Inaugural Session-
Mr. Ashok Kumar Ralhan is the Registrar and MD & CEO of the Central Registry of Securitisation Asset Reconstruction and Security Interest of India (CERSAI). He has been associated with the Registry virtually since its inception and has been instrumental in setting it up on firm footing. He is a professional banker and had put in 35 years of service in State Bank of India (SBI), the largest Bank of India, in various capacities before he joined CERSAI and he has worked in almost all areas of banking at SBI. He has been a member of many Committees, especially in the area of Human Resource. He was the convenor of the Committee on Secured Transactions Framework in India (Legal issue) set up jointly by CERSAI and International Finance Corporation. The report of this Committee has been submitted to Govt. of India and is under their active consideration.
Mr. Hemant G. Contractor is the first Chairman to head the statutory Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) after notification of PFRDA Act in 2014. He joined PFRDA on October 7, 2014. Prior to this, he was working with State Bank of India (SBI). During his illustrious career spanning 40 years in SBI, he served in several important positions including Group Executive of International Banking, Group Executive of Corporate Banking, and Chief Financial Officer and rising to be the Managing Director of SBI. He has also served on the Board of several organisations such as SBI, National Securities Depository Ltd. (NSDL), Nuclear Power Corporation of India. He is a qualified Chartered Banker (ACIB) from Chartered Institute of Bankers, London.
Session I: Product innovation - Digital channels+
Dr. A.K. Saxena is the Chairman cum Managing Director of Oriental Insurance Company Ltd. Prior to this, from 2008-2012, he was working as the General Manager and Supervising the Indian and Foreign Business operations of Oriental Insurance Company. In his career spanning over three decades, he has also worked with other well-known insurers like New India Assurance Company and Kenindia Assurance Company, Nairobi (Kenya). He holds Masters in Veterinary Science from Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Rohilkand University and LLB from Rohilkand University. He also holds Associate of Insurance Institute of India (AIII) from Insurance Institute of India.
Mr. Sundeep Sikka is the President and CEO of Reliance Capital Asset Management (RCAM). Mr. Sikka has held both Vice-Chairman and Chairman positions of the mutual fund industry body, Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI). He joined RCAM in 2003 and has handled various positions through which he has been instrumental in building the domestic and international operations of the company. RCAM is India’s largest asset manager, managing and advising assets of over USD 38 billion across Mutual Funds, Managed Accounts, Pension funds and Offshore strategies. It is part of the Reliance Group which is among India’s top three private sector business houses.
Mr. Sameer Bansal is working as Director-Bancassurance with PNB Metlife India Insurance Co. Ltd. He has been an integral part of the PNB MetLife team since 2007 and has over 15 years’ of rich experience in the financial services industry. A versatile professional, Mr. Bansal has successfully lead and built multiple verticals during his career span at PNB MetLife. In his current role, he is responsible for defining and execution of the company’s Bancassurance strategy. He played a pivotal role in forging the partnership with Punjab National Bank and is now responsible for delivering on the business strategy for the same. He holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Administration specialization in Marketing and Finance from IMI. He is also an avid golfer and unwinds with this sport.
Mr. Tapan Singhel is the managing director and CEO of Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company. He has been an integral part of the team starting up insurance business in the retail market. Mr. Singhel has also been involved in various international projects including setting up the retail business for Allianz in China and Bancassurance development in the Asia-Pacific region. He is the chairman of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India’s (IRDAI) panel to promote e-commerce in insurance, member of IRDAI’s Advisory Committee on Reinsurance and the Insurance Advisory Committee. He was featured in LinkedIn’s Power Profile 2015 for having the Most Viewed Profile in the financial sector in India.
Session II: Technology - Transforming distribution +
Mr. Abhishake Mathur is senior vice-president and head of investment advisory services for ICICI Securities. He has close to 20 years of experience, significantly in banking and investment advisory services. At ICICI Securities, Mr. Mathur has been instrumental in setting up the financial planning practice under investment advisory services, which are registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) under the Investment Advisers Regulations, 2013. A CFA charter holder and a Certified Financial Planner, Mr. Mathur holds an engineering degree from IIT BHU (Varanasi) and has an MBA from Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi.
Mr. Chandrasekar is the Co-founder and CEO of Funds India. He started his career at MicroStrategy, a leading data mining and analytics firm in USA. Later, he moved on to work for Morgan Stanley and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce before starting his own retirement solutions company – ExpertPlan. Currently, ExpertPlan is the number one third-party online administrator for retirement solutions in USA. He returned to India in 2003 and started an offshore software solutions firm, Arrowpoint Technologies, which specializes in financial applications for clients across the globe. After witnessing the dearth of online mutual fund investing platforms, Chandrasekar decided to establish FundsIndia with his close friend, Srikanth Meenakshi. Chandrasekar received his Masters degree in Computer Science at the Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Virginia.
Mr. Prashant Vagal is Senior Vice President and Heads the Business Development and Products department in National Securities Depository Ltd. (NSDL). He has done MBA in finance and has over 20 years of experience in Capital Markets. Mr. Vagal has been associated with NSDL for 19 years now and handled various activities viz. Participant and CC Interface, Settlements, Training etc.
Mr. Sudipto Roy is Managing Director of Principal Retirement Advisors. Prior to this, he was the Business Head – Asset Management at Principal PNB Asset Management Company and has spent over 10 years with Principal India. Before joining Principal India, Mr. Roy has garnered rich experience in insurance distribution as Vice President - Alternate Channel with Kotak Life Insurance. He also served as the Head – Treasury for Special Steels Ltd. Mr. Roy has extensive experience in the Indian market with a keen understanding of the financial sector. He is also a member of SEBI Investment Advisory committee to look after the issues related to investment advisory industry. Mr. Roy is a graduate from the University of Kolkata, a Chartered Accountant affiliated to the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and a qualified Cost Accountant.
Mr. V. Ramesh is the Managing Director & CEO of MF Utilities India Pvt. Ltd. He is an Alumnus of IIM Bangalore and ESADE Barcelona. He has an overall experience of over three decades of which 25 years have been in Mutual Fund Industry and 7 years in banking. He was previously Dy. Chief Executive of Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI), and prior to this he has held senior positions in sales, operations, marketing, business development and customer service in leading Mutual Funds like ICICI Prudential, Birla Sun Life and GIC Mutual Fund. He had also launched a company with an innovative business idea in the Social Sector. He is also a performing stage actor.