Indian Wealth Management Forum 2019

Abhijit took on his current role as CEO of Karvy Private Wealth in 2015 and is responsible for the Karvy Private Wealth’s business in India and the Middle East. With an overall experience of over 23 years across the wealth management and financial services industry, Abhijit has been with Karvy Private Wealth since last 3 years after an 8-year stint at Deutsche Bank across various leadership positions in India & Overseas. He has also held leadership positions at HSBC, ICICI Bank and Unit Trust of India in Asset Management, Corporate Banking, Cash Management, Retail Banking and Wealth Management. Abhijit earned his MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from VJTI, Mumbai University. He has also completed his CAIIB, AMFI and IRDA certifications. He has keen interest in customer education and works actively on areas such as Financial Planning for Women and Gen Y. Under his able leadership, the assets managed by Karvy Private Wealth have grown over four times in the last three years.

Abhra Roy is responsible for managing the Finacle Wealth Management product line, and also for charting its product strategy; this includes the management and development of the Wealth Management product line, managing client relationships with Banks and Financial Institutions and also working on the detailed Product road map. Abhra specialises in the area of Private Wealth Management, Financial Advisory, Brokerage Operations, Custodial and Depository operations. He has published several thought papers on the role of Technology in the Wealth Management space. He draws from his rich experience of over twenty years of working in financial institutions and technology firms.

Anand Moorthy is head of real estate services at RBS Financial Services, a part of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group. In this role, Anand facilitates client’s real estate long-term objectives through a referral services model for all real estate asset classes. The referral services would also cover innovative investment opportunities and property management propositions.

Anand joined the RBS Group in India in October 2012 with over 10 years of experience in real estate from Karvy Private Wealth, where in his last assignment, as the head of real estate investment & advisory, Anand worked extensively with UHNIs and their relationship managers to offer customised solutions. Prior to Karvy, he was vice president, investment management with IL&FS-Milestone Real Estate Fund and was responsible for managing the yield portfolio worth US$225 million. Anand had also worked with E-City Ventures and Globus Stores. His domain expertise includes product & marketing, investment management & advisory and wealth management

Anand has a PGDM degree from the International School of Business & Media, Pune with specialisation in Communication Management and a Bachelor’s degree in BA (Honors) from Delhi University.

Anand is a global financial services professional who’s been in the investment advisory space for about 17 years. He has been the winner of the prestigious award “40 Under 40” investment professionals in India. He comes with work experience around the world including US and India. He has a proven track record and hands on experience of working with brands like GE Capital, HSBC, BNP Paribas, DHFL and NJ Group. He brings with him an all round experience of visibility on both sides of the investment world.As the Head of Global and alternative asset management at NJ, with strong focus on bringing “Rules based” and “Asset allocation” based investment models, he focusses on bringing state of the art products for investors across the globe. His experience and the strong technology platform and product offering of NJ make a very strong coalition for providing the most reliable platform and partner for clients living in the world over to invest into India.

Mr. Ankur Thakore brings with him a rich experience of the Mutual Fund Industry with over 22 years in Sales and Distribution, Channel Management, Portfolio Management Services and Product Development across organizations. His prior experience includes positions at Fidelity Fund Management, DSP Merrill Lynch Fund Management, Kothari Pioneer Mutual Fund and HSBC Asset Management. Mr. Thakore is a Bachelor of Engineering (Construction) from Mumbai University and a Masters in Management Studies in Finance, Mumbai University.

Anshu Kapoor has recently taken over the mantle to build Investment Management business. He is leading initiatives to create an Alternatives Assets platform (Private Equity and Hedge Funds). Anshu joined Edelweiss Group in 2010 to start the Private Wealth Management (PWM) business. Driven by a vision of creating “world’s most customer centric” wealth management business, Anshu grew the business 15x over last 7 years to US $17 billion in Assets under Advice (AuA) - to top #3 position in the industry. The business has been internationally acclaimed and awarded as the Best Private Bank, India by global publications like Global Finance (2018, 2019, 2020), Asiamoney (2017, 2018) and Asian Private Banker (2018, 2020). Prior to joining Edelweiss, Anshu was a Director at Merrill Lynch, where he was instrumental in developing Wealth Management business across India, Middle East, Asia Pacific and North America. Anshu has also worked in leadership positions in Consumer Banking and Capital Markets with HSBC and ICICI Bank. Anshu is passionate about scaling up businesses, technology and is an avid travel photographer. He is married with three kids.

Anupam Guha is the Head of Private Wealth Management practice at ICICI Securities Ltd. Anupam has been with the ICICI Group for the last 16 years across retail, institutional and private banking business. He has been a part of the International and Domestic Private Banking business for more than a decade.

He is a founding member that helped set up Private Wealth business at ICICI Securities (I-Sec). I-Sec is one of the leading and fastest growing Private Wealth practice in India and manages some of the wealthiest families in the country. I-Sec today manages close to INR 35,000 Crs of assets of its clients.

I-Sec Private Wealth caters to UHNI and Family Office clients and given the insight with such clients, partners with them in their business requirement and expansion plans through fund raising and investment banking solutions, besides investment & real estate solutions and estate planning.

Prior to this, Anupam was the Country Head of Oman with ICICI Securities. He was successful in showcasing the India opportunity to Sovereign and Pension Funds, local Institutions and the Indian Diaspora. He was part of the fund raising team that raised more than USD 1 billion from GCC for Private Equity and Real Estate investments in India.

With more than two decades of experience in Financial Services across Wealth Management and Private Banking, Arpita has been part of the core team that set up Centrum Wealth Limited. An Electrical Engineer and MBA, Finance, from Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), Delhi, she also holds the STEP Professional Postgraduate Diploma in Private Wealth Advising which focuses on cross boarder succession, international taxation and family business advising. Prior to Centrum, she was the Head of Premier Banking at HSBC and was responsible for managing one of the largest affluent banking propositions in the country. She left HSBC to be part of the founding team of Centrum Wealth Limited. At HSBC India, she was rated among the top 3% of employees globally with an EDC (Executive Development Centre) Ranking of 1 in 2010 and identified as a part of the Country Talent Pool. As Co-Head of Centrum Wealth, she has been responsible for providing strategic direction to the firm and leading the firm to a leading position in the business. She is also credited with conceptualizing and successfully executing some of the very significant growth initiatives and an array of proposition enhancements at the firm. Most notable among them include Centrum’s Family Office Business that provides a comprehensive one-stop investment management, wealth planning, administration and structuring, tax and legal advisory, corporate solutions, philanthropy and CSR opportunities. Centrum Wealth Limited was chosen by Private Banker International (PBI) for the prestigious Best Family Office Award at their 30th Annual Private Banker International Global Wealth Awards 2020. She seeded the Structured and Alternate products business line, an area where the firm has established solid credentials and where the business has grown manifold in the firm’s short existence. She set up the offshore businesses for Centrum Wealth office in Singapore. As an Executive Director on the company’s board, she has helped to steer the firm from the venture to growth stage in the very competitive wealth management space. She is also an Independent Director on the board of the West Coast Paper Mills Ltd (WCPM), one of the largest paper manufacturers in the country. She has received several awards and recognitions for her work and contribution. She was featured among India's Top 100 "Women in Finance" - 2019 presented by AIWMI. She was a winner of the Women Super Achievers Award in the field of Finance by the World Women Leadership Congress in Feb 2017. Arpita was appreciated by the Business Sight Magazine as one of the “BS the 10 Successful Business Women to Watch In 2019 for her contribution in Indian Business “. She takes active interest in estate and succession planning and is a member of the Indian chapter of STEP, an international body of trust and estate planning professionals and the International Tax Planning Associates (ITPA). She is also a regular speaker in wealth management, family office and alternative product forums and seminars.

Ashish Gumashta is MD & CEO, Julius Baer, India since 1 July 2017. In his current role, Ashish runs one of the largest and best-established foreign wealth managers in India. Over the past two decades, Ashish has held several senior management positions in the Indian private banking industry. He joined DSP Merrill Lynch in 1994, and was Managing Director since 2006. From September 2015, he has played an instrumental role in the transition from Merrill lynch to Julius Baer in India. Ashish was a founding Member of DSP Merrill Lynch’s Private Client Group and held various leadership positions within DSP Merrill Lynch, where he was responsible for establishing the wealth management platform for the organisation. Ashish holds a Masters in Management Studies (Finance) from University of Mumbai. He also attended the Chevening Gurukul Executive Program at the London School of Economics and undertook executive courses at the Harvard University, Peking University & Haas School of Business. He is also closely associated with several NGOs and actively involved in philanthropic initiatives related to disability, education, health and community services.

Ashish Shanker's responsibilities encompass estate planning, Products & Research, Financial Strategy, and Client Experience. In this capacity, he holds responsibility for research and investment strategies across several asset classes in the firm’s unit focusing on private wealth management. Leveraging more than 15 years of experience in the financial sector, he also has played a significant role in four start-up teams. In a career spanning over 15 years Ashish Shanker’s areas of expertise include market research, financial products, strategy and funds management.

A business management graduate of the University of Bangalore in India, he began his capital markets career as a Research Executive for a leading regional brokerage firm. Subsequently he worked in the asset management industry for over six years in Franklin Templeton Investments and HSBC Asset Management in various capacities. Subsequently Ashish has spent the last 7 years in advisory, research and product roles across private wealth management platforms including as head of investment advisory at Standard Chartered Private Bank and Senior Director at Sarasin Alpen, India. He has won several accolades during his stint at these organisations.

Outside of his professional duties, Ashish Shankar enjoys playing table tennis and snooker, listening to music, and delving into history. He has represented Maharashtra and Bangalore university in table tennis at the highest level in the country and won several championships.

