The Women Financial Advisers Network Partners with PGIM India MF to launch

by Suman Gupta

India’s First Fee-only Advisers Network for Women

• The program kicks off on March 08, 2021, with acceptance for Membership applications

• The launch date for the training program is scheduled to begin on April 14, 2021

• The scholarshipis the first of its kind in India for women with more than a decade of corporate experience, looking to launch their financial advisorcareer

Mumbai, March08,2021: On the occasion of International Women’s Day, The Women Financial Advisers Networkor WFAN has entered into an agreement with PGIM India MF to bridge the gender gap in financial services by creating more women entrepreneurs in our country. WFAN aims to do this by replicating its earlier success with joint venture partner Garrett Planning Network.  Founded by Ms. Sheryl Garrett in 2000, The Garrett Planning Network serves 25,000 families through its 250-member Network across the United States of America. The Garret Planning Network is committed to the efficient use of technology to deliver an effective and continuous learning experience for its members. The members have access to the rich and varied content through its relevant knowledge bank and a vibrant community of like-minded professionals to support, engage and collaborate with each other.

WFAN aims to focus on women ‘Career Changers’ with a decade or more of corporate experience, who are now ready to launch a second career as a financial advisor.. The objective is to help them become or remain financially independent yet lead a balanced and meaningful life. Research indicates that many women in India take a career break in the early years itself to start their family or in the mid stage of their career to care for their family or for other personal matters. . These women do want to get back to work, but are unable to find the appropriate career opportunities for their second innings. India has the highest gender gap of 26% in the workplace in the world.

“We chose PGIM India MF as our exclusive partner for the Indian markets because of our shared values and practices and a mission to help women to be financially independent yet lead a balanced and meaningful life”, said Partha Iyengar, co-founder of WFAN, adding, “PGIM India MF and WFAN believe that going forward financial advisers need to become ‘Choice Architects’ for their clients as it helps them lead a healthy, wealthy, happy and meaningful life”.

“India has many good women financial advisors who are an inspiration to the community, and we want to make sure that this tribe increases. Supporting WFAN in this structured coaching program for fee only women advisers, and their partnership with The Garret Planning Network of the USA, is a small but significant start towards this goal. Launching the program on `International Women’s Day’ makes it special to all of us”, said Ajit Menon, CEO, PGIM India MF.

Commenting on this partnership, Sheryl Garrett said, “I am delighted to partner with WFAN to bring The Garret Planning Network to India and help our vision and WFAN’s vision to make competent and objective financial advice accessible to all people”.

As a pilot program, the partnership with PGIM India MF will help WFAN to offer partial scholarships to cover the membership fees for the first 10 women who join the program and this support is expected to be  further expanded in the future. This scholarship is the first for woman of its kind in India with a rigorous selection process. The first cohort of members will receive a certification in Financial Life Planning and Investment Advice Practice from The Garrett Planning Network, PGIM India MF and WFAN along with its content and knowledge partner, HerMony. In addition to the certification, members will be able to launch their advisory business within 3-6 months of joining the program.

The program kicks off on March 08 with acceptance for membership applications. The launch date for the training program is scheduled to begin on April 14, 2021.

About PGIM India Mutual Fund:PGIM India Mutual Fund is a wholly owned business of PGIM, the global investment management business of the US based Prudential Financial, Inc. (PFI). PGIM India Asset Management is the full-service investment manager of PGIM India Mutual Fund, offering a broad range of equity and fixed income solutions to retail and institutional investors throughout the country. We manage 20 open-ended funds operated by 17 investment professionals. In addition to managing our investors assets through domestic mutual funds, we also offer offshore funds and Portfolio Management Services. The fund house leverages the strength and stability of PGIM’s 140-year legacy to build on its decade long history in India.

Headquartered in Mumbai, PGIM India Mutual Fund has a presence in 27 cities across the country including branches in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Pune. PGIM India Mutual Fund brings a rich blend of global resources, intellectual acumen and local investment expertise and is committed to designing superior and meaningful, wealth-building solutions for our investors. PGIM India provides unique training and educational programs for building exceptional capabilities and best business practices for its business associates. For more information, please visit http://www.pgimindiamf.com/

About WFAN:WFAN is a brand of AccretusEdutech Pvt. Ltd. WFAN has tied up with The Garrett Planning Network as its exclusive Joint Venture Partner for launching the The Women Financial Advisers Network in India.

WFAN’s vision is to bridge the gender gap by creating micro entrepreneurs in India. WFAN’s mission is to empower women to be financially independent yet lead a balanced and meaningful life. Towards this, WFAN has created four paths of financial independence for women. Financial Life Planning and Investment Advice, Holistic Financial Wellness Coaching for Adults, Holistic Financial Wellness Coaching for Kids Holistic Financial Wellness Program Trainers for women to conduct workshops in the corporate sector and colleges.

WFAN launched the Holistic Financial Wellness Coaching for Adults Program early last year and the first cohort of members will complete their program and receive two international certifications by June 2021. They will also be eligible to apply for ICF ACC Certification.

Life & Money, the consumer brand of AccretusEdutech Pvt. Ltd. conducts financial wellness programs for corporates and colleges across India. Over the last decade, Life & Money has reached out to over 5000 employees and students across India.

Life & Money recently launched the Kids & Money Program as a consumer program. Having tasted success, it plans to expand the offering by training women to be Holistic Financial Wellness Coaches for Kids soon.

AccretusEdutech is a socially responsible organisation and towards this it is committed to 6 of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. They are good health and wellbeing, gender equality, decent work and economic growth, industry, innovation and infrastructure, reduced inequalities and partnerships for the goals.