SAFANY Newsletter

Introduction to SAFANY

We are thrilled to announce the official launch of the South Asian Finance Association of New York (SAFANY). Recognizing a need for a dedicated community of South Asian professionals in finance, SAFANY aims to promote networking, community building, mentorship, and career development opportunities for South Asians in the industry.

We are grateful for the incredible support SAFANY has received over the past month and look forward to maintaining this momentum. We plan to circulate a quarterly event newsletter to keep everyone engaged and updated on upcoming events, opportunities, and news.

Q2 Event Summary

SAFANY hosted two events this quarter focused on private equity / private market individuals. Keep an eye out for future events, with one currently in the works for mid-July. For suggestions on future events, please fill out this form. We love hearing from you!

Private Equity Dinner Series

In collaboration with Mosaic, the world's leading digital deal modeling platform built by PE investors for PE investors, SAFANY hosted its inaugural private equity series dinner. What began with warm introductions and work-related conversations evolved into lively discussions about the Ambani wedding and our favorite Bollywood movies. And no, we won’t name those who haven't seen "Rocky Aur Rani" 😉 (you have until the next event to watch it though).

Private Markets Happy Hour

On the heels of the private equity dinner, SAFANY hosted a small happy hour for folks in private markets at Stout in Bryant Park. Special thanks to those who came to the event and made it a blast (and the Celtics / Pacers for taking the game into overtime).

Member Spotlight

Thank you to this month’s featured member, Akshat Podar, who sat down with us to talk more about his time the industry thus far. If you have questions for our members or someone that you would like to featured, please reach out.

Akshat is a Vice President at Lotus Infrastructure Partners, a private equity firm that specializes in energy and infrastructure investments. Prior to joining Lotus in 2019, Akshat was an investment banking analyst at Citigroup in the project & infrastructure finance team, focused on acquisition and financing-related transactions across power, energy, and infrastructure industries in North America and LatAm. Akshat graduated from Duke University with a B.S. in Economics (finance concentration) and a markets & management certificate.

SAFANY: Hi Akshat; it’s great to meet you. Can you start by giving us a brief overview of your background and how you ended up in private equity today?

Akshat: Thanks for having me! By way of background, I was born in Mumbai, India. My family and I moved to New Jersey when I was six-years old and we have been there ever since. As a first-generation Indian immigrant in the U.S., it was anything but a linear or clear path for me trying to break into Wall Street or even the broader finance industry. Over the years, I was lucky to have found and fostered an incredible support system in my family, mentors, and friends, all of whom helped me get to where I am today.

SAFANY: Having grown up in New Jersey, what motivated you to go to Duke and study economics?

Akshat: After finishing high school, I wanted to attend a university that had both a strong finance curriculum and a spirited student body. Also, as a lifelong basketball fan, I felt that Duke University was the perfect match for me. During my time in college, I not only had the privilege of witnessing Duke win the 2015 NCAA Basketball Championship, but also had the opportunity to learn from some of the most well-respected professionals in the finance industry while I was at Duke.

SAFANY: Did you end up getting to see Zion? What's your favorite memory from Duke?

Akshat: Haha Zion played at Duke after I had already graduated! But I did get to see Jayson Tatum during my senior year! Despite all my fun memories around Duke Basketball, my favorite memory from college is spending a summer in Nicaragua through the DukeEngage program investing in various local startups launched by rural women entrepreneurs and helping them scale up their businesses. During that summer in Nicaragua, I also got to go volcano-boarding, which is similar to snowboarding, but instead of snow, you ride down the volcanic ash of an active volcano!

SAFANY: Can you maybe speak a bit more about your time in investment banking? What did you like? What could have been better?

Akshat: Despite the long hours and stressful stretches in investment banking, I am very grateful for my experience. I believe it shaped me into the finance professional I am today: my time in investment banking not only gave me a solid foundation in financial analysis and modeling, but also allowed me to hone my communication, teamwork, and time management skills. The best part about the experience, by far, was the community and camaraderie that I was able to build with all my teammates – even after all these years, I am still close to several of them today and am proud to call them some of my closest friends and mentors.

SAFANY: What motivated you to join SAFANY and what does South Asian representation mean to you?

Akshat: When I was in college first trying to break into the finance industry, it often felt discouraging when I attended networking events for various firms where I could not see or identify anyone on their senior leadership teams that either looked like me or shared my South Asian heritage. In those moments, knowing that I was a first-generation Indian-American immigrant, I could not help but feel like I did not belong in this industry. This feeling only became more amplified as I struggled to find and connect with other South Asian professionals in the finance industry who had successfully navigated these hurdles around representation and belonging.

As someone who struggled with these feelings in the past, my primary motivation for joining SAFANY is to build and foster a community grounded in this feeling of mutual belonging for South Asian finance professionals. As a community, we should pool our collective resources and knowledge bases to support and uplift those around us, acknowledging that we are not alone on this journey and that there is space in this industry for all of us to grow and succeed, together – that is what representation means to me.

SAFANY: Most importantly, and I promise there are no wrong answers here, what is your favorite Bollywood movie and why?

Akshat: Haha this is a tough one! My favorite Bollywood movie is Kuch Kuch Hota Hai – I have so many core childhood memories watching this movie on repeat every Sunday night at my grandma’s house in Mumbai while I was growing up. It is a movie that I can watch any time and will instantly bring a smile to my face!

In Case You Missed It…

• Blackstone Bids on Historical Haldiram: A consortium led by Blackstone, ADIA, and GIC has submitted a bid to acquire a controlling stake in Haldiram’s Snacks Food (our favorite go-to Desi snack), valuating the business at ~$8.0 -$8.5bn. Haldiram’s is a family-run, Indian multinational company specializing in sweets, sacks, and restaurants. It is one of India’s most popular food brands, with over 410 snack products, and currently sells its products in 7mm outlets (including the USA, UK, Japan, and Russia) across several thousand distributors.

• Viswas (“Vis”) Raghavan appointed as Head of Banking and Executive Vice Chair of Citi: Citigroup appointed Viswas Raghavan from JP Morgan as the new head of banking and is expected to join Citigroup in the summer

• $700m Buyout Deal Shows New Ways for Liquidity in India: Indian private equity firm ChrysCapital has raised $700m in a continuation fund, with new investors including HarbourVest, LGT, and Pantheon, to maintain its stake in India’s National Stock Exchange (“NSE”). NSE is one of India’s top two exchanges and the world’s largest derivative markets.

Want to stay informed about upcoming events or know someone who would be interested in SAFANY? Have them fill this form to learn more and stay up-to-date on our distribution list!

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