High Grade Portfolio - Part ll

Rahul Veera is the Fund Manager for all equity Alternative Investment Funds at Nippon Life India AIF Management Limited. He has over 14 years of experience in equity research and fund management, with expertise spanning consumer goods, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and building materials. He has demonstrated diverse capability across both buy and sell sides, combining qualitative analysis with a quantitative data-driven approach. He joined from Abakkus Asset Management, where he independently managed the Flexicap Fund and led a team of senior analysts. He has also previously worked at Morgan Stanley, Edelweiss, and Elara Capital. He holds a BCom from H.R. College (Mumbai University), an MBA from Swansea University (UK), and an Executive Finance certification from IIM Kolkata.

Prashant Kutty is a Fund Manager for equity Alternative Investment Funds at Nippon Life India AIF. He has 19 years of experience in equity research and fund management, with active coverage of FMCG, Consumer Durables, Building Materials, Retail, Media, and Autos, and a special affinity for mid and small caps. In his previous role at Sundaram Alternates he managed a Mid-Cap Fund and a Small-Cap Fund, both generating healthy alpha across time periods. He was ranked among the top 16 Consumer analysts by Asiamoney in 2015. Prior to Sundaram, he worked at Emkay Global Financial Services, Standard Chartered Securities, HDFC Securities, and IDBI Bank. He holds an MBA in Finance from Bharti Vidyapeeth (Mumbai University).

Mr. Samir Rachh is a Senior Fund Manager (Equity) at NAM India, known for managing the Nippon India Small Cap Fund — one of the largest small cap schemes in India with INR 35,000+ Cr in AUM. He has been associated with NAM India for over a decade.

Mr. Pradeep Khanna has over 22 years of experience in Real Estate Investment Management, Corporate and Project Finance, Investment Banking, and Project Management. He has spearheaded Nippon India Real Estate Investments since 2011 and was instrumental in pioneering the setup and anchoring of the Real Estate Private Equity business. He covers the entire lifecycle of funds — from inception to exits — and maintains robust relationships with developers, having evaluated, invested in, and managed real estate projects across India. He holds a Master's in Business Management from IIT Kharagpur and a B.Tech in Civil Engineering from National Institute of Technology, Warangal. Prior to Nippon, he held key positions at ICICI Prudential, SBI Capital Markets, ING Vysya Bank, Shapoorji Pallonji Group, and Gammon India.

Rupesh Patel joined NAM India as a Senior Fund Manager – Equity. He brings over 23 years of experience across listed equity investments, private equity real estate investments, credit risk assessment, and evaluation of infrastructure projects. Prior to joining, he worked with Tata Asset Management Limited from 2008, where he managed flagship funds including Midcap Growth, Large Cap, Tax Savings, Focused Equity, and Infrastructure Funds.

Mr. Ashish Jalan is the Co-Fund Manager for Private Credit at Nippon India Alternative Investments, overseeing transaction evaluation, deal structuring, investment strategies, fundraising, and portfolio management. He has nearly 15 years of comprehensive experience in domestic credit markets across asset management, banking, and credit rating agencies. He spent close to nine years in the Fixed Income Investment team at Nippon India Mutual Fund before moving to the AIF practice. Prior to NAM India he worked at DBS Bank, ICRA Ltd., and Global Analytics. He is a Chartered Accountant and holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Management (Finance) from SPJIMR Mumbai. He is an alumnus of St. Xavier's College, Kolkata.

Mr. Ashwani Kumar is one of India's most experienced fund managers, having been with NAM India since 2003. He acts as Senior Fund Manager for Equity Investments. He holds a degree from the University of Poona and an MBA in Finance. He previously worked with Zurich Asset Management Co. Ltd., where he developed money management techniques that helped establish the fund house's early reputation.

Mr. Rahul Apte is the Co-Fund Manager for Private Credit at Nippon India Alternative Investments. He has over 16 years of extensive experience in wholesale debt businesses covering the full deal lifecycle — deal sourcing, client development, credit assessment, monitoring, and managing exits. He was one of the founding members of the Project & Structured Finance Business at Aditya Birla Finance, where he helped scale AUM to over $2 billion and also led the NBFC's expansion into the Emerging Clients segment as Business Head. He holds a B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Madras and an MBA in Finance and Marketing from ISB Hyderabad.

Sushil Budhia is a Senior Fund Manager for Debt Investments at NAM India (joined January 2019). He has over 20 years of experience in fixed income markets across structured finance, credits, and mortgages. Before joining NAM India, he was at YES Bank as Senior President, where he played a pivotal role in setting up the Debt Capital Market business over a 13-year tenure. He has also worked at Axis Bank and UTI Mutual Fund as a Bond Dealer. He is a Chartered Accountant.

