IT training outlook money TruePDF march 2019

40 When Small is Big The number of investments that you can make with only `5,000 in your kitty 46 ULIPs Becoming the New Rage Breaking away from the traditional methods, the new-age ULI

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www.outlookmoney.com March 2019 Outlook Money 3

ContentsMarch 2019 ■ VoluMe 18 ■ Issue 3

Head Office AB-10, S.J Enclave, New Delhi 110 029; Tel: (011) 33505500, Fax: (011) 26191420 OtHer Offices Bangalore: (080) 43715021

Kolkata: (033) 46004506, Fax: (033) 46004506; Chennai: (044) 42615225, 42615224; Fax: (044) 42615095; Mumbai: (022) 33545000,

Fax: (022) 33545100 Printed and published by Vinayak Aggarwal on behalf of Outlook Publishing (India) Pvt Ltd Editor: Arindam Mukherjee

Printed at Kalajyothi Process Pvt Ltd., Plot No W-17 & W-18, MIDC, Taloja - 410208, Navi Mumbai and published from AB-10 Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi 110029

For Subscription queries, please call: 011-33505562, 33505500 or email: yourhelpline@outlookmoney.com Published for the month of March 2019; Release on 1 March 2019 Total no of pages 94 Outlook Money does not accept responsibility for any investment decision taken by readers on the basis of information provided herein

The objective is to keep readers better informed and help them decide for themselves.

Regulars

8 Talk Back 12 News Roll 16 Queries 92 Dear Editor

Cover Design: praveen kumar.g

GoldReal Estate

Mutual Funds

Retirement

taking charge of their finances

pg 21

FemmeS and their Financial cruiSeS

RM Vishakha, Dilshad Billimoria, Anju Chhajer, Deena Mehta and Cicilia Chettiar

Columns

38 Filling the Void

With a generation gap prevailing, the finance world

awaits its next gen women leaders to fill in

40 When Small is Big

The number of investments that you can make with

only `5,000 in your kitty

46 ULIPs Becoming the New Rage

Breaking away from the traditional methods, the

new-age ULIP is the talk of the town

50 Empowering Women The Right Way

It is important to know and be capable of making

investment decisions to be truly independent

54 Smart Money Decisions

Women are picking pace in making better financial calls than their spouse

60 It’s Large Cap All The Way

The best investment choices for the poll year

66 Perils That Come With Your Credit Cards

Precautions we should take while using our credit and debit cards

Indian Fiscal Federalism

Choosing the Right Financial Planner

It is a pleasure for me to be the

guest editor for the women’s

special issue of Outlook Money,

which has so effectively focussed on personal finance

I think there is an interesting contradiction that I see time and again in India On one hand, everyone will acknowledge the astuteness with which the women in their lives have handled money - the mother who made sure that family budgets were extended, the wife who wisely saved part of her monthly kitty and

so on And yet, when it comes to managing savings “formally” through deposits, equity or mutual funds, we realise that this is largely done by the man of the house Often, this is put down that women are not aware of

or able to understand the A,B,C of such finances And this fact is also supported by a lot of women, who often say that they can’t deal with these esoteric decisions

This becomes particularly poignant when often a woman survives her partner and suddenly finds herself having

to take charge of her family’s financial life

of which she knows nothing

The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day, observed every year on March 8, is “Think equal, build smart, innovate for change”

I think we should take this opportunity to talk about how women can smartly take charge of their financial lives

Two simple things can make this change happen

First, women should be confident that they can easily take charge

of their finances All of us, in the financial savings ecosystem, need

to reach out to such women and handhold them as they bring their natural instincts of focus, discipline, savings and goal orientation into developing their understanding of

basic, but important, financial investment tools Why can’t the kitchen jar for monthly savings

be replaced by a systematic investment plan or bank deposit, which will allow the money

to grow rather than merely accumulate?

How can we make this journey easy? How can we create more understanding about our finances? How can we more easily create access?

Second, men should think of women as more equal partners in their financial lives as well To keep them updated about the financial health of the family and especially

to ensure that legacies are passed

on smoothly

The future is looking bright from where I stand There are a number of women who are making their mark in various fields - be

it finance, technology, medicine, politics and sports In personal finance itself, we are seeing

a growing number of women financial advisors

As the Indian woman takes charge of her financial saving, we could pretty much see a doubling

of investors who can create wealth for themselves and their families With the same care, focus and discipline that is the hallmark of how they have managed family budgets for so many years

To the women reading this, I

am sure this issue will help you in many actionable financial aspects

of your life like spending, saving, and investing wisely So go ahead, and make the most of it! Take that next step!

And to the men, I would say, share this issue with the woman

in your life And help her take that next step as well

Celebrating Womanhood

Betting on large caps

Building a new portfolio this

poll year? Focus on large caps

Shilpa Kumar

MD and CEO, ICICI Securities

Letters must be addressed to: The Editor, Outlook Money, AB-10, Safdarjung Enclave,

New Delhi 110029, or letters@outlookmoney.com Please mention your full name and residential address.

Editor Arindam Mukherjee

EquitiEs and MarkEts Editor

assistant Copy Editor

art

Praveen Kumar G, Vinay Dominic (Senior Designers) Rohit Kumar Rai (Designer) Girish Chand (DTP Operator)

assistant viCE prEsidEnt

Tushar Kanti Ghosh

national hEad

Santosh Nair

AssOciAte MANAGeR (iNteGRAted sOlutiONs)

Vijay Kasbe circulation & subscriptions Raj Kumar Mitra, Anindya Banerjee Vinod Kumar (North), G Ramesh (South)

Arun Kumar Jha (East) Shekhar Suvarna Production

assistant gEnEral ManagEr

Diwan Singh Bisht

CoMpany sECrEtary & law offiCEr

Ankit Mangal

I have been reading

Outlook Money

magazine for a while

now This time as well

the cover story read

different from the

previous issues It is

always interesting to

read about behind the

scene stories of famous

companies, as they

provide one with much motivation To be honest, the topic was

fresh and was written beautifully, managing to keep readers

engaged throughout Awaiting the next issue!

Shikha Mirchandani, Bengaluru

A Pedigree For Readers

FORM IV (See rule 8)

OUTLOOK MONEY

1 Place of Publication New Delhi

2 Periodicity of Publication Monthly

3 Printer’s Name Vinayak Aggarwal

Whether Citizen of India ? Yes

(If foreigner, state the country

of origin) Not Applicable

Address AB-10, Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi - 110 029

4 Publisher’s Name Vinayak Aggarwal

Whether Citizen of India ? Yes

(If foreigner, state the country

of origin ) Not Applicable

Address AB-10, Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi - 110 029

5 Editor’s Name Arindam Mukherjee

Whether Citizen of India ? Yes

(If foreigner, state the country

of origin )

Not Applicable Address AB-10, Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi - 110 029

6 Name and addresses of

Individuals who own the

newspaper and the partners of

shareholders holding more

than one per cent of the

total capital

OWNER

Outlook Publishing (India) Private Limited Windsor, 7th Floor, CST Road, Kalina Santacruz (East), Mumbai 400 098

SHAREHOLDERS

1 Varahagiri Investments & Finance Pvt Ltd.

RAHEJAS, Corner of Main Avenue & V.P Road, Santacruz(West), Mumbai-400 054.

2 Manali Investments & Finance Pvt Ltd.

RAHEJAS, Corner of Main Avenue & V.P Road, Santacruz(West), Mumbai-400 054.

3 Matsyagandha Investments & Finance Pvt Ltd.

RAHEJAS, Corner of Main Avenue & V.P Road, Santacruz(West), Mumbai-400 054.

4 Bloomingdale Investments & Finance Pvt Ltd.

RAHEJAS, Corner of Main Avenue & V.P Road, Santacruz(West), Mumbai-400 054.

5 Coronet Investments Pvt Ltd.

RAHEJAS, Corner of Main Avenue & V.P Road, Santacruz(West), Mumbai-400 054.

I, Vinayak Aggarwal, hereby declare that the particulars given are true to the best of my knowledge and belief

Dated: 28 February 2019

sd/-Vinayak Aggarwal PUBLISHER

and interesting read, which at the same time carried some useful information about the importance

of investing money at the right

time Thank you Outlook Money for

sharing such great content

M Mukherjee,Durgapur, WB

I have been reading Outlook Money

for quite a while now, and since the last two editions the Dear Editor page has come across like a breath

of fresh air It is quite a relief to read this page, as it is a light read and gives a well-deserved break from the heavier contents

Puneet Dahiya, Delhi

Apps Save From Investment Distress

The Tech page in the February issue

of Outlook Money magazine was

the most appealing It is one page that comes up with a variety of topics, each equally interesting than the previous This time the page spoke of the apps that can help us

to manage our finances better To

be honest given the work load, such apps are literally a life saver!

Piyush Gaur, Indore

Better Safe

Than Sorry

The piece on Mutual Funds really

attracted me in this edition of

Outlook Money I could relate to

some of the mistakes that I have

committed in the past regarding

the same Thankfully the piece has

highlighted the points that can

guide a layman to the correct path

of investing in mutual funds Thank

you Outlook Money for such a

lovely piece!

