19.09.2024 / News

The fourth Eurasian Women's Forum held a thematic session "Women's leadership in investments: a course towards trust and development"

On September 19, as part of the second day of the fourth Eurasian Women's Forum, a thematic session "Women's Leadership in Investments: A Course on Trust and Development" was held. The speakers at the session were Elena Bezdeneshnykh, Vice President for Regional Policy and Interaction with Government and Management Bodies of JSC RUSAL, Bobana Anželković , Head of the Belgrade Branch of the NGO "International Eurasian Movement Moscow-Belgrade" , Agnessa Osipova , Chairperson of the Russian Franchising Association (RAF), Oksana Solomatina, Director of Alfa LLC, Tatyana Volkova , General Director of Kotmarkot LLC , and Marina Demina , Founder of the Mega-Pak Plant .

One of the main ways of economic development is attracting private investment. And today, despite all the difficulties, the financial market is seeing an increase in the number of investors, including women. The session participants discussed what tools help increase the number of women investors. In addition, they discussed increasing women's investment and financial literacy and the key differences between "women's business".

"Female leadership in finance is based on financial literacy and female "intuition," says Elena Bezdeneshnykh . The vice president of JSC RUSAL believes that women are often more successful as investors because they are more reserved and "don't go out of their way to succumb to the influence of short-term factors, which have been happening to us regularly lately."

Elena Bezdeneshnykh gave specific advice to the session participants in the field of investment. According to her, bank deposits are the most profitable in Russia now. "But as a person working in a large corporation, I would pay attention to bonds with a floating coupon. They provide a synergy of stability and profitability. They should have a rating of at least A or A+. Gold and diamonds are also among the favorites for investment. Although over the past year and a half, these two assets have not shown the same growth as the same bonds," the speaker noted.

She recommends investing in mining and processing, manufacturing companies, IT, and high technology. At the same time, "there should be an opportunity to painlessly exit the asset." "Well, and it's worth keeping an eye on rating agencies," Elena Bezdeneshnykh recommended.

Agnessa Osipova spoke about the differences between the female approach to creating and buying franchises . According to the Chairman of the Russian Franchising Association, there are many areas in Russia where franchise exports can be successful: education, sports, fashion, gastronomy, and digital projects. Domestic brands successfully operate in the CIS, China, and African countries. "I would like to note the share of the female component in these processes: it demonstrates an outpacing growth of 14% in terms of exports," Agnessa Osipova emphasized.

Overall, according to her, franchises account for 1.5% of GDP in Russia. And 0.8% of GDP is women's business. The speaker added that investments in franchising are not only economic and intellectual: "These are also investments in the family. After all, these are, as a rule, family businesses that are passed down from generation to generation."

"Franchising is very strongly developed in the female environment. Women are more thoughtful, they calculate everything, they always learn. And franchising helps them with this," said Oksana Solomatina , who herself started her business by buying a franchise. She also said that today women often work successfully in areas that were traditionally considered "male", for example, in timber processing.

Marina Demina , who works in industrial production, agrees with her . “Industry is a field that has a male face. But now there is a trend that there are many projects, products, and support measures to encourage women to do business,” she explained. “And there are many striking examples in this area. The trend is light industry. But there are women in heavy industry, and in chemicals, and in IT, and in development, and in science.”

"Women have 'soft power'. Corporate culture, social projects, and creativity play a big role in our enterprises," Marina Demina said, naming the differences between women's approaches to business.

The Fourth Eurasian Women's Forum is taking place from September 18 to 20 in St. Petersburg. The organizers of the EWF are the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and the Interparliamentary Assembly of Member Nations of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The operator for the preparation and holding of the event is the Roscongress Foundation.

Official forum website: 2024.eawf.ru.