40 under 40- Alternative Investment Professionals in India 2024
Equalifi’s “40 Under 40- Alternative Investment Professionals in India” campaign now in its seventh year is the most prestigious awards campaign for the alternative investments industry. This initiative has been designed to identify the best and the brightest minds in the Indian alternative investments sector.
This is a prestigious awards program that identifies outstanding young executives, professionals and entrepreneurs in the business, visionaries, and innovators changing the way things are done. They are inspiring others and already giving back to their communities .
It is the most popular and prestigious awards for the Indian alternative investments industry across different verticals like fund management, advisory, operations, compliance, consulting, technology, tax, legal marketing, product design and fund raising.
From the 4th edition of this campaign held in 2021, we have changed the format of this prestigious campaign to ensure we identify only the best alternative investment professionals under the age of 40 without any compulsion to choose 40 winners every time. For example in the 2023 edition, the Jury selected 24 winners from 120+ nominees.
Overall the first 6 editions of the “40 under 40” campaign have been a huge success and with 190 Achievers from the first 5 years, Equalifi’s 40 under 40 community is clearly the most unique and eclectic community of alternative investment leaders across the world.
About the 2024 Campaign:
From this year, the 40 Under 40 Campaign like all other awards and recognition campaigns of Equalifi will only be open for:
a) Equalifi's Individual Members
b) Professionals working with Equalifi's Corporate Member Companies
The nominees should exhibit identifiable accomplishment at a young age as well as promising future prospects. He / she should also be under the age of 40 as on 31st December 2023.
We are looking for the best and brightest of the Indian Alternative Investments community under the age of 40. If you know someone who is well-rounded and contributes to their industry and community, we would like you to introduce us.
NOMINATIONS PROCESS
The nomination process is inclusive and ensures fair treatment of every nominee.
One can nominate himself/herself, or be nominated by another individual or company.
Nominations are open for all
Qualifications: Each nominees needs to meet the following 3 criterias:
- The nominee must be under 40 years of age as of December 31, 2023
- The nominee should be an Individual Member or a full-time employee of any of Equalifi's Corporate Members
- The nominee must be a resident of India and working closely with the Indian Alternatives Investment Industry.
EVALUATION PROCESS
The evaluation process is crafted to guarantee that nominees are assessed based on their achievements, reputation, leadership skills, and ambition to further succeed in business.
- Accomplishment (Success in profession)
- Contribution (Promotion of the profession, financial literacy, pro-bono work, etc.)
- Leadership (Within a company, The industry, etc.)
- Promise (Passion, Enthusiasm, Ideas, etc.)
SELECTION CRITERIA
Nominees are evaluated according to the following criteria:
- Career progress, past job positions, and business accomplishments
- Level of management of nominee’s position within the organizational structure
- Number of personal and/or corporate local, national, regional or international awards and other recognition
- Inspiring personal story on the road to success
- Level of innovation, creativity, and other intrapreneurial skills in conducting business practices
- Personal image/reputation within the business community
FINAL DECISION
Each nomination will be evaluated independently. After a careful review, the Jury will shortlist and their decision will be final.
BENEFITS
The “40 Under 40 Awardees will receive:
- the 40 under 40 Trophy.
- the official “40 Under 40” digital badge
- opportunity to be a part of an elite group of all past 40 under 40 winners.
- Thought leadership opportunities through Equalifi's upcoming knowledge and industry initiatives.
Contact: If you have any questions, please write to Equalifi Team on team@equalifi.org
Nominations Process & Deadline:
Nomination for 2024 edition will be open from October 1 - December 31, 2023.
Step 1) Candidates need to fill up the nomination form.
Step 2) Once nomination is received, the Equalifi Team will share a detailed questionnaire with every nominee. The nominee needs to submit this questionnaire by December 31.
Step 3) Appear for an online interview (if shortlisted for the final round).
OUR JURY
Anuj Kumar
Managing Director CAMSAnuj Kumar joined CAMS, India’s largest platform & service partner to Asset Management industry, as COO in 2016 and saw rapid ascent to take charge as President & CEO within a span of 2 years. He is presently the Managing Director of the company.
Under Anuj’s stewardship, CAMS’s Asset Management operations has grown exponentially across all business dimensions. The company serves over Rs.32 lakh crore assets which represents ~69% share of Indian Mutual Fund industry’s assets. In the Alternatives segment, the company has emerged as the leading platform provider offering full-spectrum services and has over 50% share.
Anuj has sharpened the company’s focus on technology led products & service innovations to launch industry first digital conveniences and solutions. More recently, Anuj has been spearheading CAMS’s foray as Account Aggregator and NPS-Central Record keeping Agency. Anuj is a graduate in Mechanical Engineering from Birla Institute of Technology, Ranchi and a post-graduate in Business management (PGDM) from IIM Kolkata.
Deepa Rath
MD & CEO Axis TrusteesMs. Deepa Rath is the Managing Director & CEO on the Board of Axis Trustee Services Limited.
Deepa is a Senior Banker with more than 20 years of experience in Corporate Banking, Fintech, Credit, Project Funding, MSME Financing, Retail Banking, Supply Chain Finance, Trade Finance etc. She has been with Axis Trustee services ltd since May 2021.
She also represents Trustee industry as a member at various SEBI formulated committees viz. CoBoSAC, HySAC and AIPAC.
