CFA Society India and PRI Joint Workshop on Sustainable Investing

Amit Tandon is the founder Institutional Investor Advisory Services India Limited (IiAS) and its managing director since July 2011. Before IiAS, Amit was the managing director and CEO of Fitch Ratings: India from October 2001 to June 2011.  Prior to joining Fitch, he was with the ICICI group for 17 years (from May 1984 – September 2001), where he rotated through various roles and businesses including project finance, leasing, and the merchant banking division.  His last role with the ICICI group was as head of investment banking at ICICI Securities. Amit is a member of the SEBI advisory committee on ESG and their committee to review the takeover code. He has been a member of various other committees, including the Kotak Committee on Corporate Governance, the Reserve Bank of India’s Technical Advisory Committee on Money, Foreign Exchange and Government Securities Markets, a member of one of the working groups convened by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs to review comments received on the Companies Act and a member of the disclosure sub-group on the Ministry of Finance’s Task Force on Sustainable Finance. He is a member of the governing body of the Foundation for Audit Quality. Amit studied economics at St Stephens College, Delhi and has an MBA from the Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi and has an MPhil degree from the University of Cambridge, UK.
 

Anusha Seshadri is the Head of Middle East, North Africa & India at the UN-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), where she leads engagement with investors, regulators, and key stakeholders to advance responsible investment practices and foster enabling environments for sustainable finance across these markets.
Anusha brings extensive cross-sector experience spanning sustainable finance and global capital markets. Prior to joining PRI, she served on the COP28 Presidency team, where she led initiatives to mobilize private capital for climate solutions, advanced green capital markets, and collaborated with regulators and standard setters to shape frameworks for climate finance. 
She has also worked with global NGOs, including WWF and WWB, advising on innovative product design and fund structuring to mobilize private capital, and forging partnerships to scale nature-based solutions and gender-lens investing. Earlier in her career, Anusha worked with Citigroup Capital Markets across Asia-Pacific and North America, advising institutional investors on portfolio allocation and risk management, and leading capital raising for private markets strategies. 
At PRI, she draws on this diverse experience to drive the adoption and implementation of responsible investment and ESG frameworks, helping align capital flows with sustainability outcomes and evolving regulatory expectations.
Anusha holds an engineering degree from Anna university, India, and an MBA from Columbia Business School, New York.

Hardik is a seasoned sustainability and ESG leader with over 17 years of experience spanning ESG research and integration, climate and carbon advisory —bringing a deep understanding of how sustainability factors impact investment performance.

At DSP Asset Managers, he spearheads sustainable investing initiatives, partnering with investment teams to embed ESG insights into investment processes and deliver integrated solutions for clients in India and globally. He is also working on a launching and managing a sustainable public equities strategy focused on climate mitigation and adaptation solutions, affordable healthcare and financial inclusion.

Previously, at GMO, Hardik built and led the firm’s global ESG capability across asset classes since inception. His work included developing proprietary tools such as a country-level ESG model and the GMO ESG Score, supporting integration and stewardship efforts.

Earlier, he led a global ESG research team at Sustainalytics, contributed to ESG Ratings at MSCI, and climate change advisory at Ernst & Young.

Hardik holds an engineering degree, a postgraduate diploma in Finance, the CFA charter, and sustainability credentials including FSA (SASB) and SCR (GARP).

Director, Climate and Sustainability Initiative (CSI) and Visiting Senior Fellow at London School of Economics - Labanya has 20+ years of experience in financial services, green finance, and international development. He is a Director at the Climate and Sustainability Initiative (CSI). Additionally, he serves as a Visiting Senior Fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). He earlier worked with the CEEW, IEEFA, CPI, Commonwealth Secretariat, UNDP, WRI, and Asian Development Bank (ADB). Labanya is an avid writer on climate and green finance. He co-authored a book, “Net-Zero Trio: Synchronizing Technology, Business, and Policy for Green Transition,” published by Bloomsbury.

Mohan Kumar Prabhu, CFA, FRM, currently serves as the Director, Investment Consulting at Aon Consulting India and heads their Investment Consulting Strategic Client Delivery Solutions business. As part of this role, he leads a team of investment professionals, investment product specialists and full stack technology professionals, responsible for creating market leading digital solutions for portfolio analytics, performance reporting and performance attribution, ESG analytics and reporting, climate modelling and fund manager research for Aon’s clients globally. He has over 20+ years’ experience in the financial services space with expertise in investment consulting, ESG analytics, investment banking, corporate finance, business research, corporate governance research and GCC/offshore delivery management. Prior to Aon Consulting India, he has worked with InGovern Research Services, DSP Merrill Mynch, Bank of America and WNS Global Services in various financial services roles. Mohan holds an MBA in Finance from Welingkar Institute of Management, India and an undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from Manipal Institute of Technology, India. He is also a CFA charter holder and FRM charter holder and is an active volunteer member for the CFA Society of India. He sits on CFA Society’s Research and Advocacy committee and co-chairs the CFA Society’s Sustainability Working Group. He was awarded the CFA Institute Emerging Leader Award in 2024 for his volunteering contributions. He is also a Certified Ethics Trainer with CFA Institute India. He has taken several training sessions on ESG Investing, Ethics in Investing and several other investment topics as a guest faculty for post graduate students at management institutes.

