The finance industry has been witnessing a huge gender gap for years. However, the scenario has quite improved in 2020, the recent women in financial services report have conveyed that gender diversity in the workforce is making progress. The approaches have shifted and due to diligence and commitment, the progress has now started reflecting in number. On the other hand, the Asia-Pacific region has to still strive to achieve the gender diversity goal. While there may have been certain advances in girl’s education and women empowerment, but some of the regions are still struggling to break certain stereotypes set for women.
Around two decades ago, breaking this stereotype, Manju Mastakar commenced her journey in the stock market career. She started her journey as an assistant accountant, and over the years she handled various roles in the finance industry. The Great Recession of 2008 turned out to be a big turning point in her career. While the industry was undergoing a rough-patch, she was not only addressing the crises but also witnessing other issues, “The major concern was that the financial advisor was not working towards a broader life goal of the investors,” said Manju. To fill this gap, Manju started her entrepreneurial journey and established Armstrong Capital Advisory. Her ability to lead a small yet highly effective advisory team with the highest efficiency has made Armstrong grow into a significant player in the market in a very short time.
Fulfilling the Financial Goals
Armstrong Capital is financial planning and Wealth Management company. The company was incepted with a mission to bridge the gap between where the clients are now financially, and where they want to be. Keeping this in mind, every relationship in Armstrong starts with a Financial Plan.
Under this financial plan, the team understands the current and future financial commitments of the client. All the investments by the client are bundled together into respective goals. Further, the team outlines the picture of how the finances will look in the coming 10 years and what the annuity will be by the time s/he retires. Manju believes that the key differentiator that distinguishes Armstrong from others is the Financial Plans. These Financial Plans are comprehensive and are further backed by the Advisory. Besides financial plans, some other key offerings of Armstrong include Wealth Management and Mutual Fund Advisory. “Advice is something that a customer must implement and then comment. We keep referring to our plans and then advice,” says Manju.
An Approachable Leader
Manju Mastakar is the Founder and Managing Director of Armstrong. She is the backbone of the key offerings and closely manages the entire process of financial planning and wealth management. Apart from supervising the process she is also a mindful leader and is approachable by the team members. However, her leadership was challenged by the sudden COVID outbreak.
The virus outbreak did put several challenges for various industries, one of which was remote working. Manju always promoted peer motivation in the office giving employees the free space, “It’s good to be with colleagues, talk with them, share experiences, ask questions, crack some jokes and then get back to the desk feeling motivated.” However, this peer motivation has vanished during the work from home. Remote working somehow disconnects the communication between peers and demotivation sets in. Nevertheless, to tackle the tough situation Manju curated an idea to share emails of small achievements of the employees. This not only motivated individuals but also heartened conversations between the team members.
Great Move in Right Direction
Being HQ in India, Armstrong had to face several other consequences due to the outbreak. The lockdown announced by the Indian government was very sudden and extremely strict. There were restrictions on commute. Due to this directive, companies were shifted to remote working overnight. “In April suddenly adopting to work from home was quite difficult, some employees didn’t have the required infrastructure at home because we were never used to this concept of work from home,” said Manju. Previously, Armstrong’s back office job profile included plenty of paperwork, cheque collection, and cheque deposit. However, after the lockdown, all these transactions were completely shifted to an online platform eliminating the paperwork. Manju embraced the changes and looked for the silver lining in the situation.
The financial industry was fairly digitized but did not rely completely on virtual transactions. Now due to the pandemic, the entire transactions are end-to-end digitized. “It’s a phenomenal change and great move in the right direction,” said Manju. There may have been some drawbacks but overall it has pushed the industry further towards digitalization.
Reskilling for Rescaling
Few of the organizations have fallen victim to digitalization of indutries and many job roles were sacrificed in the process. Similarly, Armstrong too faced some issues while adapting to the new normal. The organization offered numerous internships and early career opportunities for the freshers, in order to train them on soft skills, share knowledge, handhold them, and groom them to become potential employees. Amid crisis, this entire intake of freshers has halted. “Work from home option can be given only to those who have some experience of what work is expected out of them and not to freshers,” explained Manju. As a result, this impacted the growth of business too as the talent acquisition was at standstill.
Manju on the other hand tried to make most of the opportunity. Due to a halt in services many employees had spare time to take up two roles in the organization. Consequently, the employees were trained to enhance their skills and in turn improve the productivity of the organization. This process was called reskilling for rescaling.
Beneficiary for the Body
“This 1 year of COVID will add 10 yrs to your life later,” asserts Manju. Having a different outlook on the situation, Manju believes that the COVID-19 outbreak has benefited humanity with a much-needed break. In the pre-COVID-era people were continuously traveling, compromising on meals, working 10hrs a day, and partying on weekends. Breaking from this routine, the pandemic has provided people with more time to spend on self-discovery. She concludes, “The lockdowns have helped our body and mind to rejuvenate and this will add more years to your life later.”
Message for the readers
Read full magazine : The 10 Women Business Leaders Overcoming the Pandemic
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