BS People: Nitin Jain

Badminton fan hired by UBS

Nitin Jain, the new business head of fixed income, currencies and commodities at UBS in India, plays badminton to keep himself fit. But, he candidly admits his fitness is nowhere near the desired level as his busy schedule leaves him with very little time to play.

“I was very active in sports during my school days. Now, I hardly get time. I play badminton but I am not a regular,” says Jain who joined the Swiss bank from Japanese financial services firm, Nomura, earlier this month.

When Jain set off from Rajasthan, banking was a far removed prospect. He studied in a local school in Jaipur before moving to Delhi to join the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT). After graduating, he spent a year helping his father in their family business.

He then joined the Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata (IIM-C) to pursue management training and was hired by ICICI Securities in 1994 as part of the campus recruitment programme. Jain rose through the ranks to become the group head of ICICI Securities’ fixed income business.

In 2007, when ICICI Securities hived off its fixed income business into a separate entity, Jain became the managing director and chief executive of the new company, ICICI Securities Primary Dealership.

However, a year later, he quit to start his own business and set up Decuple Finsec to offer portfolio management services to high-net-worth individuals. “The timing was not right. Financial markets across the globe collapsed and the venture was not successful,” he admits.

So, when Jai Rajpal, the co-head of fixed income at Nomura approached him, Jain accepted the offer. At Nomura, he was the co-head for the fixed income business for India and was responsible for the rates and foreign exchange business, along with liquid credit.

At UBS, he will be responsible for similar businesses. Jain will report to Thomas Siegmund, head of fixed income, currencies and commodities for the Asian region (excluding Japan), and Aashish Kamat, the chief executive of the Swiss bank in India.

Besides playing badminton, Jain prefers to spend his time reading books and watching movies. He is a big fan of action and thriller films and makes it a point to visit the theatre whenever there is a new release.