Sanaa Ahmed,Patna

The piece on Mutual funds was

a rather pleasant read in the

February issue of the Outlook

Money It helped me to chalk out

my investment plans in the mutual

fund segment, carefully avoiding

the hindrances mentioned Looking

forward to more such articles!

Nimrat Kaul, Chandigarh

Early Investment

Awareness

I have been reading Outlook Money

for nearly two years now and I

must say that of late there has been

a drastic change in the magazine

content I feel that the stories have

become more informative and

analytical In the last issue of the

magazine I thoroughly enjoyed

reading the new column titled Dear

Editor The column featuring Adhil

Shetty made for a light-hearted

Gold To The Rescue!

Your thought-provoking and catching story “Sheen Intact: Gold still a Good investment Bet” (Feb’19) gives a loud and clear message to the Indians that in bad times, it is gold, hoarded and accumulated bit by bit over decades, which is the saviour Investors all over the world do tend

eye-to consider gold a safe option and put their money in it Every year, one-fifth

of world’s gold is consumed in India Today, most Indian women do not have much of a say in the investment the husband makes in stocks and shares, bank deposits or real estate

Gold grants social and financial security to women It is said that next to the husband, a woman always loves her jewellery the most, and, in some cases, it is dearer to her than her husband Our traditions too have laid emphasis on gold as a symbol

of prosperity Experience shows that

if one wishes to invest in gold, it is always better to buy gold or biscuits rather than jewellery

Vinod C Dixit, Ahmedabad

Gold still a good investment bet I bet

is a surprise to me and many more But the author has drummed up quiet supporting arguments that one would have to believe that it is true However, Gold in India is available more as ornament and that does not help when one has to cash it Further the quality of Gold

is critical and it differs across the country, so is the value The author has missed this point

S.Badrinaraynan,Delhi

SGI Devices A Unique

Insurance Product

developing an insurance product, targeted to be

launched later in 2019 that will help customers to

bundle all general insurance policies with one date

of expiry

“This is one product that is not available in the

industry…we hope to make it lucrative,” Neeraj

Prakash, MD of Jaipur headquartered Shriram General

Insurance Company Ltd told OutlookMoney

This is targeted at working person(s), with a house,

car(s), two wheeler(s), personal accident insurance,

have five to six insurance policies with different date of

expiry The company is in the process of collecting data

on such prospective customers A number of variables

have to be synced, like the geography, age of the person,

occupation and others

It is also now taking a “strategic bet” through

investments in retail drive, to help increase the

insurance awareness and penetration amongst ‘C’ and

‘D’ class cities with plans to open 50 new branches

in next 2019-20 In these cities SGI’s focus will be on

selling Two Wheeler, Commercial Vehicle and Business Protector (for tiny units and shops) products

Post this expansion, the company expects 25 per cent

of its revenue to come from “C” and “D” class cities from the financial year 2019-20 Most of this expansion will happen in eastern India, Gujarat and Maharashtra SGI is focused to increase its current agency force

of 17000 IRDA registered agents to 25,000 by end of the Financial Year 2019-20 But the retail drive also includes sensitizing people on the importance of taking insurance “The temple fire in Kerala last year and other natural calamities like that in Uttrakhand has resulted in more awareness about general insurance and we expect a spurt in this, with more education and sensitizing programs,” said Prakash

M Rajendran

pioneering policy Trip Protector policy on

February 19, to financially safeguard travellers against

the cost of cancellation levied by hotels or airlines

Anurag Rastogi, Member of Executive

Management, HDFC ERGO General Insurance said,

“Customer satisfaction is of paramount importance

and looking to provide innovative solutions, in

alignment with our customers’ ever-evolving needs

HDFC ERGO Launches Trip Protector Policy

Sensing this gap, the trip protector insurance policy will allow travellers to book their airline tickets and hotels, carefree in advance The policy also refunds cost incurred towards visa, over and above the hotel and flight booking charges in the event of cancellation for any reason.”

In an unfortunate situation, the policy will provide

a cover against cancellation of a pre-booked room, in case they are refused accommodation on arriving at the hotel due to overbooking for domestic as well as international travel

The Trip Protector insurance policy will enable travellers to buy refundable or non-refundable tickets The refundable tickets covered by the policy will ensure that the end customer incurs no additional expenses, in the unfortunate event of a cancellation This policy, however, is not applicable in case the flight or the hotel cancels in its own accord The policy is an all risk policy where ticket cancellation by customers, due to any reason, will be covered

Nirmala Konjengbam

Max Life Insurance Unveils

India Protection Quotient

Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) data shows, the mutual fund industry’s total average assets under management (AAUM) witnessed a 1.42 per cent month-on-month growth to `24.43 lakh crore

Of which, 15 per cent of the assets

of the mutual fund industry came from B30 locations in January 2015 B30 (beyond top 30 cities) are the country’s smaller towns In 2017, SEBI had asked the fund houses to re-classify their cities for additional total expense ratio (TER), which came into effect from FY’18 Now top 15 (T15) and beyond top

15 (B15) has been changed to T30 and B30, where T30 refers to top 30 geographical locations in India and B30 indicates 30 cities beyond T30

As per AMFI, the assets from B30 locations have increased from `3.63 lakh crore in December 2018 to

`3.67 lakh crore in January 2019 The rate of increase in assets for B30 locations witnessed a mere one per cent growth It was also seen that B30 locations contributed more towards equity assets 64 per cent of the assets from B30 locations are in equity schemes in January 2019 and December 2018 respectively

However AMFI noted that the higher concentration in debt in T30 locations is due to the presence of institutions in this segment As per the ICRA monthly research report, Maharashtra continues to be the biggest contributor (40.66 per cent) Notably, AAUM contribution from Maharashtra is `9.97 lakh crore with Equity schemes constituting 25.26 per cent of the assets in January 2019 Out of 37 states and Union territories, 15 had more than

50 per cent assets in Equity schemes, shows AMFI data for January 2019

Himali Patel

feel grossly under-prepared to face the financial instability

caused by eventualities of life India Protection Quotient (IPQ) is a

survey conducted by Max Life and Kantar IMRB that employs a

three dimensional approach to determining policyholders’ level of

protection, by evaluating their life insurance ownership, awareness

levels and mental preparedness around protection The survey

conducted stated, urban India scored 35 out of 100

Prashant Tripathy, Managing Director and CEO, Max Life

Insurance said, “The survey reveals some interesting and startling

findings about the state of protection in the country as well as the

attitudes, behaviours and apprehensions that people have around

life insurance Term Insurance, despite being the most

fundamental and cheapest form of financial protection, still lacks a

significant uptake in urban India There is an urgent need for

Indians to understand the true value of protecting one’s family

from the uncertainties of life We hope the results of this study, act

as a wake-up call for consumers and the industry at large and help

increase financial protection in the country.”

The survey was administered to 4,566 respondents of different

demographics and age groups across 15 Indian metropolitan and

Tier I cities It primarily measured their level of knowledge and

ownership of various life insurance products, degree of term

insurance preference and penetration, primary fears and triggers to

life insurance purchase, preferred channel of policy purchase,

roadblocks to owning life insurance that served to validate the

overall IPQ level pegged at a poor 35

Soumya Mohanty, Chief Client Officer, Kantar IMRB, said, “The

India Protection Quotient is a survey that has uncovered some

deep insights on the attitudes, preferences, challenges and

concerns of urban Indians towards life insurance and protection

In a country that is evolving each day, the research specifically

focuses on demographic and geographic cohorts such as

millennials, women and youth, that reflect how various members

of society approach protection.”

Smita Nag

Average AUM grew 1.42 per cent in Jan

ViViyan, Tamilnadu

i am working in a small-scale company,

there are no deductions, my annual income

is `2.4 lakh i need a home loan They are

asking for Form 16 Kindly suggest

Form 16 is equivalent to TDS certificate (now issued

from Online downloaded file) in case of TDS deducted

from Salary But presuming that no TDS was deducted

by your employer he is not legally bound to issue you

Form 16 However, he can help you by issuing manual

Form 16 with NIL Tax Deduction

To get Home Loan alternative, you can submit

Income Tax Returns (ITR) of previous years We here

presume that you have not filed any ITR for previous

years So you can file ITR for FY 2017-18 before March

31, 2019 and for FY 2018-19 you can file second ITR

after April 2019

Subrata Mondal ,

Executive Vice President, IFFCO Tokio General Insurance Company

Dilip yaDaV, dilipyadav4u@gmail.com

Hi, i wish to invest `50 lakh for a period of

10 years to meet expenses related to my

son’s higher education The Relationship

Manager for my bank has suggested

putting this amount in fixed deposit

with “Monthly interest income” from

fixed deposits invested as Sip across a

number of mutual funds please suggest

alternatives and options so that i make

the best use of this amount and time look

forward to your response Thank you

The proposal from your banker seems to

be a fair one The only pain point would be

the tax aspect of the interest income If

we look at the basic numbers associated

with this option, post tax monthly income

from the fixed deposit would be around

`21,000(assuming seven per cent fixed

deposit interest and 30 per cent tax on

interest earned at marginal rate) This

amount if invested monthly over 10 years

can generate a corpus of `43 lakh assuming

10 per cent annualised return from equity

SIP This along with the `50 lakh capital

might result in a terminal value of 93 lakh

after 10 years

Now let us consider another option of parking the money in a short-term debt fund and doing a systematic transfer into an equity fund on monthly basis The benefit of this option will start after three years, since the interest income will qualify for indexation then, till the end of investment tenure Hence your tax burden will be substantially low or even negligible The pain point here is the NAV fluctuation on invested capital Since debt funds are subject to market volatility, Corpus will keep on fluctuate

If you can take more risk, you can save on tax and possibly earn better returns

PMS is better than investing directly in shares if you don’t have expertise and time to study n select shares Investing directly into equity requires knowledge and information for good investing experience and you should be willing to learn the art otherwise outsource the same to fund managers

PMS should be chosen over Mutual funds only after having met your financial goals PMS is more risky and less tax efficient than mutual funds as they run concen-trated risk.It’s advisable to keep a time horizon of five years + to invest in equity

Neeraj Chauhan,

CEO, The Financial Mall

Carving A Path For Higher Education

Focal Point

While two third of urban India

owns life insurance, the awareness

surrounding term insurance and its

benefits is unusually low can you list

out the benefits of a term insurance

and why it’s important that everyone

has one?

