Sharing ideas in India

The atmosphere was slightly grimmer than in the past as limited partners expressed their doubts with some of the new fund managers and the industry's ability to sustain retains in the near future. Of course, Indian GPs don't necessarily agree and continue to express optimism in certain sectors of the economy. Comparisons with China came out frequent topic at the conference as local GPs renewed their rivalry with Chinese investors, who have, as region, successfully returned more profits to investors. Most Indian GPs, however, were more willing to learn about what makes Chinese a success and apply the lessons learned to Indian private equity.

As usual, I was particularly impressed by our keynotes. The conference started with a bang as Ashish Dhawan, arguably India's most successful private equity professional, took center stage. Ashish, who first spoke at an AVCJ Forum more than 10 years ago, discussed how he and his HSB classmate, Raj Kodur, founded ChrysCapital (Chrysalis Capital back then) and the challenges that they faced as a pioneer fund in a nascent market. This includes convincing investors of the potential of the Indian market, building a team that complements each other and the finding the best way to invest in India's growth.

Ashish went on to explain that educating India's masses will become an impediment for the nation's continued growth and hence his decision to move on and focus substantial talents on non-profit ventures in the education space. He was recognized later in the evening, at the AVCJ India Awards (see page 13), with the Achievement Award for his contributions to the industry in India and the rest of Asia.

On a different note closer to private equity, AEA Asian chairman Bill Owens, who opened the second day, shared his thoughts on how private equity is (most of the time) a force of good and that the industry should come together as a whole to take the initiative and make its case better known to governments, entrepreneurs and the general public. "Most of us take good companies and improve them. We create better businesses and create more jobs," he told the captivated audience.

Indeed, this is being done in the West with their local associations and industry lobbying bodies like the Private Equity Council. In Asia, while there are a number of organizations active in this space, like Australia's AVCAL, most Asian associations will still need to add such activities to the great jobs they are doing to service the industry itself. It is time to evolve and share the wonderful story our industry has to tell. Doing it in a consolidated and coordinated way is another story.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Save this article  
• Send to  

• Topics
• South Asia
• GPs
• India
• Ashish Dhawan
• ChrysCapital Management
• AVCJ Awards