With the rise of cryptocurrencies and digital assets, everyone is trying to dip their hands into the investment game. It’s uncharted waters for people like us, who still are trying to figure out what NFTs actually are. But, it’s a completely complex landscape for women who invest. We spoke to the COO of StashAway – a wealth management company based in the Middle East and Singapore. We had the opportunity to interview Nandini Joshi, whose career has shifted from luxury fashion house Louis Vuitton and Sephora, to investment management company StashAway.
Grazia: Tell us more about your career shifts, from networking conglomerate Cisco to fashion house Louis Vuitton and more.
Nandini Joshi: I’ve been very lucky to have been able to make there to four big shifts in 20 odd years of my career now, but they have always been underpinned by focusing on transferable skill sets and learning new ones. Core skillsets of problem-solving and what great customer service looks like have seen me through multiple roles while learning how value is built and retained in each industry and business be that through supply-chain, partnerships or branding.
G: How did your transition from fashion and beauty eCommerce to fintech arise?
N.J: I was working on growth via digital since 2012; first with the portfolio companies in my private equity days and then at Luxola, which was later acquired by Sephora. So when the opportunity at StashAway came up, I think the mindset of digital-first and customer centricity is what helped me with that transition along with the experience of scale-up.
G: In your opinion, are more women getting involved in investing?
N.J: Absolutely, and it’s incredible to see that happening. At StashAway, 50% of our new clients are women since the start of 2021. Financial literacy has improved for all and has been especially fruitful for women.
G: What advice would you give to someone just starting their investment portfolio?
N.J: First of all, make sure that you have taken care of your emergency fund (six months of living expenses) and high-interest debt (credit card).
An important aspect of being successful in investing is to stay invested through the ups and downs of the market.
You can only do that by ensuring you have unforeseen needs covered so you don’t derail your investment portfolio. Then, start with a sum that you feel comfortable with. At StashAway, there is no minimum balance, which is great for anyone looking to start their investment journey. Spend your time in educating yourself about investing, for example, anyone can attend one of StashAway’s weekly webinars or download the app and go through the short Academy videos that are available. This is available for everyone; you don’t need to be an investor to do it. Once you feel comfortable with the app, you start with any amount; it’s never too late to start investing even with AED 1,000.
G: Which qualities do you think are the most important to maintain to have a successful career in tech as a woman?
N.J: To succeed at any job, you need to keep a forever learning mindset. This is true in tech as well. Another important quality to build and maintain is to be vocal with your ideas. Career in tech means you are looking to solve problems efficiently; but problems get solved when different ideas come together.
So it’s really important that women voice their perspectives in discussions and ideations.
G: How do you stay focused in such a fast-paced and changing market environment?
N.J: Make sure you know your WHY. For the big things and the small things everyday. That helps me stay focused on what needs to be done. Other than that, I avoid multi-tasking. Breakdown your work into 20 mins tasks and keep distractions away (phone, notifications, etc) till you complete the task or the time slot.
G: Where is the industry heading, especially as multiple different investment formats have risen (such as Bitcoin, NFTs)?
N.J: The industry is moving very fast, and we’ve seen that even the banks are becoming more digital and want to offer similar products as the robo-advisors. Therefore, it’s imperative for players like us to keep innovating and provide our clients with the best investment options to complement their “core investment portfolio”. All players looking to augment their product offering as part of their list of products such as crypto, ESG or thematic investing… Hence the reason we are aiming to become the one-stop-shop for people to invest across different types of assets.