Two third of urban India owning life

insurance policies is a reasonably positive

figure The irony is that ownership of life

insurance policies does not necessarily

translate into a sense of financial protection

As per the recently conducted consumer

survey in urban India, India Protection

Quotient, a composite measure of how

protected the consumers feel and how

much protection they own, is just 35 India

continues to feel under protected due to

low awareness levels with regards to term

insurance, evident in its poor uptake of 21%

A term insurance is the most

fundamental form of life insurance that

‘Life and heaLth cover shouLd form the foundation for every financiaL pLan’

provides protection to the family of the life insured in case of his/her demise It

is the cheapest and most effective way of ensuring that the future of your loved ones

is protected even after you are gone

Do you find similar trends for women

or are they worse off?

The findings of our survey do indicate that life insurance and term insurance ownership among women is lesser as compared to males 59% of women own life insurance policies as against 68% men in metros, whereas the percentage of term plans ownership is 19% and 22% respectively

Additionally, while 83% of working men own life insurance policies, only 70% of working women are life insurance owners

Having said that, it is interesting to also note that this particular trend is directly related to working women’s primary savings objectives A predominant percentage of (67%) women said they save for their kids’

education and about a half (47%) said they save for their kids’ marriage There is hence a remarkably high preference for savings plan (46%) as compared to other life insurance products like term plan (37%) and market linked plan (17%)

Urban millennials of today seem to be more focused on spending on material pleasures such as travel, cars, etc they

do not consider savings or buying life insurance seriously According to you, what is the ideal age to buy insurance?

What does the first-time insurance buyer need to look out for?

The saving objectives of Indian millennials are usually led by luxury indulgences such

as buying a car, house, holiday, etc while financial protection ranks lower on their list

of priorities While 45% of urban millennials are aware of term insurance, just 19% own it

One must ideally buy a life insurance policy the moment one is financially independent though, the earlier the better

Life and health cover should form the foundation for every financial plan Hence, one must buy term insurance as early as

Mr Prashant Tripathy,

Managing Director and CEO,

Max Life Insurance, explains why it’s

important for every Indian to understand

the importance of a term insurance plan

and how it can go a long way in ensuring

complete protection for one’s family.

possible The foremost question one must ask is if someone depends on you financially This simple question then determines various considerations such as need, amount of cover, duration of cover, etc.

In India, discussing death is still considered taboo Do you feel this has

a role to play in people’s resistance to buying term insurance?

Unfortunately, the country’s cultural attitude at large is still undergoing transformation In India, talking about death is still a taboo and almost 20% of educated Indians across metros believe that they are immune to such tragedy There is also a strong belief that God would watch over them if an unfortunate incident were

to occur However, other barriers like existence of other investment products, misconception that since they aren’t the breadwinner, they don’t need a term insurance, etc are also at play

How do you ensure Max Life Insurance stays ahead in the game?

Max Life Insurance is a company which is known to bring robust business strategy, thought leadership and culture to the center-stage

Ensuring financial protection to our customers is at the heart of our business and

we continue to build trust among them by strengthening our product mix, simplifying our offerings, and addressing their rapidly transforming needs by innovating in a manner that elevates customer experience

in the life insurance space India Protection Quotient is an effort in this direction to know more about life insurance consumers’ perceptions about protection and educate them and our sellers about the need for protection Our commitment is evident

in our Claims paid ratio of 98.26% (as per IRDAI Annual report 2017-18) and persistency ratio figures

Additionally, we also ensure that we nurture solid relationships with all our partners who play a significant role in leveraging our business capabilities

GuRuRaj S KulKaRni, gururajskulkarni68@gmail.com

i am a 50-year-old banker, getting `72,000

salary What will be my pension and

commutation amount?

As the break up of Salary is not provided we are

pre-suming the break up as follows:

Other Taxable Allowances: 9000 (with no retirement

benefit)

Note: We assumed that he will retire as age of 60 years

Your target retirement income or pension would be:

50 per cent of Basic Salary: 18,000

0 per cent of Other Taxable Allowances: 0

Total Pension: 22,500

Note: As we don’t know your grade we are unable to

calculate your pension as per “Government Service

Rules” (GSR)

CA Abhishek Raja,

Founder and Promoter, GST Panacea

Manish, Delhi

Could you share some good investment

plan? i want `30 lakh in the next 10 year

You can achieve your goal by investing in equity mutual

funds Start SIP in large and mid-cap fund or multi-cap

fund to meet the target Some good schemes in the

category are Invesco Contra fund, Mirae Asset

Emerging Bluechip fund Discipline of continuous

investing would be key to your success

Neeraj Chauhan,

CEO, The Financial Mall

Manju, Tumkur

is it the best time to buy india bulls housing

finance now or not?

Currently the housing finance industry is going

through some stress Hence exposure to this sector

The stock was beaten down completely in the near term

on account of various corporate governance issues

sur-rounding the company Since the company is still not

out of the woods yet, investing with an objective to earn

profit may not play out in the short term Thus, looking

at the prevailing sell-off in the space and issues relating

to corporate governance, we would advise you to stay away from the stocks

Jeevan Kumar KC ,

Head - Investment Advisory at Geojit Financial Services

RajiV uTTanKaR rajiv_uttankar@yahoo.com

please suggest two good Sip schemes to invest for long-term

You can consider to start SIPs in any of the leading funds like ABSL frontline Equity, Reliance Large and Multi cap, ICICI Prudential Value Discovery and SBI multi cap funds for long-term investments

to cover my property?

Since you have leased out your apartment, you should go for a fire and allied perils policy that covers the building for any structural damage

You should go for a fire policy with STFI (storm, tempest, flood, and inundation) and earthquake coverage In case it is the furnished house, you can go for a home insurance policy so that contents

of the house too can be covered along with other preferred options of a home package policy

Subrata Mondal ,

Executive Vice President, IFFCO Tokio General Insurance

Presented by

Indian women are making

headway as smart investors

‘SHE’ROES OF FINANCIAL

INVESTMENTS

Breaking away from stereotypes

Spearheading investment decisions Investing in risk-friendly financial tools Smartly managing money

Garden of eden eves in the

Bank Deposit

Gold

Mutual Funds Growth

Business

SIP Market

Budget

Indian women are making headway as smart investors

Presented By

Men are financial hotheads who

like risk, and women are cautious

and want security — that’s the

standard cliché Or to rephrase the title of a

bestseller, “men buy shares from Mars and

women have a savings account in Venus.”

