The financial sector is at the forefront of digital innovation with disruption taking place at every level. New technologies, increasing competition and ever-growing consumer expectations have resulted in a dynamic financial landscape, bringing both challenges and opportunities. The global financial services market size is expected to grow from $20.4 trillion in 2020 to $22.5 trillion in 2021 at a CAGR of 9.9% and is further expected to reach $28.5 trillion by 2025 at a CAGR of 6%.
The financial services sector is one of the biggest generators of alpha for investors historically. The key players in banking, non-banking finance, insurance, microfinance, and asset and wealth management have kept the space vibrant with strong organic as well as inorganic expansion. The Indian financial services sector is expected to grow exponentially at 15% by 2022. However, the sector in India is facing many challenges, including asset quality mismatch, low capital adequacy ratio, increasing NPAs, unhedged forex exposure, and lower penetration in the unbanked segment among others. Adoption of technology and innovation in the sector has addressed many such issues and has empowered individuals and companies to access financial services, be it payments or credit products, at their fingertips. The application of technology has redefined the financial sector. Mobile payments, online wallets, UPI, digital lending, online banking are all results of innovation in the sector.
The sector remains attractive, has absorbed over $40 billion of private equity money and has seen M&A worth a similar amount since 2011, according to VCCEdge. Although the pace of investment activity has slowed since last year due to pandemic, it is expected to pick up again as the long-term picture remains attractive on the back of digital adoption by the sector and several reforms and initiatives taken by the government, such as launch of Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme for MSMEs, issuing guidelines to banks regarding collateral requirements and setting up a Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency (MUDRA).
To gauge how the financial services are constantly innovating to stay ahead of the curve, gaining crucial insights to maximize their digital ROI, VCCircle is organising its next edition of FinServ Summit on September 17, 2021 on a virtual platform.
By Jaideep Mehta, CEO, Mosaic Digital & Head, Mint
The loan book of Indian NBFCs has grown at a rate of 18% in the last five years, with the sector's contribution to total credit increasing from 15% to 20% in just three years. However, their main source of funding remains banks and this has come at the cost of inadequate funding, mainly due to deterioration in the credit profile of banks and the overall weakening of confidence in the sector following some high-profile defaults. In the wake of these developments, it has become imperative for NBFCs to get their act together and gear themselves to be the NextGen NBFC. How are NBFCs tackling this? Are there any alternative options to explore to raise funds and how do they deepen that?
Speakers:
Ajit Pai, Distinguished Expert-Economics & Finance, NITI Aayog
Vijay Deshwal, Group CEO, Poonawalla Fincorp Limited
Kunal Shah, Head - Solution Engineering - ERPM, Oracle India
Moderator: Nitin Jain, Partner, PWC
The conversation would focus on how emerging technologies have a big role to play in helping the Financial Services sector survive & thrive.
Jaideep Mehta, CEO, Mosaic Digital & Head, Mint in conversation with Mithun Sundar, Chief Transformation Officer, Microsoft India
Customer experience is mission critical in the financial services sector. The playbook of customers is ever changing. Today’s consumers compare their banking experiences not only to those delivered by rival banks, but also to other services offered by the world’s most disruptive companies, including consumer tech giants like Google or global online retailers like Amazon. Today’s customer expects proactive customer engagements, hyper-personalization, seamless-omnichannel, data transparency and security amongst other services. What are the broader changes that the industry needs at a macro level and what could be the micro interventions required? How do they build agility to become a responsive brand?
Speakers:
Deba Sahoo, SVP and Chief Product Officer for Customer Journeys, Fidelity Investments
Ratnesh Mehra, Director - CX Strategy & Transformation, Oracle India
Beerud Sheth, Co-Founder & CEO, Gupshup
Moderator: Rakesh Pozhath, Partner, Bain
Fintechs have become a hotbed of customer-centric innovation. Sleek and efficient offerings across payments, lending, insurance, wealth management and broking have disrupted industries and transformed the face of financial services. India’s fintech industry is estimated to add another $100 bn in market valuation over the next 5 years, as per BCG report. The segment has also attracted $ $8.3billion from CY 2016-20, as per VCCEdge. How can the financial services sector leverage the fintechs and how investors can grasp the investment opportunity? How can fintechs, financial institutions and policymakers together script the next, global success story for India’s fintech sector?