Ashvini Chopra(TEP) is Senior Vice President at Bennet Coleman. He Heads the Family office and takes care of Succession Planning, Tax planning, Wealth Management, Lifestyle Management, Entity management (for investment companies & Charity Trusts) and advising on Board constitution. Simultaneously, he also works with other families on their Succession and Estate Planning issues and assists with Family Constitutions, formation of trusts and Wills. He has and experience of working with over 100 large and small families for their Estate and Succession requirements. Ashvini has over 25 years of experience of which 8 years have been as an Estate Planning Professional and over 7 years as a Private Banker. Prior to joining private Banking he has been part of capital markets. Prior to joining Times Group he was the founder MD and CEO of Universal Trustees Private Limited (UTPL), a company co-promoted by Dileep Choksi, Pradip Shah with ICICI Group as an investor. At UTPL he was responsible for completely setting up the company from scratch and advised over 100 families with their estate planning requirements. He is a Diploma Holder in Trust & Estate Practice from STEP UK, an MBA in marketing and a commerce graduate. Ashvini is also a member of Family Firms Institute, Inc. USA (FFI) and Family office Exchange. He regularly contributes articles to the STEP Journal and The Practitioner by FFI. He has been a part of the ET Family Business Awards Jury for the 2018 and 2019 editions. Having been a part of the financial services industry in times of fundamental change, he has amassed wide experience across the industry. Right from his first job, when NBFC sector was new to India to the one at Universal Trustees, he has always tried to be in nascent industries. He joined a Mutual fund in 1997 when the mutual fund industry was going through its most tumultuous phase. In 2004 he joined the start-up team of another Mutual Fund which was India’s first focussed debt fund house. After being a part of the mutual fund for four years since the start of its operations and helping the fund to grow to INR 10,000 crores, he moved to ICICI Bank in its International Private Banking Unit. Three years back, Ashvini again made a lateral move by joining a Single Family office. As part of this Family office he has been taking care of transition from the old guard at the Family office and assisting with implementation of modern practices and advances in Family Office functionalities. He also, on a limited basis, continues to advice other families for their Succession and Estate Planning requirements. Recently he has been successfully able to complete a couple of complex and conflictual Succession Planning assignments. In Universal Trustees he was the founder MD who helped it post explosive growth in its offerings and made it one of the premier Estate and Trust Planning & administration institution in India. Prior to Universal Trustees, In ICICI Bank Ashvini was identified with the business growth the bank witnessed in International Private Banking in East Africa and Philippines. He moved as Head of Sales for Private Banking of ICICI Group in the US & later he was put in charge of rejuvenating the private banking team in the UK as Head of Private Clients in UK. He plays an active role in setting up the procedures and systems that in turn help the organisation to hold steady initially and reaps the dividends later on reaching new heights. At Universal Trustees, he made it his mission to make it the first system based trustee company in India and to that end contracted with a global software company to Indianise their existing software for use by UTPL. Ashvini loves meeting people and visiting new cities. A keen reader, he loves reading various genres of books with his favourite authors being Ayn Rand and Issac Asimov.

Atul Singh is the Founder & Chief Executive Officer at Validus Wealth, India. At Validus Wealth, he is building the next generation wealth advisory firm, that holistically addresses financial needs of Indian investors. Atul is a veteran in the wealth management industry. After a long career of running private banking businesses for Merrill Lynch and Julius Baer, in 2017, he decided to capitalise his expertise into incubating a new wealth firm in India, with a vision of turning it into a recognised center of excellence in wealth management space. With client centricity at the core, Atul has been successfully aggregating a team of investment professionals from international & Indian wealth firms, that will change the landscape of how investment will be done in India, across UHNI, HNI and affluent segments. For over two decades, Atul has built and run private banking businesses across several key markets including USA, Asia and India. Prior to Validus Wealth, Atul was the Managing Director and CEO of Julius Baer India, one of the largest private banking business in India. He led the acquisition of this business from Merrill Lynch to Julius Baer, along with 150 employees and $6.5 Bn of AUM. Before this carve-out, at Merrill Lynch, Atul was the MD of private banking business where he built a strong on-shore India platform. He also played a significant role in introducing Indian investors to investment opportunities globally. Before moving to India, Atul was based in Singapore where he held various leadership positions within the Asia Wealth Management business of Merrill Lynch. Prior to joining Merrill Lynch in July 2006, Atul was a principal with Booz Allen Hamilton in New York, where he advised large financial services clients on driving growth and productivity. At Booz Allen, he authored several thought pieces of dynamics of wealth management and wholesale banking businesses. Atul holds an MBA from IIM Bangalore with a Director’s Medal and a degree in Electrical Engineering from the Birla Institute of Technology, Ranchi, with a Presidential Gold Medal.

Damian Hitchen, Chief Executive Officer, Swissquote Pte Ltd Damian joined in January 2014 to drive Swissquote’s expansion strategy from being Switzerland’s largest online banking and trading platform into the Middle East & Asia region. During 2014-2019 inclusive he built a successful B2c-B2b office from the DIFC, Dubai with a major focus on the development and upgrade of the Bank existing institutional platform services. In July 2019, he relocated from Dubai to head up Swissquote’s new office in Singapore, which will act as the regional booking centre for its business development in the Asia-Pacific region, with a focus on professional, industry and institutional clients such as external asset-managers, insurance firms, securities brokerages, family offices and local - regional Banks/Private Banks. Prior to joining Swissquote, Damian worked in a number of senior roles for HSBC in the Middle East region, and as an Executive r Director for Falcon Private Bank, the Abu Dhabi owned Swiss Private Bank.

David Varley is Chief High Net Worth Officer at Sun Life Financial in Hong Kong. He specializes in HNW and Ultra HNW Planning and Insurance Structuring solutions for clients and families in Asia. He has a Bachelor of Commerce Degree, with an Honors in Management, and a thesis in Innovation – from Melbourne University. Previously he was Head of HNW for Asia for AXA, and Head of International Business for Aviva.

Dominic Volek is Group Head of Private Clients at Henley & Partners and a member of the Executive Committee. Originally from South Africa, he now spends his time between London, Dubai, and Singapore as a private client specialist in residence and citizenship planning and provides advice to ultra-high-net-worth individuals and their families across the globe. His work targets countries that are deemed most attractive to wealthy individuals in terms of mobility, security, privacy, personal tax, estate planning, and lifestyle. He is also a member of the firm’s Government Advisory practice, providing strategic advice to governments on the design, implementation, and promotion of successful investment migration programs. Dominic is a certified Chartered Accountant CA (SA), holding both a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting with Honors and Bachelor of Arts in Corporate Communication. Prior to joining Henley & Partners, Dominic had a successful career as part of the Senior Management team in one of the big four accounting and advisory firms in Singapore, South Africa, and the USA. Dominic is frequently sought after as a speaker and thought leader on residence and citizenship planning, and he regularly provides commentary on the Henley Passport Index. He has been interviewed by top-tier media such as BBC, Quartz, and Bloomberg.

Feroze Azeez, as the Deputy Chief Executive Officer, drives and evolves the strategic direction for the company, shaping Anand Rathi Private Wealth Management's strategy with the dynamic business landscape, while nurturing a team of leaders to deliver the company's vision to its execution. He has been instrumental in scaling the company’s growth to Rs. 18,000 crore business from Rs. 4,500 crore in the last six years. Feroze Azeez, being the youngest Deputy CEO in the wealth management industry, joined Anand Rathi Private Wealth Management in the year 2012. His phenomenal journey started by leading the Product Team. With his ascension to Deputy CEO in 2016, he mentors and guides over 600 employees across all nine locations. Feroze is a powerhouse of information and data on the financial markets, has a mind of a sharp businessman and a heart of gold. Being data-driven, Feroze has unveiled the mask of marketing and sales in the wealth management industry and brought in analytical effectiveness. Feroze has built a seamless structure that encompasses company value and aligns with the underlying proposition of Anand Rathi. Feroze has deep understanding of a client’s perspective, as he is one of the largest clients of the company. He is one of the top three wealth managers in India as he manages assets worth over Rs. 1,200 crore personally, for large families and senior management professionals. He also manages the company’s treasury worth over Rs. 3,000 crore. Feroze’s biggest contribution to the wealth management industry is in the revolution of structured products through application of derivatives as a risk management tool. Due to his vision, Anand Rathi Private Wealth Management today has the highest market share of 35% when it comes to structured products. Since 2007, the structured product designed by Feroze has become a model that almost all investment institutions have tried to replicate as part of their product framework. In fact, Feroze manages one of the largest derivative books in the country. Feroze is also known for his innovative financial solutions and radical methods of wealth management. In fact, Feroze’s ability to uncomplicate structured products has become the sole reason why structured products is an investment that is no more selective to only corporate treasuries and biggest family offices in the country, but is also now open to the HNI segment. Recently, Feroze has been named as part of Fortune India’s Class of 2019 – 40 under 40 list, which recognises stalwarts for the unique contributions to the industry. He has over 17 years of experience in the Indian financial market and has done a specialised course in the derivatives space. Feroze is a prominent personality and a Personal Finance Expert in the Indian media space.

Mr. G Pradeepkumar is the Chief Executive Officer of Union Asset Management Company Private Limited. Mr. G Pradeepkumar is a B. TECH., PGDM from IIM Ahmedabad and a veteran in the Mutual Fund Industry. During his impressive professional career of more than 28 years, he has worked with IDFC Investment Advisors Limited as the Chief Marketing Officer, UTI Asset Management Company Private Limited as Senior Vice President and UTI International Limited as Director & CEO.

