Millennium Mams: Over 30 years, this NGO has trained over 7,000 women in the nuances of investing

The group believes in buying into businesses that they understand, inspired by the teachings of Warren Buffett. (Photo by RDNE Stock project: Pexels)

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck and shook the confidence of even veterans of the stock market, a novice who had been waiting on the sidelines for years decided to buy her first set of securities.

Preeti Agarwal, who had been taking classes in the basics of finance and investing, among other things, decided it was time to put her lessons to use. She is a student of Millennium Mams, a low-profile, non-profit organisation (NGO) that aims to educate women on investing. Her association with the collective is now nine years old.

“I didn’t have the confidence to invest till a few years ago,” said Agarwal, who is now the All India President of Millennium Mams, in an interaction with Moneycontrol.

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Trading: A strict no-no

Does she trade? No, she said. “In this organisation, trading is totally banned… we aren’t allowed to do trading at all, we only do long-term investing,” she said, echoing one of the guiding philosophies of the group. They believe in buying into businesses that they understand, inspired by the teachings of Warren Buffett.

When her 14-year-old son showed an interest in trading by ordering three books online, she sat down with him and talked him out of it.

“He asked what if he doubled his money? I said then it is worse… because then he would keep going until he lost everything and that I didn’t want him to see that day,” she said.

The journey

The group was started 30 years ago by Bishnu Dhanuka and Sanjay Bhuwania, with a vision to empower homemakers to become financially independent. They started first with five women, teaching them how to evaluate companies’ fundamentals and pick companies for investing in.

As of today, it has coached more than 7,000 women.

A meeting of Millenium Mams with Sanjay Bhuwania (left corner), Preeti Agarwal (centre in the pink suit) and Bishnu Dhanuka (right corner)

Agarwal said that the organisation started in Kolkata and stayed confined to the city for the first 25 years, barring a brief failed attempt to expand into Bengaluru. But the pandemic forced the group to try online classes and that — a “blessing in disguise”, according to Agarwal — helped it open two new chapters in Mumbai and Bengaluru. Across the three chapters, Millennium Mams now has more than 550 active members.

The NGO charges Rs 15,000 as annual fee for those based in Kolkata and Rs 6,000 for those in other chapters.

Nidhi Kanoi, a chartered accountant, who joined Millennium Mams a few years ago, is part of the Mumbai chapter. She came to know about the group through her family and friends based out of Kolkata. But being in Mumbai she never could become a part of it.

The online transition of the group during COVID-19 changed that situation. “It has been a great learning experience for me as an investor and as a person,” said Kanoi.

Kanoi had not been involved in her family’s equity investment decisions till she joined this group. “I was largely invested in fixed deposits, government bonds and mutual funds… there were family investments in equity, but I hadn’t given any inputs for that,” she said.

Recently, she even convinced her family to buy into a hospitality stock despite their reservations. “The stock has more than doubled since I invested… these small things add up to the way people interact with you,” she said.

Now half of her investment is held in equities, a big hike from its 20 percent share just a few years ago.

Agarwal said that in the organisation, the capital market is just one area of study. “We can also enrol for classes on communication skills, theatre, spiritual philosophy… it is a holistic development,” said Agarwal.

The central thrust is, of course, capital markets, where members are taught how to analyse the fundamentals of a company by studying its financial statements. They also attend annual general meetings (AGMs), undertake factory visits, and hold interactions with industry leaders such as the Chairman of HDFC Deepak Parekh, Chairman of TTK Prestige Chandru Kalro, veteran investor Ramesh Damani and Rare Enterprises’ Chief Executive Utpal Sheth.

Recently, Coal India Ltd (CIL) Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) Pramod Agarwal attended a discussion with the group, to help the women understand how the face-off between clean energy and fossil fuel will play out.

Also read: Why Warren Buffett prefers cash

Reading the numbers

For Kanoi, a numbers person, the interactions with the company, management and industry leaders were extremely helpful. She has also learnt how to look closely at the messaging from the management through their annual reports.

For example, a consumer goods company had numbers that did not inspire confidence. But following interactions with the senior executives and the promoters, she realised that it had a long way to go, despite the not-so-encouraging financial statements. She continues to be bullish on that stock, despite the headwinds the company is facing from competition, and believes it will see a turnaround.

Another learning she found from the group was Buffett’s teachings. Kanoi remembers how she ignored that once and suffered a big hit to her portfolio.

“The IT stocks had corrected a lot after December 2022. I didn’t understand the businesses but I thought they can only go up from here, so I bought into them. Now I realise that was a mistake… revenues of the companies I had invested in took a hit because of the potential US recession,” she said.

Now, Kanoi buys only into businesses she understands however tempting the opportunity looks.