By Naveen Kukreja, Co-founder & CEO, Paisa Bazaar
Compliance with regulatory requirements is becoming increasingly complex and demanding, increasing exposure, risk, and penalties, because of the explosion of messaging and media channels in corporate communications these days. No longer is it simply voice calls and emails that need to be captured. This session would focus on how to build a robust, secure, and compliant recording solution.
Shalil Gupta, CBO, Mosaic Digital in conversation with Jim Campbell, Director-Financial Compliance - APAC, Verint
As we are aspiring for a $5 trillion economy, how financial services sector would play an important role? What would it require to fulfil this aspiration? What are the ways, means, frameworks, or methodologies that can be deployed to fund the next $5 trillion?
Speakers:
Sivasubramanian Ramann, CMD, SIDBI
Sanjay Sharma, Co-founder & MD, Aye Finance
Dr. Kshama Fernandes, MD & CEO, Northern Arc Capital
Moderator: Monish Shah, Partner, Deloitte India
Access to finance is empowering and when used responsibly can enable individuals and businesses to thrive and grow sustainably. Over time, this can have a multiplier effect on the economy.
The session would focus on how new age digital financial platforms are playing a critical role in enabling financial services to the under-served mass and emerging segments of India.
Shalil Gupta, CBO, Mosaic Digital in conversation with Bama Balakrishnan, COO, Northern Arc Capital
Every business wants to be compliant, but it is a mission that is extremely challenging to adhere to. With ever-changing tax laws & stringent govt. rules, almost 100% of businesses in India find it difficult to achieve complete compliance.
The session would focus on how the increasing role of technology and network in compliance could be the game-changer for India's enterprises.
Jaideep Mehta, CEO, Mosaic Digital & Head, Mint in conversation with Archit Gupta, Founder & CEO, Clear
By Keki M. Mistry, Vice Chairman & CEO, HDFC Ltd.
Ajit Pai is Distinguished Expert, NITI Aayog, where he heads Economics & Finance and oversees Public Disinvestment. He is also Consultant to the Vice Chairperson of NITI Aayog, is the nodal officer for the Ministry of Finance, its subsidiary departments, and the Department of Public Enterprises and handles matters related to the World Bank, IFC, IMF, ADB, NDB, OECD, and the G20.
Mr. Pai is also Chairman, Delhi Urban Art Commission (DUAC), a statutory body created by an Act of Parliament in 1973, to advise the Government of India in the matter of preserving, developing and maintaining the aesthetic quality of urban and environmental design.
Prior to this, he had a career in the private sector including working internationally at firms like McKinsey, Lazard, Thomas Weisel Partners and Stifel Financial, the latter two as Managing Director. He has been awarded over six years an unprecedented five #1 and one #2 Starmine Awards in the Forbes/Financial Times World’s Best Analysts Survey for forecast accuracy.
Mr. Pai holds a B.Arch. from the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi, a M.Arch. from the Yale School of Architecture and a MBA from the Yale School of Management. He attended Yale University as a Tata Scholar and also served as a John M Olin Fellow for research in markets and regulatory behavior.
His active interests include Architecture, Design, Anthropology, Urbanism, Planning, History, Economic Development, Sustainability, Horticulture, Finance, Technology, Travel, Real Estate, Art, Policy Development, and Governance. He is on the Executive Committee of the Indian Police Foundation, on the Advisory Board of the Future Institute, and is registered with the Council of Architecture.
