Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad INTRODUCTION

n
THE NEWSLETTER OF THE IIMA ALUMNI COMMUNITY
OBJECTIVES
n

Alma Matters MISSION

n STATEMENT FOR
THE IIMA ALUMNI LONDON CHAPTER

BACKGROUND
n
ISSUE SPRING 2010
FEATURE
n

INTRODUCTION
Welcome to this edition of
Alma Matters, the newsletter
of the IIMA Alumni London
Chapter.
Published quarterly, Alma
Matters includes IIMA alumni
news and announcements
regarding upcoming events
and talks. Through it, we aim to
reach out to IIMA alumni not
only in the U.K., but around the
world. We hope it will give you
a quick glimpse of the
chapter's activities, as well as a
better sense of connectedness
with the institute.
OBJECTIVES
The IIMA Alumni London Trust
is registered as a charity in the
U.K. Its objective is to advance
the education of the public
about management studies. To
achieve that goal it provides
the following: (i) lectures,
seminars, educational
materials, and other facilities;
(ii) scholarships, grants, and
bursaries to students in
financial hardship; (iii) grants
for research and the
dissemination of its useful
results. The trust seeks to make
a meaningful contribution to
certain underprivileged
sections of society. It supports
education and vocational
training for girls in partnership
with another charitable
organisation.
MISSION
STATEMENT FOR
THE IIMA
ALUMNI LONDON
CHAPTER
The IIMA Alumni London
Chapter strives to bring
together business
professionals whose roots are
Indian but whose workplace is
global, and to support IIMA
graduates who are striving to
make an impact. The chapter is
particularly committed to
supporting women managers
and girls’ education with the
goal of having far-reaching
consequences for the future.
BACKGROUND
The IIMA Alumni London
Chapter was officially formed
in August 1999. The
association aims to provide a
forum for professional and
social interaction between
IIMA alumni. There are
currently more than 200 IIMA
alumni in the U.K. working in
sectors including finance,
consulting, FMCG, and IT
services. The range of batches
is from 1968 to 2009.
The IIMA Alumni London
Chapter organises regular
networking events in London
where alumni can exchange
ideas and get to know one
another. The chapter was
registered as a U.K. charity in
2006, with the objectives of
enhancing the IIMA brand and
aiding deprived segments of
society in the field of
education. As its first project,
the alumni body is sponsoring
girls’ education in the Mewat
region of India. The charity
aims to raise funds through
networking events, guest
lectures, race events and
donations from alumni.
FEATURE
Ms Falguni Nayar, Managing Director & CEO, Kotak Investment
Banking on ‘Women Leadership’ on 26th November 2009, London.
IIMA London based-alumni had the privilege of attending a talk
by Ms Falguni Nayar, an alumnus from IIM Ahmedabad at Barclays’
Canary Wharf Office.
Ms Falguni Nayar is Managing Director & CEO of Kotak Investment
Banking, a position she assumed in the year 2005 and Director of
Kotak Securities. In her current role, Falguni oversees the firm’s
activities in equity raising, private equity placements, mergers and
acquisitions and corporate advisory. She also oversees the firm’s
Institutional Equities business.
Falguni joined the Kotak Mahindra Group in 1993 to lead M&A
and project advisory initiatives. The following year she became
a part of the group’s international operations and was instrumental
in setting up Kotak Mahindra (UK) Limited, followed by Kotak
Mahindra Inc., US in 1997. During the eight years she spent overseas,
Falguni built some strong institutional relationships and was also
involved in numerous equity transactions (IPOs, FPOs, GDRs &
ADRs). She was also responsible for all business as well as regulatory
aspects of the firm’s international operations.
In 2001, Falguni moved back to India initially as co-head and later
to lead the group’s Institutional Equities business overseeing
sales, trading, equity capital markets, corporate access, block
deals and F&O activities. During this period, the firm witnessed
significant growth in terms of its revenues, market share and
competitive positioning. Falguni oversaw the successful
placement of various IPOs and also led the company’s marketing
efforts on GDRs and convertibles.
Prior to joining the Kotak Mahindra Group, Falguni worked as a
consultant with A F Ferguson & Co. from 1985-1993.
Falguni holds a Masters degree in Management from the Indian
Institute of Management, Ahmedabad where she majored in
Finance. She graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce degree
from Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics. Falguni
received the FICCI Ladies Organization (FLO) award for top
woman achiever in the field of banking. She is a founding member
of the Asia Society in India.
Talk Introduction
Amlan Roy thanked Barclays Capital and Barclays Bank for hosting
the event, Kotak Mahindra for Falguni Nayar’s presence and also
Falguni and Sanjay as well as the attendees. He remarked “It is a
privilege for us to have a woman leader present to the IIMA alumni
on Woman leadership”.
Dixit Joshi of Barclays Capital Equities Division Head of EMEA and
Asia Pacific welcomed the IIMA alumni. (Barclays Capital’s is the
world’s 3rd largest investment bank by revenues post crisis) Dixit
explained the importance of this event to Barclays Capital
highlighted the “People and Leaders at Barclays Capital”. He
mentioned the organisation’s focus on clients, teamwork and
delivering through excellent people. Looking for potential leaders
