Gurdev Singh Vedi, who took charge as Punjab &amp; Sind Bank's chairman and managing director last month, has a long list of things on agenda, starting with putting in place a core banking solution (CBS) that will also help the bank set up off-site automated teller machines (ATMs). In an interview, he tells Manojit Saha about the bank's plan for an initial public offering (IPO) next year.

'Our immediate goal is to be a Rs 1-trillion bank'

Business Standard

Chanda Kochhar says she is now totally focused on three segments: home, automobiles and infrastructure project financing, not necessarily in that order. The Managing Director &amp; CEO of India&rsquo;s second largest bank is already walking the talk by organising roadshows all over the world to showcase upcoming highway projects. Excerpts from an interview with Shyamal Majumdar.

'Expect $100 billion infrastructure investment in 36 mths'

Tekkar Yashwanth Prabhu, who took charge chairman and managing director of Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) in late August, has been quick to adjust to the new surroundings. In his first interview after taking charge, Prabhu tells Manojit Saha that he now understands that the bank needs to improve the share of low-cost deposits and increase its branch presence.

'Emphasis on Casa means better margins for the bank'

Axis Bank, the country&rsquo;s third-largest private sector bank, has traditionally grown at a breathtaking pace, but Shikha Sharma believes that pace will need to come off somewhat. Sharma who took over as the chief executive officer and managing director in June this year is, however, confident that the bank will continue to beat the industry growth rate and sustain the margins and return ratios.

'There will be some small changes, but no dramatic shifts'

Gaby Abdelnour is JPMorgan&rsquo;s chief executive officer for Asia-Pacific. He was in India to meet clients amid a rush to raise resources and spoke to Sidhartha about his impressions of the recovery and the firm&rsquo;s plans for India.

'You are in the driving seat once you are among top 3'

HDFC entered into the non-life insurance space eight years ago in partnership with Chubb. The tie-up was ended in 2007 and a new 74:26 joint venture was formed with Ergo, a Munich Re subsidiary, in 2008. In his first interview, Ritesh Kumar, managing director and chief executive officer of HDFC Ergo General Insurance, speaks to Shilpy Sinha about where the company stands today and the way ahead.

'Our losses are in line with the global experience'

Bank of Maharashtra is adopting the strategy of going for specialised branches for both retail loans and recovery of bad debts. The Pune-based lender has recently received Reserve Bank of India&rsquo;s (RBI&rsquo;s) approval for opening three dedicated retail asset branches and five for specialised recovery branches.

&#39;Credit was the main growth driver in Q2&#39;

Micro finance is at the heart of bringing about changes in the social sector through self-help groups VIPIN SHARMA, CEO of Access Development Services, which is organizing a summit on the issue this month, tells Sreelatha Menon that microfinance institutions have to now move from creating financial capital to social capital.

'There is a tension between scale and soul in microfinance'

Red Fort Capital, an international real estate fund founded by GB Singh, Parry Singh and Subhash Bedi, has invested nearly Rs 2,000 crore in the Indian real estate sector and claims that it is one of the few funds to have invested even in the downturn. The fund plans to invest an additional Rs 1,500 crore in the next one-and-half-years in India&rsquo;s real estate sector and plans to soon launch a non-banking finance company.

'No point killing the golden goose by hiking realty prices'

The financial sector in the country is seeing significant changes. The global meltdown has made investors and financial advisors take a relook at their investment portfolios. Policy-makers are also taking measures to strengthen the system and protect investors&rsquo; interests. Sanjiv Bajaj, joint managing director of financial advisory firm Bajaj Capital, tells Vrishti Beniwal that long-term investments without tax sops do not do well in any market.

&#39;Long-term investments without tax sops don&#39;t do well&#39;

UN Secretary-General&rsquo;s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development, Princess M&aacute;xima of Netherlands, opened the annual conference on microcredit in New Delhi. In an interview with Sreelatha Menon, she says competition alone can keep microfinance rates low.

&#39;The services MFIs are bringing to their clients are amazing&#39;

RBI Governor D Subbarao explains the rationale for the moves announced in the second quarter review of the monetary policy in an interview with Sidhartha.

&#39;Inflation has become a bigger concern&#39;

ICICI Bank&rsquo;s Managing Director and CEO, Chanda Kochhar, spoke to Business Standard after announcing the bank&rsquo;s second-quarter results.

'Our balance sheet is still bigger'

Helion Venture Partners is one of the few venture capitalist that successfully closed its second fund of $210 million. With this, the total fund raised by Helion for investing in companies has gone up from $140 million to $350 million. The company has fully invested the first fund. Despite raising its second fund, the company has made no new investment so far.

'Syndicated deals are here to stay'

The downturn in the global economy affected most investment bankers and Standard Chartered, with virtually no significant deals achieved in this financial year so far, is no exception. However, the UK-based bank, which has a special focus on Asian markets, is working on two deals that could make it the top deal-maker at the end of the year. The bank is co-advisor to Bharti Airtel in its merger talks with South Africa&rsquo;s MTN Group.

&#39;Rationale for IT deals remains compelling&#39;

With the economic situation improving, merger and acquisitions (M&amp;As) are back on the radar as companies look to gain size. Though companies are still cautious, given the experience over the last few months, DSP Merrill Lynch Managing Director and Head of Investment Banking Saurabh Agrawal tells Abhineet Kumar and Sidhartha the appetite for M&amp;As will improve in the coming days.

&#39;Appetite is coming back for M&A deals&#39;

Investment expert Mark Faber says he&rsquo;s bearish on the world economy.

'Another crisis likely in 3-5 years'

The insurance industry is undergoing a makeover. While the commission structure for unit-linked insurance plans (Ulips) has been revamped, an expert committee has suggested that agency commission be done away with in three years. Similarly, the general insurance industry is coming to terms with the post-tariff era.

'The commission-free structure will kill the insurance industry'

A successful entrepreneur and now an investor, Avnish Bajaj, the managing director of Matrix Partners India, has seen both sides of the investment cycle. In 2004, Bajaj and Suvir Sujjan, co-founder of bazee.com, sold the portal to ebay. Since 2006, Matrix Partner India has invested in nine companies through its $300-million India-dedicated fund. Its largest investment was Rs 100 crore in education firm FIITJEE.

'You have to believe in collective market wisdom'

With an aim to increase credit growth by at least 20 per cent and maintain a capital adequacy ratio of 12 per cent over the next two-three years, Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) has recently submitted a capital requirement plan for nearly Rs 1,400 crore to the government.

'Difficulty in raising money overseas puts pressure on expansion'

Nikhil Puri, managing director of Ambit Corporate Finance, has served with some of the largest investment banks in the US like Arthur Andersen, Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns. In his 12-year career, he has been instrumental in executing over 45 strategic and financing transactions in the life sciences sector. One of them was representing Betapharm of Germany in its sellout to Dr Reddy&rsquo;s Laboratories.

Page 45 - Interviews