Archit is the Founder and CEO of Clear, India’s leading fintech startup. Clear serves millions of Indians and businesses in the areas of taxes, invoicing, and wealth management. Archit earned his B. Tech in Computer Science from the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, and a Master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Bama Balakrishnan is the CFO of Northern Arc Capital, a leading Non-Banking Finance Company. Northern Arc is a pioneer in the field of financial inclusion by serving as a crucial link between mainstream capital market investors and small & mid-sized high-quality last-mile lending institutions and businesses.
Bama has previously served as the Chief Risk Officer leading the risk function since 2012. She has been instrumental in strengthening the risk management approach to sharpen risk assessment of clients, and their portfolios as well as building the ability to assess dynamically, the impact of risk events. Prior to Northern Arc Capital, Bama worked with ICICI Bank for 10 years starting off in the structured finance team and moving on to lead teams in corporate and investment banking in India, USA and Singapore. She has experience originating, structuring and executing complex bilateral and syndicated financing transactions for medium and large corporates across products such as cross border acquisition financing, asset financing and resource financing. She graduated with an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad and has a bachelor’s degree in commerce from the University of Madras. She is also a CFA charter holder.
Bama Balakrishnan is the CFO of Northern Arc Capital, a leading Non-Banking Finance Company. Northern Arc is a pioneer in the field of financial inclusion by serving as a crucial link between mainstream capital market investors and small & mid-sized high-quality last-mile lending institutions and businesses.
Bama has previously served as the Chief Risk Officer leading the risk function since 2012. She has been instrumental in strengthening the risk management approach to sharpen risk assessment of clients, and their portfolios as well as building the ability to assess dynamically, the impact of risk events. Prior to Northern Arc Capital, Bama worked with ICICI Bank for 10 years starting off in the structured finance team and moving on to lead teams in corporate and investment banking in India, USA and Singapore. She has experience originating, structuring and executing complex bilateral and syndicated financing transactions for medium and large corporates across products such as cross border acquisition financing, asset financing and resource financing. She graduated with an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad and has a bachelor’s degree in commerce from the University of Madras. She is also a CFA charter holder.
Bama Balakrishnan is the CFO of Northern Arc Capital, a leading Non-Banking Finance Company. Northern Arc is a pioneer in the field of financial inclusion by serving as a crucial link between mainstream capital market investors and small & mid-sized high-quality last-mile lending institutions and businesses.
Bama has previously served as the Chief Risk Officer leading the risk function since 2012. She has been instrumental in strengthening the risk management approach to sharpen risk assessment of clients, and their portfolios as well as building the ability to assess dynamically, the impact of risk events. Prior to Northern Arc Capital, Bama worked with ICICI Bank for 10 years starting off in the structured finance team and moving on to lead teams in corporate and investment banking in India, USA and Singapore. She has experience originating, structuring and executing complex bilateral and syndicated financing transactions for medium and large corporates across products such as cross border acquisition financing, asset financing and resource financing. She graduated with an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad and has a bachelor’s degree in commerce from the University of Madras. She is also a CFA charter holder.
Bama Balakrishnan is the CFO of Northern Arc Capital, a leading Non-Banking Finance Company. Northern Arc is a pioneer in the field of financial inclusion by serving as a crucial link between mainstream capital market investors and small & mid-sized high-quality last-mile lending institutions and businesses.
Bama has previously served as the Chief Risk Officer leading the risk function since 2012. She has been instrumental in strengthening the risk management approach to sharpen risk assessment of clients, and their portfolios as well as building the ability to assess dynamically, the impact of risk events. Prior to Northern Arc Capital, Bama worked with ICICI Bank for 10 years starting off in the structured finance team and moving on to lead teams in corporate and investment banking in India, USA and Singapore. She has experience originating, structuring and executing complex bilateral and syndicated financing transactions for medium and large corporates across products such as cross border acquisition financing, asset financing and resource financing. She graduated with an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad and has a bachelor’s degree in commerce from the University of Madras. She is also a CFA charter holder.
