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Time of India
15-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
ET Women's Forum: No finance degree, no guru. Take a SIP of confidence, start walk to freedom
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Being financially independent is not just about having money, it's about having control over your life. That was the central theme of a thought-provoking discussion held at The Economic Times Women's Forum in Mumbai. The panel, titled ' Financial Independence : Own Your Worth,' brought together three influential voices, Devina Mehra, founder of First Global, Nilesh Shah, managing director of Kotak Mahindra AMC, and Rachana Ranade, finance educator and well-known opened the session by stressing the importance of introducing financial literacy in school curricula. While awareness has grown over the last three decades, she noted that young boys are often exposed to financial discussions earlier than girls, who typically begin engaging in it only after starting a job or marriage. She underlined how women themselves develop mental blocks due to social conditioning, often underestimating their capability or deferring to male family pointed out that a meaningful change will take time and must be driven both by shifting mindsets and greater participation from women. "Women need to ask questions, make decisions, and claim their space in money conversations," he cited a story from Nashik, where even men are starting to understand the importance of including their wives in financial discussions. She highlighted how financial empowerment is not just a women's issue but a collective panel agreed that risk-taking is not inherently gendered. Mehra explained how women, though great savers, hesitate to invest due to fear or lack of confidence despite evidence showing women often outperform men in Mehra and Shah advocated starting with systematic investment plans (SIPs) to build discipline and gradually gain confidence. "You don't need to know everything to start investing," Mehra said. "Just begin wisely and consistently."Ranade, who commands a wide audience on social media, spoke about the transformative power of digital platforms in driving financial awareness. While her early YouTube channel had a 90:10 male-to-female ratio, she has since narrowed the gap with her Marathi channel reaching 35% female recalled how her videos inspired a small village in Maharashtra, where women began investing even ₹100 through SIPs. "This is the ripple effect," she said. "Even one small step can spark big change."When the conversation moved to risk-taking, Mehra said that women often go to extremes. They either stay away from investments completely or leave all decisions to someone else. The smarter approach, she said, is balanced asset allocation, a mix of equity, debt, and even global exposure."Never be 100% in equity," she warned, adding that diversification is important for long-term financial encouraged women to take small steps to begin their investment journey. She said starting a monthly SIP of even ₹500 can be a great beginning. "You don't need a finance degree to begin," she on her YouTube experience, she noted that women tend to engage more with financial content when it comes from someone relatable, especially another woman. That's why role models are so also said that more women are needed in top finance roles. For women starting businesses, she advised them to confidently pitch their ventures and not let doubts, especially from others, slow them down. "Be ready to steer the narrative back to your strengths," she said."A man will apply for a promotion if he meets 60% of the criteria. A woman waits till she checks every box," Mehra observed. She also shed light on systemic biases in venture capital funding, where men are asked about growth potential and women about risks."Be a great salesperson for your idea. You will face more rejections, but don't take them personally." The session closed with a strong message: financial independence is not optional, it's essential.
Time of India
06-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Underweight on US since January; overweight on Europe, China & India: Devina Mehra
Devina Mehra , Founder & CMD, First Global , says their global funds have been underweight in the US since January, favoring Europe and maintaining overweight positions in China and India. Recent rebalancing in India included overweighting pharma and auto components, a strategy in place since early 2024. FMCG and banks have seen increased weight, with banks still remaining underweight despite recent additions. Let us shift focus to the Indian markets because when you joined us in March, the market sentiment was not that great and you believe that in this time where fear is actually gripping the market sentiment, it is a good time to invest. Stick with the largecaps and have a strategy. But from those levels, markets have already seen a good runup. How are you seeing the Indian markets and the fundamentals shaping up? Devina Mehra: I was looking at some of my podcasts from February which I had done after my book had been released. In everyone I have said the same thing that if you were waiting for a correction to invest, have you invested yet? It was when Nifty was in the 22,000 range. It has gone up since then. But my recommendation is to remain invested because one will have to look at a trade-off; what is the percentage and probability of the downside versus the percentage and probability of the upside? by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Unsold Container Homes in North Cotabato - Prices You Won't Believe! Shipping Container Homes | Search Ads Search Now Undo We are still in a good space in the largecap mainstream stocks. You have to be sector specific and stock specific. Having said that, it is not the time to be sitting out of the market. There is no good reason to do that because most of the time it makes sense to remain invested unless a crash appears imminent, which is not the case. The statistic I have given before says that in 40-odd years, if you miss out on the 10 best days, you miss out on two-thirds of the return. So, your Rs 100 instead of being Rs 75,000 or so, would be Rs 25,000. That is the kind of risk of sitting out. You should not have 100% in equities, but is it a time to be invested as far as your equity allocation is concerned? The answer is yes. In your book, you have advocated the thought of going global because if you are one market centric, there is a risk of your portfolio being concentrated in just one asset class. So, for this particular year, which market and which asset class can be the outperformer? Devina Mehra: A lot of people think globalising means buying a US index or buying half a dozen US stocks. Many funds also run on that strategy. In our global funds, especially since January, we have been underweight the US, we are overweight Europe . We had also increased our fixed income allocation but that has also been very volatile. We also have been overweight China from somewhere last year and we are slightly overweight India. That is broadly where we are as far as global funds are concerned. Live Events You Might Also Like: MF Tracker: Will this Rs 30,000 crore smallcap fund continue to maintain its long-term performance? We have just carried out our India rebalance because we do it every quarter. April end or so was a month. There also in terms of sectors, we have been overweight pharma and auto components from almost the beginning of 2024 and that continues. Pharma and healthcare in just percentage terms probably would be our highest overweight. In the last few quarters, we have been overweight FMCG. That is one area where we have been increasing weight. We have also increased weight in banks, but we are still not overweight there. We are still underweight but in the last couple of rebalances, we have added banks. You Might Also Like: Nilesh Shetty stays cautious; 3 sectors see largest allocations in value portfolio Devina Mehra on Trump-Musk spat, China's chip market manipulation
