Our speakers

V. Hari Krishna, Director, Kotak Realty Fund

Hari joined Kotak Realty Fund in May 2005 as a co-founder of the real estate investment fund management business at Kotak. As a part of the founding team, Hari has gained experience in the full lifecycle of investments and exits across four different funds.

 

Hari has nearly 17 years of overall experience in Indian real estate in investment management and corporate finance including his prior stints with CB Richard Ellis and Jones Lang LaSalle. Hari has completed his Masters in Finance from Delhi University.

V. Srinivasa Rangan, Executive Director, HDFC

Mr. Rangan holds a Bachelor's degree in Commerce and is an associate member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India. Mr. Rangan joined the Corporation in 1986 and has served in Delhi and was the Senior General Manager - Corporate Planning & Finance at Head Office since 2000. Mr. Rangan has been appointed as the Executive Director of the Corporation for a period of 5 years with effect from January 1, 2010. He is also a member of the Investors’ Grievance Committee of Directors with effect from May 4, 2010. He is responsible for the Treasury, Resources and Accounts functions of the Corporation. 

V. Vaidyanathan, Managing Director & CEO, IDFC FIRST Bank

With over two decades in financial services in India, V. Vaidyanathan has seen India through many lens – first as a banker (1990-2010, Citibank), then as an entrepreneur (2010-2019, Capital First) and a professional banker again (2019- date, after merging Capital First with IDFC Bank). He worked with Citibank Consumer Banking from 1990-2000, then set up ICICI Group’s retail banking from 2000-2009 since its inception, built ICICI Bank’s branch network to 1411 branches and 28 million customers, built a large CASA and retail deposits franchise, and built the retail lending businesses including mortgages, auto loans, credit cards and personal credit businesses to Rs. 1.35 trillion ($30 bn). He was appointed at the Board of ICICI Bank in 2006 at age 38. In 2009, he became the MD and CEO of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company in India.

In 2010, he quit ICICI Group for an entrepreneurial opportunity to acquire an NBFC with an idea to convert it to a bank focused on consumer and MSME lending. On acquiring equity stake, he shut down all non-core businesses like broking and real estate financing, and instead used the NBFC platform to build MSME and Consumer Financing businesses, based on new technologies and algorithms. Between 2010 to 2018, he grew the loan book from start-up stage to Rs. 29,600 crores (US$4.05 bn), grew the equity capital from Rs. 691 crores (US$118 mn) to Rs. 3,993 crores (US$600 mn), reduced Gross NPA from 5.28% to 1.94%, reduced Net NPA from 3.6% to 1%, acquired 7 million customers, got the long-term credit rating upgraded from A+ to AAA, turned around the company from losses of US$5 mn (2010) to profit of US$50 mn (2018), increased ROE from -6% to +15%, and increased the market cap 10 times from Rs. 780 crores (US$120 mn) to Rs. 8,200 crores (US$1.2 bn) in 8 years. Capital First was growing at a 5-year CAGR of loan growth of 30%, and 55% in PAT between 2013-2018.

Then, in order to secure a commercial banking license, he agreed to merge Capital First with IDFC Bank in December 2018 and took over as the MD and CEO of the merged entity. Since then in seven quarters, between December 2019 to September 2020, he has increased retail loan book from 13.16% pre-merger to over 60% (Rs. 59,860 crores, US$8.14 bn) of the total funded assets, increased Net Interest margin from 1.68% pre-merger to 4.57%, increased CASA from 8.68% to 40.37%, turned the bank into profitability, and is currently busy converting the bank into a world- class retail bank in India. The bank now has over 10 million customers and loan book of more than Rs. 1 lac crores (~US$14 bn). He believes India provides unlimited opportunity in financial services in India.

During his career, he and his organization have received a number of domestic and international awards including the prestigious CNBC Awaaz Entrepreneur of the year 2020, CNBC Asia’s "Innovative company of the year" India Business Leader Awards-2017, "Most Inspirational Leveraged Management Buyout, India 2018" by CFI Awards, "Entrepreneur of the Year" Award at Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Awards 2017, "Transformational Leader 2018" by CFI Awards UK, "Financial Services Company of the Year, 2018 - VC Circle", "Outstanding contribution to Financial Inclusion, India, 2017" from Capital Finance International, London, "Most Promising Business Leaders of Asia" 2016 by Economic Times, 'Outstanding Entrepreneur Award' in Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Awards 2016, Greatest Corporate Leaders of India- 2014, Business Today - India's Most Valuable Companies 2016 & 2015, Economic Times 500 India's Future Ready Companies 2016, Fortune India's Next 500 Companies 2016, Dun & Bradstreet India's Top 500 Companies & Corporates 2016 & 2015. During his prior stint, awards included "Best Retail bank in Asia 2001", "Excellence in Retail Banking Award" 2002, "Best Retail Bank in India 2003, 2004, and 2005" from the Asian Banker, "Most Innovative Bank" 2007, "Leaders under 40" from Business
Today in 2009, and was nominated "Retail Banker of the Year" by EFMA Europe for 2008.