Mr. Sachin Bid is the Fund Manager for Venture Capital at Nippon India Alternative Investments, overseeing fundraising, investment strategies, and portfolio management for India-centric early-stage technology ventures. He serves on the advisory boards (LPAC) of several venture funds. Prior to joining Nippon India, he co-founded, developed, and successfully scaled a pioneering cruise-focused travel startup, MyDreamHoliday, which was later acquired by a prominent market leader. Before that, he was an investor at Ncubate Capital (family office), where he incubated and fostered consumer companies from inception. He also contributed to investments in early growth-stage manufacturing and engineering companies at Nine Rivers Capital. He is a CAIA member, holds a CFA from ICFAI, and an MBA in Finance from IBS Mumbai.

Vivek Sharma is a Fund Manager for Fixed Income at NAM India, joining in 2006 as a Management Trainee and working with the Fixed Income team since 2007. He actively manages duration and asset-allocation of various debt portfolios including Income Fund, Gilt Fund, Dynamic Bond Fund, Ultra Short Term Fund, FMPs, Credit Fund, Liquid Fund, and Liquid Plus Funds. He has managed INR 57,000–70,000 Cr across 19–20 schemes.

Ankit Agarwal is a Fund Manager for Venture Capital at Nippon India Alternative Investments, overseeing fundraising, investment strategies, and portfolio management for India-centric early-stage technology ventures. He has over 17 years of experience spanning venture capital, private equity, exotic derivatives trading, chip design, and as a founder. He spent 12+ combined years at ICICI Venture, PineBridge Investments Asia Fund, and Enam Family Office, handling Investment Sourcing, Deal Evaluation, Diligence & Structuring, Portfolio Monitoring, M&A, Exits, and Fundraising, and served as the funds' nominee on portfolio company boards. In 2020 he founded an edtech company that raised $2.5 million from Matrix Partners and angel investors, scaled to $1M+ ARR and 100+ employees, and was sold via an IP sale in 2022 to one of India's largest edtech companies. He holds a B.Tech in Electrical Engineering from IIT Delhi (2005) and an MBA from IIM Bangalore (2010).

Vikash Agarwal joined NAM India in August 2024 as Senior Fund Manager. He has over 18.5 years of experience in capital markets. He previously worked at HDFC Asset Management as Fund Manager (September 2007 to August 2024). Before HDFC AMC, he was at Larsen & Toubro in Forex Trading and Economic Research (April 2006 to September 2007), managing hedging of forex risk and bid advisory on projects involving foreign exchange risks.

Pranay Sinha is a Fund Manager – Fixed Income at NAM India, managing INR 27,000–29,000 Cr across approximately eight debt schemes.

Ms. Kinjal Desai is a Fund Manager at NAM India, managing one of the largest portfolios at the firm with INR 3,70,000–4,05,000 Cr across approximately 47–48 schemes, primarily index/ETF and passively managed strategies.

Mr. Ashish Chhugani is the Head of Alternative Investments at Nippon India AIF. He holds an MBA from Duke University, USA, and an M.Com from the University of Mumbai. With over three decades of experience in alternative investments — including private equity, venture capital, real estate, bank turnarounds, and portfolio management — he has also successfully managed numerous international funds for over eight years across different organisations. Throughout his career he has held leadership positions at Centrum Alternatives, Tata Capital, and Cambridge Place Investment Management, consistently spearheading multi-strategy alternative asset management businesses.

Mr. Sundeep Sikka is the ED and CEO of Nippon Life India Asset Management Limited (NAM India). He has over 28 years of rich experience in financial services, with core expertise in asset management. He joined NAM India in 2003 and has held various leadership positions, being elevated to CEO in 2009, making him one of the youngest CEOs in the Indian asset management industry. He was instrumental in NAM India becoming the first listed AMC in India (IPO in 2017) and in Nippon Life Insurance Japan becoming the primary shareholder in 2019. Under his leadership NAM India has grown to become one of India's largest asset managers with INR 6.5 trillion+ AUM. He has served as both Vice-Chairman and Chairman of AMFI, and has held positions at RBI (Technical Advisory Committee on Money, Foreign Exchange & Government Securities Markets), CII, NSDL (Executive Committee), FICCI (Capital Markets Committee). He holds a Commerce degree, an MBA with majors in Finance from Pune University, and completed the Advanced Management Programme at Harvard Business School.