Gaurav has wide-ranging experience of more than a decade in the Private Wealth Management industry across Product Management/Investment Advisory/Family Office/Credit and Fund Management. He has a deep understanding of various asset classes, and an acute sense of structuring innovative investment solutions for clients in varied market conditions.

At ASK Wealth Advisors, Gaurav is responsible for leading the firm’s Investment Strategy/Proposition, and offering a comprehensive suite of Products backed by in-depth research to the firm’s Ultra HNW clients 

Prior to joining ASK, Gaurav lead Products & Advisory at Religare Private Wealth as the CIO. Earlier, Gaurav was with IIFL Private Wealth Management (an IndiaInfoline group company) from 2008 to 2014 as Sr. Vice President, where, as a part of the initial team he was actively involved in setting-up the entire Product platform/proposition from scratch.  

Prior to that, he was also a part of the initial team at Standard Chartered Private Bank in India, where he led the investment advisory team catering to the bank’s top HNI clients between 2005-2008. He started his career with Citigroup in their lending business.

Gaurav completed his PGDBM from IIM-Bangalore in 2003.

Himanshu is the co-founder of Client Associates. He has over 2 decades of experience in the areas of Investment Banking & Private Banking. Prior to setting up CA he worked with Deutsche Bank Private Banking, DSP Merrill Lynch and London Forfaiting Group. Himanshu has the distinction of pioneering the concept of Family Office in India. Over the years, he has built one of the finest teams of private bankers who work with some of the most distinguished families of India. He has built expertise in providing complex wealth management solutions to address the needs of Family Business Owners & Entrepreneurs in India. He authors the monthly chronicle of Client Associates – CA Monthly – that has a large following in the industry. He also pioneered the concept of Portfolio Reallocation, a Risk Management technique, in the Indian Market. Himanshu received the Outstanding Young Private Banker 2010 Award as part of the Private Banker International’s Global Wealth Awards by PBI-VRL. He was recognised as The Most Prominent Asian Leader by Citywealth, UK in 2009. Himanshu has been invited several times to contribute to columns and discussions on the subject of Financial Planning and Wealth Management by both the print & electronic media. Besides, he is frequently quoted by major national news media because of his expertise in this domain. He is a member of Rotary Club of Delhi South-end as well as CEO Clubs India.

Himanshu is passionate about sports and actively pursues cricket & golf. He is closely associated with various CSR initiatives for Client Associates. He is on the Board of Royal Alliance India. Besides this, he is also on the Governing Board of Vidya School, promoted by Vidya Comfort Academy for underprivileged children. His wife, Parul, shares his interest in philanthropy and works for Pragati, a voluntary organization for underprivileged children.

Himanshu is an alumnus of Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) from where he did his B.Com (Hons). He received his Master’s degree in Finance & Control (MFC) from the University of Delhi. In 2008 he was honored with the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Department of Financial Studies, New Delhi.

Ioannis Ioannikiou is a Legal Advisor at Casamont Cyprus office. Over the years he became a specialist in Cyprus citizenship program and his responsibilities’ inter alia is reviewing the real estate agreements and CIP application files of investors that are willing to participate in the CIP Program of Cyprus thus to comply with all the requirements set by the Governmental Authorities (Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Finance and Land Registry Office). Ioannis is a licensed lawyer under Cyprus law and prior joining Casamont he was employed at a Law Firm, mainly in the litigation department where he was focused in drafting legal pleadings for civil, family and banking litigation. He also pursued an LL.M in Oil and Gas Law from the University of Aberdeen.

Jagdish is a Capital Markets professional with 16+ years of experience in Capital Markets, Wealth Management, Custody and IT Products business. Rich Domain experience spanning across Asset Classes, Business Process, Back office operations and Advisory Services. He has donned Multiple hats of Operations Manager, Front office sales, Business Analyst and Product Manager across Financial Institutions and IT firms. He is a keen follower of the Capital Markets and Wealth Management industry

In his current role at L&T Investment Management, Mr. Kulkarni is responsible for driving overall business growth as well as leading the marketing initiative for L&T Financial Services. Mr. Kulkarni took control at a time when the Group was in the midst of acquiring Fidelity Investments, and led a seamless acquisition of the business. Under his leadership, L&T Investment Management has seen a tenfold rise in assets since 2012. Mr. Kailash Kulkarni has over 25 years of work experience, most of which includes heading sales functions of businesses across BFSI. Previously, he was the Head of Sales at Kotak Mahindra Asset Management. At MetLife India Insurance, Mr. Kulkarni set up and expanded the agency network. His journey in the BFSI space began with growing the third party distribution network first for JM Financial and subsequently for ICICI Bank. He has also worked in Eicher Motors in distribution, sales and marketing functions. Currently Mr. Kulkarni is on the board of the Association of Mutual Funds of India (AMFI) and has previously headed the Financial Literacy Committee for AMFI. Mr. Kulkarni is a management graduate from the Institute of Management Development and Research. He loves to travel around the world and is passionate about adventure sports.

Kunal Bajaj is Founder & CEO of Clearfunds.com – a leading Indian mutual fund robo-advisor, and the Head of Digital Wealth Management for MobiKwik.

He started Clearfunds to make high-quality investment advice available to everyone, not just the ultra-rich, at a flat-fee, not a fat fee.

Kunal has 18 years of experience in Institutional Equity Sales, Trading and Risk Management at some of the world’s largest financial institutions such as Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, J.P.Morgan and CLSA and Jefferies, in India and Japan. His last position was Managing Director and Head of Equity Sales at Jefferies India. He is a rank-holding Chartered Accountant and graduated from University of Bombay in 1996.

Lakshmi heads fixed income and products team at KMAMC. She has been with the organisation since 1999. Lakshmi joined KMAMC as a fund manager, and was responsible for credit research as well as deal execution, managing fund performance across all debt funds and assisting sales in client interaction. She has also been a portfolio specialist, and managed product related initiatives, product pricing and coordination with the funds management and sales team in that role. Prior to Kotak, Lakshmi worked with Credence Analytics Pvt Ltd, as a research analyst where she was tracking corporate bond markets in India and generating research reports. She was also instrumental for conceiving various financial software tools in collaboration with software and technical teams.

Neha is the Head of Trust & Estate planning at Motilal Oswald Wealth Management Limited and has been associated with the group for over 6 years. Ms. Pathak carries a total work experience of 15 years in the areas of Trust formation and succession planning. At Motilal Oswald, she has assisted various HNIs to plan their estates. Prior to joining Motilal Oswald, she was working with IL&FS Trust Company Ltd. Where she was taking care of structuring and succession estate plans for HNI & UNHIs. Before working with IL&FS, she was practicing at the Bombay High court under Senior Counsel, Mr C U Singh. She has also worked with D H Law Associates, a law firm where she had the opportunity to carry out an in-depth study on succession and property related areas.

Nigel is a key member of the Investors Trust EMEA sales team, who heads up the onshore and offshore Indian focused distribution. As a highly successful IFA in the UAE, with numerous MDRT qualifications, Nigel understands why innovative solutions are what is required in this day and age. Nigel jumped the fence to join Investors Trust a year ago, where he has been sharing best practices and supporting the growth of our partners in the region.

Nirbhay Handa is the Group Head of Business Development at Henley & Partners and the Managing Director and Head of the firm’s Global South Asia team. He focuses exclusively on advising high-net-worth individuals and their families on residence and citizenship by investment. Nirbhay has been on the forefront of the investment migration industry across Asia and the South Asia subcontinent, advising some of the most respectable and established private banks, family offices, and law firms. His articles, commentary, and overall thought leadership in the investment migration space is often quoted in some of Asia’s leading wealth management forums and publications. He is passionate about developing people and growing high-performance teams. Nirbhay received his formative education at the University of Nottingham and executive education at the London School of Economics and the University of Oxford.

Nithya has over 22 years of rich experience in financial services. She is Managing Director of Multiples Alternate Asset Management, a private equity platform with over US$1 billion of assets under management. Nithya joined Multiples Alternate Asset Management in 2010 and has led several investments made by the platform. She is a part of the investment committee and leads key strategic initiatives of the firm. In 2016, Nithya led the Fintech Committee, under the aegis of the CII National Committee on Financial Services, which interacted extensively with players in the sector and submitted a report to RBI and SEBI recommending changes to various regulations and practices to encourage the development of the sector. Prior to joining Multiples Alternate Asset Management, Nithya headed the Structured Finance Team of Citibank in India and before that she was a part of the structured finance business of ICICI Ltd. Nithya is considered a pioneer in the Indian securitization markets and has led origination and structuring of securitisation, project loans, mezzanine debt and leveraged finance in various roles over 14 years. She holds a Bachelor of Engineering from VJTI, University of Mumbai and an MBA from Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow. Nithya is non – executive Director on the Board of Arvind Fashions Ltd and APAC Financial Services Ltd. Nithya served as an independent Director on the Board of Axis Securities Ltd from March 2015 to April 2019 and on the Board of Freecharge Payment Technologies from October 2017 to April 2019. Nithya is a founding member of the India Chapter of Bloomberg Women’s Buyside Network.

Phil is the Senior Executive Officer and Head of Distribution for Investors Trust Assurance in the EMEA region. He joined ITA in July 2014 to build the distribution network for Investors Trust Assurance in the EMEA region. He brings over 26 years of experience in the global insurance markets, from the UK, to Asia and Africa. He has been in the Middle East for most of the last 17 years holding General Management, Board positions (Middle East and Africa) and C suite positions with some of the largest Global insurance companies. He is also the Chairman of the DIFC Insurance Association, a community of professionals committed to shaping a prosperous and sustainable insurance market in the DIFC, UAE and beyond.

