DSP Merrill Lynch President Kevan V Watts, who has been in India for around a year, is candid enough to admit that he does not understand India. Watts, who has been busy working out the strategy for DSP Merrill Lynch and Bank of America&rsquo;s combined operations in India, however, says his understanding has improved during his stint in India. In an interview with Sidhartha, he shares his plans for the companies and his impressions of the Indian markets.

'India funds are very crude now'

Business Standard

Despite the slowdown, Arvind Sodhani, president of Intel Capital, the venture arm of chip-maker Intel, has been busy closing deals. Last year, Intel Cap made 62 new and 107 follow-on investments in portfolio companies worldwide. In all, it invested $1.59 billion in 2008 ($1 billion was invested in Clearwire). Since 1991, Intel Capital has invested more than $9 billion in over 1,000 companies in 46 countries.

'We're eyeing a Wimax deal to exhaust our entire fund'

Global reinsurer Swiss Re does not see any competition from regional players, such as General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC), which have been expanding their footprints in the recent past. In an interview with Sidhartha and Shilpy Sinha, Swiss Re&rsquo;s Chief Economist Clarence Wong says that the insurance industry will grow keeping pace with the economic growth in Asia.

&#39;General risk segment to put up better show than life this year&#39;

After relying on wholesale deposits for the past few years, Singapore-based DBS Bank is planning to diversify its liability mix and acquire retail liabilities through the eight new branches it opened in India last year. DBS Bank India General Manger and Chief Executive Officer Sanjiv Bhasin tells Sidhartha and Sudeep Jain how the retail market is evolving and why his bank is not planning to enter the retail assets space any time soon.

Retail banking will be an evolving space for a long time&#39;

The venture capital (VC)/ private equity (PE) industry needs to be encouraged as such investments create jobs and help establish companies in new sectors. There is also a strong case for incentives for investors in these funds, says Saurabh Srivastava, chairman of the Indian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (IVCA), in an interview with Vandana Gombar. He also talks about the growth trend in the industry.

'Venture capital is not hot money'

Bajaj Finserv, the financial services arm of the Bajaj Group, has recorded a net profit of Rs 42 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2009, as against a loss of Rs 36 crore in the corresponding period last year. Sanjiv Bajaj, managing director of the company, tells Business Standard that the growth was mainly driven by the group&rsquo;s life insurance firm.

We&#39;re very cautious about growth&#39;

ICICI Bank Managing Director &amp; Chief Executive Officer Chanda Kochhar spoke to Business Standard after announcing the bank&rsquo;s first-quarter results.

'We look at ways to change the world'

Chennai-based Indian Bank has reported a 52.40 per cent rise in net profit for the quarter ended June 30 to Rs 331.6 crore as compared with Rs 217.6 crore in the first quarter of the previous fiscal. After announcing the results, Bank Chairman and Managing Director MS Sundara Rajan tells Business Standard that one of the main reasons for this growth is fee-based income, which he says will continue to be a focus area for the bank.

'Interest rates will continue to remain the same'

Reserve Bank of India Governor D Subbarao addressed a press conference after presenting the first quarter review of the monetary policy.

&#39;Challenge is to raise credit flow&#39;

Rakesh Mohan, who was appointed Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India in September 2002, moved to North Block two years later as secretary, department of economic affairs, during P Chidambaram&rsquo;s tenure as Finance Minister, only to return to RBI after eight months.

&#39;We&#39;ve handled crisis much better than anyone else in the world&#39;

While general insurance companies are offering discounts to woo customers, Bajaj Allianz intends to stay away from price wars and focus on good quality business. In an interview with Shilpy Sinha, Chief Executive Officer Swaraj Krishnan said that there was a need for the industry to have self regulation.