Prior to taking over as MD CEO of ATSL, Deepa was part of the founding leadership team and spearheaded TReDS (Trades Receivable Discounting System) platform business at INVOICEMART / A. TREDS LTD (JV of Axis Bank Mjunction), a pioneer work in the space of Digital Transparent Financing of MSMEs. Before this, she led various business functions across geographies with Axis Bank Corporate Banking department. In the early part of her career, she took several roles with IDBI Bank and ICICI Bank Ltd within the Corporate Banking Retail Banking franchise. She has been a speaker on various Finance Fintech related forums as well.
Deepa is known for her strategic leadership, customer centric approach, superior people relationship management skills which have helped her set up and scale up New Businesses High Impact Teams across domains.
She is an MBA- Finance, MA in Economics and holds an Advanced Diploma in Software Technology Systems Management. Deepa also holds an Advanced diploma in “Fintech Financial Blockchain” from IIM Calcutta.
Shiv Sehgal
President & Head Nuvama Capital MarketsIn this role, Shiv provides leadership to one of India’s largest equity franchises and is responsible for the Capital Market businesses, including Institutional Equities (covering sales, research, and trading) and Asset Services.
Shiv has worked in the investment management and financial services industry for more than two decades, the majority of which has been in emerging market funds in the pan-Asia markets. Prior to his current role, Shiv led the Goldman Sachs Institutional Sales Trading, Equity Capital Markets business in India, responsible for the firm's franchise relationships. Shiv was also appointed to the Goldman Sachs India board to oversee the day-to-day operations and provide executive leadership on various firm committees. Before joining Goldman Sachs, Shiv was CEO of Artha Capital, Singapore.
Shiv is regularly featured in seminars and articles in Economic Times, ETnow, The Mint, Business standard and other financial journals. He is also a regular speaker and presenter at various India Financial Markets Conferences, Global Hedge Fund summits and a regular Jury member for the AIWMI’s 40 under 40 campaign for excellence in the field of alternative investments.
Shiv has extensive experience of working in long-short emerging market hedge funds in Sydney and Singapore. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst from the CFA Institute, USA and holds a Masters in Banking and Finance from Griffith University, Brisbane
Sharda Balaji
Founder NovoJuris LegalSharda Balaji is the Founder of NovoJuris, legal counsellors, started in 2008, focused on emerging companies in technology. In the last decade, NovoJuris has worked with more than a thousand businesses including high profile unicorns (companies which are valued more than USD1 billion) and exits. NovoJuris is ranked amongst India’s top in early stage investments.
NovoJuris specializes in fund formations in several jurisdictions, about 750+ venture financings representing several marque funds and several well known companies, M & A, cross border transactions, intellectual property, technology laws (health-tech, fintech, spacetech, edutech, big data, AI, AR/VR etc.), compliances and several others. www.novojuris.com Sharda earlier has worked with large MNCs and Indian conglomerates, as their inhouse attorney on various projects including IPO, cross border transactions, M & A, takeover, mergers, intellectual property for more than 12 years, prior to starting NovoJuris. Sharda was an Independent Director at Faiveley Transport, listed on NYSE Euronext Paris, world’s leading manufacturer and supplier of railway products, such as brake systems, doors, couplers and many others. Faiveley is now acquired by Wabtec. Sharda continues on the advisory board for many technology and tech enabled companies. She is an active angel investor in about 30+ companies, LP in two venture funds,investor in accelerators such as HealthStart, India’s first accelerator focused on healthcare; Edugild, India’s first ed-tech focused accelerator. During Sharda's earlier employment with Intel India, she was responsible for South Asia operations and in Puravanakara Projects raised about Rs. 900 crores through IPO, in 2006. Her stint with Manipal Group was in a range of businesses like education, healthcare, lifestyle and consumer goods, brand valuations, real estate and more. Sharda has special interests in women businesses and chaired TIE’s (a global entrepreneurship forum) Special Interest Group for Women Entrepreneurs. Until recently, she was the India trustee for Baalemane a loving home for orphan girls, Advisor to Innovation Committee of Indo-Israel Chamber of Commerce, global co-chair for legal issues in new age technology companies at International Technology Law. Sharda is a Lawyer and a Company Secretary, along with degree from Institute of Chartered Secretaries, UK. She has a Diploma in Intellectual Property Rights from National Law School of India, Bangalore and an advanced certificate course in Copyrights from World Intellectual Property Organisation.
Rajesh Gandhi
Partner Deloitte Haskins & SellsRajesh is a Partner in the Tax practice with over 23 years of experience in diversified sectors specially Financial Services, Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) and Consumer Business.
Rajesh has more than 23 years of experience in domestic and international tax and exchange control regulations advising clients on various tax issues including domestic and international tax planning, inbound and outbound investment structuring, contracts with foreign enterprises, taxation of foreign enterprises in India, as well as exchange control regulations. He has also represented clients in audit and appellate proceedings before various tax authorities and assisted clients in obtaining regulatory approvals from the Government and Reserve Bank of India in relation to exchange control issues.
Rajesh has been a member of a high-powered working group constituted by SEBI to simplify and rationalize the FPI regulations. He is regularly quoted in the India’s leading financial newspapers for his views on tax and regulatory developments.
Ashutosh Bishnoi
Board Member Multi Act Trade & InvestmentsAshutosh has over three decades of experience in the Consumer Marketing and Financial Service businesses in India.
He guides the management team on the business operations of Multi-Act. The senior roles held by him in the Mutual Fund business include, Managing Director & CEO of Mahindra Manulife Investment Management, Chief Marketing Officer of DSP Merrill Lynch Asset Management Ltd, and many more.
He has an MBA from Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Pune and has completed Mahindra Universe Program at Harvard Business School, Boston. He was also a member of the Board of AMFI, the association of mutual funds as well as its committee for Investor Awareness.