Rahul Gaitonde is the COO at Cube Wealth, a one-of-its-kind tech-first, multi-asset wealth management service for the mass affluent. His 12-year path has run through deep tech, open source software, starting up, and years of product management across fin-tech, ad-tech and other domains. Previously he ran the consumer business at the payments company Citrus Pay.

Rishabh Shroff is a Partner in Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas. He is based in the Mumbai office of the Firm. After completing his LL.B at the London School of Economics, London, he joined the Firm in September 2007. He was admitted as an advocate in the Bar Council of Maharashtra & Goa (India) in 2007. He is also a Solicitor, Supreme Court of England & Wales. Rishabh is Co-Head of the Private Client practice at the Firm, specializing in family constitutions and settlements, trusts, wills and succession planning. He provides succession, taxation, estate and wealth planning advice for wealthy individuals and their families, who are often promoters of large family businesses. He provides related advice to trustees and other private client service providers, such as family offices and institutional / corporate trustees. Rishabh advises on a number of issues, including the creation and management of domestic trusts, and has experience of advising both trustees and beneficiaries in relation to their relative rights, responsibilities and obligations. He is experienced in the drafting and creation of inter-vivos trusts and their constitutional mechanisms, and has experience in dealing with complex issues such as settler reserved powers, protector powers and appointment mechanisms. He also frequently advises on complex issues arising under the Indian exchange control regime (including in respect of Non Resident Indians and foreign trusts and companies), SEBI Takeover Regulations and the SEBI Listing Agreement etc. Rishabh is involved in the setting up and administration of a number of bespoke private trust companies in India. He also advises on a number of charitable and philanthropic endeavors, including on India’s statutory Corporate Social Responsibility regime.  

Ruchi has over 25 years of experience in the financial services sector, of which 21 years has been with Citibank across the institutional and private banking segments. In Citibank, in her most recent role, she was responsible for managing key ultra-high-net-worth client relationships of the Private Bank and prior to that held positions in the corporate and financial institutions group.

Sachin Taneja is President & Head, Wealth Management at Systematix Group, based in Mumbai. He has over 21 years of diverse experience in Financial Markets in various capacities - as Adviser, Structurer, Trader and Private Banker. From advising some of the largest corporate treasuries in India on managing fx, rates and commodity price risk to advising ultra-rich families on multi-million wealth portfolios, Sachin has covered varied aspects of vanilla to complex financial markets and products. Prior to starting in his current role in April 2018, Sachin worked for 10 years as a Senior Private Banker across two banks – Standard Chartered Bank and Deutsche, managing key clients.Until 2008, he specialised in Global Markets, Structured Solutions and Risk Management and worked as a Senior Consultant with top-of-the-line firms like Mecklai Financial and Standard & Poor, advising some of the largest Corporate Treasuries in India on managing financial risks.Sachin is a Postgraduate in Business Finance from Indian Institute of Finance and has done his graduation in Commerce from Kurukshetra University. 

Sagar Khandekar manages part of Mumbai and the rest of the Maharashtra/Goa region for Kotak Wealth Management. Sagar joined the Kotak Mahindra Group in 2005. He has been an integral part of the Wealth Management business for close to the last 15 years and has played an important role in the business’ growth in the western region of India. Prior to joining Kotak, Sagar worked with Standard Chartered Bank and ABN AMRO Bank NV. He is a science graduate and has completed his Masters of Management Studies, specialising in marketing, from Mumbai University.

Satheesh Krishnamurthy heads the Affluent & NRI Business for Axis Bank. He joined Axis Bank in March 2014. Under his leadership, the Bank launched their most premium brand, ‘Burgundy’, a bespoke wealth management offering for Affluent clients. Over the last couple of years, the assets under management of this business has crossed USD 18 billion, making it one of the fastest growing business units within the Bank and in the industry. Prior to joining Axis Bank, Satheesh worked with Citibank across multiple geographies for over 13 years. In his most recent role with Citibank, he headed Citigold - Citibank's flagship brand in the affluent space. He was instrumental in launching Citigold Private Client (CPC), an exclusive offering for high net worth clients with over USD 1 million relationship size with the bank. Satheesh has worked across various business functions starting with the Corporate Salary accounts Business, Business banking, Cards, Sales & Distribution, and the Affluent Business across geographies. He also did a stint in New York as part of Citibank's prestigious ‘Global High Potential Talent Development Program’. He returned to India as the Sales Director for the Cards business, and was part of the team which developed a new Universal Banker distribution architecture which was responsible for all retail product sales. Satheesh was featured in Fortune India as India’s ‘40 Under 40’ in 2016 & in Business Today as ‘India's Hottest Executives in the Corporate Sector’ in 2015. He is a Director on the board of FIAI, India’s financial distributor’s body working towards strengthening the cause, development, education and progress of the wealth management industry. Satheesh graduated from IIT Kharagpur and holds an MBA degree from FMS, Delhi.

Sharad (CEO, Founder: Valuefy Solutions) is a first generation entrepreneur with strong experience of creating products in the fintech domain and has played various successful roles in technology and data sciences domain helping clients across industry verticals.

Sharad co-founded Valuefy in 2010 and has steered it to be one of the leading Indian firms in the investment technology space. Valuefy’s platforms serve the leading asset management companies, banks and wealth managers in India and abroad. Awarded as the leading WealthTech platform by NASSCOM, Valuefy’s robo-advisor, Invezta.com, is India’s first zero commission robo advisor.

Earlier, Sharad founded BrainMatics that provided solutions towards regulatory risk compliance. He worked with Fractal and Infosys in the early part of his career.

Sharad is an engineering graduate from Lucknow University and holds a MBA from IIM Ahmadabad. He is passionate about technology and building innovative customer experiences.

Shiv Gupta is founder of Sanctum Wealth Management, and former head of RBS Private Banking in India. He was a member of the RBS India Executive Committee and the India business representative on the Coutts International Asia Management Committee. Based in Mumbai, Shiv oversaw all aspects of RBS’ Private Banking business in India which had close to 100 staff including 29 private bankers located in 4 offices across the country. Shiv had been a part of the RBS Group for 14 years and was one of the founding members of the Coutts International South Asian business. Prior to India he was based in Singapore managing the NRI business in Asia Pacific, as well as the Thailand market. Born in India, Shiv holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics (Hons) from the Hindu College, Delhi University.  He is also a graduate of the Harvard Business School’s General Management Program (GMP).

Shobhit Mathur heads the portfolio advisory division at Kotak Investment Advisors Limited. Shobhit joined Kotak Mahindra Bank in 2008 and has more than 13 years of experience across equities, interest rates and forex related India and Offshore investments. From 2012 to 2019, Shobhit was part of the Investment Committee of various large family office clients at Kotak Wealth Management, and advised over 200 UHNI families on their portfolio and investment strategies. Prior to that, from 2008 to 2012, Shobhit led the structured products division at Kotak Mahindra Bank where he was instrumental in structuring products with underlying equity stocks, indices and equity derivatives. Before joining Kotak, Shobhit was a product expert on interest rates and foreign exchange linked structured products and dealt with investment and treasury solutions for individual and corporate investors at ICICI Bank Ltd. He is an engineering graduate from IIT-BHU and has completed his MBA in Finance from XLRI, Jamshedpur.

Chartered Accountant with over 16 years of post qualification experience. Formerly with Ernst &Young for around 9 years in the Mergers & Acquisition Tax Team, Assisted large corporates in restructuring their group structure in order to be more tax efficient as well as to comply with regulatory norms. Helped clients in structuring acquisition as well as stake sales transaction keeping in mind the tax and regulatory requirements of India. Assisted clients in structuring foreign investment into India including joint ventures considering various laws such as FEMA, FDI policy, income tax, laws of other countries, etc. Advised clients on wealth structuring, estate planning, mergers & acquisitions taxation as well as family governance structures. Advised promoters of large family businesses on devising long term succession plan for their assets including business assets as well as non business assets in India and across other countries. Assisted clients in creating asset protection vehicles to ensure safety and security for the family members. Helped clients in creating trusts, Wills, Family Charter, partnerships, companies, etc for smooth passing of wealth to the next generation. Assisted parents of special children in creating structures which could aid in providing safety and security to the special children. Helping families with NRIs / global citizens /residents in estate planning keeping in mind the tax and regulatory requirements of the foreign countries. Creation of trust for promoters of Indian listed companies after considering the tax and regulatory (eg, SEBI) aspects. Helped clients in the High court / NCLT process of mergers, demergers, etc to achieve the objective of consolidation of businesses or segregation of businesses, etc. Co authored the book on Mergers & Acquisitions released by EY in 2012, 2013.

Bringing years of expertise to the role, Sneha specialises in creating bespoke wealth planning solutions for UHNW individuals and families. She provides advice to clients on their estate and succession planning requirements that includes advisory on creation and structuring of Trusts and Wills with best practice governance principles to ensure their longevity and success as well on alternate residency and citizenship planning. Her in-depth understanding of governance issues in multi-generational business families enables addressing of business and relationship challenges that such families often encounter. She has worked with organisations such as Barclays Bank PLC., and Kotak Family Office. She is a Chartered Trust and Estate Planner (CTEP)TM and holds an MBA from Durham University Business School (UK).

