Why Women Need To Take More Control Of Their Money Matters

SheThePeople.TV and SBI Mutual Funds hosted She Talks Money, at the Kenilworth Hotel, Kolkata, a platform that aims to equip women with knowledge, resources, and tools which make them more confident with money matters.

The speakers at the session were leading figures in the financial sector, who deal with money matters on a professional level and they spoke about the importance of economic independence among women and how vital it is for women to manage their own financial portfolios. Also sharing the stage were women from other fields such as theatre and fashion, who shared their personal stories about money management.

It was imperative to ask the right financial questions so that you could make the kind of investments that work for you. -Manisha Sharaf

The session kicked off with a presentation on mutual funds by Manoj Kumar Sinha, Senior Vice President & Zonal Head–East. From there, the interactive panel discussion kicked off. The speakers were Shuktara Lal, drama therapist, counsellor, teacher and theatre director; Meghna Nayak, founder of LataSita, a pioneering zero-waste studio creating garments made using textile sourced from Indian women’s wardrobes; Manisha Sharaf Co-Founder & CFO, SuperProcure.com & Co- Founder & CFO, TruckHall.com; Lubna Maelzer, founder of GPE: Girl Power Empowerment, a community that focuses on women empowerment; Tanusri Das, co-founder of Will Asset Management Inn, a leading Distribution House in Kolkata and Niru Tulsyan, co-founder of Vision Ahead which has an AUM of 250 crore and has more than 250 clients.

The session was moderated by Shonali Advani from SheThePeople.TV which is India's biggest digital portal, dedicated to passionately championing and promoting women’s journeys. Founded by award winning journalist Shaili Chopra, SheThePeople.TV is the voice Indian women today need.

The talk covered many points ranging from how women need to take more control of their money matters, the best ways to do it, what the ‘risks’ that mutual fund investments keep talking about are, to the oft-neglected area of health insurance and the questions women should ask agents when investing.

SheTalks Money, Kolkata

Both Shuktara Lal and Meghna Nayak said, that as single women, they need to put a lot of thought into where they put their money, adding that it was important to have a financial advisor. Manisha Sharaf agreed and also advised that it was imperative to ask the right financial questions so that you could make the kind of investments that work for you. Lubna Maelzer shared that investing in mutual funds opened up her vision to the world of corpus building and wealth creation. When the discussion turned to the risks involved, Tanusri Das summed it up with a punch, by saying if one could go to matrimonial sites to search for a life partner, then why not financial advisory sites to search for a monetary plan, after all, aren’t they both risks? Niru Tulsyan also stressed on the importance of women saving for themselves and investing in good retirement plans to which Shonali Advani added that it was also vital to look at health insurance too and to read the fine print, because that’s where a lot of significant information is hidden.

If one could go to matrimonial sites to search for a life partner, then why not financial advisory sites to search for a monetary plan, after all, aren’t they both risks? -Tanusri Das

The audience weighed in with personal experience and asking pertinent questions. An afternoon of incredible learning, many audience members shared that these sessions were of immense value and should be held more frequently.