Transcript of the Interview with Priti Gupta, Anand Rathi

1) What’s the secret behind Anand Rathi’s phenomenal success?

I think one that we’ve had a whole set of ethics philosophy in place which has helped us grow over these years, has helped us maintain credibility in the market. I think the field that we’re in, financial services, the most important bit is that you are credible. So if you see the collapse of the wall street, the big MNC’s that have fallen. I think the message continuously out there was that we’re here to stay, Anand Rathi the man himself is here and so is his team of people. They follow a certain conduct of philosophy which will ensure that the credibility is there the money is safe. Which I think has made us grow steadily, slowly into a very very strong company.

2) As a woman in a traditionally male dominated industry, what specific advice do you have for young women entering this space?
I think in this space, women are very lucky. There are no barriers, people are not judgmental anymore like.. Oh she’s a woman. So I think that a woman herself should not let that enter into her mind. I think they are a wee bit better equipped to be a part of any industry. To be a team leader, because I think other than the intelligence the aptitude, I think women have this added human touch that they bring into a business. Which I think in the coming times is more and more important. I think 20 years down the line you’ll see more women leaders than male leaders. You’ll see more Indra Nooyi’s out there in the world.

3) What sort of careers are available for management graduates in the equity markets?

Right from, people choose to be research analysts, which is where they would start, because it’s an ideal platform to learn. Then there are other options, you could be traders on institutional desk, debt desk, currency desk, commodity desk. Marketing, you could help in business development, what a typical industry would have but apart from that it’s a service industry you have a whole lot of service related profiles. Which could be relationship management, account management, etc. so it’s a whole big world, a lot of options.

4) How do you compare the Indian stock market scenario with other stock markets like New York, London and Hong Kong?
Compared to those markets I would say Indian markets are far more conservative, but that actually has helped us. Because if you’ve seen the crash that happened in the Wall Street, you’ve never seen any equivalent crash here and I think you never will. So in India… our risk management systems are very strong, so our markets are also strong. In terms of technology we are one of the best in the world. In terms of understanding markets; we’ve had people who were trading into stocks years before the equity market came into its present structure, where you are sitting in front of a screen and trading. So I think understanding of people in the market is very very good but I think most importantly it is one of the best markets you could trade in, because it has a mix of intelligence, technology, products along with the conservative bit which insures the money is safe, that exchanges function seamlessly.

5) What message would you give CFM students, after having interacted with them?
I think like I said 2 or 3 very important qualities that you need to make a career from. You come out of an institution like CFM equipped to seamlessly getting into the industry. But you must keep in mind 2/3 things. That you’re here your first few years are to learn and that learning has to happen. There is no way you can skip that and grow fast. But if you’ve done that bit really well, then nothing can stop you from growing. So that bit to me is a philosophy that you must follow the endurance that you must have to go through it and the experience that you must gain before you say that I’m ready to fly. That’s my message to all students of CFM.