Stanzin Tsesdup is a seasoned executive with experience across the financial technology value chain, having donned multiple hats across Business Development, PreSales, Business Analysis and Product Management. Currently, he is responsible for solution consulting for Intellect Wealth Cube. Intellect Wealth Cube is an integrated front, middle and back office solution for private banks, wealth management firms, advisory firms, broker dealers & independent financial advisors. It can be deployed in a modular fashion across multiple delivery channels, leveraging existing IT investments. In his previous role, he was responsible for the business growth of Treasury and Capital Markets solution suite of Intellect, consisting of Capital Cube (Treasury solution), Capital Alpha (Securities Trading Platform) and Capital Sigma (Custody, Fund Accounting and Transfer Agency Platform) for the ASEAN region. His primary responsibilities included driving the business growth for the Capital Markets suite of products through solution consulting, bid management, solution presentations, demo execution and workshops. Over the course of his career, he has gained rich domain exposure to financial services and products covering Wealth Management, Securities Trading platforms, Fund Management and Treasury management of banks.

Swetha Manot works in the capacity of an Associate Director at Anand Rathi Wealth Services Limited. Swetha has been instrumental in establishing the organisation as a premier brand for wealth management solutions in Bengaluru, since 2008. Her in-depth understanding of the market dynamics has given many clients the confidence to make her their sole advisor. Currently, Swetha manages assets worth over Rs. 700 crore across 55 families based out of Bengaluru, Singapore, Hong Kong and United States.

Swetha has done her MBA in Finance from ICFAI, Hyderabad. Having been in the financial services industry for over 16 years, Swetha is now mentoring six of her colleagues on their journey to become Private Bankers.

In all her years of client servicing, Swetha believes that persistently delivering fearless advisory with all humility has become the foundation of building a strong relationship with clients.

TP Ostwal is chartered Accountant is practice for last 43 years ,who was one of the members of Govt. of India’s committee drafting TP Regulations in India in 2001. He is a visiting professor at Vienna University Austria for teaching International tax for LLM studies and is a Member of Transfer Pricing sub-committee of UN since inception for two terms. He has authored various books on a range of subjects covering International Taxation, Transfer Pricing and Black Money Law in India.

Tariq has over 19 years’ experience in telecom, private client wealth structuring, private banking, alternative investment funds, debenture trusteeship, estate & succession planning and family office services. He joined Amicorp in December 2011 and took on the challenge of building the nascent Trusteeship business backed by his vast experience and expertise with strong focus on restructuring, innovation and expansion to set up the estate planning vertical for Amicorp in India. Along with estate planning, he has been instrumental in setting up alternative investment fund business, company management services and family enterprise consulting business for Amicorp in India. He carries an extensive knowledge and a vast experience in alternative investment funds, debenture trusteeship, estate planning, family office services, company management and escrow & custodial services Tariq has assisted in advising and facilitation in setting up numerous domestic and off shore funds considering all the regulatory and compliance requirements. In addition to this, he has complete proficiency in offshore company/fund management and cross border taxation. Tariq has assisted multiple large families, business houses and high net worth individuals having wealth across various asset classes and complex business structures with their succession planning and asset protection needs keeping in mind various tax laws, estate duties, inheritance laws and other succession laws across countries. This could be NRI families with wealth across geographies, or Indian families with NRI beneficiaries. He has successfully created and executed ‘Wills’ for smooth transmission of large estates to the legal heirs, has a strong understanding of the succession laws for each class of asset, for various religious groups in India, divorce and inter-caste marriage cases. He has also arbitrated family settlements for large business houses and helped the families in building family constitutions/family charters and articulating business governance models. For individuals desiring to bequeath a portion of their wealth to philanthropy, he has established charitable trusts and foundations, which has been operating successfully, thus transforming their vision into reality. Tariq has participated in multiple family settlements and facilitated arbitration with successful results. He was awarded “40 under 40” as a trust expert in the industry. He has been successfully running Amicorp for seven years. He carries the expertise of setting up new ventures and has been instrumental in setting up Estate Planning Services for Centurion Bank and HDFC Bank post its acquisition of Centurion Bank. Prior to moving to the banking industry, he has spent a considerable amount of his working career in the Telecom Space. Providing committed customer satisfaction and building enduring associations with customers and vendors with strong team motivation and innovative ideas. Tariq fluently speaks multiple languages like English, Hindi, Marathi and Gujarati.

Vinay Kumar has over 30 years of experience in capital markets and wealth management. He has extensive expertise in private banking, wealth management and derivatives. He has rich experience in designing, delivering and selling wealth management products and solutions for global banks and financial institutions. He has led digital transformation consulting assignments with leading global banks. He is leading the innovation team for Intellect Wealth which is currently focused on applying of AI and ML to make Relationship Managers more effective and help their clients make appropriate investment decisions. Vinay holds a post graduate diploma in management from IIM, Ahmedabad. He has written and edited a book titled 'IT Professionals' Handbook of Investment Banking and Financial Markets'.

Mr. Vinay Paharia is the Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of Union Asset Management Company Private Limited. He is a Bachelor of Commerce and Masters in Management Studies degree holder from University of Mumbai. In his professional career of more than 17 years, he has worked with Invesco AMC as Equity Fund Manager for 11 years. Vinay has been thrice awarded as “Best Fund Manager” for featuring amongst top 10 Fund Managers in India by Outlook Business-Value Research Study. Invesco Multicap Fund, managed by him for almost 10 years was also awarded “Lipper Best Fund” by Thomson Reuters.

Michael has an extensive background in financial services in Asia, Europe and North America. He has been in Asia-Pacific since 1995 – first in Hong Kong for six years, then in Sydney and Singapore, returning to Hong Kong in 2007. Before setting up Hubbis in early 2009, Michael founded Pacific Prospect in 2002 and sold it to global business-to-business publisher Incisive Media in 2006, continuing to serve as Chief Executive Officer until October 2008. Prior to Pacific Prospect, Michael worked for nine years in financial markets publishing. He joined Euromoney Publications in 1993 as the publisher of a quarterly magazine, International Bond Investor. In 1995, Michael joined Thomson Financial Services (now Thomson Reuters) to conceive and launch Finance Asia magazine. While he was Managing Director of Finance Asia, Michael also started the Asian Debt Review, Asian Private Capital Magazine and started the Finance Asia Conference Business. In 1997, Michael founded FIA Limited. Born in North Wales, Michael was head boy of St David’s College Llandudno. He has a degree in Business Administration from Cardiff University. And is married with three children - Reanna, Garett and Tarryn.

Anshu Kapoor has recently taken over the mantle to build Investment Management business. He is leading initiatives to create an Alternatives Assets platform (Private Equity and Hedge Funds). Anshu joined Edelweiss Group in 2010 to start the Private Wealth Management (PWM) business. Driven by a vision of creating “world’s most customer centric” wealth management business, Anshu grew the business 15x over last 7 years to US $17 billion in Assets under Advice (AuA) - to top #3 position in the industry. The business has been internationally acclaimed and awarded as the Best Private Bank, India by global publications like Global Finance (2018, 2019, 2020), Asiamoney (2017, 2018) and Asian Private Banker (2018, 2020). Prior to joining Edelweiss, Anshu was a Director at Merrill Lynch, where he was instrumental in developing Wealth Management business across India, Middle East, Asia Pacific and North America. Anshu has also worked in leadership positions in Consumer Banking and Capital Markets with HSBC and ICICI Bank. Anshu is passionate about scaling up businesses, technology and is an avid travel photographer. He is married with three kids.

Abhijit took on his current role as CEO of Karvy Private Wealth in 2015 and is responsible for the Karvy Private Wealth’s business in India and the Middle East. With an overall experience of over 23 years across the wealth management and financial services industry, Abhijit has been with Karvy Private Wealth since last 3 years after an 8-year stint at Deutsche Bank across various leadership positions in India & Overseas. He has also held leadership positions at HSBC, ICICI Bank and Unit Trust of India in Asset Management, Corporate Banking, Cash Management, Retail Banking and Wealth Management. Abhijit earned his MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from VJTI, Mumbai University. He has also completed his CAIIB, AMFI and IRDA certifications. He has keen interest in customer education and works actively on areas such as Financial Planning for Women and Gen Y. Under his able leadership, the assets managed by Karvy Private Wealth have grown over four times in the last three years.

Feroze Azeez, as the Deputy Chief Executive Officer, drives and evolves the strategic direction for the company, shaping Anand Rathi Private Wealth Management's strategy with the dynamic business landscape, while nurturing a team of leaders to deliver the company's vision to its execution. He has been instrumental in scaling the company’s growth to Rs. 18,000 crore business from Rs. 4,500 crore in the last six years. Feroze Azeez, being the youngest Deputy CEO in the wealth management industry, joined Anand Rathi Private Wealth Management in the year 2012. His phenomenal journey started by leading the Product Team. With his ascension to Deputy CEO in 2016, he mentors and guides over 600 employees across all nine locations. Feroze is a powerhouse of information and data on the financial markets, has a mind of a sharp businessman and a heart of gold. Being data-driven, Feroze has unveiled the mask of marketing and sales in the wealth management industry and brought in analytical effectiveness. Feroze has built a seamless structure that encompasses company value and aligns with the underlying proposition of Anand Rathi. Feroze has deep understanding of a client’s perspective, as he is one of the largest clients of the company. He is one of the top three wealth managers in India as he manages assets worth over Rs. 1,200 crore personally, for large families and senior management professionals. He also manages the company’s treasury worth over Rs. 3,000 crore. Feroze’s biggest contribution to the wealth management industry is in the revolution of structured products through application of derivatives as a risk management tool. Due to his vision, Anand Rathi Private Wealth Management today has the highest market share of 35% when it comes to structured products. Since 2007, the structured product designed by Feroze has become a model that almost all investment institutions have tried to replicate as part of their product framework. In fact, Feroze manages one of the largest derivative books in the country. Feroze is also known for his innovative financial solutions and radical methods of wealth management. In fact, Feroze’s ability to uncomplicate structured products has become the sole reason why structured products is an investment that is no more selective to only corporate treasuries and biggest family offices in the country, but is also now open to the HNI segment. Recently, Feroze has been named as part of Fortune India’s Class of 2019 – 40 under 40 list, which recognises stalwarts for the unique contributions to the industry. He has over 17 years of experience in the Indian financial market and has done a specialised course in the derivatives space. Feroze is a prominent personality and a Personal Finance Expert in the Indian media space.

