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 five years of working in financial institutions and technology domain.

Deepak is Proposition Sales Director for Sustainable Finance and Lipper for Asia-Pacific region at Refinitiv. He has over 19 years’ experience in sales & business development spanning investment research, asset management and wealth management space. Prior to his assignment with Refinitiv, Deepak led the sales function at Morningstar for India region, worked with Mirae Asset as ‘Head of Banking channel’ and managed the business development for CRISIL FundServices, an S&P group company.

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).

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.

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.

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).

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 five years of working in financial institutions and technology domain.

Deepak is Proposition Sales Director for Sustainable Finance and Lipper for Asia-Pacific region at Refinitiv. He has over 19 years’ experience in sales & business development spanning investment research, asset management and wealth management space. Prior to his assignment with Refinitiv, Deepak led the sales function at Morningstar for India region, worked with Mirae Asset as ‘Head of Banking channel’ and managed the business development for CRISIL FundServices, an S&P group company.

Michael is a prominent figure in the financial services industry in Asia. He is the founder and CEO of Hubbis, a renowned provider of intelligence and connectivity for the Asian wealth management industry. With a depth of experience and expertise, he has played a pivotal role in shaping the industry for over 30 years, becoming a leading industry presence in the events, professional development, and publishing space in the region. Hubbis is a multi-generational family-owned and managed business.

He has been actively involved in the Asia-Pacific region since 1993. And has lived in Asia since 1995, holding positions in Hong Kong, Sydney, and Singapore. 

For over 14-years, Hubbis has established itself as the gold standard media and events brand in wealth management thought leadership in Asia. Each year providing a very large body of cutting-edge editorial and sponsored content, organizing top-flight events. During that time Hubbis has become the platform of choice for many high-profile C-suite leaders to communicate their vision of the Asian wealth management.

Before his involvement with Hubbis, Michael founded Pacific Prospect in 2002, a financial services media company. Under his leadership, the company achieved significant success and was subsequently acquired by global business-to-business publisher Incisive Media in 2006. Michael continued to serve as the CEO of Pacific Prospect until October 2008. Prior to his entrepreneurial ventures, Michael garnered 5 years of experience in financial markets publishing.

His career in this field began in 1993 when he joined Euromoney Publications as the publisher of the quarterly magazine, International Bond Investor. In 1995, Michael joined Thomson Financial Services (now owned by LSEG) and spearheaded the conception and launch of Finance Asia magazine. During his tenure as Managing Director of Finance Asia, he also initiated the Asian Debt Review, Asian Private Capital Magazine, and the Finance Asia Conference Business. In 1997, he founded FIA Limited, further expanding his contributions to the financial publishing industry.

Born in North Wales, Michael served as the head boy of St David's College Llandudno. He holds a degree in Business Administration from Cardiff University. Beyond his professional endeavours, Michael is a family-oriented individual and is happily married with three children: Reanna, Garett, and Tarryn.