However, this very idea is turned upside

down in the 1996 Hollywood flick The

Associate The protagonist, essayed by

Whoopi Goldberg, is a financial analyst at

Wall Street who quickly climbs her way up

Though her upward journey is fraught with

tribulations, the way she handles the stock

markets and eventually ends up creating

a business empire dealing in finances is

captured remarkably

Fast forward to 2019, with focus on the

Indian scenario, many women, especially the

younger generation is walking the path taken

by Goldberg’s character While they might

not be creating empires like her, but they are

definitely making a mark in the domain of

financial investments Though they continue

to retain their traditional strengths such as

meticulous planning and long-term vision in

terms of financial investments, they have also

started investing in riskier tools

Needless to say, they are being successful

in most of their fiscal endeavours According

to a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) report, the

share of females in total credit and aggregate

deposits of individuals increased further to

20.4 per cent and 32.8 per cent, respectively,

in March 2018 from 19.3 per cent and 32.0

per cent a year ago

Top metro cities, which had less than 20

per cent of branches, accounted for nearly 52

per cent of total deposits and 64 per cent of

bank credit, stated the RBI report

It is no surprise, that with the changing

investment patterns of women, banks

and financial institutions are increasingly

competing with each other to introduce

innovative products in order to address the

diversified needs of women, hailing from

all walks of life; be it the urban working woman, the homemaker, the semi-urban entrepreneur or the rural self-help group member, pointed out Securities Exchange Board of India in a note It further alluded

to the fact that women-centric financial products are more than just mere marketing gimmicks

Financial organisations have identified the special needs of women and are accordingly catering to these needs by way of specialised products Many women have started taking benefits of this in their financial planning

“I always prepare a mock Form 16 when I receive my revised salary This document gives me a rough idea of the additional amount that I can save or invest for the year, after taking into account the existing investments and liabilities; The additional amount is then, after research and consultation, diversified into different investment instruments,” said Evana Bhattacharjee, 34, a communications professional based out of Gurugram

By Aparajita Gupta, Sampurna Majumder,

Himali Patel, Anagh Pal

Financial independence at all stages of life, which includes owning one house

Enough money to be able to take a break or retire early

Children’s education, their future Medical expenses

Vacations

Women usually focus on safety of

capital Most of them believe that

‘safety of capital with safe returns’ will help them achieve their financial goals

Very few women target to multiply the money with no goal Most prominent goals that feature on their list are:

tend to chase goals than focusing on returns Kiran Telang, certified financial planner

and author of Mindful Retirement, stated

women tend to focus on goal achievement more, rather than returns Most of them aspire to achieve major targets like children’s higher education and marriage and even retirement “Hence, they tend to focus more on goal achievement,” said Telang

She further stated that, having been rooted

in traditional form of investments, women normally get attracted to stable investment tools such as fixed deposits (FD), recurring deposits (RD), post office schemes and of course gold However, modern women have

There’s always a tussle between how much to spend and how much to save How do you strike a balance?

Well I think in my case this was never a tussle when I look back Given the

fact that we came from a regular service class background, budgeting was always part of our DNA My parents were always very open and forthright with

us when it came to household income so we had a fair idea of how much it costs

to run and maintain a household As a family we prioritised spending too

As far as striking a balance goes here are a few principles I live by:

A I live by the motto - Live within your means I don’t spend frivolously on fancy

labels just because it’s a brand that everyone flaunts or is talking about There are no Jimmy Choos, Guccis or Pradas in my closet I’d like to call myself

a value-shopper which actually makes the job of saving much easier simply because money has not been wasted on unnecessary or overly expensive things! I am not someone who tries to catch up with the joneses be it with lifestyle of materialistic belongings

B Whenever I have had extra money at hand, I’ve always locked it away in some instrument or bought gold apart from regular annual tax savings (section 80C) investments we all need to make

C While I don’t have a fixed percentage of savings versus spending, I ensure

I don’t eat into my capital or break FDs unnecessarily I maintain two accounts one which you can call a reserve fund, just so that I have liquid cash in case of emergencies Second account is what I call ‘my world’ - this

is my salary account and my spending is based on the income that comes

in here I am aware of my account balance and therefore spend judiciously

D Discipline: I’m hugely disciplined and practical when it comes to spending and therefore have never had the problem of debt or bankruptcy in my life - touchwood!

E I don’t use credit cards anymore Debit cards give me a reality check each time I swipe it and that works wonderfully for me

name: Shonali Advani

age: 37 years

Location: Bengaluru

She represents the new age woman, who knows the importance of multiplying wealth while taking care of immediate financial goals

“They know the difference between their needs and wants,” said Heina Shah, Founder, Luhem Financial Planners

However, women tend to follow a particular pattern when it comes to financial investments

Despite the riskier tools that they are choosing

to invest in nowadays, their approach towards investment remains more disciplined and methodical Perhaps the biggest benefit that women investors have is their ability to block out market noises Financial planners are of the opinion that women are more disciplined and

succeeded in aligning their goals to more

risk-friendly tools and are therefore opting

for more innovative gears such as equities,

mutual funds, systematic investment plans

(SIP) and even stock markets

She elucidates the changing pattern

amongst women to invest in high-risk

financial products over the traditional

investments

However, modern women are more

aware of innovative investment tools such

as mutual funds, equities and even stock

markets that can help them achieve their

goals, she added They are ready to invest

in riskier tools as long as it helps them

achieve their goals

Some of the reasons why women have

started taking risks in financial investment

have arisen from certain realisation that they

often earn less than men, have shorter career

spans, have more responsibilities to juggle

and have comparatively longer life span

These are reasons enough to steer woman to

gradually shift focus on investment returns

rather than to simply accumulate wealth

This shift in women’s investment pattern

have already forayed into the boardroom

meetings of mutual fund firms who have

chosen to address the needs of women

For example, DSP Black Rock has a

product named Winvestor, an education

initiative for women, through which they

not only try to empower them financially but

also help them address their unique financial

needs The sole purpose of the product is

to enable women to make well-informed

investment decisions, achieve their unique

financial goals and also plan for

their retirements

Just like DSP, ClearTax, yet another

mutual funds firm, revealed certain data

about women investing in mutual funds

Back in 2017, total amount invested by

women in ClearTax Save was `7,000

monthly, which later increased to `13,378 on

an average However, within the first three

months of 2018, this amount has further

increased to `32,064

On the other hand, investments in mutual

funds by men on the same platform have

remained more or less the same within the

similar time span

Another interesting fact that the study

AnTArA rOy Age: 34 years

Location: Gurugram

revealed was that women investing in riskier tools like mutual funds from Tier II and Tier III cities has increased considerably in the recent past

Speaking to insiders from ClearTax it was found that young women investing in such tools hailed not only from places like Shillong

in Meghalaya but also towns as small as Daltonganj in Jharkhand and Karaikal in Tamil Nadu “And they are not just sticking

to low-risk plans, but are making smart

ArpITA SOnee

Direct Taxes Consultant, RSM, India

Financial management is becoming more of a natural phenomenon amongst modern women

Presented By

Photo: Gireesh GV

www.outlookmoney.com March 2019 Outlook Money 23

name: Evana

Bhattacharjee

age: 34 years Location: Gurugram

investment decisions that can deliver them inflation-beating returns,” stated the report

This trend was captured by Outlook Money in

a story in its August 2018 issue titled, Small

Moolah, Big Returns Excite Bharat

While women are making moves in risk-friendly investment tools, they are also successfully striking a balance in their portfolios, including how much to save and how much to spend

Divya Gupta, 34, stated striking a balance between spending and saving is nothing but

a goal divided between what needs to be saved and what needs to be spent “And goals keep changing with time, so do priorities For example, when I was young, I saved less As I grew older, my savings percentage increased,”

said Gupta, an entrepreneur from Bengaluru, who runs a jewelry business

On the other hand, for Antara Roy striking

a balance between saving and spending is all about differentiating between needs and luxury A Gurugram-based entrepreneur, it was circumstances that forced her to master the art of money management She recalled

a situation where she had to survive for two whole days with only `10 as a student, after leaving the comfort of home as a young adult

“Staying in a rented accommodation in Delhi,

I had to understand the meaning of every penny I spent,” said Roy

Today Roy operates her own restaurant, manages finances of the business, her family’s wealth and of course her own “After reaping some profit from the business, I started investing in SIPs, which I continue to manage

on my own,” she said and acknowledged that circumstances taught her the art of managing money the hard way

Amisha Vora, Joint MD, Prabhudas Liladhar said since “Women have higher emotional intelligence than men, they are often able to make level-headed decisions.” Like Vora, a number of financial investment

Photo: Gireesh GV

SOnAlI prAdHAn

Head, Wealth Planning, Julius Baer (India)

Young women, espcially millennials are experimenting with riskier investment tools

that, it is also because women tend to have

a more cautious approach towards financial

investment than men, that they end up taking

wise decisions in the same

Maitrayee Dutta, 33, a corporate

professional from Kolkata has been handling

all her finances since she started working

a decade ago To begin with she opted

for conservative tools like FDs and RDs

However, since she had an MBA in finance,

she eventually decided to take the plunge and

started investing in riskier tools like stocks

and equities “Looking back, I feel I took the

right decision in terms of my investment

portfolio,” said Dutta, who continues to strike

a perfect balance between conservative and

riskier investment tools

Roy has a different approach to balance

“For me, it’s very simple, need comes first

and luxury second,” she said She always

keeps aside a reserve capital for emergencies

And thereafter, meeting her day-to-day

expenditures, she continues with her

financial investments “Unlike salaried

people, we in business do not have a stable

continuous stream of cash flow Hence,

maintaining this priority is critical,” said Roy

Sonali Pradhan, Head - Wealth Planning,

Julies Baer Wealth Advisor (India), pointed to

the shift in trend is striking the right balance

between savings and high-risk investments It

is evident from the fact that younger women,

especially millennials are experimenting

with riskier investment tools along with

tax-free bonds

But, there is still a long way to go for

women not only in terms of making

independent financial investment decisions

but also taking more risks Sana Masood, 34,

an ex-journalist turned confectioner from

Kolkata, is comfortable to let her spouse

make her financial decisions, while she

takes care of the business operations Her

investments still comprise PPF deposits and

life insurance “The former is a

government-regulated form of investment and quite

flexible according to the person’s needs

It is simple and efficient for any person to

manage,” said Masood, who still chooses to

play safe with her investments

Outlook Money during its research

found that, despite best education and

even with specialised qualification in

financial management, dependency on male members along with an inclination towards conservative investment tools continue to be

a norm both in urban areas and small towns

“The reason is more socio-economic rather than capability Women are hardly encouraged to take active participation in financial investments Most of them are either unaware or remain a silent spectator,”

said Renu Maheshwari, Co-founder, and Principal Advisor, Finscholarz Wealth Managers LLP