Satheesh Krishnamurthy heads the Affluent & NRI Business for Axis Bank. He joined Axis Bank in March 2014. Under his leadership, the Bank launched their most premium brand, ‘Burgundy’, a bespoke wealth management offering for Affluent clients. Over the last couple of years, the assets under management of this business has crossed USD 18 billion, making it one of the fastest growing business units within the Bank and in the industry. Prior to joining Axis Bank, Satheesh worked with Citibank across multiple geographies for over 13 years. In his most recent role with Citibank, he headed Citigold - Citibank's flagship brand in the affluent space. He was instrumental in launching Citigold Private Client (CPC), an exclusive offering for high net worth clients with over USD 1 million relationship size with the bank. Satheesh has worked across various business functions starting with the Corporate Salary accounts Business, Business banking, Cards, Sales & Distribution, and the Affluent Business across geographies. He also did a stint in New York as part of Citibank's prestigious ‘Global High Potential Talent Development Program’. He returned to India as the Sales Director for the Cards business, and was part of the team which developed a new Universal Banker distribution architecture which was responsible for all retail product sales. Satheesh was featured in Fortune India as India’s ‘40 Under 40’ in 2016 & in Business Today as ‘India's Hottest Executives in the Corporate Sector’ in 2015. He is a Director on the board of FIAI, India’s financial distributor’s body working towards strengthening the cause, development, education and progress of the wealth management industry. Satheesh graduated from IIT Kharagpur and holds an MBA degree from FMS, Delhi.

Himanshu is the co-founder of Client Associates. He has over 2 decades of experience in the areas of Investment Banking & Private Banking. Prior to setting up CA he worked with Deutsche Bank Private Banking, DSP Merrill Lynch and London Forfaiting Group. Himanshu has the distinction of pioneering the concept of Family Office in India. Over the years, he has built one of the finest teams of private bankers who work with some of the most distinguished families of India. He has built expertise in providing complex wealth management solutions to address the needs of Family Business Owners & Entrepreneurs in India. He authors the monthly chronicle of Client Associates – CA Monthly – that has a large following in the industry. He also pioneered the concept of Portfolio Reallocation, a Risk Management technique, in the Indian Market. Himanshu received the Outstanding Young Private Banker 2010 Award as part of the Private Banker International’s Global Wealth Awards by PBI-VRL. He was recognised as The Most Prominent Asian Leader by Citywealth, UK in 2009. Himanshu has been invited several times to contribute to columns and discussions on the subject of Financial Planning and Wealth Management by both the print & electronic media. Besides, he is frequently quoted by major national news media because of his expertise in this domain. He is a member of Rotary Club of Delhi South-end as well as CEO Clubs India.

Himanshu is passionate about sports and actively pursues cricket & golf. He is closely associated with various CSR initiatives for Client Associates. He is on the Board of Royal Alliance India. Besides this, he is also on the Governing Board of Vidya School, promoted by Vidya Comfort Academy for underprivileged children. His wife, Parul, shares his interest in philanthropy and works for Pragati, a voluntary organization for underprivileged children.

Himanshu is an alumnus of Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) from where he did his B.Com (Hons). He received his Master’s degree in Finance & Control (MFC) from the University of Delhi. In 2008 he was honored with the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Department of Financial Studies, New Delhi.

Mr. Ankur Thakore brings with him a rich experience of the Mutual Fund Industry with over 22 years in Sales and Distribution, Channel Management, Portfolio Management Services and Product Development across organizations. His prior experience includes positions at Fidelity Fund Management, DSP Merrill Lynch Fund Management, Kothari Pioneer Mutual Fund and HSBC Asset Management. Mr. Thakore is a Bachelor of Engineering (Construction) from Mumbai University and a Masters in Management Studies in Finance, Mumbai University.

Dominic Volek is Group Head of Private Clients at Henley & Partners and a member of the Executive Committee. Originally from South Africa, he now spends his time between London, Dubai, and Singapore as a private client specialist in residence and citizenship planning and provides advice to ultra-high-net-worth individuals and their families across the globe. His work targets countries that are deemed most attractive to wealthy individuals in terms of mobility, security, privacy, personal tax, estate planning, and lifestyle. He is also a member of the firm’s Government Advisory practice, providing strategic advice to governments on the design, implementation, and promotion of successful investment migration programs. Dominic is a certified Chartered Accountant CA (SA), holding both a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting with Honors and Bachelor of Arts in Corporate Communication. Prior to joining Henley & Partners, Dominic had a successful career as part of the Senior Management team in one of the big four accounting and advisory firms in Singapore, South Africa, and the USA. Dominic is frequently sought after as a speaker and thought leader on residence and citizenship planning, and he regularly provides commentary on the Henley Passport Index. He has been interviewed by top-tier media such as BBC, Quartz, and Bloomberg.

Abhra Roy is responsible for managing the Finacle Wealth Management product line, and also for charting its product strategy; this includes the management and development of the Wealth Management product line, managing client relationships with Banks and Financial Institutions and also working on the detailed Product road map. Abhra specialises in the area of Private Wealth Management, Financial Advisory, Brokerage Operations, Custodial and Depository operations. He has published several thought papers on the role of Technology in the Wealth Management space. He draws from his rich experience of over twenty years of working in financial institutions and technology firms.

Sharad (CEO, Founder: Valuefy Solutions) is a first generation entrepreneur with strong experience of creating products in the fintech domain and has played various successful roles in technology and data sciences domain helping clients across industry verticals.

Sharad co-founded Valuefy in 2010 and has steered it to be one of the leading Indian firms in the investment technology space. Valuefy’s platforms serve the leading asset management companies, banks and wealth managers in India and abroad. Awarded as the leading WealthTech platform by NASSCOM, Valuefy’s robo-advisor, Invezta.com, is India’s first zero commission robo advisor.

Earlier, Sharad founded BrainMatics that provided solutions towards regulatory risk compliance. He worked with Fractal and Infosys in the early part of his career.

Sharad is an engineering graduate from Lucknow University and holds a MBA from IIM Ahmadabad. He is passionate about technology and building innovative customer experiences.

Anupam Guha is the Head of Private Wealth Management practice at ICICI Securities Ltd. Anupam has been with the ICICI Group for the last 16 years across retail, institutional and private banking business. He has been a part of the International and Domestic Private Banking business for more than a decade.

He is a founding member that helped set up Private Wealth business at ICICI Securities (I-Sec). I-Sec is one of the leading and fastest growing Private Wealth practice in India and manages some of the wealthiest families in the country. I-Sec today manages close to INR 35,000 Crs of assets of its clients.

I-Sec Private Wealth caters to UHNI and Family Office clients and given the insight with such clients, partners with them in their business requirement and expansion plans through fund raising and investment banking solutions, besides investment & real estate solutions and estate planning.

Prior to this, Anupam was the Country Head of Oman with ICICI Securities. He was successful in showcasing the India opportunity to Sovereign and Pension Funds, local Institutions and the Indian Diaspora. He was part of the fund raising team that raised more than USD 1 billion from GCC for Private Equity and Real Estate investments in India.

Rahul Gaitonde is the COO at Cube Wealth, a one-of-its-kind tech-first, multi-asset wealth management service for the mass affluent. His 12-year path has run through deep tech, open source software, starting up, and years of product management across fin-tech, ad-tech and other domains. Previously he ran the consumer business at the payments company Citrus Pay.

Anand Moorthy is head of real estate services at RBS Financial Services, a part of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group. In this role, Anand facilitates client’s real estate long-term objectives through a referral services model for all real estate asset classes. The referral services would also cover innovative investment opportunities and property management propositions.

Anand joined the RBS Group in India in October 2012 with over 10 years of experience in real estate from Karvy Private Wealth, where in his last assignment, as the head of real estate investment & advisory, Anand worked extensively with UHNIs and their relationship managers to offer customised solutions. Prior to Karvy, he was vice president, investment management with IL&FS-Milestone Real Estate Fund and was responsible for managing the yield portfolio worth US$225 million. Anand had also worked with E-City Ventures and Globus Stores. His domain expertise includes product & marketing, investment management & advisory and wealth management

Anand has a PGDM degree from the International School of Business & Media, Pune with specialisation in Communication Management and a Bachelor’s degree in BA (Honors) from Delhi University.

Shobhit Mathur heads the portfolio advisory division at Kotak Investment Advisors Limited. Shobhit joined Kotak Mahindra Bank in 2008 and has more than 13 years of experience across equities, interest rates and forex related India and Offshore investments. From 2012 to 2019, Shobhit was part of the Investment Committee of various large family office clients at Kotak Wealth Management, and advised over 200 UHNI families on their portfolio and investment strategies. Prior to that, from 2008 to 2012, Shobhit led the structured products division at Kotak Mahindra Bank where he was instrumental in structuring products with underlying equity stocks, indices and equity derivatives. Before joining Kotak, Shobhit was a product expert on interest rates and foreign exchange linked structured products and dealt with investment and treasury solutions for individual and corporate investors at ICICI Bank Ltd. He is an engineering graduate from IIT-BHU and has completed his MBA in Finance from XLRI, Jamshedpur.

