She left her flourishing career at Wall Street at the age of 25, due to an urge to do something new and different. She moved back to India to start a boutique asset management firm called Forefront Capital Management. If you still haven’t been able to guess today’s TFP Profile, then the following two attributes will help ring a bell. She is famously associated with the term “A girl with a broken neck” and is the youngest female CEO in the Asset Management Industry. Yes, our today’s TFP Profile is Radhika Gupta, MD and CEO of Edelweiss Asset Management Limited.
Early Life and Education
She has been known to conquer adversity from an early stage of her life. It started with having birth complications which led to a permanent tilt in her neck that impacted her self-esteem. Irrespective of this hardship, she overcame it and made it a source of inspiration for doing things differently.
Since her father was a diplomat, she moved across various continents in her childhood which led to learning from distinctive experiences. From studying at an international school in Nigeria with the children of CEOs, business tycoons and warlords to trying to fit in with rich adolescent girls in America, it was a steep learning curve of wisdom and adjusting to new languages and cultures.
She graduated from Management and Technology Program from the University of Pennsylvania, with joint degree in Economics from the Wharton School in addition to Computer Science Engineering from the Moore School.
Early Career
She did not come from a financial services background and most people in her family have been in government services. Inspite of this, she made her mark in the financial world.
The start of her career was a little rocky as she faced 7 rejections from the top management consultancy firms before she landed a job at McKinsey. Her hobby for a card game called Bridge helped her get the job and she was hired for being unique and different.
After 1.5 years at the consulting company, she joined AQR Capital Management, which was a pioneer in hedge funds. But, just as the global financial crisis was unfolding, she felt an urge to start out on her own. She always had the entrepreneurial instinct since her college days where she founded an Indian takeaway for her fellow students. It was this instinct led her to start her own venture.
Investment Start-up and Edelweiss Journey
She moved to India in 2009 to start her own venture with two other co-founders. They started Forefront Capital Management, the first registered hedge fund in India with a small sum of ₹25 lakh and it focussed on alternative investments.
There were plethora of challenges while building and running this company. However, it was her belief in oneself and courage to try something new and make a living out of it which kept her going and helped her make it successful.
In 2014, this investment start-up was sold to Edelweiss Financial Services for Rs. 200 crs. She led Edelweiss’ acquisition of JP Morgan’s Mutual Fund business and Ambit Capital’s AIF business and later on was appointed as the MD and CEO of Edelweiss Asset Management in February 2017.
Under her leadership the assets under management have grown to more than ₹30,000 crore, including mutual funds, alternative investments and portfolio-management services from about ₹8,000 crore when she took over.
The most recent feather in the cap for Edelweiss Asset Management under her leadership was the recent launch of Bharat Bond ETF in partnership with Government of India, India’s first corporate bond ETF.
Other Professional Achievements
She is a member of the AMFI board, chairing the Committee of Exchange Traded Funds and is a member of Young Presidents Organization (YPO). She was recently honoured by Business Today magazine naming her amongst “The 30 Most Powerful Women in Indian Business.
Her professional career can be summed up as a range of diverse experiences across asset management – globally and in India, which includes start-up and global giants, public & private sector, and institutional & retail clients. Her journey of making a career in financial services began by moving with the flow and exploring opportunities.
Other Interesting Insights
She is a keen storyteller, Bridge player and Twitter micro blogger. She is a TEDx speaker and holds a vision of uplifting the youth and inspiring them. She is intensely passionate about cooking and writing.
She is the founding President of the Penn Alumni Club of Mumbai.
She strongly believes in the following:
“Celebrate all your perfections. Celebrate all your imperfections. “Celebrate everything in the middle. Because when this comes together, this is your own story.”
Her approach towards life is not only an inspiration for us, but also serves as a reminder that life is all about defining one’s dream and taking chances along the way.
Sources: Livemint, Shethepeople, Wikipedia
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