BusinessLine, in association with Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund, is organising ‘Surge — SME Conclave’ on Friday, in Chennai. The Conclave will discuss, in two parts, financial planning for individuals in these turbulent times and on keeping SME businesses well-funded.

When markets are volatile, financial planning becomes difficult. Individual investors are unsure where to invest and where not to. They struggle to find the optimum mix of investment in line with their risk profile. This is especially true for employees in the SME sector. This conclave aims to educate such investors about the right approach to creating wealth.

Aarati Krishnan, Editorial Consultant, BusinessLine will talk about ‘Five simple secrets to wealth creation’.This will be followed by a panel discussion on ‘Financial Planning in Turbulent Times’. The members of the panel include Shyam Sekhar, Founder, ithought; Ravi Saraogi, CPD Committee Member, CFA Society of India; S Venkatesan, President, Tamil Nadu Investors’ Association, and KS Rao, Head — Investor Education & Distribution Development, Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund.

The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector contributes immensely to the economic and social development of the country by fostering entrepreneurship and generating employment. In fact, they are the second-largest employer in the economy after the agriculture sector and they account for a third of the manufacturing output and 40 per cent of Indian exports.

Despite the critical role they play, access to affordable capital at the right time throughout the growth stage of an MSME is still a major stumbling block. The second part of the conclave will look into this issue and help SME entrepreneurs understand how they can keep their business adequately funded.

Panel discussion

MK Bhattacharya, Executive Director, Indian Bank, will deliver the keynote address on the subject of SME funding. A panel discussion on ‘Keeping your business well-funded’ will follow. The panel members are K Saraswathy, Secretary General, Madras Chamber of Commerce & Industry; K Srinivasan, Senior Vice-President & Head — CV/CE Business, The Federal Bank; T Raj Sekhar, Director — SME Ratings, CRISIL; and K Sivaramakrishnan, Zonal Sales Manager, Aditya Birla Finance.

Both the sessions will also have presentations by Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund.

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