Since time immemorial, the gender stereotypical perceptions about ability and appropriate career option for women has always been a subject of discussion amongst people, especially when it's about finance. However, it's celebratory to find the trend changing today, as women making slow-yet-steady career strides, have been witnessed reaching the top echelons of the leadership roles across the fintech industries. According to Deloitte's recent reports, women currently hold 22 percent leadership roles in financial industry presently and the numbers are estimated to rise to 31 percent by 2030.

Also, the Recently, the Women Entrepreneur India magazine interviewed Manju Mastakar, Founder & MD of Armstrong Capital & Financial Services one of those visionaries dedicatedly indulged in strengthening the reach of the finance sector. Manju gives us a glimpse of her expertise and her inspirational journey. Here are excerpts from the conversation.

Walk Us Through Your Educational And Professional Background. What Factors Led You To Become An Entrepreneur And Establish Armstrong Capital?

I am a B.Com.& Diploma in Finance Management. However, I had started my career at a very early age of 19, having joined a CA firm for my Articleship. Being entrusted with clients who had major earning from stock market trading, I got introduced to the world of investments. Though I had tough days, attending college in the morning and going to Dalal Street at the broker's office to compute income from trades in the afternoon, gradually my interest shifted from accounting for trades to doing the trades. Since the office was short-staffed, I got an opportunity to operate the BSE Terminal. There was no formal training and mostly trades were done on news that was sourced from highly knowledgeable persons. As my interest grew so did my commitment and I started researching more about stocks, reading balance sheets, tracking results and then recommending stocks to others. That's how the journey began from accountant, to terminal operator, then relationship manager, portfolio advisor, wealth manager and so on.

However, my entrepreneurial journey made way after I got married and moved from Mumbai to Banga-lore. I shifted from the financial capital to the IT hub. The change was drastic, having to start with educating the clients with basic of stock market movements, equities, mutual funds, and so on, instead of advising clients on derivatives­ Future & Options, Currency hedging, Commodity trading which I used to do back in Mumbai.

I then worked for an MNC Bank and a wealth management company, but eventually lost my job in the retrenchments led by 2008 financial turmoil. I started on my own, working from home, tied up with few financial services firms and had a couple of clients to advice & work with, but since motherhood and entrepreneurship happened at the same time, I took it slow and slowly gained momentum. Later, in 2010 I met an angel investor who backed me and encouraged me to start more professionally. That's how Armstrong Capital was born.

Tell Us About Armstrong Capital And Its Various Areas Of Expertise?

Armstrong is a team of dedicated finance professionals who are focused on providing the clients with unparalleled service in handling their financial affairs and generate good post tax returns. It offers services in form of financial planning & investment advisory. We analyse the client's past investments, understand the liabilities, discuss with them about what we think and take a judgmental call on their risk appetite and then offer the solutions. We call it the execution plan, then we again discuss it with the customer, involving him in the decision-making process of choosing the right mutual fund. Today the company manages 1000+ clients and is passionate about building & nurturing client relationships.

“Armstrong is a team of dedicated finance professionals who are focused on providing the clients with unparalleled service in handling their financial affairs and generate good post tax returns”

How Do We Manage Our Time Efficiently Within The Organisation Carrying Out Meetings So That We Can Spend More Time Listening To Clients?

As people want to hear a direct piece of advice from the Finance professionals alike Lawyers & Doctors, time management and increasing efficiency are the two most important factors I work on. Making the meeting time efficiently short, I try to maintain the meeting's productivity by avoiding absence of important attendees. Meetings are external and internal, where we have very low control on external meeting with client or fund manager, we maintain a tight grip on the process set for internal meetings. Holding three types of meetings, beginning with educative meeting that involves sending agenda and learning material in advance to the employees and letting them decide, we then conduct the decision-making meetings and let the top executives or the decision maker decide the course of action. Lastly, it ends with the most import-ant informal meeting which happens over a cup of coffee. This last meeting gives us a clear picture of the tremors in the ground.

Given That Finance Is An Ever Evolving Field, What Steps Do You Take To Keep Yourself Well Aligned With Every Change Taking Place Within The Finance & Wealth Management Industry?

We listen to customers and understand them better. Several times customers come across as aggressive investors, but when we design an investment strategy, we use our own judgement. Generally, clients choose us over the competition because of honest advice, online execution, long term planning and most importantly `trust'. We spend a lot of time with customers in the initial years, explaining to them & educating them, and once they believe that we have the right knowledge then the trust factor is built.

We also bring in the discipline of saving that was missing in the clients.

What Would Your Advice Be To Young Women Aspiring To Foray Into The Field Of Finance As Entrepreneurs?

Finance & Investment Management is a tough field. Here you have to spend a lot of time in gathering knowledge, staying updated with the news that affects the economy & market, and convincing clients. The time & dedication required is quite high. Don't take up this profession as a part time to earn the extra bucks, don't have a me-too approach. You should have within you the vision and passion coupled with perseverance to succeed.

Manju Mastakar, Founder & MD, Armstrong Capital & Financial Services

Manju is an experienced Finance Professional with over two decades of experience in managing Investments and has been passionately helping her clients by building Investment plans and driving Financial Independence for them through the firm.