according to him is not just about who is smart, but who can also
work with and motivate smart people under them. IIMA is one of the
premier business institutes for producing such potential leaders.
This is evidenced by more than 60 IIMA alumni already at Barclays
Capital and its continued recruitment efforts in IIMA. He then
welcomed Falguni Nayar as MD and CEO of Kotak Mahindra.
Falguni Nayar thanked Dixit Joshi and Amlan Roy and was happy to
have her husband and children listen to her.
Excerpts of the Fireside Chat Talk
by Ms Falguni Nayar
Ms Falguni Nayar discussed lessons for talented women who want
to pursue leadership roles. During her talk she quoted personal
examples to describe enabling events that have helped her in her
journey.
In any institute of higher learning today, more than 50% are
women demonstrating the fact that women have equal
intelligence, education, passion and commitment. However
when one looks at senior management roles in most industries,
the number of women at top reduce to single digits or early
double digits. Something goes wrong somewhere in the middle
and Ms Nayar shared some perspectives on what she thinks goes
wrong and how it can be avoided.
One of the core issues that working women face is that they need to
play a dual role, i.e. they have to be both a manager and a home
maker. Being a home maker requires a lot of time and attention
which leads to high drop out rates amongst women as they progress
through their career paths. Other reasons for high drop out rates
include women not being the primary bread winner of the family
and lack of motivation. Women need to find meaning in their work
and feel motivated, especially during middle career years.
Organizations, superiors and family members can play a key role in
fostering this motivation. Simple things like communication from
seniors that women are needed at work and are good at their work
can lead to lesser drop out rates amongst women, especially post
child birth. Organizations that are sensitive to women and have
supportive policies like flexible hours, working from home and
crèches near the office have a higher number of women leaders. At
home, if a girl child is given equal opportunities and respect by her
parents and siblings, then she becomes more confident. Carrying
that forward, equal opportunities and professional respect for a
woman’s work by her husband makes her more secure enabling her
to become a successful leader at work.
Is there a glass ceiling? Ms Nayar doesn’t think so. She thinks that it is
all in a woman’s mind as she is afraid to commit to a senior level
responsibility. She urges women to give work their utmost
commitment if they want to pursue leadership roles.
Ms Nayar feels that a constant balance between work and home is a
myth. Hence women should prioritize and focus on a particular
activity at a particular time rather than try and achieve a balance on
an every day basis. Over time women can balance and try to make
up for things which they have neglected while concentrating on a
particular high priority task at one time.
In her talk Ms Nayar quoted a framework developed by McKinsey Key Announcement
that describes factors which are responsible for the success of
women leaders. The framework suggests that women need to find In July 2009, Mehmood Khan decided to commit himself to making
meaning and an inspiring purpose in their work, thus it is very the world a better place starting from Mewat, one of the poorest
important for women to find their strengths and put them to work. districts in Haryana. This meant quitting his corporate career and
Women have to make sure that they are in the right job where they spending more time in the villages working with communities at the
can find meaning. Women also need to manage their energies since grassroots level.
they need to multi task. Hence they should not get involved in
activities that drain their energy but focus on those which enhance We are proud of this admirable commitment to lead by example by our
their energy. If the work is interesting and feels like a flow then leader and chairperson of the IIMA Alumni London Association.
women will not find it to be a drudgery and will survive longer.
We would like to thank him for his contribution and efforts over the last
The framework also talks about women’s role in connecting and few years and look forward to his continued association with our
networking. One of the key ways to succeed is to identify people chapter.
who can help you grow and this comes through building stronger
relationships. Most women don’t do this very well. Women tend to
have deep and few networks in contrast to men who are
collaborative and have a wider network. Moreover women also
don’t want to ask for help. Ms Nayar urges women to network,
engage and be confident about accepting opportunities and take
risks.

With this message Ms Nayar concluded the talk and opened the
floor to questions. Overall it was an inspiring and personal account
where she highlighted the challenges that women face

IIM Alumni London Ltd Board

PRESIDENT:
Mehmood Khan
DIRECTORS:
Amlan Roy
Mohit Kumar
Prashant Girbane
Sampa Bhasin
Vanshree Verma
LEGAL SECRETARY:
Colin Marsh
EXECUTIVE SECRETARY:
Saurabh Gupta
IIMA CONTACT:
Saurabh Gupta
(Executive Secretary, IIM Alumni London Ltd Board, class of 2001)
Telephone : + 44-(0)79-1921-0143
E-mail : saurabh.gupta@unilever.com

Alma Matters Newsletter

EDITED BY (Spring 10):

Amlan Roy, Prashant Girbane and Saurabh Gupta

Design layout supported by Tata Consultancy Services