But the trend is certainly changing slowly but steadily and with millennial,

it is becoming a norm from a trend

The millennial knows, where to tap for

When a young woman becomes financially independent her first few months are usually spent revelling in the newly found financial freedom She spends on things and experiences she couldn’t afford earlier As she matures, she starts thinking in longer term She thinks of possible rainy days ahead and buys insurance to secure her and her family’s financial future

Then she starts her investment journey with mutual funds which provide a convenient way to invest in equity markets (shares) through themed portfolio of stocks, created and managed by fund managers SIP is the most common route to investing in Mutual Funds where one can start with amounts as small as `500 per month

She discovers the tax benefits of PPF and National Pension Scheme (NPS) and starts investing in them PPF helps her

to grow a corpus that can help her post retirement or in emergencies Through NPS she guarantees her post retirement income as pension

As she grows in her career, her income increases and she starts looking at wealth growth through various asset classes – equity and fixed income instruments She starts goal based investing for future needs She may even retain the services of a financial advisor for managing her portfolio

How Well do Women Juggle Various Aspects Of personal Finance?

name: Sana Masood

age: 34 years

Location: Kolkata

information and knowledge The tech-savvy, young women are exploring the internet, to study and research and then discuss with the male members, but in the end, they take the final decision

Mudra Bhatt, 28, Mumbai-based Financial Consultant (Accounts and Taxation) and an Event Manager, uses the Internet to do her research on financial products “Internet has been very helpful for such decisions

So currently, I am not taking help of wealth manager Wealth managers also help us to invest wisely according to our needs So maybe in the future, I might shift to such planner,” said Bhatt

She is perhaps inspired by individuals like Bhattacharjee, who have matured to take financial decisions independently “I handle it (investment decisions) on my own because I feel individual knows their goals the best But as finance is a vast subject, I sometimes take suggestions from my spouse

or financial advisor However, the final decision lies with me,” said Bhattacharjee According to a recent poll conducted by the Bank of Montreal, women are comparatively more debt-free than men However, that doesn’t stop them from taking risks in terms

of financial investments Arpita Sonee, Direct Taxes-Consultant, RSM India feels,

“In the current scenario where women are competing shoulder-to-shoulder with men, it cannot be said that women are incapable or

in any way behind of their male counterparts when it comes to financial planning or money management As women are continuously working so as to reduce their dependency on males, financial management has become more of a natural phenomenon amongst them.”

As women steer through this process

of managing finance on their own and the independence they wish to take with financially risky products, there is also need for more women to enter the field of fund managers and advisors, stated Vora

She pointed out there are just about two dozen women mutual fund managers in India as compared to 270-odd male fund managers The percentage works out to just 7-8 per cent In more developed countries, however, about 20 per cent of fund managers are women

Despite a low financial literacy rate in the country, and more so among the fairer sex,

a substantial percentage of the women are coming out of their comfort zone and taking charge of their as well as family’s finances And they are choosing to invest in somewhat riskier investment tools Not only are they taking responsibilities head on, but are also being successful in their fiscal ventures With inputs from Nirmala Konjengbam

aparajita@outlookindia.com, sampurna@outlookindia.com, himali@outlookindia.com, anagh@outlookindia.com,

nirmala@outlookindia.com

KIrAn TelAng

Financial Planner and author of Mindful Retirement

Women tend to focus more

on achieving long-term goals including children’s future

“Our endeavour is to build sustainable

institutions to promote societal growth”

Established about a decade ago, EdelGive Foundation

from Edelweiss group started as a modest financial

support initiative to ten niche community driven

projects largely in Maharashtra Over the year, it became

a connecting platform between donors and credible

NGOs across the country Vidya Shah, CEO, EdelGive

Foundation, speaks about the initiative.

How has been the journey and what is the path ahead?

In the early days, our commitment was driven by

intuition and observation rather than the more

sophisticated matrices, reports or collaterals that help

us today This was the beginning of a very exciting,

humbling, enlightening journey for EdelGive With each

year of our portfolio growth, we grew in knowledge

and capabilities Our endeavour is to build sustainable

institutions and organisations that promote societal

growth and innovation, and advances the common

good by bringing the skills, resources and talents of the

for-profit world to the not-for-profit world

What are the initiatives you have taken for

empowering women?

The space of women empowerment is large, there are

many approaches to solving this issue We work with

15 organisations across 10 states of India, dealing with issues such as freedom from violence and discrimination, access to rights and entitlements, building grassroots women leadership as well as entrepreneurship

Give us a brief introduction of your Influencer platform?

The Influencers are a group of individuals coming from diverse backgrounds who come together to understand issues around social justice of women This initiative is a way to bring together influential people who are highly respected in their fields of work

to come together, understand and deliberate on the issues around women’s empowerment EdelGive has underwritten fantastic projects that work on social justice and economic empowerment of women across the country with 15 NGOs

What are the kind of projects that EdelGive Foundation has undertaken and is there any project

in the pipeline?

Driven by our commitment to alleviate poverty, we have invested in programmes that are mitigating disablers or delivering positive outcomes in education, livelihoods and women empowerment We also partner with individuals, foundations and corporates who want to contribute to the cause of effecting social impact

In the last decade, EdelGive Foundation has influenced nearly Rs 150 crores in philanthropy, reached over 4.5 lakh people and supported (financial and non-financial) over 130 small and mid-sized NGOs in 15 states in India To date, Edelweiss employees have provided close to 30000 hours in pro bono support, with over 85% of employees engaged in volunteering activities

Vidya Shah

CEO, EdelGive Foundation

In Focus

Re Fix your financial priorities with a regular

dose of personal finance

Women are taking baby steps towards gaining economic independence

Femmes Chasing Financial Freedom

She approached a financial advisor and started discussing tax saving options and expressed the intent of starting Systematic Investment Plan (SIPs)

so that she could start saving However, it was not until mid 2018 that she actually started investing Sinha shared her goals, both short and long term with her advisor and with the latter’s help started two SIPs – one in long-term and the other in short term Sinha now understands the risks involved in equity investing in the short term, but is clear that if she does not grow her money, inflation will

be an even bigger risk She also understands that equity has its ups and downs and hence will not be perturbed by it She has been investing in equity mutual funds for the last six months and has not been worried about the fact that in the short term, she is seeing red She is thrilled that she has been able to save a six-figure amount already!

It is not just the young who are taking the steps More and more women are realising that just working is not enough; they need to take charge of their money too Arpita Bansal is one such individual

A mother of two, Bansal started asking around for random advice about investing for her children’s future and realised that she needed much more than that She then took the help of an advisor to chart out her financial goals, take insurance to protect the same Eventually she took a term policy in her name and started an SIP While she needs to start saving more to ensure that her goals are met, Bansal has decided to start cutting down unnecessary expenses, and has set a target amount to reach by mid 2019 She will then start planning her retirement too Her priority is clear and set, thereby helping her save more and invest better

I meet bright women everyday who are doing fantastic in their fields, but are still apprehensive when it comes to financial investments Start reading, start learning and start doing You will make mistakes, just make sure that they are small and learn from them

Happy Investing!

The author is a financial advisor and Founder at Investography

intent to action Whilst we all agree that

women are better at managing expenses

and budgeting; it has taken some time for even

women to accept that they can be good at financial

investments as well Sheryl Sandberg in her book

‘Lean In’ spoke about how women do not accept any

role till they are 100 per cent ready This sounded

so true to me, I could explain my behaviour towards

certain things and also understand other womens’

apprehensions when it came to financial investments

It suddenly dawned on me, that one of the reasons

women are not investing is because they probably do

not feel ready

So, I decided to take the plunge and help women

prepare them to be investment-ready!

