BENGALURU: It’s a weekday afternoon when a group of women are listening in rapt attention to the market goings-on. Their mentor, Bishnu Dhanuka, co-founder of Millennium Mams’, a non-profit organisation that educates women about financial literacy and where to invest their assets, has one piece of advice: Patience and more patience.
Whether it’s the current account deficit, global and domestic inflation or political happenings, Dhanuka believes that no macro factor should really affect investments. “Macro factors like the UK elections don’t affect those of us investing from India, we focus on investing in physical, yet intangible assets like brands, copyrights, and patents,” says Dhanuka, who believes that women can be better investors than men.
When Dhanuka started the first chapter of Millennium Mams’ in Kolkata, 30 years ago, he was concerned that not many women would willingly attend but now, the organisation has about 4,000 members with three chapters in Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Kolkata.
“People were not that open-minded back then. So, I thought, let me start this initiative from my house, free of charge. I started teaching women about capital markets, how to read business papers, magazines etc,” says Dhanuka. Dhanuka closely follows the finance principles of his guru, Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway and one of the most successful investors in the world.
In fact, some members of the club attended the AGM of Berkshire Hathaway owned by Buffett. Shalini Manglani, a nutritionist by profession, and investor by passion has been attending Dhanuka’s classes for over six years. “Numbers were always daunting, but now I’ve realised they’re not,” says Manglani.
Dineet Dadu, president of the Bengaluru chapter of Millennium Mams’, has started taking equity investment decisions in her house. “The people that I meet, and the conversations I have after attending these classes changed my perspectives completely. Investing has changed me drastically as a person,” she says, adding, “We are always told that factors like the Ukraine war and the UK elections will keep happening around us, but it is most important to be sure of the companies and invest.”