Women, being more risk-averse than men, are not drawn much towards equities or other risky financial instruments:
During the last 2 decades, Niyati Khandelwal, Head, Sales Trading & Institutional Equities at YES Securities, has had the privilege of working with top-notch financial institutions, both home-grown players and Wall Street majors. She began professional life as a service manager in a private client group. Subsequently, she moved to operations in a wall-street firm and eventually became a senior sales trader in Institutional equities in the same firm. Thanks to her career’s experiential learning, balancing work-life, meeting professional expectations alongside family responsibilities has become second nature to her.
Over the years, Niyati has relished the challenge of studying and analysing global cues, key trends, polity and policy triggers, market movements, and the financial performance of listed entities to offer actionable insights to seasoned and sophisticated investors. She manages the dealing room in YES Securities to provide best-in-class services to institutional investors, including execution and order flow management, system management, technical trading ideas, business strategy, and seamlessly aligning team goals with organizational goals.
Investment Disparity Higher
Although investment is a male-dominated sphere globally, the disparity is much higher in India. Niyati believes: “India is the 6th largest equity market globally, but when it comes to female participation, it sadly languishes close to the bottom. Women place a lot of importance on ‘safety capital’, and their investments are more into traditional products which deny high returns. Not surprisingly, our consumption of gold is the highest in the world. Moreover, women, being more risk-averse than men, are not drawn much towards equities or, for that matter, other risky financial instruments available in the market.”
Exploring Better Returns
It is noteworthy change that India’s traditional patriarchal society is slowly but surely transforming. Niyati points out: “A greater number of women have been ensured better access to quality education and updated information on the evolving world of finance and investments. Given the buoyancy of the stock markets, the growing number of women in employment and entrepreneurship, and better exposure to the world of investments, women are now increasingly exploring inflation-beating returns. The proportion of women equity investors has significantly increased in recent times, and most of them think long-term and are less susceptible to peer pressure and herd mentality.”
Literacy Campaign, Camps
There is also an acute need to run financial awareness and literacy campaigns for the benefit of young girls at the school and college levels. Niyati predicts: “Over time, more and more women will value the importance of generating better yields on their investments. In addition to this, the BFSI industry must also organize regular investor camps for women in tier 2 & 3 cities to make them aware of the whole spectrum of available investments opportunities. Being financially knowledgeable is like learning to drive. There may be some bumps and some close shaves, but the freedom it brings is exhilarating.”
SIP: A Great Way To Start
SIPs are a great way to start the investment voyage. Niyati feels: “Since the amount can be as little as Rs100, it will appeal to the younger women population.” As an investor, she religiously follows an asset allocation model primarily focused on MFs & bonds as an investor. Niyati adds: “For the long term, my mantra has invariably been SIPs.”
Hard Work Speaks, Pays Off
According to the LinkedIn Opportunity Index 2021, women in India have endured a greater impact of gender disparity on career development if compared with those of the APAC region. Over 4 out of 5 working women (85%) in India have faced gender bias at the workplace with respect to increments, promotions, or job offers.
Niyati recounts her own experience: “In my case, I have been in situations where I was the sole woman at conferences and client meetings. Consequently, I would not get heard enough, which in turn constricted my window of opportunities. Needless to say, it was not intentional, but the very fact that it was seen as something obvious or natural was indeed sad. Nevertheless, I never let this hard fact of life dilute my conviction or push me towards self-doubt; rather, it has made me even more tenacious and persistent. Experience has taught me that consistent hard work speaks for itself and eventually pays off. I strongly believe in the golden virtues of patience, persistence and perseverance. Despite all odds, it is very important to stay calm, goal-driven, and solution-centric.”