Almost four years ago, I started conducting

workshops for women on managing money I can now

vouch that quite a few of them have started taking

steps towards achieving their financial independence

Rekha Sinha is one such young woman A single

professional, Sinha started working only in 2016

However, since she had moved to another city for

her job, the first few months’ salary only ended up

being spent on things like setting up a new place She

was busy finding her way around her workplace and

also trying to make friends and of course adjusting

to a new city Budgeting, saving and investing were

definitely not in the charts

She attended a workshop on money management

in late 2016 which got her thinking about investing at

least some part of her salary because she realised that

she had absolutely no savings Thus, she decided to not

only start saving but also investing soon

SHWeTA JAIn

Women do not invest, as they

do not feel that they are ready

I love to see a young girl go out and grab

the world by the lapels

– Maya Angelou

www.outlookmoney.com March 2019 Outlook Money 29

B-School students at Delhi’s Rukmini Devi Institute of Advanced Studies (RDIAS) got a

download on finance careers and managing first pay cheques at an event organised by Outlook Money in association with Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund and FundooMoney Media

Events

Towards The First Pay

Cheque And Way Beyond

Nothing can be better than a great start, be it a career or

personal finances Business school students at Delhi’s

Rukmini Devi Institute of Advanced Studies (RDIAS) got a

helping hand for such a headstart on February 20 with a

financial awareness event entitled “Seminar on Capital

Markets and Mutual Funds” in their campus The event was

organised by Outlook Money in association with Aditya

Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund and e-learning company,

FundooMoney Media

The two hour event started off with Udayan Ray, founder,

FundooMoney Media, providing an overview of the

potential of mutual funds as a tool for meeting financial

goals for young professionals He also pointed out the

emerging career opportunities, including entrepreneurial

opportunities, in the mutual fund industry

Among event highlights were two presentations made

by K.S Rao, Head-Investor Education & Distribution Development, Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund While the first presentation, punctuated with interactive exercises like quizzes, dwelt at length about the need for early investments and use of mutual funds, the second one was about BFSI career opportunities

Another highlight of the event was a presentation made

by the RDIAS student team of Shubham Singh, Rahul Mangla and Saloni Gupta Their presentation entitled

“Mutual Funds: Way to Riches” was adjudged the best among 17 competing presentations by RDIAS student teams and were awarded a cash prize of Rs 5,000

As business school graduates from RDIAS reach for the stars in their careers as managers and entrepreneurs, the financial awareness event would have given them that little bit extra required in the journey to their first cheque and beyond

1 Keynote speaker of the event, K.S Rao, Head-Investor Education & Distribution Development, Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund, 2 RDIAS students with team ABSL MF, 3 Udayan Ray, Founder, FundooMoney Media, 4 RDIAS students actively participating in the event, 5 Shubham Singh and Rahul Mangla, members, award winning team presentation, receiving cash prize, 6 Dr Raman Garg, Director, RDIAS (extreme right) with team ABSL MF

1

How has been your journey so far

while being a CMD of GIC Housing ?

It is a new experience in financial services

- moving away from insurance It is very

interesting During October – December

2018, it became very challenging due to

‘AffordAble housing will

gAin further momentum due

to gst sops on offer now’

though it does not affect us Due to overall impact, we had to slow down a bit concentrating on collections and recoveries.

What are the challenges you faced and important lessons learned from it?

housing finance business

What were the important lessons you have learned when it comes to housing finance?

Being a long term lending company,

we operate on a thin margin We need

to balance growth in disbursement, improve collection efficiency and also arrest of attrition of loan (take over

by banks).

What are the current trends in housing finance especially when it comes to the rural market?

Rural market is not explored by us so far to a greater extent It requires a deep knowledge regarding how rural area enables for mortgaging the security.

What has been the growth rate

of the housing finance sector in general and GIC Housing Finance

in particular?

For GICHF, this year our disbursement will

be more or less similar to last year Portfolio growth will be around 15 per cent.

Do you see any growth momentum

in mid-income affordable housing segment going forward?

Yes – affordable housing growth momentum will pick up further due to GST sops given now It is now only 1 per cent Overall affordable housing sector growth will pick up due to the current GST reduction

What are the future prospects of the housing finance sector?

Housing finance growth will be maintained GST reduction to 5 per cent will be effective from April 1 It will spur growth in middle segments, the segment which we operate in The cost of borrowing is also showing a downward

In her new role as Managing Director & CEO, GIC

Housing Finance Limited, Smt Neera Saxena reveals that

the challenges in the housing finance business are many, and

explains why adopting a slow and steady approach is therefore

the right strategy to adopt.

Focal Point

GIC housing finance being one

of the leaders in the housing

segment, can you explain what

have been that secret that has

helped shape the company’s

achievements so far?

Faster service is one of the USP

Specialising in housing finance, we

offer free accidental death cover,

fire insurance for property, optional

group life cover.

What are the factors

influencing consumer behaviour

towards buying housing finance

and real estate?

Faster and hassle free services,

competitive interest rates for housing

finance and in case of property

buying decision, the main focus is to

provide convenient location as per

individual preference and capital

appreciation (appreciation of value of

the property over the years)

Why is real estate a good investment options in the long term?

As long as land supply is in short, demand, for real estate will always be good and the appreciation of the value of the property will be more than any other investment.

How has been consumer behaviour towards housing finance in a depressed market?

In a depressed market, the end user will always buy the property after the property

is fully completed and ready to occupy

In depressed market, investors may not

How has the uptake been in the premium housing market and how has housing finance worked there?

We are not in this premium market as

on date We will be entering into

it shortly Presently the market is very sluggish

The government is giving a lot of stress on affordable housing Is there enough in the market

to energise people to invest in this space?

Yes The government is giving a lot

of stress on affordable housing The Housing Finance market is not tapped

so for, especially for the segment of people who are in the in unorganised sector e.g hawkers, construction workers etc .,who really need a roof over their head Developers will invest in the affordable housing segment, provided the Government make available land parcel and a reasonable price

With Edelweiss Tokio Life’s Zindagi

Plus, provide #ThodaAurKhayaal

to your family

Women are increasingly becoming a dominant

force in India’s workplace and are now

occupying leadership positions across industries

However, this independence is not translating into

handling their own finances

This begs the question, why are women taking a

step back in this important aspect of life? There are

a score of financial products that provide several

options to create a comprehensive protection plan

for their family Edelweiss Tokio Life’s latest term

offering Zindagi Plus is one such product It comes

with a bouquet of features that give customers a truly

rounded proposition to choose from It stays relevant

throughout the customer’s life term and even beyond

Women are fiercely protective, especially when it

comes to their loved ones A product like Zindagi Plus

especially will allow women to take care of her family

Product Review

in her absence For instance, if a woman were to buy the plan with optional better half benefit, the insurer will pay her spouse (nominee) a lumpsum payout

in the event of her death and additionally extend a 50% life cover to him for the remaining policy term without any future premium requirements

With rounded products like these now, it is much simpler to make money decisions and women only need to take the plunge

When it comes to savings

and being financially

independent, Indian

women have earned their place A

RBI report released this January

highlighted women’s share in total

credit and aggregate deposits

increased to 20.4 per cent and 32.8

per cent, respectively in March

2018 from 19.3 per cent and 32.0

per cent a year ago

Though such statistics draw a

pretty picture, in reality, most Indian

women are still not adept with

money matters Only 47 per cent of

women surveyed are confident about

financial planning, concluded a study

by Mussett Wealth Management, an independent financial planning firm

entrepreneur, a salaried individual or a homemaker – the common thread that binds us all is the aspirations to achieve something

in the future And, proper financial planning is a stepping stone to achieve those dreams Saba Adil, Chief People and Operating Officer, Aegon Life Insurance, said, “Financial planning is critical and not only from the perspective of earning interests

or gaining on stocks or investments

It includes how you plan the

well-being of your loved ones, your future, retirement, old age and health care.”

In order to get started, one needs

to classify her goals in short, medium and long-term basis For instance, purchasing gold or planning a dream vacation fall under short-term goal, buying a house or a car can be figured into medium-term goals Planning for your children’s higher education, providing for dependent parents or saving for your retirement needs fall in the list of long-term goals For planning for such needs, one needs to assess her risk appetite since different products have different risk-return patterns.Not only through investments, but risks can also come from all quarters

By Himali Patel

She Makes

The Money Groove

Taking that first step towards financial planning

makes half of your job done!

equity should be 100 per cent minus your age.” Fixed income products like bonds and debentures give you steady returns at a lower risk Also in the fixed income space, one can opt for debt mutual funds, corporate fixed deposits to earn a higher yield with better tax efficiency as compared to bank fixed deposits

Taking the first step is always the hardest However, in terms of investments, experts suggest, starting early is the key Vora said, “My early investments enabled me to support

my close relatives whenever there was a need.” Breaking it down, she explained, if you invest `15,000 every month at a rate of return of 15 per cent you will have `1 crore at the end of 15 years Such is the power of compounding Systematic Investment Plans is one of the best ways to start your wealth creation journey,” she added The rule is to identify and set goals to mark the beginning of the financial plan

dealing with money complicated

However, if one can identify the needs, it is easier to start with a financial planning Radhika Gupta, Chief Executive Officer, Edelweiss Asset Management, advised, “Take stock of all your savings and investible surplus and make saving a habit early on Consult a financial advisor and don’t try to solve everything

yourself Have clear goals and invest as per them – remember your goals are your own.” Every homemaker should treat the money they get to manage the household expenditure as their monthly income Also, they should inculcate financial habits In fact, starting an investment in mutual funds

is one of the best options Priti Rathi Gupta, Founder, LXME, and MD and Promoter, Anand Rathi Share & Stock Brokers, said, “Mutual funds are best for homemakers as well, especially those who have a tendency to save in cash It will give them better returns.”

It should be noted, apart from sound financial investment, every women should have liquid assets in hand Anita Rastogi, Partner - Indirect Taxes, PwC, commented, “Liquidity is a critical factor for me Meaning, I should be able

to get my funds as and when I require

So my portfolio always included a portion of investments which had high liquidity I choose a diverse portfolio keeping the above factors in mind It ranged from bank deposit, company deposit, shares and securities, bullion, real estate, insurance schemes and other investment options.”

