmother taught her the importance of financial independence early in life. Her investment journey started a year after she started earning in the U.S.; she put money in U.S. equity mutual funds and international funds. She took to Indian mutual funds after moving back to India in 2009. Her guiding principles are — being conservative with debt, diversification, keeping it simple, investing regularly and enjoying the money while not ignoring the importance of saving. Among new-age instruments, she prefers to keep a safe distance from cryptocurrencies due to lack of clarity on regulation.

Top three investment areas/instruments

Majority of my investments, apart from primary home, are in MFs. I believe MFs offer a wide array of options, including domestic equity, global and balanced funds.

Best investment advice

Be aggressive enough in business that you don’t sleep during the day but conservative enough that you don’t have sleepless nights.

Advice to women on managing finances

Be financially independent; learn to invest early, it is a life skill; invest based on goals.

(Edelweiss is a fund house)

Rekha Menon,

Former chairperson and senior MD, Accenture in India

Menon started investing early due to parents’ encouragement. She put money from parents and relatives into a bank account or fixed deposits. Once she started earning, she set aside a certain sum every month and started dabbling in equities. Her investment strategy is determined by “need and purpose” at different life stages. She takes a long-term view and believes due diligence saves burn when markets correct. She steers clear of day trading or shorting. She has exposure to digital exchange-traded funds (ETFs) but other new-age assets such as cryptos and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are a strict no-no.

Top three investment areas/instruments

A majority of my money is in direct equities that I have studied and know well. It is for the long term. I have also invested in mutual funds, alternative investment funds and some in LLP and angel investing.

Best investment advice

I follow Warren Buffett’s advice, which is to think long term. Also, think about your risk appetite. Be clear what you are investing for.

Advice to women on managing finances

I would ask women to invest and be financially literate. I’m surprised at how many of them outsource that to some male in the family. Take charge of your life and career and be responsible for your own finances.

Ritu Gangrade Arora,

CEO & chief investment officer, Asia-Pacific,

Allianz Investment Management

Arora started investing as soon as she started earning. She used to save nearly half of her salary. Time spent in the market is more important than timing the market, she says. She believes in having a diversified portfolio through funds and asset classes with low correlation. Among digital assets, while she has gold, she is not keen on crypto, as the market is still immature. For women, the starting point should be an emergency fund, followed by saving for long-term goals, she says.

Top three investment areas/instruments

Diversified high-quality equities. Properties I can live in and at the same time benefit from appreciation. Government bonds, especially through tax-shielded structures such as PF, VPF, etc.

Best investment advice

Start early and take measured risks. Track your investments regularly and make dispassionate decisions.

Advice to women on managing finances

Be independent. Take control of your financial journey. Think of long-term goals and risk appetite. Have a plan and milestones. Track them and celebrate successes on the way.

Sandhya Devanathan,

Vice President and Head, India, Meta

A champion for inclusion in the workplace, Devanathan wants to empower other women rise in corporate careers.

Top three investment areas/instruments

One piece of advice I got was that there’s no wrong time to buy a home you want to live in. That’s a big chunk of our savings as a family. I am also a big believer in my company, so Meta stocks are another area where I am deeply invested in. And last would be gold, which I have built over the years, both digital and physical. Percentage of portfolio devoted to digital assets is only about 3%.

Best investment advice

I wish I had learnt this lot earlier; this is also something I would tell my younger self — please invest early on. My investment mantra would be low risk and slow and steady returns.

Advice to women on managing finances

Start early. Be informed. This is your money and you should figure out how you multiply it. As much attention as we pay to our careers and personal lives, we should give that much to achieving financial independence as well and making money work harder for you.

Upasana Taku,

Co-founder, MobiKwik

Upasana’s parents introduced her to banks and financial system when she was in her teens. She used to put money received as prize, scholarship and gifts from relatives in the bank. Hence, she started taking investment seriously during her student days in the U.S., saving nearly 25-50% of her stipend of $2,000 when she was 21-22 in risk-free fixed deposits and high-yielding digital FDs. She believes one’s investment strategy should depend on life stage and disposable income, though she thinks diversification is important.

Top three investment areas/instruments

An extremely high portion of my assets is in equities, mostly Indian, and a very large portion of that in my own company, MobiKwik. I also have a good amount in equities of Internet companies. I also have a good chunk of liquid money in money market funds, arbitrage funds and real estate.

Best investment advice

It’s important to invest, and invest yourself. Evaluate your portfolio regularly. Even if you have a high school education, you are smart enough to invest in different instruments. Don’t let anyone tell you how to invest your money. Take personal responsibility for it.

Advice to women on managing finances

Take control. A single problem I have found in many situations is dependence on parents, siblings, boyfriends and husbands for managing money. If you can earn and spend, you can invest, too.

(As told to Rukmini Rao, Urvashi Mishra and Rajiv Ranjan Singh)