Bama Balakrishnan is the chief operating officer of the Company and oversees the day-to-day operations of the Company. She has also served previously as the chief financial officer and chief risk officer. In her role as chief financial officer, she played a key role in deepening access to liabilities and completing a significant capital raise for the Company. She joined on August 13, 2012, as a senior risk officer. In this role, she led the strengthening of the risk management approach as the Company scaled up across multiple new sectors. Prior to joining Northern Arc, she worked with ICICI Bank for 10 years. She is a director on the board of Dvara Research Foundation, an organization engaged in research and policy advocacy. She holds a bachelor’s degree in commerce from the University of Madras, a post-graduate diploma in management from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and a professional diploma in software technology and systems management from the National Institute of Information Technology. She is also a member of the Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India and a chartered financial analyst.
Gupshup enables better customer engagement through conversational messaging. Gupshup is the leading conversational messaging platform, powering over 6 billion messages per month. Across verticals, thousands of large and small businesses use Gupshup to build conversational experiences across marketing, sales and support.
Mr. Beerud Sheth previously founded and led Elance (now Upwork, a publicly listed company), the pioneer of online freelancing and the gig economy. Before that, he worked in the financial services industry – modeling, structuring, and trading fixed income securities and derivatives at Merrill Lynch and Citicorp Securities. His graduate research, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab, involved developing autonomous learning software agents for personalized news filtering.
He earned an M.S. in computer science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology & a B.Tech in Computer Science from IIT Bombay, where he was awarded the Institute Silver Medal.
Deba Sahoo is a SVP and Chief Product Officer for Customer Journeys at Fidelity Investments. He is currently leading a large cross-functional product organization that is focused on simplifying, digitizing and radically transforming the customer and associate experiences for acquiring & servicing Fidelity's ~22,000+ employer clients in its market leading retirement business ($2.5T in assets, ~30% market share). His team is leading digital transformation of key customer journeys by re-engineering them and applying new-age technologies (e.g., Digital, APIs, Salesforce, AI, NLP, Data Exchange, BPM Orchestration). In his career, he has held various leadership roles in Product, Strategy, Analytics and Technology. He holds an MBA (Honors) from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business and Bachelor of Engineering (Honors) from National Institute of Technology, India. In addition, he is a distinguished speaker & thought leader in areas of Digital Transformation, Digital Customer Experience, Digitization of Service & Artificial Intelligence.
Jim is a veteran of the telecommunications industry and currently works with Verint as the Director of Financial Compliance and Partner Manager for the APAC region. He has over 20 years’ experience working at NEC, NICE, Avaya, and Genesys. In his previous role at Genesys, Jim was the APAC Director of Customer Success and before that the APAC Solution Lead and subject matter expert for WEM. Jim has an MSc in Telecommunications and a BA in Economics. Originally from Perth, Australia, Jim now lives in Singapore with his family.
A Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), Mr Keki Mistry brings with him nearly four decades of varied work experience in the Banking & Financial Services domain.
In 1975, Mr Mistry began his career with AF Ferguson & Co, a renowned Chartered Accountancy Firm, followed by short stints with Hindustan Unilever Ltd and Indian Hotels Company Ltd
In 1981, Mr Mistry joined HDFC Ltd., India's premier housing finance company. Over the years he held several responsibilities, prior to being inducted onto its Board as Executive Director in 1993. He was appointed as the Managing Director in 2000, as the Vice Chairman & Managing Director in October 2007 and the Vice-Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation with effect from January 1, 2010. Mr. Mistry is responsible for the overall functioning of the Corporation.
Mr. Mistry has played a critical role in the successful transformation of HDFC into India's leading Financial Services Conglomerate by facilitating the formation of companies including HDFC Bank Ltd., HDFC Asset Management Company Ltd., HDFC Life Insurance Company Ltd. and HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company Ltd.