However, this does not mean that you can stray away from investing in risky assets To combat the current inflation rate, it is always recommended that one should invest in equity for a long horizon to get a higher return Lakshmi Iyer, CIO (Debt) and Head – Products, Kotak Mutual Fund, explained, “As a homemaker, you can invest in equities

As an asset class it has demonstrated the potential to beat inflation over

a long period.”

Considering working women have extra financial responsibilities, they should start planning earlier, even before they start investing in any financial product “For working women, hybrid mutual funds for a longer period are one of the best investment options These funds are invested in equities

in small proportions as compared

to debt This factor gives a good risk reward equation to first-time investors,”

like job loss, wedding expenses,

maternity, divorce or anything that

can hamper the savings This is when

a proper financial planning can take

care of such contingencies Asset

allocation for your goals will depend

on your risk profile and investment

horizon And, there are two ways a

woman can invest their savings –

equity and fixed income instruments

Financial planners usually suggest

while equities (stocks) provide

long-term growth, they can be volatile in

the short-term Hence your portfolio

should have a decent mix of equity

and fixed income products Amisha

Vora, Joint MD, Prabhudas Lilladher,

stated, “Ideally your exposure to

My early investments enabled me to support

my relatives whenever there was a dire need

AmishA VorA

Joint MD, Prabhudas Liladher

www.outlookmoney.com March 2019 Outlook Money 33

pointed out Rathi In such cases,

planning is the key Adding to this,

Adil said, “Know your expenses, keep

funds aside for contingencies and

make sure you don’t have deviations

Allow yourself a five per cent (or any

number that you think is reasonable)

deviation and stay within that

luxury!” Always remember there is no

“unlimited budget” The resources are

limited and aspirations are boundless

Understanding the basic finances

is even more critical for a single

woman or some who went through a

bad marriage They should consider

expanding their portfolio and should

take the help of a financial planner

Equities are volatile over the short

term, however, in the long run, they

deliver healthy returns Whereas fixed income instruments provide lower yet regular cash inflows and bring stability to your portfolio Your risk appetite and tenure of intended holding should be a catalyst to determine how much per cent should

be allocated to equities and debt

getting the right advice is like trying to find a needle in a haystack “While comparing financial

instruments, they are not apple to apple

- like you cannot decide if you want to

go for mutual fund or stocks or fixed deposit or invest in gold because the risk and return ratios are different, the liquidity of funds is different,” said Adil

As much as paying attention to your own risk profile is of prime importance, distinguishing to invest in which fixed instruments can also be challenging Iyer said, “Challenges were at the initial stage when there was a lure to own many asset classes including traditional bank deposits and gold! Fortunately with empirical data on your side, such challenges can be mitigated Financial planning to me, therefore, boils down to only equity and fixed income.”

Today the importance of financial planning cannot be undermined especially when it comes to earnings and savings, also the inflation factor cannot be ignored “When you initiate

a financial plan, a lot of myths get busted and a more realistic goal planning is possible Having an important financial corpus is non-negotiable,” explained Iyer

Often women have to compromise

on their career front due to domestic work and childcare This also restricts them from financially supporting a child or elderly parents, paying for a child’s education or something else along those lines Nevertheless, women today are saving more into lower risk-lower return options, such as bank fixed deposits, Public Provident Fund

or traditional life insurance products However, this trend is further changing

as more and more women are getting financially savvy and investing in high returns instruments such as ETFs, mutual funds and investing through direct stocks To conclude in the words

of American author and financial advisor Suze Orman - “A big part of financial freedom is having your heart and mind free from worry about the What-if’s of life.”

So ready, on your mark, get-set and start your financial planning!

himali@outlookindia.com

Attaining Financial Freedom

Write down all your future financial goals or objectives to

understand at what point you need the money

Classify your goals into categories such as short, medium

It is advisable to take help of a financial planner or a wealth

management firm to understand where to invest as per

O ne of the biggest fears the we all live with but don’t

want to address is the risk of the Big C – Cancer

Amongst the most rampant and dreaded diseases

of our times, it not only takes a physical and emotional toll

on a family, but also is a massive financial burden, that often

makes the recovery even harder and longer Unfortunately,

the most common association with the word cancer, is

death But this is not how it needs to be Moreover, cancer

is a disease of the body We need to ensure we do not make

it a disease of the mind There are two very basic ways in

which the Big C does not have to manifest into the Big D;

early detection and the best medical care And the only way

to ensure you are covered on both these fronts, is to go for

regular check-ups and screenings, and to protect yourself

financially, should the need arise

One common mistake people make is that we fail

to correctly estimate the enormity of treatment costs

Depending on the type, stage and complexity, cancer

treatment ranges from chemotherapy and radiation to

blood transfusion, etc and costs could typically run up to

anything between 7 – 10 lakhs, leaving the patient and their

family financially drained Obviously, anyone would want

to put all their finances and borrow from extended family

and friends to treat the issue at hand, further realising that

it’s not only eating into savings that were made to meet

other life goal needs; such as a child’s education, marriage

or your own retirement This additional burden of guilt

on the patient, makes the emotional burden even heavier,

and recovery even harder for the mind and body A life

insurance policy with cancer cover is the best way to ensure

that you and your family are protected from the financial

burden of this disease and your life goals are achieved

successfully, together Below are a few benefits of a life

insurance cancer plan that protect you, preserve your goals

and prevent additional burdens.

1. Good cancer treatment from the best hospitals comes at a cost A standalone cancer insurance policy helps with a lumpsum amount to cover medication, post-treatment, etc providing the affected family with much-needed financial stability

2. A cancer insurance plan is comprehensive in nature A typical cancer insurance plan provides you protection against all stages of cancer, thereby creating a dedicated corpus of funds to meet all costs of an expensive cancer treatment This also means that your general health insurance corpus is not eaten into, should this disease with expensive treatment occur Often taken as a family floater, health cover of one member may eat into the share of others in the family in case of cancer

A cancer life insurance plan hence protects the entire family’s health by assigning a specific corpus to a specialized disease.

3. A specialized cancer insurance plan provides cover beyond just hospitalization costs, addressing high costs of treatment that may vary depending upon the severity of the case Not only this, the payout happens at the very early stages of detection, where treatment may not even necessarily involve hospitalization.

4. Offering a new lease of life, a standalone cancer insurance plan upon early stage diagnosis, offers 20-25 % of lump sum amount

as cover, often with a total waiver of future premium With this it serves to reduce the financial trauma that you may experience in the shortage of adequate funds for recuperation and post hospitalization, that could typically last 3-5 years.

5. When diagnosed with cancer, it is likely that your income earning ability is adversely affected If detected at a later stage, many cancer policies offer a full cover amount with additional income benefit to compensate for compromised earning capabilities, for a due course of time.

Lastly, while a cancer insurance policy will not replace your existing health insurance, it will definitely protect you against the specific illness

of cancer and to ensure that the big C doesn’t necessarily become the big D(eath) by taking care of expenses, both of and beyond hospitalization It

is therefore wise to nurture the start of a safer tomorrow by investing in a robust cancer insurance plan to safeguard yourself and your loved ones.

AAlok BhAn

Director and Chief Marketing Officer Max Life Insurance

Focal Point

With women becoming

financially independent

and homemakers being

considered as equal contributors,

the need to cater to their specific

requirements with regards to

financial planning and protection

is becoming more relevant today

It is expected that percentage of

women workforce in India will grow

further from the current 24 per cent,

reflecting on financial products too,

including insurance

Kolkata-based Subarna Das, 28,

said, “Financial planning without

insurance is incomplete Apart from securing myself, I also get tax benefits on my life insurance premium Background knowledge of finance and insurance enabled

me to decide the right financial plan on my own.”

Insurance companies are well aware of this fact and to take advantage of this demographic shift, many of them are designing women-focused or women-only life and health insurance plans, which have many takers

According to Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) annual report,

as many as 90 lakh women bought insurance and first-year premium worth `29,800 crore was paid by them in 2017-18 This is a significant improvement owing to the fact that

in the previous decade the numbers were somewhat abysmal

Speaking about the areas of concern with regards to health, Mayank Bathwal, CEO, Aditya Birla Health Insurance, said, “It is alarming to note that high risk of heart disease sets in

as early as 35 years among women And three in every five women in urban India are at a risk of developing cardiovascular disease.” Apart from this, many women also have to grapple

Photo: sandiPan chaterjee

Actuary, Aegon Life Insurance, said,

“On an average, the rule of thumb generally followed for arriving at the recommended life insurance cover is to multiply the annual gross income by 10 or 12 and add to it any outstanding liabilities.” Many life insurers offer joint life insurance for married couples, which provide financial security under a single policy instead of separate ones

Most of the women-focused life and health insurance plans provide optional riders like accident benefit, critical illness benefit and congenital disability benefit, premium waiver benefit, diagnosis of malignant cancer of female and many more Additional benefits like coverage for

a new-born’s congenital ailments, children education bonus, loss of job are available under same policy.Most Indian women master the art of personal finance in the traditional way But, when it comes

to investments, especially insurance, consciousness has always been low With growing awareness, however, insurance is increasingly becoming

as important aspect of their financial planning Today, they are looking for available options to save tax and seek advice prior any investment decisions Looking at the trends, it can be said that women-friendly insurance policies do have a bright future

nirmala@outlookindia.com

Financial planning without insurance is incomplete

with critical illnesses like breast

cancer, spine ailments, anaemia,

cervical cancer, fibroid, birth-related

complications and so on However,

these diseases that show a high

level of occurrence in women are

hardly covered in general policies

And in such cases, women-focused

insurance policies can come to the

rescue Bhaskar Nerurkar, Head,

Health Administration Team, Bajaj

Allianz General Insurance, suggested,

“It is always advisable to club a basic

health insurance policy with a health

policy designed specifically for

women They must opt for a critical

illness benefit policy over and above

a basic health insurance policy.”

