Nihar Thanawala
Class of 2011
Vice President, Investments at ASK Property Investment Advisors

 

Previous Occupation: Senior Consultant, Ernst & Young
Present Occupation: Vice President, Investments at ASK Property Investment Advisors
Sector: Real Estate Private Equity
Work Experience: 9 years
Interests – Professional/Personal: Professional - Understanding and evaluating new business ideas. Personal - Travel, adventure sports and any outdoor activity/sport (swim, football, etc.)

Can you tell us a little about your family background/ history?
My wife, an ISB alumni herself and an ex-investment banker, has taken the entrepreneurial route and runs a venture called The Home Salon, a relatively new concept which delivers beauty services to the customer's home. My mother is a teacher of Mathematics as well a key member of the Lion's Club Charitable Institution, while my sister is an architect.

Briefly describe your personal and professional achievements (including recent awards/ special projects).
My professional achievements including spearheading several Real Estate Private Equity transactions at a relatively early stage in my PE career, and single-handedly closing 5 transactions in a span of 2 years. Having a fast track career set out by the management of my firm, based upon my performance, was also something I feel happy about.
Personally, I am very passionate about travelling. I believe that travelling provides a deep insight into different cultures and ways of living both of which provide the best learning for an individual. One of my biggest personal achievement would be that I have managed to keep up my passion to travel extensively despite circumstances such as education, work etc. (I have traveled to 3-4 countries every year over the past 10 years - each time, a new destination.)

Tell us about your profile pre-ISB, and recap your professional life after ISB, including your career progression.
Pre-ISB, I used to work with Ernst & Young in its Risk Advisory business where we conducted operations consulting projects for clients in the retail and consumer products space. Post-ISB, I joined ASK Group's real estate private equity fund which in 2011 managed a mere AUM of Rs. 300 crore. Since then, we have raised an additional Rs. 1,700 crore and have closed 10 more deals. My journey, from assisting in investments to making investment decisions for a fast growing fund, has been full of new learning every single day.

Describe your fondest memory of ISB.
The entire year was fantastic and I have left ISB with a lot of big memories. Some of these include organising Mercado as President of the Retail Club (Mercado is a mid-night retail competition which was organised for the 1st time in ISB). Being part of a team of 3 to Organise parties for Solstice was another great memory I have, considering the high standards of parties ISB sets!
To be honest, some of the lasting memories which may seem rather insignificant were from incidents like housekeeping knocks on the door, studio parties, pranks played on other students, lunches/dinners in groups of 30+ people, 20 hour non-stop movie marathons, etc.

In your personal life, how have you changed post-ISB? Do you see yourself doing something differently because you went to ISB? What has left a lasting impression?
Personally, I have become far more attentive and introspective. I have also made friends that will last a lifetime! Most importantly, I have learnt to take more risks (albeit calculated of course!) and not worry so much about how it could impact my career. ISB has taught me to experiment, with the assurance that either something good will come out of it or, if it doesn’t, my education will see me through to better shores eventually! The biggest post ISB risk I have taken is a complete change of course in my career, which is holding up well so far!

How do you think ISB has contributed to your career growth?
I have benefited most from ISB's alumni body which has been extremely helpful on several occasions in the past. From assisting us as students in ISB to being of immense help even post ISB, the alumni body is a powerful peer network that provides some of the best resources and access possible! Being a top-notch school, ISB alumni is today present in senior management positions in several companies and keen and willing to help their fellow ISBians. This makes it easier to tap into such organisations for work and opportunity-related ideas..

If you have to sum up ISB in one word:
Enriching.

What was the main highlight of your programme at the ISB?
The main highlight of my programme was unlimited access to the widest knowledge base and best resources in the corporate world - alumni, companies, senior industry members, large business/trade associations, etc.

Word of advice for the current class?
This year will be one of the best years of your lives. Spend it wisely by doing things which you will not be able to do once you are back to routine life.

What was your favourite course/ class at ISB and why?
Negotiations analysis. As far as I remember, it had the smallest course pack.

Was there anyone during your time at ISB who acted as a mentor for you? Tell us a little about this relationship and why it was valuable
I cannot really identify a person who may have acted as a mentor for me during my time at ISB. I feel that a year was too short and full of activities to be able to develop such a relationship. However, I did seek guidance from senior at EY with whom I had worked for over 3 years before I came to ISB.

What are the areas in which you can contribute to ISB?
I would be happy to interact with students to assist them in any way I can

What do you enjoy most about your current career position?
Evaluating and negotiating different kinds of investments and experiencing that feeling of success when a deal is successfully closed

What is the next new thing in the industry or vertical you are working in? Any trends that you can see?
The real estate sector has been full of new things for some time now and this trend is likely to continue in the foreseeable future. Having said that, the Government has issued some positive directives in segments in affordable housing, individual taxation with regard to real estate, REIT, etc., which will both increase demand and flow of funds into the sector. However, these policies still have some loose ends which have to be tied up before these benefits can be realized.