Prudent risk pricing is the key

With $45 billion inward remittances in 2008, India saw the largest transfer of foreign funds in the world, according to a recent World Bank report. The 150-year-old Western Union Financial Services, which entered India in 2001 with about 3,000 outlets, is the largest private player with over 50,000 agent locations across India. Anil Kapur, its managing director, South and South East Asia, tells Anirudh Laskar that the challenge is to grow in rural areas, where 60 per cent of the remittances go.

'Removing cap on remittances will spur further growth'

Amid the ongoing global recession and financial turmoil, Union Bank of India is benefiting from its new strategy. The bank now needs Rs 2,000 crore to fund its expansion plans. In a wide-ranging interview, Union Bank of India Chairman and Managing Director M V Nair tells Abhijit Lele and Sidhartha that a part of this amount is expected to come from the government and that, to plough back money, the bank intends to wait till its net interest margin (NIM) reaches 3.24 per cent.

'We want sufficient NIM to plough back funds'

Mark T Robinson took over as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Citi South Asia earlier this year, when delinquencies in the retail portfolio were high. In an interview, the former head of Citi&rsquo;s operations in Russia tells Sudeep Jain and Sidhartha that consumer loan losses have peaked and the descent has started. He also talks about his strategy for the financial services company with focus on traditional banking.

'A flight to simplicity is an industry trend'

Yes Bank is the youngest private bank in India &mdash; it is just five years old. Having gained a strong foothold in corporate and institutional banking as well as commercial banking, it is currently on a drive to tap the vast but somewhat amorphous market for small enterprises. Yes Bank Founder, Managing Director and CEO Rana Kapoor is confident that the potential is huge and risks close to none.

'Small businesses spell big opportunity'

In recent months, Development Credit Bank (DCB) has made news for all the wrong reasons, including the distinction of being the only bank to report losses in 2008-09. In a wide-ranging interview, the bank&rsquo;s Chairman, Nasser Munjee, tells Sidhartha that the worst is over and DCB will be profitable in the second half of this year. Besides, he reveals that DCB, in which the Aga Khan Foundation holds 25.1 per cent, is looking to divest stake to a strategic investor.

'Development Credit Bank planning a meaningful stake sale this year'

Stuart Arthur Davis comes to India as Chief Executive Officer of HSBC after a seven-year stint in Australia. Davis, who has been with HSBC since 1981, believes that the creation of infrastructure in India is a big opportunity for banks as is the consumer-lending space. Davis tells Shobhana Subramanian and Sidhartha that although the worst may be over, Indian companies in India appear to be cautious when it comes to taking a decision on capital expenditure.

It's too early to talk of a revival'

K V Kamath is preparing to move across the corridor on the 10th floor of the ICICI Tower to his new cabin, which is under renovation now. While he will continue to get a view of the terrace garden and the waterfall, which he himself conceived, his role will change from today &ndash; he will now be the non-executive chairman, a job that his mentor Narayan Vaghul performed for over a decade.

'The mood is clearly changing'

After registering profits for three years, SBI Life has reported a loss of around Rs 26 crore during 2008-09 due to mark-to-market provisions of around Rs 100 crore on its equity portfolio. SBI Life Managing Director &amp; CEO U S Roy tells Shilpy Sinha and Sidhartha that the country&rsquo;s third-largest life insurer has a better year ahead thanks to the investment that has gone into strengthening the distribution infrastructure and also due to improvement in the market environment.

''SBI brand will help grow business by 50%'

Following the global financial turmoil, banks are reworking their strategy. Yes Bank Managing Director &amp; CEO Rana Kapoor tells Sidhartha that the focus is back on branch banking &mdash;the bread and butter business &mdash; which holds the bank&rsquo;s future strategy.

'We do not have a compelling proposition for retail'

The second half of 2008-09 saw Reliance Capital going slow on loans as raising funds was a problem. Besides, its revenue from distribution of financial products was affected and the number of life agents also dropped by over 60,000. Though the overall environment seems to be improving, Reliance Capital CEO Sam Ghosh tells Anirudh Laskar and Sidhartha that the company is opting to be cautious.

'We will add more employees in future'

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