Besides being on the board of several HDFC Group companies, Mr. Mistry is also on the Board of Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, Torrent Power Ltd, Griha Investments - Mauritius, Griha Investments Pte Ltd – Singapore and Flipkart Private Limited - Singapore. He is also on the Advisory Boards of a few Indian Corporates.
Mr. Mistry has been a Consultant to the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC) in Thailand, Mauritius, Caribbean Islands and Jamaica, guiding the company to review and evaluate the operations of mortgage financial institutions in these countries. He has also been Consultant to the Mauritius Housing Company and Asian Development Bank.
He is a Member of Primary Market Advisory committee (PMAC) constituted by Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and was a Member of Corporate Governance Committee constituted by SEBI in 2017 and Chairman of the CII Corporate Governance Committee 2016-17 to 2017-2018. He is currently the Chairman of the Cll National Council on Corporate Governance from 2019-20. He is also a Member of the CII Economic Affairs Council for 2021-22.
Some of Mr. Mistry's important recognitions include, being awarded 'CEO of The Year' under BFSI Category at CNBC Awaaz CEO Awards 2019., 'BMA Management Man of the Year 2016' at the 37th Bombay Management Association (BMA), 'Best Independent Director Award 2014' by Asian Centre for Corporate Governance & Sustainability, the Best CEO Financial Services (Large Companies) 2014 by Business Today magazine, CFO India Hall of Fame by the CFO India magazine in 2012, One of Best CEO for Investor Relations – India at the Thomson Reuters “Extel Awards” – 2012, Best Banker of the Year in 2011 by Financial Express, awarded the QIMPRO Gold Standard 2011– Leader for Quality in Business by the Qimpro Foundation, honored with the ‘CA Business Achiever of the year’ award in the Financial Sector by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) in 2011, declared as the Best CFO in the Financial Services category by the ICAI for 2008, CNBC TV18's Award for the 'Best Performing CFO in the Financial Services Sector' for three consecutive years - 2006, 2007 & 2008 and CFO of the Year for 2008 and selection as the 'Best Investor Relations Officer' in the Corporate Governance poll by Asiamoney (2008).
Kunal Shah is a passionate business savvy management professional with 21 years of cross functional experience in the Information Technology industry. His experience spans multiple disciplines of Solution Engineering, Business Strategy, Business Development, Strategic Program Management and IT Consulting. Kunal is currently an integral part of the management team for Oracle India’s SaaS business, and leads the Solution Engineering team for the Office of CFO, Projects and Digital Supply Chain solutions.
Dr. Kshama Fernandes is the Managing Director and CEO of the Company and oversees the overall management of the Company. She was appointed to the Board with effect from August 1, 2012 and was most recently re-appointed as Managing Director for a period of three years with effect from April 1, 2020. She holds a bachelor’s degree in science from Goa University, and a master’s degree as a well as a PhD in management studies from Goa University. She has over 25 years of experience spanning across management, risk advisory and academia. Dr. Fernandes is a financial risk manager certified by the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP). Prior to joining the company, she was a professor at the Goa Institute of Management. She has also served as Northern Arc’s chief risk officer from 2009 to 2012.
Naveen Kukreja is the CEO & Co-founder of Paisabazaar.com - India’s largest digital marketplace for lending products and Credit Score platform.
Naveen has an experience of over 19 years in the financial services markets of India and Europe, having worked in leadership roles at Citibank, Capital One and Aviva Life Insurance before co-founding Paisabazaar.com under the Policybazaar Group in 2014. Under Naveen's strong leadership, Paisabazaar has been recognized with prestigious awards like Excellence in Consumer Lending 2021 at India Digital Awards, Most Innovative Lending Platform of 2019 by India Fintech Forum and Economic Times' Most Promising Brand in 2018.
Naveen too has been felicitated by Entrepreneur India as “Entrepreneur of the Year – Financial Services” in 2019 & by Business World with the ’40 under 40’ award in 2018 – a recognition to India’s top 40 leaders under the age of 40.
Naveen is an alumni of prestigious institutes like IIM Calcutta and the Delhi College of Engineering.
