BS People: Rajan Mehta

Finance Pro switches to healthcare

Rajan Mehta, 48, is famous in the financial sector for bringing in exchange traded funds (ETFs) in India. He was a part of the founding team at Benchmark when it introduced ETFs at a time when very few people had even heard of it. Now, as the company has been taken over by Goldman Sachs, he has decided to pursue other interests.

Mehta is hoping to repeat his success in healthcare management. Along with his doctor friends, he has set up a health care solution company – Mycare Health Solutions Pvt Ltd. “Financial planners take care of your financial needs and the solution he provides is customised. Similar advice and planning is needed for healthcare,” he said.

In India, healthcare needs have started to attract attention off late but costs are soaring. Moreover, there is no planning for healthcare needs over the long term—as a person gets older, his requirements change and planning for that also changes.

Unfortunately, in India, the system is structured in such a way that the more frequently a person falls ill, the more money the intermediary makes. Mehta plans on changing that. “We are developing a business model by which income of intermediaries increases if person remains healthy,” says he. Mehta declined to divulge more details but said the model was undergoing tests and results were encouraging.