Also when a couple is planning for

a family, maternity insurance can

provide a financial buffer

Kolkata-based Sweta Agarwal, 36, mother

of two, immensely benefitted from

maternity insurance “I have opted for

it twice and the insurer paid for the

hospitalisation expenses to the tune

of `2 lakh,” she said

The cost of a normal delivery

in a private hospital range

between `40,000 and `60,000

and for a caesarean section, the

rate goes up by an additional

`60,000 to `80,000 “Besides, as

pregnancy complications are highly

unpredictable, you never know when

and what will affect the bottom

line cost This is where insurance

policies with maternity benefits act

as a soothing balm,” commented

Bathwal Further, in case of

premature birth, new-born needs to

be kept in an incubator in a

neo-natal intensive care unit for

at least 20 days The cost per day

can range anywhere between

`10,000 to `2 lakh

Adding to this, Ashish Mehrotra,

MD and CEO, Max Bupa Health

Insurance, said, “It is advised to

assess the right amount of maternity

cover while buying a policy that will

be required by a person considering

nearby hospital’s cost Choose the

sum insured accordingly.” Most of the products in the market do not cover maternity These are specially designed products and hence, it

is always necessary to check the limit of maternity benefit available under the plan

For anyone with a life goal, life

insurance becomes essential

With proper financial aid, it keeps the goal on track Tarun Chugh,

MD and CEO, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance, said, “Investing early on

in life is the key That way one can enjoy a larger corpus and better savings in the long-term I believe anyone can commence their journey towards their life goals with life insurance.”

Experts suggest, for a working woman, term insurance for pure risk, investments in unit-linked insurance plans and other insurance products can help bring in a disciplined saving approach apart from providing an extra-layer protection to the family

in case of exigencies Meanwhile, homemakers should have 50 per cent

of life insurance cover as compared to her husband Souvik Jash, Appointed

Insurer Plan entry age Policy term

(year) Min Max

HDFC life Insurance Woman Plan (Life)HDFC Life Smart 18 60 10 and 15

lIC LIC’s Jeevan Bharati-1 Plan (Life) 18 55 15 and 20

tata aIg general Insurance Wellsurance Woman Policy (Health) 18 65 1

Bajaj allianz general Insurance

Women Specific Critical Illness Plan (Health) 21 65 1

Insurance policies to choose from

www.outlookmoney.com March 2019 Outlook Money 37

Number of women in

the banking industy is

limited, more so in the

leadership roles

Radhika

Gupta

CEO, Edelweiss

saw a lot of women grabbing

the top financial jobs But, after

Arundhati Bhattacharya, Vani Kola

or Roopa Kudva, we are awaiting the

next set of torch bearer of this elite

league Admitting the void, industry

stakeholders pointed out it is mainly

attributed to less number of women

in senior levels But the silver lining

is that a section of mid-level women

are gearing up for the top jobs

Radhika Gupta, CEO, Edelweiss

AMC, agreed that the number of

women in the banking and financial

services industry today is limited,

more so in the leadership roles

Although, there are few exceptions

“The primary reason there is a void is

largely because the industry does not

have women on the mid and senior

levels, or at least not enough of

them who can take on these senior

roles,” she said

Ruchira Bhardwaja, Chief Human

Resources Officer, Future Generali

India Life Insurance Company, said

the fact remains that the number

of women occupying top positions

in the sector continues to be

disproportionately low

women are now also taking on leadership roles in asset management companies, venture capital and private equity firms,” Yatin Shah, Co-Founder and Executive Director, IIFL Investment Managers added

He said senior women professionals are also members of various boards

By Aparajita Gupta

In the financial sector, women in the mid-level are gearing up for the top job

Breaking Down The Glass Ceiling

breaking the glass ceiling and making a place for themselves in the financial sector, these women have now moved on to stronger and more empowered roles within the sector “In addition to helming leading private and public banks,

ZohRa MeRchant

Managing Partner, Private Client Group, WGC Wealth

Women are now taking

on leadership roles in AMCs, venture capital and private equity firms

Yatin Shah

Co-Founder and Executive Director, IIFL Investment Managers

to be a concerted approach to educate, coach and mentor these women to take on higher roles on

a continuous basis The bedrock

to this approach would be to have

a target and sponsorship of key leaders in the company,” she said.Corporate India should have more programmes to train leaders, said Bala, adding to that she said,

“Also, good work culture and flexibility in cases of need can go a long way in attracting and retaining women Above all, the organisation needs to give a sense of gender equality at workplace Recognising and respecting the ‘person’ rather than the gender is the key to encouraging women for top jobs.”Indian companies need to embrace more women in the workplace – and this needs to

be done on priority “A healthy eco-system and a supportive environment – not just during maternity, but in the day-to-day dynamics of workplace is something that needs to be inculcated in our work culture actively A culture that encourages diversity of thinking and views, mentorship and proactively providing opportunities, and support during critical times

of their careers to make sure women can make it to the top,” concluded Gupta

aparajita@outlookindia.com

With inputs from Deepika Asthana

and continue to exercise influence

not only in the financial sector, but

in others as well

As compared to the earlier

generations, now women are

more willing to make a career in

finance Vidya Bala, Head - Mutual

Fund Research, FundsIndia, said,

“The influx of many MNCs in the

finance and investment banking

field has offered good opportunities

for women without having to

compromise on their quality of

life So, women in the middle are

certainly more prepared and willing

today to take on larger roles.”

Industry experts explained there

are many strong women leaders

who are capable of leading their

respective companies Gupta feels

women who hold the middle ranks

today are ready to make a transition

towards the senior ranks What

they need is a push towards the

right direction, mentorship and

critical responsibilities to prepare

them for these roles They need

people to believe and give them

these opportunities, and most

importantly they need to believe

in themselves that they are ready

to take up any challenge that comes

their way

Adding to this, Shah said,

“Maybe a decade back, you would

see a few women in senior positions

and a few more at a junior level

Admittedly, many women dropped

out of the workforce in mid-career

to attend to family or parenting

needs However, things are now

rapidly changing More and more

women are making the choice to

pursue their career, which means

that an even larger number of

women are getting groomed for

senior management positions.”

Partner – Private Client Group,

WGC Wealth, observed there are

organisations that do coach and

mentor women at the mid-level

so that they can lead at the senior level “Organisations do understand that lack of senior level diversity

is not effective for business as it impacts employee morale and is also bad for customer service and shareholder returns Business decisions when taken collectively by

a diverse set of people with diverse experience and viewpoints is always more successful.” Hence, proper training for mid level women leaders is crucial

Bhardwaja said, structurally, management and board of organisations would be required

to have a continued and active focus to identify women who have the ambition and tenacity to make it big “They must not only head-hunt to infuse talent from outside but also establish proactive systems to identify potential leaders from within the company in the middle ranks Next, there needs

Organisations must establish a system to identify potential lead- ers within the company

RuchiRa BhaRdwaja

Chief Human Resource Officer, Future Generali India Life Insurance

Influx of MNCs in the banking sector has of- fered good opportuni- ties for women

Creating wealth with small amounts sounds difficult but over time they can yield substantial results

Only 5K In Your Kitty? You Still Can Invest!

amount is worthy enough to save

In fact, most of us are unaware of fact that there are financial products that can be bought with `5,000 and sometimes even less

Isha Ghakkar, 31, has been diligently investing in small amounts since she started working She started investing in a recurring deposit account with a mere `500 a

followed by drinks and a

lavish dinner Bill paid -

`5,000! This may sound like a typical

weekend engagement where an

amount like `5,000 can be spent in

the blink of an eye

With increasing disposable

income and lack of financial literacy,

we do not even consider that this

By Sampurna Majumder

“Someone’s sitting in the shade

today because someone planted a

tree a long time ago.”

- Warren Buffett

month, graduating to nearly `5,000 with time Needless to say, these small investments came to her rescue often For example, when she decided

to buy her first laptop, upgrade her smartphone or while planning to rent out a better accommodation in

a city like Delhi, she did not have to worry about funds

Creating wealth may sound difficult but it is not impossible Just like water from streams and river flows unceasingly, gradually growing in size; investing in small amount gradually can lead to the accumulation of substantial wealth

We all can achieve our financial

Financial goals can be achieved if we start saving early in small amounts