Guest Lecture by Mr. Kamlesh Gandhi

The Finance Forum of Sydenham Institute of Management Studies, Research and Entrepreneurship organised a guest lecture delivered by Mr. Kamlesh Gandhi on 20^th November, 2014. He is currently a senior advisor at Centrum Capital and is an independent director in several companies. He has previously served as the group head of fortune financial services and has seen every aspect of investment banking in his forty years of professional experience.  

Mr Gandhi began the session by explaining the work done by investment bankers which is to raise the capital required by businessmen to fund their enterprises. He elaborated that it is a very competitive field with high entry barriers and immense rewards for the successful. IB is a time consuming field and knowing how to balance work and life is very important. Transactions are done in huge amounts and an ethical compass which guides the person is required.  

Sir then shared his rich and varied experiences and the lessons learn along the way in his professional journey. He got an offer to work in a boutique investment banking firm while he was a student at Sydenham Commerce College. He would spend a lot of his time at his workplace. He believed that the practical knowledge he gained at his workplace could not be matched by what he could gain in a classroom. His first lesson was that he had to earn his place in office by the merit of his work. He had to visit a client in a different part of the country on a day when flights were cancelled. He managed to do this which created a lot of trust in the client who has always been with him. Commitment to work makes the client have faith in our ability to deliver.

He also told us about the importance of passion in our work. A promoter he met was beginning a business in a very bad economic environment. However he saw that the man had a dream and put all his efforts into raising capital for him. This become a very large business over time and the initial investors he got on board respected his abilities. Some of his subordinates he mentored have reached great heights and have made him proud. By helping others grow, you grow along with them.

By the end of the session, he shared a great deal of knowledge with the batch which was very enriching. We are grateful to have him on campus and look forward to more interaction with him in future.