Time of India
06-06-2025
- Automotive
- Time of India
Devina Mehra on Trump-Musk spat, China's chip market manipulation
Devina Mehra , Founder & CMD, First Global , says Elon Musk 's recent call for Trump's impeachment, despite past support, signals escalating tensions. Concerns arise about Musk's government involvement and data access. The EV industry faces chip supply risks, particularly China's dominance in strategic resources globally. Due to volatility and news dependence, Tesla is considered a high-risk stock and is not held in global funds. I guess the big headline has been the spat or breakup between Elon Musk and Donald Trump and what a costly one it turned out to be. Having said that, what do you suspect could be the ramifications because Musk has even called for Trump's impeachment? Devina Mehra: I just posted on that and yes, this was a plot twist that was very predictable. So, any couple's counsellor would have told them that this was not going to last. Even if in today's America they have gone to their church pastor also, they would have been told that. So what has happened is very predictable. Two people like them were not going to make it. Till two days ago, Elon Musk found only good things about Trump and now he is calling for impeachment and saying such ingratitude after all the money I spent on your campaign, you have forgotten about it! So, yes, it is going to get uglier. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Bank Owned Properties For Sale In An Phu (Prices May Surprise You) Foreclosed Homes | Search ads Search Now Remember Elon Musk was not born in the US. He is an immigrant and he still holds on to his South African citizenship and a Canadian citizenship as well. There are many things that could happen. Let us see how it pans out. But I do not think this is bad news as such for markets because I do not think whatever Musk was doing within the government was something which was very desirable. It was just getting access to a lot of government data and also slashing a lot of things without understanding what they were really doing. So, I do not think that him leaving the government is a negative thing for the US. But like you have said, this is meant to become more sour in the days to come. What impact could this have on some sectors that are heavily reliant because we have also seen a 14% crash coming in on Tesla's stock and with everything that is going on around, and the rare earth deal with China. Trump has very clearly said he is not going to entertain questions on that. Now, he is someone who is not going to turn down talking about a topic unless it is sorted in his head. So, where do you believe this narrative is headed and how could this shape the global EV space ? Devina Mehra: Let us see how it goes. That is a risk area for a lot of the EVs in the world for a number of things. We saw in India recently that the only supplier effectively is China or China controlled entities because China has very strategically controlled a lot of areas and not just in Asia and Africa. I read in some books that they have been there right from South America to the Arctic circle. So, wherever they think there is strategic raw material or other strategic goods, they have been there. It is a risk area for the EV industry. Tesla as such, we have not held in our global funds for a while now because it is too volatile and too unpredictable a stock, and too dependent on news. We have steered clear off it as it is a high-risk stock in our category. You Might Also Like: The Trump-Musk rift: All that you need to know Tesla is being eaten alive by Chinese rivals it inspired
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Norfolk Robotics team becomes world champions
NORFOLK, Neb. (KCAU) — High school robotics has grown in popularity in recent years. Now, some teams are gaining respect for their skills not only nationally, but internationally, that's the case for one team from Norfolk. The program has gained popularity in the Siouxland area since the Rebel Robotics team became world champions. Officials with the Northeast Community College said the team competed at the First Tech Challenge World Championship in Houston, where they won the Inspire Award. 'This year we were second place in Nebraska. We moved on to the world championship where we managed to place first out of every single team in the world,' said Emmett Haake, the team captain and designer. 'It was a super exciting deal.' 'When they when they announced our name worldwide. It was just a surreal feeling. It's just something we've been working towards for so long,' said Nicholas Miller, the team's fundraiser. 'We've worked really hard, though, and I'm really proud of everybody,' said Braden Jensen, the team's fundraiser. The team out performed over 9,000 other teams by having their robot complete a task in under three minutes. 'Our robot achieves that by we have this claw that has four different little fingers so the claw reaches way out into the pit, grabs the sample, and then it brings the sample back. And then this hand here is open. So released as a sample. Then right there, the hand is able to grab it, and then the hand is attached to a set of linear slides that are able to extend way up into the air and then deposit the sample into the basket,' said Haake. The team said, there's so much more than robotics, adding, they participate to improve their skills needed later when they join the workforce. 'It's all about learning, and especially with the business. I never thought I'd be into business. And so getting to learn these skills to learn to talk in front of people comfortably is just something I've loved doing,' said Miller. 'There's aspects for everybody. There's finding mentors. There's fundraising there's robot building. There's programing. There's something for everybody,' said Jensen With their recent win, the team from Norfolk becomes the United States lone entry in another international competition, coming up in October of 2025. 'In a competition called, 'First Global' where every single country will be sending one team to compete down in Panama City. So we're incredibly excited about that. Super excited to be here representing the entire country from Norfolk, Nebraska,' said Haake. For more information on the team and how to join, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