Mr. Aashwin Dugal is a seasoned finance and sales professional with over two decades of extensive experience in banking and asset management. He spent approximately 16 years at Nippon Life India Asset Management Limited (formerly Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management), in roles including Zonal Head for West and North India, and culminating in Co-Chief Business Officer, where he oversaw institutional and wealth/private banking businesses. Prior to NAM India he held roles at TATA AMC (Regional Vice President – North Zone), Kotak Mahindra Bank, and ING Investment Management.

Mr. Sailesh Raj Bhan is President and CIO for Equity Investments at Nippon India Mutual Fund. He has over 27 years of experience in Indian equity markets, with 19+ years at NAM India (joined 2006). He has been managing multiple flagship funds — Nippon India Large Cap Fund, Nippon India Multi Cap Fund, and Nippon India Pharma Fund — for over 15 years. He was appointed CIO – Equity effective January 1, 2023, succeeding Manish Gunwani. He holds an MBA in Finance and the CFA charter.

Mr. Amit Tripathi is President and CIO for Fixed Income at Nippon India Mutual Fund. He has 25+ years of experience in capital markets and has been with NIMF for over 20 years, having successfully managed various fixed income and hybrid funds recognised for superior performance domestically and internationally. In his current role as President & CIO – Fixed Income, he leads a team of 20 highly motivated and experienced fixed income professionals. He holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Finance from FORE School of Management, New Delhi.

Mr. Hiroki Yamauchi serves on the Board of Nippon Life India Asset Management Limited representing Nippon Life Insurance Company, Japan.

Mr. Manu Chadha is a practicing Chartered Accountant and Senior Partner at M/s T R Chadha & Co. (Chartered Accountants) for more than 43 years, with extensive knowledge of Corporate and Fiscal Laws, the Companies Act, SEBI matters, Income Tax, and FEMA. He has served as Vice Chairman of the Northern India Regional Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. He has served on the Boards of Punjab National Bank, National Insurance Co. Ltd., Dena Bank, SBI Mutual Fund, Reliance Mutual Fund, Canfin Homes Ltd., PNB Housing Finance Ltd., GIC Housing Finance Ltd., and others. He was previously on the Censor Board (Mumbai, Information & Broadcasting Ministry) and the Direct Tax Advisory Committee (Ministry of Finance). He was nominated by the Government of India Ministry of Corporate Affairs to the Investor Education and Protection Fund (2001–2005, reappointed 2009–2011).

Mr. Minoru Kimura serves on the Board of Nippon Life India Asset Management Limited representing Nippon Life Insurance Company, Japan.

Mr. Sunil Srivastav is a career banker who retired as Deputy Managing Director of the Corporate Accounts Group at the State Bank of India after 38 years of service (joined 1980). His responsibilities at SBI included heading the corporate banking vertical for large corporate customers and spearheading the resolution and recovery process pre- and post-NCLT. He also served as Dy. MD for Corporate Strategy and Digital Businesses at SBI, initiating the bank's digital delivery of financial products and setting up sophisticated e-branches. He spent five years at SBI's New York office and had a stint at SBI Capital Markets (investment banking). Post-retirement he was engaged by the World Bank as a Senior Advisor for their Energy and Extractives program in India. He currently serves as an Independent Director on SIS Ltd, CSB Bank, Summit Digitel, and KLJ Plasticizers Ltd. He holds a BA from Delhi University and an MBA from FMS, BHU.

Mr. Upendra Kumar Sinha is an Independent Director on the Board of NAM India. He is a former Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). During his tenure as SEBI Chairman he drove significant reforms in the Indian capital markets including the development of the REIT and InvIT framework, corporate bond market, commodity derivatives market integration, and mutual fund reforms.

Mr. Ashvin Parekh is an Independent Director on the Board of Nippon Life India Asset Management Limited. He is a management consultant specializing in financial services.

Mr. B. Sriram is an Independent Director on the Board of Nippon Life India Asset Management Limited. He is a career banker and former Managing Director and CEO of IDBI Bank and former Managing Director of State Bank of India.

Mrs. Sonu Bhasin is an Independent Director on the Board of NAM India and one of the senior women professionals in the Indian financial services industry with 30+ years of experience. She is the Founder of FAB-Families and Business, a platform for Family Business Owners (SMEs) since November 2014. She has previously served as Chief Operating Officer of Tata Capital Limited (Travel, Forex and Cards), Group President (Branch Banking) at Yes Bank, President for Retail Products & Sales Management at Axis Bank, and Head of Investment and Third-Party Product Development and Head of Marketing – Wealth Management at ING Vysya Bank.

Mr. Shin Matsui serves on the Board of NAM India as Chief Planning and Business Excellence Officer (see full bio under Nippon Life India AIF Management Limited board entry). Joined NLI in 1994. B.Econ Waseda University, Japan.