BS People: Upendra Kumar Sinha

Financial fire-fighter

You would think that the head of an industry lobby group would agree with the industry. But that’s not the case with Upendra Kumar Sinha, chairman & managing director of UTI Asset Management Company, the country’s fourth-largest fund house, and the new chairman of sector body Amfi.

The former bureaucrat is a vocal critic of mutual funds opting for the easy way of tapping corporate and bank funds to shore up assets under management numbers. Besides, he has often voiced concern over fund houses not pushing products to retail investors.

Sinha was among the first to spot problems with non-banking finance companies and real estate players. As a result, months before the financial crisis hit, UTI AMC had stopped subscribing to paper issued by these firms.

Over the years, Sinha has come to acquire a reputation as the government’s fire-fighter. Be it rescuing financial institution IFCI through a Rs 1,000-crore package to avoid default, or protecting the interests of erstwhile Unit Trust of India investors, the former IAS officer has been involved with the financial sector for nearly a decade now.

Even at the height of the crisis, Sinha was part of a government team that worked out the liquidity requirement for the financial sector, which involved some unconventional measures. Recently, he chaired the committee on foreign investment that recommended greater transparency. The 58-year-old from Bihar has already made his intentions clear about his new responsibility. “My priority will centre on investors and investor servicing,” he said soon after taking charge.