- July 31, 2025
‘Financial Freedom Should Feel Like Oxygen’: Women In Investment At News18 SheShakti
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Both the investment experts and fund managers said if women are financially independent, it is the first step to investing more
Bajaj Finserv group president designate (investments) Lakshmi Iyer and HDFC MF senior fund manager (equities) Roshi Jain speak during their session at News18 SheShakti in Mumbai on July 31. (Image: News18)
One should be in so much control of their finances that it feels like oxygen or independence day, said investment experts who advised women to achieve financial freedom before anything else.
“Financial freedom is like oxygen. For women, it should be like independence day. The goal is to be in so much control of your finances that you can say it feels like oxygen to you,” said Bajaj Finserv group president designate (investments) Lakshmi Iyer during her session on ‘The ROI of being she’ at the first-ever Mumbai edition of News18 SheShakti.
Her co-panelist for the session, HDFC MF senior fund manager (equities) Roshi Jain, said if women are financially independent, it is the first step to investing more.
“Investing is all about risk and reward and women inherently have the ability to assess risk a lot better. They know it’s not only about reward but also risk mitigation,” Jain said.
On whether women find it more difficult to navigate personal finance and rely on their male counterparts for it, Iyer said managing money is “gender agnostic”.
“When I started, there was barely one woman in the room. Navigation is all in the mind, you should just go ahead and do it,” she said.
Sharing a light moment, both the women said there are studies to show that women are “better fund managers” than men.
“Emotional quotient (EQ) and intelligence quotient (IQ), coupled with digital quotient (DQ) these days, are required for this job and women are better at balancing all three and, hence, have a small edge over males,” Iyer said, who enjoys food and films and gave plenty of Bollywood-style advice when it comes to making the right investment.
“Like Vidya Balan said in Dirrty Picture, entertainment-entertainment-entertainment, my mantra for investment is compounding, compounding, and compounding,” she said.
Jain, meanwhile, stuck to asset allocation and equities for all ages.
“Equities is like the Red Bull to your portfolio, gives you the kicker while debt is like ‘nimbu paani’. If you want a kick in your portfolio, you can have equity and if you want stability, you can have nimbu paani any season,” Iyer quipped.
Jain said while there was plenty of financial advice going around when it comes to investment, her father gave her some basic advice.
“Just be yourself and do whatever you want. We don’t realise but this translates into a lot of stuff we do and helps build the confidence we need,” she said.
She also said Indians start investing late in life. “The best time for investment was the last 30 years. We would’ve come very late to the equity market,” she said, adding her only tip for budding investors would be, “mutual funds sahi hai.”
ABOUT SHESHAKTI
The Mumbai edition of SheShakti sets the stage for the grand national celebration in Delhi on August 21. The theme for this year, ‘From Breaking Barriers to Building Bharat’, captures the journey of Indian women.
The event features a diverse line-up of trailblazers, including diplomats, policymakers, business leaders, sportspersons, artists, and media voices. Key dignitaries include Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Ashwini Bhide, Principal Secretary to the CM and MD, Mumbai Metro Corporation from the government; foreign dignitaries like H.E. Ambassador Chavanart Thangsumphant, Thailand Ambassador to India; celebrities like actors Nimrat Kaur, Shriya Pilgaonkar, and Renuka Shahane; sportspersons like Olympian Anjali Bhagwat among others.
News18 SheShakti 2025 celebrates the women who are building India’s future, not just by breaking barriers, but by building the Bharat of tomorrow. The theme of this year, “From Breaking Barriers to Building Bharat,” spotlights women making real change on the ground- creating jobs, driving innovation, transforming communities, and making systems more inclusive. From rural change-makers to tech trailblazers, the initiative brings to life how women are not just disrupting the status quo but building the very framework of a stronger, self-reliant Bharat.
The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d…Read More
The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d… Read More
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