1. Please help us with a brief introduction about you, your institution and your latest work or achievements.
I am currently associated with Jhunjhunwala Business School, Faizabad, as Professor (Finance) & Dean. I am an MBA (FMS), CFA (ICFAI), CAIIB (Gold Medalist) and research fellow from XLRI, Jamshedpur. I have won two national awards Bank of India Prize and M P Srivastava Memorial Prize for outstanding performance in banking sector. Before joining academics, I have worked with fortune 500 banks. I regularly conduct MDPs for senior officers of various blue chip companies like PNB, NTPC, UPAVP and U P Government etc. I am associated with ICAI for many assignments and Ministry of Corporate Affairs has empanelled him for its financial literacy campaign.
I am a well published author, and have presented several papers in international and national conferences, but also have chaired many technical sessions. I am the managing editor of my institutes journal Inception and am on Board of Editors, International Journal of Effective Management, Columbia, USA, a monthly periodical Diksha and serving as reviewer for the Afro-Asian Journal of Finance and Accounting, published from Philadelphia, USA.
I have co-authored a well acclaimed text book on Financial Management. My academic interests include corporate finance, capital markets, financial modeling and developing new learning tools in finance education. I regularly financial modeling workshop for students.
My institution Jhunjhunwala Business School is one of the oldest and pioneering B-schools of the region.
2. Do you think financial literacy is important?
Absolutely. The scourge of financial illiteracy is a global challenge, not limited to developing countries only. Prof. Niall Ferguson, in his wonderful book The Ascent of Money has pointed out surprisingly poor financial literacy amongst even a vast majority of US citizens! Without financial literacy, individuals may fail to optimize their wealth creation and can be taken for a ride by unscrupulous players. In our country, financial literacy has the added dimension of promoting financial inclusion, which is a national priority and newest weapon to fight poverty.
3. Wealth management is a recent trend in Management. Whats your take on it?
I do not think it is so recent. The pursuit of wealth has been the favorite adventure of mankind for ages. In some religions, there are gods and goddesses of wealth. However, conserving and enhancing wealth has become more complex over the years with introduction of paper wealth in the form of financial instruments. Here comes the role of professional wealth managers who are likely to have a richer understanding of risk and returns of various avenues of investment.
4. Does financial sector require Product innovation?
To be sure, financial markets, like product markets, continuously need product innovation to accommodate changing risk appetite, investment horizons, pay-out preferences of investors. Increasing regulatory oversight, competition and stubborn volatility in asset prices has further led to search for better, more customized financial products. New financial products help in efficient allocation of capital and help manage risks better.
5. Is the education system efficient enough to develop the students to work in the industry?
In case of finance, there are many parallel educational systems operating simultaneously. The manufacturing sector still prefers CFOs with a strong accounting and regulatory background and training. However, the financial services sector is more b-school friendly. In case of b-schools, barring a few top tier ones, others have miserably failed to produce competent finance professionals. Most such finance majors end up at the relationship side of financial supply chain, which inherently is a sales profile. The biggest reason for this state of affairs is lack of competent faculty in finance and stress on theory rather than skill building.
6. Being the niche segment can corporate finance be a successful option for students as a career?
Well, according to a recent McKinsey report, only very strategically driven manufacturing firms prefer b-school graduates in finance roles. The role of typical finance managers in the vast majority of firms remains to be that of controller and treasurer, where professionals with accounting degrees have an edge. B-school graduates find better opportunities in services and emerging fields.
7. With efficient technology do you think banking and finance sector can change the financial conditions?
It already is! Take the example of Core Banking Solution of banks. How easy and cost effective it has become to transfer funds at minimum cost. ATMs/Net Banking/ M banking have cut costs as well as risks of handling cash. It is almost like implementing JIT to cash, leading to lower cash inventories and better returns.
8. 43% of individuals worldwide expressed a desire to fund their own retirement either through savings or by working later in life, perhaps part-time. Is it really an option at the age of 70 and above?
Better health care has vastly increased the life expectancy. People are living and working longer and better. The same trend is being witnessed in developing countries as well. Funding retirement through savings is nothing new. But when someone says that she wants to continue working even after retirement, it is never a retirement!
9. Risk Management is necessary component for any organization. Can student opt it as a career option?
It is going to be one of the hottest career avenues of tomorrow. Recent banking crisis, accounting frauds, securities scams have all put risk management in sharp focus. Newer perils like tsunami have forced the businesses to rethink their risk management practices. I feel that not only in insurance and banking sector, risk managers will be needed by almost every organization, even if it is a non-profit.
10. Increasing social media, internet, intranet, and mobile communication has created much impact on employees. Do you think this has facilitated the Finance sector as whole?
The ease of transfer of data in a secure manner through handheld devices or internet is changing the way people handle money. Mobile phones are being looked at as an instrument of bridging the digital divide, which is so crucial for financial inclusion. It has certainly facilitated the financial sector and is leading to dematerialization of money. In the past, wealth converged in paper, in the future; it will converge on memory chips!
11. What is your management mantra?
I strongly believe in blue-ocean strategy and leading the competition rather than reacting to it. Also, to quote Tom Peters, no amount of organizational politics can harm you if you can keep your ultimate consumer happy.
12. Any feedback for ManagementParadise.com?
It is doing a great service to management community. Kudos to the whole team.
13. Any mode of contact or link
I can be reached at ([email protected]).