8th March - today is International Women's Day, and the theme for this year's Women's Day is "Make It Happen". In your context as a financial advisor, you can help "make it happen" by empowering women investors to make their own financial decisions, rather than depending on others. Make it happen by educating, enlightening and enabling women investors to become financially wise. A great way for you to do this is to join Aditi in the powerful and noble mission she has embarked on, with DSP Blackrock's Winvestor program. Over 100 women advisors across the country have joined hands with Aditi, by becoming Winvisors. Read on to understand from Aditi more about this fantastic initiative, and to all women ARN holders across the country and all women employees of wealth management businesses - make it happen by signing up to become a Winvisor TODAY.

WF: What were the key insights that led you to develop the Winvestor initiative and how has the journey been so far for Winvestor?

Aditi: Before Winvestor, I had a lot of interactions with women from different walks of life about how they could manage their money better. In many cases, these were women who had to suddenly manage money after events like divorce, inheritance or death of a spouse. In many cases, these women had little or no knowledge on how to go about investing in the right manner. Sometimes, opportunistic relatives would also offer to manage the money on their behalf. I wanted to help. So, along with my team, we decided to focus on building awareness and encouraging women to make their own investment decisions by bringing together interested women with professional female financial advisors, as we felt women would feel more comfortable talking about their concerns with other women.

Winvestor so far has been an interesting and rewarding journey. It has encompassed initiatives like research study on women in India with regard to investment decision making, workshops in educational institutions and corporates, tying up with organizations and industry bodies that support women, doing programs in conjunction with NGOs to reach out to women from the low-income segment, apart from training and encouraging more women in DSP BlackRock to become the ambassadors of Winvestor and take the momentum forward.

WF: You now have over 100 advisors who have signed up to support this initiative as "Winvisors" - which is fantastic! What does a Winvisor undertake to do and how can more advisors sign up to support this noble initiative?

Aditi: A Winvisor is essentially an empanelled female advisor with DSP BlackRock, who supports this initiative by conducting pro bono one-on-one sessions with women seeking investment knowledge & guidance. Besides these sessions, registered Winvisors could be called to share their experiences on TV or contribute to magazine articles.

Any AMFI registered woman advisor empanelled with us, who believes in our program, is welcome to register on our site: http://www.dspblackrock.com/winvestor. To know more about becoming a Winvisor, one can email queries to winvestor@dspblackrock.com.

WF: In this journey of engaging with women investors through Winvestor, what are some of your key learnings about the biggest financial issues that women investors are looking for help / guidance / support in?

Aditi: Women are different from men in terms of their aspirations, priorities in life, lifestyle commitments & more importantly their financial planning needs. They like to be listened to and have a meaningful personal connection, before they are able to trust you and believe in the plan you present to them. Surveys also show that women like to hear real-life examples rather than pure financial analytics, statistics and jargon.

A financial advisor must understand that when talking to women he/she must deal with feelings and emotions, and try to understand the entire story before making any investment suggestions. In addition, financial advisors must be patient in explaining even basic concepts to women and thereby encourage them to make their own investment decisions by building their confidence one meeting at a time!

WF: Stereotypes about male and female investors suggest that women are more protection oriented while men are higher risk takers. Is this way off the mark or is there merit in such a stereotyping?

Aditi: It is not just stereotypes; there are studies that highlight these differences. Women investors tend to produce better and more consistent outcomes. Hedge Fund Research in the USA found that, from January 2000 through May 31, 2009, female-managed hedge funds delivered an average annual return of 9% over many years, compared to less than 6% by male-managed funds. Research also shows that during the financial crisis of 2008, women-led funds dropped by less than 10% while the male-led funds fell by 19%. A UC Davis study found that male managers traded 45% more than female managers, thereby reducing returns by -2.65% (about 1% more than females).

There is also a book called 'Warren Buffett Invests Like a Girl: And Why You Should, Too' which is based on the premise that with their patience and good decision making, women epitomize the investment philosophy, as well as the investment temperament of the most successful investor in history: Warren Buffett. The book states that while men may be brash, compulsive, and overly daring, women tend to be more studious, skeptical, and reasonable.

WF: Do you have a structured investor education program around Winvestor which your distribution partners can use in conjunction with your team to deliver these programs in their cities and towns?

Aditi: Yes, we have a program for which we have prepared a carefully constructed 25 minute presentation which we feel establishes the need for investing among working women professionals and encourages them to ask questions and meet a financial advisor in person. If any financial advisor across India is focusing on the female audience and needs our support, we will be happy to discuss a way forward to partner in this journey together.

At the end of the day, no matter how much we do for this cause, it'll not be enough. The larger the network of people raising their voice, the bigger shall be the impact of Winvestor.

WF: What is the road ahead for Winvestor?

Aditi: Winvestor is a cause that goes beyond mere investing. It is an honest effort by DSP BlackRock aimed at making working women across India feel truly independent and empowered. We believe that not much has been done by community of investment professionals to encourage women to come forward and take charge, so we will take it upon ourselves to affect as much of a change as we can.

We will need all the support from forums such as these, and encourage our IFA community to step forward and help us amplify this voice. Distributors can get in touch with us at Winvestor@dspblackrock.com if you want to discuss how you can help.

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