Aditi k othaRi Desai
Additional Executive Director and Head, Sales &
Marketing, DSP BlackRock Mutual Fundwas 10 or 11. And the importance of starting early is the
key lesson I have learnt. My biggest regret is that when I
started my career I had the misconception that insurance
equals investment. I have realised over the years that
insurance is actually a risk cover and not an investment
tool. There are other avenues available to make good
investments.
Money Mantras
The most critical thing – and it’s an evergreen point- is to believe in the power of compounding. It is
indeed completely magical. It is very clear and easy to
understand too. I keep quoting it in my meetings with
retail as well as institutional investors. This is the whole
and sole mantra for me.
Money Advice From Mother
My mom always told me that I should be financially
independent and not depend on anyone else. She
made it clear that I should get a job, feel confident in my
abilities, and earn my own money. She stressed that I
should know that I have the ability to get a job and earn
on my own. So, at the age of 20, I got my first pay cheque
when I was doing an internship in New York. It felt so
good that I did not need to depend on anyone anymore.
My father always believed from the outset that I should
manage my own finances. So, after college I was told
that he was not going to help me with this and that he’s
left it to me and my sister to manage whatever money
we had. We had to find our own financial advisor that
we were satisfied with and make our own decisions – he
wasn’t a part of it. Essentially, it boiled down to ‘earn
your own money and manage your own money’.Money Lessons Learnt
I think I should have invested better during my early days.
My portfolio had always been a bit on the conservative
side. Ideally, when you start off, you need to have
approximately 70-75 per cent invested in equity and
around 25-30 per cent in fixed income (for short-term
needs). I had more like 50:50 in both—and that was at
an early age.Money Mantras
When it comes to money, I barely keep any money in
the bank. Money should always be invested. It could
be in liquid funds if you need the money in the shortterm. Never ever leave it idle in the bank. Also, don’t keep
obsessing over your portfolio. Get a good advisor, make
a good asset allocation, and stick to it. The other thing
I learnt is to invest in mutual funds and not in individual
stocks. One has no time or knowledge to undertake
research and keep monitoring stocks. Leave that to the
experts. If you earn or inherit money that’s yours, you
should be the one to invest it.http://www.outlookmoney.com March 2018 Outlook Money 45
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Photo: Soumik kar