Phil is the Senior Executive Officer and Head of Distribution for Investors Trust Assurance in the EMEA region. He joined ITA in July 2014 to build the distribution network for Investors Trust Assurance in the EMEA region. He brings over 26 years of experience in the global insurance markets, from the UK, to Asia and Africa. He has been in the Middle East for most of the last 17 years holding General Management, Board positions (Middle East and Africa) and C suite positions with some of the largest Global insurance companies. He is also the Chairman of the DIFC Insurance Association, a community of professionals committed to shaping a prosperous and sustainable insurance market in the DIFC, UAE and beyond.

Mr. G Pradeepkumar is the Chief Executive Officer of Union Asset Management Company Private Limited. Mr. G Pradeepkumar is a B. TECH., PGDM from IIM Ahmedabad and a veteran in the Mutual Fund Industry. During his impressive professional career of more than 28 years, he has worked with IDFC Investment Advisors Limited as the Chief Marketing Officer, UTI Asset Management Company Private Limited as Senior Vice President and UTI International Limited as Director & CEO.

David Varley is Chief High Net Worth Officer at Sun Life Financial in Hong Kong. He specializes in HNW and Ultra HNW Planning and Insurance Structuring solutions for clients and families in Asia. He has a Bachelor of Commerce Degree, with an Honors in Management, and a thesis in Innovation – from Melbourne University. Previously he was Head of HNW for Asia for AXA, and Head of International Business for Aviva.

TP Ostwal is chartered Accountant is practice for last 43 years ,who was one of the members of Govt. of India’s committee drafting TP Regulations in India in 2001. He is a visiting professor at Vienna University Austria for teaching International tax for LLM studies and is a Member of Transfer Pricing sub-committee of UN since inception for two terms. He has authored various books on a range of subjects covering International Taxation, Transfer Pricing and Black Money Law in India.

Chartered Accountant with over 16 years of post qualification experience. Formerly with Ernst &Young for around 9 years in the Mergers & Acquisition Tax Team, Assisted large corporates in restructuring their group structure in order to be more tax efficient as well as to comply with regulatory norms. Helped clients in structuring acquisition as well as stake sales transaction keeping in mind the tax and regulatory requirements of India. Assisted clients in structuring foreign investment into India including joint ventures considering various laws such as FEMA, FDI policy, income tax, laws of other countries, etc. Advised clients on wealth structuring, estate planning, mergers & acquisitions taxation as well as family governance structures. Advised promoters of large family businesses on devising long term succession plan for their assets including business assets as well as non business assets in India and across other countries. Assisted clients in creating asset protection vehicles to ensure safety and security for the family members. Helped clients in creating trusts, Wills, Family Charter, partnerships, companies, etc for smooth passing of wealth to the next generation. Assisted parents of special children in creating structures which could aid in providing safety and security to the special children. Helping families with NRIs / global citizens /residents in estate planning keeping in mind the tax and regulatory requirements of the foreign countries. Creation of trust for promoters of Indian listed companies after considering the tax and regulatory (eg, SEBI) aspects. Helped clients in the High court / NCLT process of mergers, demergers, etc to achieve the objective of consolidation of businesses or segregation of businesses, etc. Co authored the book on Mergers & Acquisitions released by EY in 2012, 2013.

Bringing years of expertise to the role, Sneha specialises in creating bespoke wealth planning solutions for UHNW individuals and families. She provides advice to clients on their estate and succession planning requirements that includes advisory on creation and structuring of Trusts and Wills with best practice governance principles to ensure their longevity and success as well on alternate residency and citizenship planning. Her in-depth understanding of governance issues in multi-generational business families enables addressing of business and relationship challenges that such families often encounter. She has worked with organisations such as Barclays Bank PLC., and Kotak Family Office. She is a Chartered Trust and Estate Planner (CTEP)TM and holds an MBA from Durham University Business School (UK).

Neha is the Head of Trust & Estate planning at Motilal Oswald Wealth Management Limited and has been associated with the group for over 6 years. Ms. Pathak carries a total work experience of 15 years in the areas of Trust formation and succession planning. At Motilal Oswald, she has assisted various HNIs to plan their estates. Prior to joining Motilal Oswald, she was working with IL&FS Trust Company Ltd. Where she was taking care of structuring and succession estate plans for HNI & UNHIs. Before working with IL&FS, she was practicing at the Bombay High court under Senior Counsel, Mr C U Singh. She has also worked with D H Law Associates, a law firm where she had the opportunity to carry out an in-depth study on succession and property related areas.

Rishabh Shroff is a Partner in Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas. He is based in the Mumbai office of the Firm. After completing his LL.B at the London School of Economics, London, he joined the Firm in September 2007. He was admitted as an advocate in the Bar Council of Maharashtra & Goa (India) in 2007. He is also a Solicitor, Supreme Court of England & Wales. Rishabh is Co-Head of the Private Client practice at the Firm, specializing in family constitutions and settlements, trusts, wills and succession planning. He provides succession, taxation, estate and wealth planning advice for wealthy individuals and their families, who are often promoters of large family businesses. He provides related advice to trustees and other private client service providers, such as family offices and institutional / corporate trustees. Rishabh advises on a number of issues, including the creation and management of domestic trusts, and has experience of advising both trustees and beneficiaries in relation to their relative rights, responsibilities and obligations. He is experienced in the drafting and creation of inter-vivos trusts and their constitutional mechanisms, and has experience in dealing with complex issues such as settler reserved powers, protector powers and appointment mechanisms. He also frequently advises on complex issues arising under the Indian exchange control regime (including in respect of Non Resident Indians and foreign trusts and companies), SEBI Takeover Regulations and the SEBI Listing Agreement etc. Rishabh is involved in the setting up and administration of a number of bespoke private trust companies in India. He also advises on a number of charitable and philanthropic endeavors, including on India’s statutory Corporate Social Responsibility regime.  

Mr. Vinay Paharia is the Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of Union Asset Management Company Private Limited. He is a Bachelor of Commerce and Masters in Management Studies degree holder from University of Mumbai. In his professional career of more than 17 years, he has worked with Invesco AMC as Equity Fund Manager for 11 years. Vinay has been thrice awarded as “Best Fund Manager” for featuring amongst top 10 Fund Managers in India by Outlook Business-Value Research Study. Invesco Multicap Fund, managed by him for almost 10 years was also awarded “Lipper Best Fund” by Thomson Reuters.

Swetha Manot works in the capacity of an Associate Director at Anand Rathi Wealth Services Limited. Swetha has been instrumental in establishing the organisation as a premier brand for wealth management solutions in Bengaluru, since 2008. Her in-depth understanding of the market dynamics has given many clients the confidence to make her their sole advisor. Currently, Swetha manages assets worth over Rs. 700 crore across 55 families based out of Bengaluru, Singapore, Hong Kong and United States.

Swetha has done her MBA in Finance from ICFAI, Hyderabad. Having been in the financial services industry for over 16 years, Swetha is now mentoring six of her colleagues on their journey to become Private Bankers.

In all her years of client servicing, Swetha believes that persistently delivering fearless advisory with all humility has become the foundation of building a strong relationship with clients.

Lakshmi heads fixed income and products team at KMAMC. She has been with the organisation since 1999. Lakshmi joined KMAMC as a fund manager, and was responsible for credit research as well as deal execution, managing fund performance across all debt funds and assisting sales in client interaction. She has also been a portfolio specialist, and managed product related initiatives, product pricing and coordination with the funds management and sales team in that role. Prior to Kotak, Lakshmi worked with Credence Analytics Pvt Ltd, as a research analyst where she was tracking corporate bond markets in India and generating research reports. She was also instrumental for conceiving various financial software tools in collaboration with software and technical teams.

Ruchi has over 25 years of experience in the financial services sector, of which 21 years has been with Citibank across the institutional and private banking segments. In Citibank, in her most recent role, she was responsible for managing key ultra-high-net-worth client relationships of the Private Bank and prior to that held positions in the corporate and financial institutions group.

Nithya has over 22 years of rich experience in financial services. She is Managing Director of Multiples Alternate Asset Management, a private equity platform with over US$1 billion of assets under management. Nithya joined Multiples Alternate Asset Management in 2010 and has led several investments made by the platform. She is a part of the investment committee and leads key strategic initiatives of the firm. In 2016, Nithya led the Fintech Committee, under the aegis of the CII National Committee on Financial Services, which interacted extensively with players in the sector and submitted a report to RBI and SEBI recommending changes to various regulations and practices to encourage the development of the sector. Prior to joining Multiples Alternate Asset Management, Nithya headed the Structured Finance Team of Citibank in India and before that she was a part of the structured finance business of ICICI Ltd. Nithya is considered a pioneer in the Indian securitization markets and has led origination and structuring of securitisation, project loans, mezzanine debt and leveraged finance in various roles over 14 years. She holds a Bachelor of Engineering from VJTI, University of Mumbai and an MBA from Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow. Nithya is non – executive Director on the Board of Arvind Fashions Ltd and APAC Financial Services Ltd. Nithya served as an independent Director on the Board of Axis Securities Ltd from March 2015 to April 2019 and on the Board of Freecharge Payment Technologies from October 2017 to April 2019. Nithya is a founding member of the India Chapter of Bloomberg Women’s Buyside Network.

