Create a culture of financial empowerment for women

The UAE is setting the right precedents by encouraging women’s employment in critical finance roles and facilitating an environment where they can feel secure personally and financially, said Neelam Verma, vice-president and head of investments, The Continental Group.

Verma — a certified wealth manager from the American Academy of Financial Management, and ICWM from CISI UK — is a seasoned finance and banking professional with over 20 years of experience across investments, private banking and wealth management, corporate and commercial banking, real estate finance, retail banking and Islamic banking across India and the UAE.

She is an advanced strategic management expert from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad; and holds an MBA in Finance from New Hampshire University, US, and a mini-MBA from Harvard Business School.

Verma said: “As long as women exist, financial literacy and women empowerment will remain a work in progress. They must be empowered to manage their own finances and make financial decisions. Financial literacy must be seeded during early childhood, in schools and in households. Women must be trusted to manage income and expenses, make budgets, etc. This will further propel them to learn more and expand their financial literacy, enabling them to effectively select insurance products, loans, credit cards, and more.”

Verma opines that the future for women in finance in the UAE is promising as there is a culture of empowerment in the broader business ecosystem. The culture in question is particularly pronounced in finance, where the upper echelons have women in sizable numbers. Such leadership roles are integral in blazing a trail for younger women to follow. In addition, the UAE’s progressive financial sector complements women’s aspirations. The latest reforms in Labour Laws, stipulating equal pay for equal work, are a good case in point.

“Today, many are choosing finance as a specialisation. So, at every opportunity, I try to educate them on savings, investments, and legacy planning — something I feel isn’t spoken about enough. Unlike in the 90s when there were just a handful of women in finance, today they are not only in greater numbers but also earning higher. They must be encouraged to channel their accumulated wealth in the right direction and grow them,” she said.

— sandhya@khaleejtimes.com