The industry stalwarts discussed the topic – ‘Financing India’s growth story.’ The event was flagged-off with the keynote speech by Dr. Shailesh J Mehta – President, Granite Hill Capital Ventures. In his insightful speech Dr. Mehta highlighted the economic opportunities presented to us and how we Indians should cash in on the aura we have created as a global community; everything Indian, from Bollywood to Venture Capitalists, weddings to bindis, is in vogue today. On the other hand he cautioned us, alluding to problems like infrastructure crunch, growing divide between the haves and the have-nots, red-tapism in our procedures and other such factors he felt could act as impediments to India’s growth. As a remedial measure he stressed the need for India to gradually shift from a rule-based economy to a principle-based economy and providing a fair playing ground for SMEs.

This was followed by a panel discussion which saw stalwarts from the industry such as Mr.Saurabh Singhal – Head Global Markets, Deutsche Bank; Mr. Gaurav Gupta – Vice President M&A;, Kotak Investment Bank; Mr.Jayant Dasgupta – Associate director, Institutional Sales, HSBC; Mr Vikas Goel – Executive Director, Head of Treasury & Money Markets, Calyon Bank CIB. The discussion started on the burning topic of sub-prime debt in the US market and its effects on the global markets. The panellists also discussed issues related to the underdeveloped debt markets and their comparison with our booming equity market, and issues related to funding India’s growth story. The discussion went into the depths of finance and the greatly enlightened the minds of all those present.

The panel discussion was followed by talks, the first one by Mr. Anup Kapadia – director N M Rothschild & Sons (India), who gave a stimulating insight into how the mega acquisitions of our times are being funded. To illustrate India’s recent success story he presented the case studies of Tata Corus and Bharti Telecom, elucidating his hypothesis with a finance background. It was followed by a talk from Mr. Ajay Prakash – Head, Economic Research, SMERA , who gave an intriguing account of the status of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in India and how rating them parameterises the risks associated with them.
The closing event was a workshop by ace investor, Mr. Rakesh Jhunjhunwala – Investor and Partner, Rare Enterprises. He enthralled the audience with a comprehensive account of his investment philosophy, touching upon everything from his initial struggle to his big breakthroughs. He described his strategy of value investing and its ethical treatment. He also threw light on the development of Indian equity markets and on India’s growth story. In his signature style he moved effortlessly from market fundamentals to humorous quips, enchanting the audience along the way.

The Corporate and students from various other b-schools who attended, greatly lauded the efforts put in by SJMSOM students in organizing Finance Continuum 2007. They all commended the opportunity to interact with the eminent speakers and the great learning experience that they had had.