Ashish Gumashta is MD & CEO, Julius Baer, India since 1 July 2017. In his current role, Ashish runs one of the largest and best-established foreign wealth managers in India. Over the past two decades, Ashish has held several senior management positions in the Indian private banking industry. He joined DSP Merrill Lynch in 1994, and was Managing Director since 2006. From September 2015, he has played an instrumental role in the transition from Merrill lynch to Julius Baer in India. Ashish was a founding Member of DSP Merrill Lynch’s Private Client Group and held various leadership positions within DSP Merrill Lynch, where he was responsible for establishing the wealth management platform for the organisation. Ashish holds a Masters in Management Studies (Finance) from University of Mumbai. He also attended the Chevening Gurukul Executive Program at the London School of Economics and undertook executive courses at the Harvard University, Peking University & Haas School of Business. He is also closely associated with several NGOs and actively involved in philanthropic initiatives related to disability, education, health and community services.

Ashish Shanker's responsibilities encompass estate planning, Products & Research, Financial Strategy, and Client Experience. In this capacity, he holds responsibility for research and investment strategies across several asset classes in the firm’s unit focusing on private wealth management. Leveraging more than 15 years of experience in the financial sector, he also has played a significant role in four start-up teams. In a career spanning over 15 years Ashish Shanker’s areas of expertise include market research, financial products, strategy and funds management.

A business management graduate of the University of Bangalore in India, he began his capital markets career as a Research Executive for a leading regional brokerage firm. Subsequently he worked in the asset management industry for over six years in Franklin Templeton Investments and HSBC Asset Management in various capacities. Subsequently Ashish has spent the last 7 years in advisory, research and product roles across private wealth management platforms including as head of investment advisory at Standard Chartered Private Bank and Senior Director at Sarasin Alpen, India. He has won several accolades during his stint at these organisations.

Outside of his professional duties, Ashish Shankar enjoys playing table tennis and snooker, listening to music, and delving into history. He has represented Maharashtra and Bangalore university in table tennis at the highest level in the country and won several championships.

In his current role at L&T Investment Management, Mr. Kulkarni is responsible for driving overall business growth as well as leading the marketing initiative for L&T Financial Services. Mr. Kulkarni took control at a time when the Group was in the midst of acquiring Fidelity Investments, and led a seamless acquisition of the business. Under his leadership, L&T Investment Management has seen a tenfold rise in assets since 2012. Mr. Kailash Kulkarni has over 25 years of work experience, most of which includes heading sales functions of businesses across BFSI. Previously, he was the Head of Sales at Kotak Mahindra Asset Management. At MetLife India Insurance, Mr. Kulkarni set up and expanded the agency network. His journey in the BFSI space began with growing the third party distribution network first for JM Financial and subsequently for ICICI Bank. He has also worked in Eicher Motors in distribution, sales and marketing functions. Currently Mr. Kulkarni is on the board of the Association of Mutual Funds of India (AMFI) and has previously headed the Financial Literacy Committee for AMFI. Mr. Kulkarni is a management graduate from the Institute of Management Development and Research. He loves to travel around the world and is passionate about adventure sports.

Sagar Khandekar manages part of Mumbai and the rest of the Maharashtra/Goa region for Kotak Wealth Management. Sagar joined the Kotak Mahindra Group in 2005. He has been an integral part of the Wealth Management business for close to the last 15 years and has played an important role in the business’ growth in the western region of India. Prior to joining Kotak, Sagar worked with Standard Chartered Bank and ABN AMRO Bank NV. He is a science graduate and has completed his Masters of Management Studies, specialising in marketing, from Mumbai University.

Gaurav has wide-ranging experience of more than a decade in the Private Wealth Management industry across Product Management/Investment Advisory/Family Office/Credit and Fund Management. He has a deep understanding of various asset classes, and an acute sense of structuring innovative investment solutions for clients in varied market conditions.

At ASK Wealth Advisors, Gaurav is responsible for leading the firm’s Investment Strategy/Proposition, and offering a comprehensive suite of Products backed by in-depth research to the firm’s Ultra HNW clients 

Prior to joining ASK, Gaurav lead Products & Advisory at Religare Private Wealth as the CIO. Earlier, Gaurav was with IIFL Private Wealth Management (an IndiaInfoline group company) from 2008 to 2014 as Sr. Vice President, where, as a part of the initial team he was actively involved in setting-up the entire Product platform/proposition from scratch.  

Prior to that, he was also a part of the initial team at Standard Chartered Private Bank in India, where he led the investment advisory team catering to the bank’s top HNI clients between 2005-2008. He started his career with Citigroup in their lending business.

Gaurav completed his PGDBM from IIM-Bangalore in 2003.

Michael has an extensive background in financial services in Asia, Europe and North America. He has been in Asia-Pacific since 1995 – first in Hong Kong for six years, then in Sydney and Singapore, returning to Hong Kong in 2007. Before setting up Hubbis in early 2009, Michael founded Pacific Prospect in 2002 and sold it to global business-to-business publisher Incisive Media in 2006, continuing to serve as Chief Executive Officer until October 2008. Prior to Pacific Prospect, Michael worked for nine years in financial markets publishing. He joined Euromoney Publications in 1993 as the publisher of a quarterly magazine, International Bond Investor. In 1995, Michael joined Thomson Financial Services (now Thomson Reuters) to conceive and launch Finance Asia magazine. While he was Managing Director of Finance Asia, Michael also started the Asian Debt Review, Asian Private Capital Magazine and started the Finance Asia Conference Business. In 1997, Michael founded FIA Limited. Born in North Wales, Michael was head boy of St David’s College Llandudno. He has a degree in Business Administration from Cardiff University. And is married with three children - Reanna, Garett and Tarryn.

Michael has an extensive background in financial services in Asia, Europe and North America. He has been in Asia-Pacific since 1995 – first in Hong Kong for six years, then in Sydney and Singapore, returning to Hong Kong in 2007. Before setting up Hubbis in early 2009, Michael founded Pacific Prospect in 2002 and sold it to global business-to-business publisher Incisive Media in 2006, continuing to serve as Chief Executive Officer until October 2008. Prior to Pacific Prospect, Michael worked for nine years in financial markets publishing. He joined Euromoney Publications in 1993 as the publisher of a quarterly magazine, International Bond Investor. In 1995, Michael joined Thomson Financial Services (now Thomson Reuters) to conceive and launch Finance Asia magazine. While he was Managing Director of Finance Asia, Michael also started the Asian Debt Review, Asian Private Capital Magazine and started the Finance Asia Conference Business. In 1997, Michael founded FIA Limited. Born in North Wales, Michael was head boy of St David’s College Llandudno. He has a degree in Business Administration from Cardiff University. And is married with three children - Reanna, Garett and Tarryn.

Michael has an extensive background in financial services in Asia, Europe and North America. He has been in Asia-Pacific since 1995 – first in Hong Kong for six years, then in Sydney and Singapore, returning to Hong Kong in 2007. Before setting up Hubbis in early 2009, Michael founded Pacific Prospect in 2002 and sold it to global business-to-business publisher Incisive Media in 2006, continuing to serve as Chief Executive Officer until October 2008. Prior to Pacific Prospect, Michael worked for nine years in financial markets publishing. He joined Euromoney Publications in 1993 as the publisher of a quarterly magazine, International Bond Investor. In 1995, Michael joined Thomson Financial Services (now Thomson Reuters) to conceive and launch Finance Asia magazine. While he was Managing Director of Finance Asia, Michael also started the Asian Debt Review, Asian Private Capital Magazine and started the Finance Asia Conference Business. In 1997, Michael founded FIA Limited. Born in North Wales, Michael was head boy of St David’s College Llandudno. He has a degree in Business Administration from Cardiff University. And is married with three children - Reanna, Garett and Tarryn.

Michael has an extensive background in financial services in Asia, Europe and North America. He has been in Asia-Pacific since 1995 – first in Hong Kong for six years, then in Sydney and Singapore, returning to Hong Kong in 2007. Before setting up Hubbis in early 2009, Michael founded Pacific Prospect in 2002 and sold it to global business-to-business publisher Incisive Media in 2006, continuing to serve as Chief Executive Officer until October 2008. Prior to Pacific Prospect, Michael worked for nine years in financial markets publishing. He joined Euromoney Publications in 1993 as the publisher of a quarterly magazine, International Bond Investor. In 1995, Michael joined Thomson Financial Services (now Thomson Reuters) to conceive and launch Finance Asia magazine. While he was Managing Director of Finance Asia, Michael also started the Asian Debt Review, Asian Private Capital Magazine and started the Finance Asia Conference Business. In 1997, Michael founded FIA Limited. Born in North Wales, Michael was head boy of St David’s College Llandudno. He has a degree in Business Administration from Cardiff University. And is married with three children - Reanna, Garett and Tarryn.

Michael has an extensive background in financial services in Asia, Europe and North America. He has been in Asia-Pacific since 1995 – first in Hong Kong for six years, then in Sydney and Singapore, returning to Hong Kong in 2007. Before setting up Hubbis in early 2009, Michael founded Pacific Prospect in 2002 and sold it to global business-to-business publisher Incisive Media in 2006, continuing to serve as Chief Executive Officer until October 2008. Prior to Pacific Prospect, Michael worked for nine years in financial markets publishing. He joined Euromoney Publications in 1993 as the publisher of a quarterly magazine, International Bond Investor. In 1995, Michael joined Thomson Financial Services (now Thomson Reuters) to conceive and launch Finance Asia magazine. While he was Managing Director of Finance Asia, Michael also started the Asian Debt Review, Asian Private Capital Magazine and started the Finance Asia Conference Business. In 1997, Michael founded FIA Limited. Born in North Wales, Michael was head boy of St David’s College Llandudno. He has a degree in Business Administration from Cardiff University. And is married with three children - Reanna, Garett and Tarryn.