Armstrong Capital Advisory
The all-round know-how of Investment yielded by a workaholic lady
These days, we see a new ambience in the entrepreneurial world that is witnessing a huge jump in number of women entrepreneurs. Development of any country is incomplete without the contribution of women power. Although India has not been amongst the countries with huge participation of women force, it won’t be wrong to say that the picture has started changing. Not a single domain has remained untouched by the women of 21st century. They have conquered almost every sector and have made their presence felt by the patriarchal society. There are a number of industries where female workforce has proved their worth and it won’t be an exaggeration to say that Finance & Capital sector has been one of their favorites. The sector has seen many inspiring figures such as Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chanda Kochhar, Shikha Sharma and many others. These are the ladies that have shown new path of light to aspiring women of present world.
There are numerous names but unfortunately not every name gets the same recognition. There are many business women who have yielded exceptional services for years and people want to know more about their modus operandi. We, at Business Connect, believe that every successful business story no matter small or big needs to reach to aspiring entrepreneurs of India. This will eventually help burgeoning entrepreneurs become erudite enough to scale new heights of success. Mrs Manju Mastakar, the founder of Armstrong Capital Advisory, is one such lady who has earned good recognition in the investment arena.
The work-life balance worth learning for working women
She is a well-known name in Bangalore by means of her acumen to provide fruitful solutions pertaining to Investment Advisory and Future Planning. She invariably remains excited about the opportunities that her job provides. She is meant to come up with new resolutions and ideate fresh plans. She loves the medley of smart work & hard work that her job requires. The smart work makes work less stressful while hard work reflects perseverance for excellence. This is exactly what she has been up to. Being a mother, it was not a hunky dory affair for the lady to manage entrepreneurial and personal life simultaneously. Eventually, with dedication, she learnt to strike a chord between both. She learnt efficaciously how to take care of her son on the sidelines of the entrepreneurial venture.
Never-say-Never Attitude
Her journey to Capital market began when she took her first stride in Stock Market of Mumbai in the year 2000. She got good exposure by working with some esteemed brokers such as Motilal Oswal, Rosy Blue Securities and MF Global etc. She worked there at different positions such as dealer and relationship manager. Her yearning to explore more in this domain brought her to the Silicon Valley of India in 2007. There she became a part of global firm HSBC but the next few years were quite struggling for her. The global recession of 2008 had simply ruined the market and many heads were rolled but Mrs Mastakar had some other plans. She was not willing to bend knees and in the course of time, she became the brainchild of Armstrong in 2010. The understanding of clients need is something that she wished to work upon and make a USP out of this. Before Armstrong, she knew the rat-race in the market that was more focused to get big buck quickly by selling insurances and structured products. She wanted to create a niche in the market by a perspective that emphasizes upon building up the relationship.
The sui generis work style
The company began with a unique style that typically comprises a clear picture of past records of investments like PF, PPF, LIC, Real Estate, Mutual Fund and Insurances. The company carries forward a holistic view about asset allocation and then it plans to help clear the liabilities. Moreover, it lays the outline to get an annuity for its clients so that they don’t just rely upon their salary. The company makes sure not to be lured by the short term benefits. To address any kind of emergency, it always has two backup plans ready for the clients so that the paucity does not pose any challenge. It gives impetus on training employees so that it could impart a whole lot of knowledge about the pros and cons of products.
Few decades back, finance was considered a male-dominated field. With times, the perception has changed a lot. But still it has a long way to go. The founder of the company, too, was left with no option but to battle with the notion of people. During her interview in 2001 for a position of equity dealer, she was asked to prove her worth so that she could fit into an environment full of men. She successfully passed the challenge. Even after this, she had to face such situations in her career over and again. People were not ready to accept a woman as their financial advisor. They were tied to their orthodox mentality which denied the presence of a female in the domain. Still, her robust conviction didn’t stop here. She was hell bent on cementing her position as a pioneer. Her perseverance finally paid off. She received several accolades for her contribution in the arena.
While being interviewed, she talked in favor of more participation from the half population. She adds, “I would advise and encourage every women to work and take up her career, raising kids may require a break of 5-6 years but post that I would really encourage women to take up a job or to start their own entrepreneur journey. It’s a very good feeling to be financially independent and from a financial advisor prospective a double income family is more financially stable than single income”.
More about the founder
Mrs Mastakar is very fond of reading biographies of successful people. That helps her stay energized and focused to build a strong business. Apart from this, she loves music a lot.