Nitin Jain is the Banking & Financial Services Partner for PwC, India and focuses on Strategy & Digital for Banking, Insurance and Capital Markets on business transformation, operating model, digital transformation, cost efficiency and go to market strategy. He has led and been involved in many strategic and transformation engagements with large private & public sector banks, wealth managers, insurers and other financial institutions including digital lending and partnerships.
Over the past 23 years, he has worked at C Level positions where he was instrumental in setting up and running private banking, financial services distribution, asset management, insurance and capital markets broking. Over the years, he has created digitally led asset-lite models for businesses that have resulted in double digit ROE for stakeholders. He has a track record of setting up multiple successful greenfield businesses, reinvigorating businesses and turning loss making units in profit within a short span of time.
Ratnesh Mehra is the Customer Experience Strategy & GTM Leader for Oracle India .
With over 23 years of experience in the IT Industry with a proven leadership in Customer Experience, CRM consulting and delivery, ‘Ratnesh comes with invaluable CX knowledge of the market and domain .and has helped leading organizations in India as well as globally to strategize, design and build world class Customer experience platforms.
He has well rounded experience in area of Customer Experience, Digital Marketing, Social CRM, Voice of Customer, Customer Analytics and B2B interactions.
He has worked previously as head of Customer Experience competency for KPMG and IBM among others.
Ratnesh is based out of Bangalore and is a passionate old hindi songs buff and a foodie to the core.
Sanjay Sharma co-founded Aye Finance, a young organization driving innovation that delivers customer centered and affordable loans to micro enterprises which had so far been excluded from the financial system in India. Sanjay considers it his calling, to transform the financing of underserved micro enterprise in India. Though hard business metrics determine the success in a job, Sanjay also measures the progress of Aye with the thousands of happy customers his organization has empowered and made self-reliant.
With his IIT-IIM pedigree, Sanjay’s stellar achievements spanning 30 years in consumer lending, are no surprise. His transformational leadership has pioneered the launch of direct banking in HDFC Bank in the 90s ; established consumer lending and credit card operations at ICICI; catalyzed StanChart(UAE) to top of the industry in customer satisfaction and made Max New York Life Insurance a leader in underwriting and claims processes. In 2003 he set up Tamweel PJSC- the first sharia compliant Housing Finance company in UAE. This become the largest housing finance company in the country and consistently won the top industry awards in the region between 2003 and 2009.
Under Sanjay’s leadership, Aye Finance has become a vibrant and deeply engaged team that is rapidly setting new standards in building a quality loans portfolio in an inclusive manner.
Shri Sivasubramanian Ramann is the Chairman and Managing Director of SIDBI. Before this, Shri Ramann was serving as the Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of National E- Governance Services Ltd. (NeSL), India’s first information utility. Shri Ramann is an Indian Audit & Accounts Service (IA&AS) officer of 1991 batch.
Prior to joining NeSL, Shri Ramann was the Principal Accountant General of State of Jharkhand from 2015 - 2016. He has also held the position of Executive Director with Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), while he was on deputation from the Government of India from 2006 to 2013.
Shri Ramann has a BA in Economics and MBA from Delhi University. His professional qualifications include LLB, M Sc in Regulation from the London School of Economics, Certified Internal Auditor from the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), Florida and Post Graduate Diploma in Securities Law.
Mr. Vijay Deshwal, Group Chief Executive Officer of Poonawalla Fincorp Limited, is a seasoned banker with a track record of over two decades. In his last role at ICICI Bank, Mr. Deshwal was responsible for its fast-growing services sector business, including new age businesses. He was also responsible for driving the liability strategy for the corporate ecosystem and had headed the debt syndication business for the Bank for over five years. Having handled pan-India financial institutions including NBFCs for over six years, Mr. Deshwal has a vast understanding of various asset classes and the cyclicality of these businesses. He is an engineer by profession and holds PGDM degree from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.
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