Indian Wealth Management Update

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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 to conceive and launch Finance Asia magazine. While he was Managing Director of Finance Asia, Michael also launched 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. He now lives in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and is married with three children - Reanna, Garett and Tarryn.