Nimisha Pandit, CFA, is a seasoned investment professional with over 16 years of experience in equity research, financial analysis, investing and training. Nimisha is a CFA Charterholder, has completed the Chartered Accountancy course of ICAI, and holds a Master of Arts degree in Economics. Nimisha is AMFI-registered Mutual Fund Distributor and a long-term value investor who enjoys studying companies to understand their business model, moat, management, financials and valuations. She has been researching Indian & Global companies for years, earlier as part of her job and now for her personal investments. Previously, Nimisha served as an Associate Director and Head of Research at Multi-Act, an investment outfit offering research, advisory and portfolio management services.  As Multi-Act’s head of research she was responsible for providing independent, unbiased, and objective analysis to Multi-Act’s portfolio managers, investment advisors, and institutional research clients. As an Associate Director she was also involved in developing and implementing business strategies. She also briefly worked with Club Millionaire, a PMS firm as a Senior Analyst. Nimisha also volunteers at CFA Society of India and has given honorary lectures at various investment and academic forums. 

Rajesh is the Managing Partner at Equanimity Investments. He is a board member of the CFA Society India. He is a long-term investor with tremendous breadth and depth of experience, managing early stage investments, private equity and public equity funds for over two decades. He has on-the-ground experience across emerging market countries, analysing various industries and businesses spanning different stages of their lifecycle. He has been active in the Indian startup ecosystem since 2007 when he made his first startup investment. Since then, he has been a prolific angel investor, having invested in over 20 startups. Rajesh is a Wharton alumnus in addition to being an XLRI Management graduate specializing in finance and marketing. He is a CFA charter holder and has earned a Post Graduate diploma in Securities Law from Mumbai University.

Shamit is currently Director on the Board of the Indian Association of Investment Professionals (CFA India Society). He is the Chairperson for the Professional Learning Committee at the Society. Shamit brings with him ~16 years of rich and diverse industry experience across a range of functions including portfolio advisory and research, manager selection, investments, product development, asset raising, institutional clients and global strategic partnerships. Prior to joining ICICI Prudential, Shamit was associated with Reliance-Nippon Life Asset Management and Nippon Life Insurance group where he led offshore India investing, set up the international funds franchise for the joint venture and advised Indian equities and fixed income funds domiciled across Asia and UK. Shamit pursued a Masters of Business Administration (Finance and Strategy) from the Carroll Graduate School of Management at Boston College, USA.  He also holds a Masters of Commerce (Sydenham College, Banking & Finance) and Bachelor of Commerce (H.R. College, Accounting) degrees from the University of Mumbai, India. He has extensively travelled and lived in several countries, interacts regularly with the global institutional investor community and nurtures a passion to enjoy different cultures. 

Shivani Suvarna, CFA, is an Associate Vice President at Impact Investment Exchange (IIX) in Credit Portfolio Management with a primary focus on the Women’s Livelihood Bond™ Series.  She has over 5 years of experience in the credit space, having worked with HSBC and India Ratings and Research previously. She is a Chartered Accountant and CFA charter holder, and volunteers with CFA Society India.

Shreenivas works as Senior Lead, Investment Research and AI, at HDFC AMC. In this role, Shreenivas leads HDFC AMC’s work in the application of AI and deep tech in investment decision making. Shreenivas has over 25 years of experience in various investment roles in India, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore. Before joining HDFC AMC, Shreenivas served as the Director of Content at CFA Institute and worked as the Trading Strategist at Citi in the Japanese and Indian markets. He also speaks the Japanese language. As a CFA Society India volunteer, Shreenivas has worked closely with members and regulators, conducting workshops on AI and machine learning applications using Python. He has led research initiatives and authored articles on a wide range of investing topics. Shreenivas is passionate about spreading financial awareness and emphasizing the urgency of environmental conservation. He is also a long-distance marathoner and an avid fitness enthusiast. Shreenivas was awarded the CFA Charter in 2003. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree from IIT Bombay and a Certificate in Investment Performance Measurement (CIPM) from the CFA Institute. 

Adjunct Professor & Independent Consultant Former Country Head, CFA Institute India - Vidhu Shekhar is the former Country Head, India for CFA Institute. Mr Shekhar had a career spanning more than three decades in India and abroad, including the National Stock Exchange of India, IDBI Capital Markets and as Managing Director of E*Trade Systems (India) Pvt Ltd. He is a CFA charter holder and founding member of CFA Society India. He was also the Vice President and member of the Board of CFA Society India for several years.  Mr Shekhar has an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and a degree in Physics from Delhi University. He has contributed extensively to policy advocacy and research throughout his career and has been a member of several industry and regulatory committees during his career. He is currently a visiting professor at several business schools and teaches courses related to corporate governance, sustainability and ethics. 

Vishal is a sustainability professional having worked in diverse consulting and corporate roles for past 20 years. He is currently working as Head ESG for a Private Equity firm – Multiples Alternative Asset Management Limited. He has unique blend of consulting and corporate experience in driving ESG & sustainability and making businesses future ready. He has deep expertise towards making sustainability integral part of business decision making. He has earlier worked in consulting role with Ernst & Young (EY) in area of sustainability, climate change, energy efficiency and renewable energy. He has also worked with other large conglomerates like Tata, Mahindra and Aditya Birla Group. He has been associated as ‘Catalyst’ with MIT Climate CoLab project that is driving global effort on Climate mitigation. He has also worked as adhoc – expert with United Framework on Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC) on various climate change assignments.

Currently he is also associated with prestigious Global projects on ESG:

1. He is on Technical Advisory Committee of Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi)
2. He is member of Sustainability Reference Group (SRG) constituted by IFRS - International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB)
3. Human Rights & Social Issues & Spring initiative run by PRI
4. He is on Global Advisory Committee of RE100 – Program run by The Climate Group

In free time he enjoys hiking, reading, travel and sports.