The money trail

Huge strides have been made over the past few years to ensure a level playing field for women at the workplace. Male dominated bastions like the financial services industries have slowly been invaded and conquered by women. Priti Rathi Gupta is one such woman who strongly espouses the cause of financial freedom for women. She understands that today, while women have achieved a lot, they still feel apprehensive about managing their own finances. That is why she launched LXME, a mobile investing app dedicated to women. This digital investment platform has emerged as one of India's leading end-to-end financial services company. Priti is also the MD and promoter at Anand Rathi Group. Though she holds a management board position in Anand Rathi, she is now fully involved with LXME. “It is my baby and a part of my vision to have as many people investing, especially women,” she says.

Priti has faced a lot of struggles over the course of her career. Brought up in a traditional Marwari family, she completed her education post marriage. The Harvard alumnus had a hard time setting up Anand Rathi Group initially, working relentlessly to prove herself. “When I got married, I was pursuing my undergraduate degree, and on completing it, I had to take a break from studies. However, both my father-in-law and father always encouraged me to study whenever I wanted to. When I had just gotten married, the focus was on the family and my obligations to it, considering I was the only daughter-in-law in a conservative Marwari family. But when I decided to continue studying, it opened a lot of doors for me,” she explains.

“Even as a child, my parents always told me to respond, and not react, and that advice has always stood me in good stead. The only downside to that approach was that it took a certain amount of time to get to where you wanted.”  Finance, she believes, has been part of her DNA what with her father being a gold medalist Chartered Accountant.

Priti is someone who believes in the cause of financial freedom for women and with good reason. “It is important at the very onset to differentiate between financial awareness and financial freedom. They are often used interchangeably, but there is a very big difference in what this means, particularly for women. In today’s day and age, women no longer have to wait for someone’s approval before they do something; women today have increasing autonomy to write their own destinies.” Matters of money are no different, she says, adding that very few women are financially independent. “Looking at these women and their aspirations, I decided to start LXME to help women achieve financial freedom, and educate themselves about the various aspects of financial planning to help achieve their goals,” she elucidates. “My money mantra is, start saving and investing today itself, so that one can relish the returns later.”

Women all over the world have different investment needs, financial hurdles and career goals that they want to meet, she says. “Women are not risk takers, as they fear being judged by their counterparts. Also, they think investing is complicated and it is a man’s forte, therefore they rely on their spouse or family members for their financial security. LXME understands the different financial needs of women and solves their needs with personalised investment opportunities, making them confident about their money and investing skills,” she states.

Her other passions include music and cooking. “I walk, work out, swim or listen to music. On some days — either early in the morning or late at night — I enjoy going out on a drive by myself, and I think it’s the best therapy for dealing with stress,” she adds. Travelling is also a huge passion for her and she travels whenever she gets a chance. “My favourite destination is Florence. My memorable trip would be to Tanzania to the Ngorongoro National Park and Serengeti National Park – just to be between pristine locations and wild life is amazing.”