He is an alumnus of Birla Institute of Technology and Harvard Business School. He has run 23 half-marathons and 8 full marathons.

V.P. Nandakumar, MD & CEO, Manappuram Finance Limited

Mr. V.P. Nandakumar is the MD & CEO of Manappuram Finance Ltd., one of India’s leading NBFCs and the pioneer of the institutionalised model of the gold loans business. Mr. Nandakumar took over the reins of a single branch family business in 1986, and over the next three decades presided over its growth and transformation into a financial sector powerhouse. His vision, values and leadership were instrumental in scripting this story that today touches millions of lives in India.  

Manappuram’s origins go back to 1949 when it was founded by the late V.C. Padmanabhan, father of Mr. Nandakumar. In those days, the firm was into money lending, and pawnbroking carried out on a modest scale at Valapad, a backward coastal village in Thrissur district of Kerala. After taking over in 1986 (the year his father expired), Mr. Nandakumar soon set about expanding the business in line with his ambitions and vision.

In 1992, he incorporated Manappuram Finance Ltd., and within three years (in 1995) managed to get the company listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange. Since then, he has led from the front to transform Manappuram Finance Ltd. into a leading NBFC present across India with 4,616 branches in 28 states and UTs, with Assets under management (AUM) of about ?25,300 crore, and a workforce of over 26,000.

In recent years, Mr. Nandakumar has resolutely steered the company’s diversification into microfinance, home loans, vehicle finance, SME and personal lending to reshape the company into a full-spectrum NBFC. Today, about 30 per cent of the company’s total business comes from the non-gold side.

Mr. Nandakumar’s achievements in business have earned him national recognition. On May 26, 2018, a special issue of the Business World magazine profiled him as one among 40 of India’s most valuable CEOs. Besides, Manappuram Finance Ltd. has emerged as one of the leading wealth creators in the Indian stock market. In December 2019, the Economic Times newspaper published the ET500 list of Top Wealth Creators of 2019 with Manappuram Finance Ltd. as the chart topper.

Other than the focus on business, the cause of the wider community is central to his vision. He established the Manappuram Foundation at Valapad in 2009 to drive the corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme of the Manappuram group, even before the Companies Act made it mandatory. Today, the Manappuram Foundation oversees a wide range of projects in education, health care, and overall development of the rural communities.

Mr. V.P. Nandakumar was born in 1954, holds a post-graduate degree in science and additional qualifications in Banking and Foreign Trade. He is a managing committee member of leading trade and industry associations such as FICCI, Assocham and FIDC.  In January 2019, he was appointed to the Board of Governors of the Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode. In July 2019, he was elected as an International Director of the Association of Lions Clubs International at its Milan (Italy) convention.

V.S. Radhakrishnan, MD & CEO, Janalakshmi Financial Services

Mr. V S Radhakrishnan currently serves as the CEO and Managing Director of Janalakshmi Financial Services. He is a veteran banker with an illustrious career in the banking sector. He was with HSBC for over 25 years where he held various senior positions before moving to ING Vysya Bank for 3 years. Mr. Radhakrishnan has an MBA from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

V.Thiyagarajan, MD, India Home Health Care

V.Thiyagarajan is founder and CEO of Sybrant. His first home-away-from-home was Camac Software Founder CEO, a research & development outsourcing company focused on network products. His career started as a systems design engineer in the embedded systems space doing hardware and software design and was involved in large scale implementation of SCADA projects. He also had a consulting stint in technology and strategy for Fortune 500 companies in the insurance, telecom, financial services, logistics and industrial/building automation industries. In his last assignment, he was instrumental in creating a $32 Million outsourced product development company within a few years.

He is the initiator behind IHHC. The idea grew out of the pain of finding a home care nurse for the parents of a friend. This experience was the seed which evolved into IHHC.

Vaibhav Aggarwal, Co-Founder & MD, Fabfurnish

Vaibhav Aggarwal is the Co-Founder and MD of FabFurnish.com, an e-retailer of designer furniture, furnishings, decor items and kitchenware.

 

A graduate from IIT Guwahati and MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Vaibhav’s leadership has translated into significant growth for FabFurnish.com, in a short span of time. He oversees all marketing activities and initiatives at FabFurnish.com. Prior to FabFurnish, he has worked with Groupon India and Bain & Company.

Vaibhav Chadha, MD, Head of Asia Distressed Debt & Special Situations Group, Cantor Fitzgerald

Vaibhav Joshi, Head Direct Marketing (CRM & Loyalty) and Head Business Analytics, Shoppers Stop

Vaibhav Kakkar, Partner, Saraf & Partners