A Rising Tide

INDIAN WOMEN ARE BEGINNING TO SEIZE CONTROL OF THEIR FINANCIAL DESTINY TO EXPLORE OPTIONS OUTSIDE GOLD AND BANK DEPOSITS AND INVEST IN THE MARKETS INSTEAD

- JUMANA SHAH & SONAL KHETARPAL

Till March 2024, Mumbai-based business development professional Aswasana Mishra was content to lock away all her money in bank fixed deposits. Then, the 54-year-old discovered LXME.

The women's-only investment app was running an online challenge to save Rs 50,000 in four months, and, before she knew it, Aswasana had embarked on her investment journey.

"It got me to save small amounts under Rs 500 and invest daily," she says. Twenty-one challenges later, she has built a diversified portfolio-52 per cent in equity, 30 per cent in gold funds, the rest in debt and hybrid instruments.

The returns beat her old FDs. But what investing has taught her is goal-setting discipline and granted her a sense of financial autonomy. Last year, she travelled to the Maldives with her investment gains; this year, it was the Andamans.

"I'm not asking my husband for any money. I'm using my own savings to fund my trips," she says. Now, she is urging her 18-year-old daughter to do the same.

"A silent revolution is unfolding. The Indian woman has a plan for her money, she now seeks knowledge and direction"

RENU MAHESHWARI Chairperson, Association of Registered Investment Advisers in India (ARIA)