Investing in women

She was 33 when she made her first investment, but Tanya Rolfe believes that wealth-building can start at any age - you just have to take that first step.

- Sasha Gonzales

After nearly two decades working in some of the world's biggest law firms - her last role as a business manager saw her hire, fire and appraise lawyers and work on deals - Tanya Rolfe relocated from London to Singapore in 2017.

Keen to start something new, she founded the Ladies Investment Club (LIC) that same year. An all-female angel investment network of investors, LIC supports female entrepreneurs across South-east Asia. It is a for-profit company that has invested in femtech businesses such as Dame Products and Maude in New York, skincare company Luxe Botanics, and Gifts Less Ordinary, a gifting company in Singapore.

Tanya says that venture capitalism was something that "just happened" for her. Not long after starting LIC, she realised that she needed to raise more capital. So in 2020, she launched Her Capital, a seed fund in Singapore investing in female-founded, scalable businesses across South-east Asia. So far, Her Capital has supported HR tech companies such as Neufast.

The following year, she founded a financial literacy platform for women called Sophia. She later set up Harriet, for female founders to help them raise capital and grow their business.

Tanya is passionate about empowering more women with the confidence they need to start taking control of their money. She also hopes to share her investment knowledge and experience with more women, so that they can make better decisions for themselves as they work towards a life of financial freedom.

Here, Tanya talks about how she got started on her own investment journey, the best investment advice she's ever received, and why she wants women to know that building wealth isn't as hard as it seems.

Why did you switch from the legal profession to investment and financial education, and why the focus on women?