In-Conversation with Vijayanand Venkataraman, CFA

CFA Society India had the pleasure of interviewing Vijayanand Venkataraman, CFA for its current edition of member newsletter.

Siddharth: Congratulations on your appointment as Director-Elect! What key initiatives and priorities are you focusing on to drive impact within your new role?

Vijay: We are at a crucial point in the journey of CFA Society when we will no more be a teenager and turn 20 in the next few months and the challenges we will face are different. In addition, we have a very young and an aspirational membership base. One of the key priorities would be to drive the society to become a self-sustaining organization, balancing the needs of the members and the society.

Siddharth: You have a rich background in leadership, wealth management, and entrepreneurship. Could you share some highlights of your professional journey and the pivotal experiences that shaped your career?

Vijay: While there are few firsts to do, the pivotal point was advising the House of Tatas on a couple of transactions early in my career that made me realize the importance of Ethics and Integrity in business decisions. That experience also was a boot camp of sorts on building and growing an enterprise that places the client at the Centre of the enterprise in practice.

Siddharth: How has the CFA program contributed to your career progression and skills development, particularly in wealth management and entrepreneurship?

Vijay: My journey started in early 2000s and ended with obtaining the charter in 2017. After completing my L2 in 2005, I dropped off after I started managing money for Hedge funds in 2006. The decision to complete the program played a significant role in my launching of the Wealth Management venture. When I prepared for Level 3, I realized the gap in the market offerings and the opportunity in Wealth Management in a transforming economy like India with sweet demographics.

Siddharth: As the founder of Wealth Yantra Technologies Pvt Limited and VAVE Asset Services LLP, what have been the most rewarding and challenging parts of leading these companies in a rapidly evolving finance and tech space?

Vijay: I transitioned from Investment Management to Wealth management. A crucial but often overlooked difference is the difference in the objective function – from returns to probabilities. It took us time to understand this. And in Investment Management – we work with a single Investment objective and making this transition to working with each family with different objectives was a challenge (and was a huge learning). The most rewarding experience is the smile on the clients face when we simplify their finances. In most cases that is what is required. From my standpoint, technology is an enabler to standardize our processes and grow. Finance is comparatively slow to evolve while tech evolves at the speed of light!

Siddharth: For young and passionate CFA Charterholders who are looking to transition into leadership roles in wealth management and business strategy, what advice would you offer based on your own experiences and insights from the industry?

Vijay: With the growing interest in Passive investing and an India transitioning into a higher band of the middle-income country, there would be more opportunities in Wealth Management than Investment Management. At the risk of sounding cliched, continuously learn and be empathetic to fellow team members. The skills as you grow in your career is very different that what is required at early stages. While some of the skills you pick up at work, some will need more work by the individuals. Just like compounding is back ended, so is career in financial services. So, patience is important.

About Vijay Venkataraman, CFA

Vijayanand Venkataraman, CFA has over 20 years of experience investing in global markets and is the Founder of Wealth Yantra Technologies Private Limited, a SEBI Registered Investment Advisor. Till 2012, he was based out of Hong Kong, managing multi-asset portfolio for Global Investment Firms. His expertise spans asset classes that include Equities, Convertible Bonds and High Yield Credit as well as hedging the global macro and tail risks using derivative structures.  Vijay Holds an MBA from BIM, Trichy and is a Graduate of Financial Mathematics/ Quantitative Finance from University of Chicago, IL, USA

About Siddharth Jain, CFA

“Siddharth Jain is a CFA Charterholder, FMVA designated, and did MBA in finance. He has over 12 years of experience in finance, valuation, and analysis. He worked at S&P, Resurgent, Deep Industries, E&Y and currently working at RKL LLP (a client of Staffing Global Network LLP) as a Senior Valuation Analyst. In his current role, he works on target company valuation (M&A), Private company valuation, Equity compensation valuation, and finance due diligence projects. He recently wrote a book “Business Valuation: A handy guide for Beginners and Professionals” which has been well received by the readers in India & abroad. Siddharth is an active volunteer of Public Awareness Committee (PAC) of CFA Society India”