In an era where Indian women are making their mark in many fields, the financial advisory business has very few women. Jayshree Pyasi talks to some prominent women IFAs to find out what prevents women from becoming financial advisors
On the face of it, women should take very easily to the financial advisory business as they are better listeners, more understanding and display higher sensitivity. In spite of these inherent advantages, why then does such a customer centric field lack women? This is the question that we posed to some renowned women IFAs.
Social framework
We spoke to Neha Khemlani, founder of Comsol Financial Solutions. Neha believes society holds women back from becoming entrepreneurs. Neha asserts “The reason lies in the basic society framework. A woman is expected to run a household. And running a household is a full-time job that does not leave time for pursuing an entrepreneurial venture.”
No luxury of time
Apsara Shetty a self employed woman with a boutique advisory firm considers that women are averse to risk taking. She says, “Women are risk averse. Even if I tell them to join hands with me in opening a branch, they are reluctant to do so. A woman when she starts a business venture can continue with it only if the business gives her speedy returns. Society doesn’t give women the luxury of time. But time is a pre-requisite for advisory business. The advisory model requires at least three years and 100 clients to break even.”
Work pressures
If a woman IFA is a rarity in India, then being an architecture graduate and advisory professional makes Swati Joshi a truly exotic species. Thane based Swati Joshi runs the advisory business with her husband Yogesh. She says, “There is less awareness amongst women about finance sector and its intricacies. There is a lot of work pressure that an IFA needs to shoulder in the term of odd work timings that many women may not be comfortable with. Also, this is a male dominant sector and hence difficult for women to penetrate.”
Lack of confidence in numbers
Musarrat Mona Fakih, a small town woman who is now a successful IFA in Mumbai feels that women are not perceived to be skilled at numbers. She says, “There is a general perception amongst investors that men are better in logical and technical topics than women. So, an investor who is generally a male would prefer to take assistance in financial matters from a man.”
Men do not trust women instincts
One of the top-earning IFAs of Gujarat, Alpa Damani is also an artist by profession. She finds the picture quite grim for women. She says, “Women are blessed with great intuition but when it comes to instincts in finances, most investors baulk.” According to Alpa, the financial advisory business today requires a lot of guts and intuition and believes that women have the right combination of guts and intuitions that can benefit their investors.
A better future awaits
Rajan Krishnan, MD, Baroda Pioneer Mutual Fund shares Neha Khemlani’s opinion but is confident that the situation will change and we will see a healthy number of woman IFAs. “Most of the decision making positions are male dominated so that has worked against women. We would definitely like to see more women financial advisors and planners because they are as competent as men if not more,” says Rajan.
