Previous Occupation: VP - International Marketing, Hidesign
Sector: Finance
Work Experience: 10 years
Personal Interests: swimming, cycling, music, movies

Tell us about yourself – your profile, your professional life after the ISB including your career progression.

I was recruited by HSBC on campus at the ISB and have been with them ever since. After almost seven years in London, I recently accepted a posting in Mumbai.

My job involves providing advisory services and arranging long term financing facilities for major infrastructure projects. In India, I focus mainly on power generation (both thermal and renewable energy) but have also done assignments in the Oil & Gas, Petrochemicals, Shipping, and Telecommunications sectors. Prior to my posting in India, I covered the Middle East and North Africa. During this time, I set up the bank’s Project Finance and ECA financing businesses in Pakistan, which was particularly interesting for an Indian. Other assignments of interest include structuring financings for the leading GSM operator in Yemen, the largest petrochemicals complex in Saudi Arabia, and a man made island off the coast of the UAE.

Most major infrastructure projects in India are financed almost exclusively by Indian banks. As theses banks start to find themselves overexposed to emerging sectors like power generation and infrastructure, there will be a need for promoters to start structuring projects in line with international norms to tap funding from international banks, global capital markets and other institutions like multilaterals, export credit agencies, etc. I am pretty sure that my team will remain really busy for the next few years! Once the business is fully established in India, I will probably move again – back to London or to another financial centre like Hong Kong or Singapore.

Why the shift from marketing to investment banking?

It was purely accidental. All the other students shortlisted by HSBC were either qualified CAs, or had prior investment banking experience and I was sure that my name had made the shortlist by mistake, given that I had no relevant experience and not taken a single Finance elective at the ISB. The interview went really well (perhaps because I thought I had no chance and was quite relaxed) and I got the job. Initially I took the offer because I thought it was a great way to repay the rupee ten lakh loan that I had taken for the fees at the ISB. I was relatively sure that I would return to India after a few years and go back to working in the fashion industry. I enjoyed my work (as well as living in Europe) so much that I’ve never once thought of doing something different.

Can you describe some of your experiences at the ISB?

I remember ISB as the year of my life when I could do everything at once. I studied like crazy, learnt a lot and got relatively good grades. I met loads of other great people who remain my closest friends till today. I was in great shape physically given that the gym and pool were spitting distance from SV2. I started my own handbag brand that retailed through premium stores like Stanza and Bombay Store. I wrote a business plan that won me a lot of prize-money. I don’t remember sleeping very much! All my memories of Gachbowli are positive – which explains why I show up for Solstice almost every year, despite living in another continent.

On another note, because of the financial crisis many of the students are now reluctant to opt for finance. What is your opinion about that?

After the crisis, while finance has lost some of its shine, it will remain the highest paid industry and will continue to attract the top talent. But people have started to realize that with the reward comes some serious personal risk. I think the MBA student’s love for finance was probably a little bit overdone anyway (which was the case even when I was at the ISB). As corporate India starts to offer the best and brightest graduates more opportunities, people will think more carefully about the personal sacrifices that one needs to make to survive in the industry, especially in lucrative areas like M&A.

What are some of your suggestions for the current batch, anything in terms of managing career or time?

Go into the recruitment market with an open mind. Don’t get discouraged by what might not seem like an awesome job at the outset. Remember that your first job post ISB is not the only determinant of your ultimate career prospects. We came out in a recession year as well. 2003 was an awful year for MBA students globally and I know people from my batch that started out with very, very unglamorous placements. All of them moved as the economy picked up and they are all in great places right now. I can’t think of a single exception. If you are a smart, hardworking, motivated and can take a little initiative, you will find yourself another job even if you don’t get the kind of placement that you want this year. We cannot change the fact that recruitment is down globally - those with aspirations of placements in banking, especially those who want to work in Europe or the USA will struggle. You need to remember that those economies have not yet recovered completely. Many of those who lost their jobs are still unemployed. So if you don’t get the perfect job, take the best you can find and try again when the market picks up. This is only the beginning of the rest of your life.

Stop stressing about placement and enjoy your year in Gachibowli.

What was your key take away from the ISB?

In the most literal sense, Preeti, the woman who is now my wife!
It was a year of transformation for me – professionally, personally and emotionally. Almost everything in my life changed at the ISB, in the greatest way possible.

What are some of your personal interests?

I have been avid rider all of my life so I joined the Amateur Riders Club as soon as I landed in Bombay. I travel like crazy - a lot of people think that I am a real life version of George Clooney’s character in ‘Up in the Air’ (I don’t have 10 million frequent flyer miles just yet but I am not very far from the target either !). I also love to write and have a monthly column titled ‘Notes from a Traveler’ in Frappe, a Chennai based magazine. I don’t get much time with my daughter on weekdays (given relatively long working hours) so my weekends are spent almost exclusively with her.

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