Radhika Gupta, chief executive officer of Edelweiss Mutual Fund, never imagined a career in finance during her school days. Her affinity for economics drew her towards finance and she went on to set up an alternative investment fund called Forefront Capital which was acquired by Edelweiss. She talks about her journey in finance and how women can make a difference as asset managers.
How were you attracted towards a career in finance?
Contrary to the myth that you must be a stock nerd to excel in finance domain, I had explored roles in consulting & technology during my dual degree program from University of Pennsylvania and finally graduated in finance. As a student, I liked economics as a subject and mathematics was dear to me, however, I had never imagined a career in finance during my school days.
Finance as a filed is very dynamic, always giving you a chance to learn. My favorite quote is from one of my earlier bosses, ‘In finance, you are making money every day. If not, you are definitely learning something important from it every day.’
How is the preparedness among women in India for retirement? Do you think women need to save for retirement more aggressively given that they tend to live longer, tend to save less, take career breaks?
It is important for women to take independent financial decisions, including retirement planning. Considering impact of inflation, career breaks for caregiving, aspiration to start your own business; thus, it’s imperative for women to start building their retirement corpus early. It is important to have a peaceful retired life. It should give you a chance to live life to the fullest even after retirement. My advice is that Asset allocation is necessary since it helps to build balanced retirement corpus over the years.
Though the representation of women fund managers is rising in India and globally, it is still low. What are your thoughts on bringing more diversity in financial services industry and particularly in fund management roles?
Representation of women in fund management is low, globally and in India. There is a misconception that one needs to be a ‘market guru’ to be a fund manager, because of which many girls are hesitant to pursue this profession. There are examples of great women fund managers and financial service professionals. We need more such senior women investment managers who in-turn will nurture more female talent in their teams. I have observed while working with prestigious institutes like CFA, through Vedica scholars’ program, more and more women want to take up financial services, investment management roles. In a nutshell, future holds lot of promise for our industry.
You have risen the ranks both as an entrepreneur and now to heading a fund house. How do you define leadership?
Leadership is all about giving wings to your team’s dream and making sure those dreams are achieved. I use this practice of storytelling to motivate my team. I listen; I even step back when I know that they are heading in the right direction. I trust; and lastly, I learn along with them while achieving our dreams.
How are you promoting diversity of workforce at Edelweiss MF?
We, at Edelweiss AMC, want to be known as a new age differentiated asset management firm. We try and maintain this approach of diversity at our workplace. We need diversity, not restricted to gender, but diversity of thinking and ideas. Diversity ultimately adds up to the bottom line.
As a CEO, I track gender diversity ratio across functions on a regular interval. This helps align efforts around building organization which nurtures diversity as a part of our overall talent pool. We, at Edelweiss AMC, have amazing, ambitious women working across functions, leading teams, while maintaining work- life harmony.
Has the representation of women on company boards increased in India? What can be done to increase it further?
Post the Companies act and SEBI’s mandate, representation of women has gone up from meagre 5% to 14% in NIFTY500 companies. Still, we have a long way to go before we reach global benchmark. It is important to look at the 'diversity of thought' women bring to the table. To increase this representation further, it is necessary to feed in the funnel. Most of the board members come from C-suite level in corporates. Hence it is important for organizations to focus on building diverse workforce across levels; this can be done by initiating career conversations with mid-level women, trying to create culture for them to succeed. These efforts will eventually add up to improve representation of women at C-suite and boards.
Who is your role model?
I don’t have individual role models; however, I take inspiration from many aspirational individuals. I admire people like Nandan Nilekani, who have transitioned from corporate to public sector to help contribute towards the government. I would like to emulate him at some point in my career.
My mother and grandmother are my inspiration. Both are very strong personalities and have encouraged me to build my own identity merely by quoting their own examples. My grandmother is the first working woman in the family and was the breadwinner of the house. My mother built her career despite challenges of constant migration to other parts of the globe every three years due to my father’s profession. Both educated and financially independent, they built their career despite difficult circumstances, without sacrificing on their personal space.
