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  • Andrew McRobert
    Principal at Andrew McRobert and Associates January 1997 to January 2000 ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK (ADB) Senior Investment Officer, Risk Management, Private Sector Group (PSG) 1983-1991 Various positions in commercial banking in Australia 1977 - 1983 Citicorp Australia Limited 1972 - 1977 Coopers & Lybrand, Chartered Accountants DIRECTORSHIPS Former: 1. Director, Xiamen International Bank, Xiamen, PRC 2. Director & Honorary Treasurer, Forsight Foundation for Deaf/Blind 3. Advisory Board Director, Pan African Infrastructure Development Fund Currently: Committee member, Risk & Audit Committee, South African Red Cross Society ​ Honors Degree in Business Studies, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland (BBS) Qualified as Associate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia (resigned 2001) Elected Fellow of the Securities Institute of Australia (FSIA) in 2001 Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) (2002) Completed AICD Company Directors Course (April 2003), passed the Company Directors Course, and was awarded an Order of Merit with Pass grading (GAICD) Granted MA by Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland in 2011 ​ Developed and presented a 2-day credit and loan administration course for the OPEC Fund for International Development (‘OFID’). Developed and presented a 3-day SME banking course for Saudi-Hollandia Bank in Riyadh. Appointed facilitator for the “Fundamentals of Directorship” program by the Australian Institute of Company Directors (‘AICD’). Appointed facilitator for a short-form course in reading & understanding financial statements by Governance Institute of Australia (formerly Company Secretaries Australia). Developed a 5-day credit course for Crown Agents (UK) and presented it twice in Accra, Ghana. Converted an existing Risk Management Association program ‘Building Small Business Loan Relationships’ for Australian application; Converted an existing Standard & Poor’s program ‘Developing a Corporate Credit Rationale” for Asian application; Andrew ran the program 9 times in Australia, Singapore & Hong Kong. Created and wrote a 1-day seminar to assist lawyers to read & understand financial statements called “Financial Literacy for Lawyers, Directors, and Investors”, published by Thomson- Reuters. Created, wrote & presented a 3-day seminar for a bank in Indonesia: “Credit in the Indonesian Textile, Clothing & Footwear Sector”. Wrote the Corporate Finance module for a securities industry training program for the Hong Kong Securities Institute. Wrote and presented, as part of a Securities Institute of Australia (SIA) team, a complete securities industry training curriculum to the Stock Exchange of Sri Lanka, funded by the World Bank. In South Africa, the largest banking group described the "Advanced Corporate Credit" seminar as "probably the best of its kind in the world” and commissioned Andrew to present it to their entire corporate banking group in 1994. Principal trainer for the SIA in credit and financial analysis seminars for the public seminars division of the SIA. Designed, developed, and chaired a major two-day seminar in Sydney entitled "From the public sector into the private sector", dealing with the issues involved in developing and implementing corporatization and privatization for public sector assets.
  • Fosters excellence in:
  • Arun Kumar Sharma
    Arun Kumar Sharma is President of Grovepike Associates. Mr. Sharma is a global leader in structured finance and has pioneered securitization and related structured products in a range of markets and is widely considered as one of the pioneers of blended finance as well as climate finance. He was the Chief Investment Officer at the IFC where he led a wide range of pathbreaking transactions in areas such as infrastructure, renewable energy, agribusiness, affordable housing, trade finance, distressed debt, and financial institutions and fintech. He now serves as a senior advisor to a range of global corporations and international agencies, including Mastercard, AXA Insurance, and the International Finance Corporation (IFC/World Bank). Mr. Sharma also serves as a non-resident Senior Fellow at the institute of international finance and as non Resident associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC. He also advises the Board of Grass Roots Trading Network for Women, an Indian nonprofit organization linking women micro-entrepreneurs to markets on fair and equitable terms.
  • Jacqueline Kressner
    Co-Founder of FemCy & Female Health Tech Advisor Jacqueline started her career in Finance, working as the Nordics & Benelux Sales Associate for Man Investments, a global investment firm in London. After 5 years she moved to Asia to launch Sports Illustrated Asia (ASN Ltd.) and ran the Sports, Health & Esports Digital Media platforms in the Philippines. She is a keen advocate for women’s health & wellbeing (a trained Health Coach, Ayurvedic Consultant, and Motivational Speaker) and in 2018 she left SI Asia to pursue her career as a FemTech entrepreneur. She became the Ambassador of Women Of Wearables in Asia, graduated from the Harvard Entrepreneur Business online program, and was accepted as part of the Antler Accelerator Program (July 2019: Cohort 3) in Singapore to co-found her FemTech company, FemCy. FemCy is a personalized menstrual wellness platform for women in Asia, providing a complete in-app solution for symptom management and cycle optimization through AI and expert-led modifications. She is a true believer in bringing the most innovative Tech solutions to women’s reproductive health issues around the world and advises FemTech companies looking to launch in Asia.
  • John C. Cook
    Chairman, Rock Lake Advisors GmbH Director, Travelx / Scandid / YFret Technologies John Cook is Chairman of Rock Lake Advisors, which he founded in 2009 following a successful career in international business & financial services. He hails from Milwaukee, Wisconsin and has spent his entire professional career in London, Brussels, Frankfurt and Zurich. His prior corporate positions included Director, WJ Hopper & Co Ltd (London); Abteilungsdirektor and Head of Global Equity Origination, Security Pacific Merchant Bank / Bank America (Frankfurt); Senior Account Executive, Merrill Lynch International (Brussels); Managing Director, Univestors Family Office (Brussels); and Associate Marketing Director Middle East, International Harvester (Brussels). John serves on the boards and advisory boards of several organizations including Kyron Capital Limited, Wishpoint Inc. (Scandid, Travelx), YFret Technologies, Viamagus Technologies and MR Access. John is a member / supporter of the Swiss Private Equity and Corporate Finance Association (SECA); Horasis Global Visions Community; InvestEurope; Swiss American Chamber of Commerce; Swiss Indian Chamber of Commerce; and Thunderbird School of Global Management. John is Chairman Emeritus of the Thunderbird Global Private Equity Center, a thought leadership platform he founded at Thunderbird School of Global Management in 2004. He was awarded the distinguished Jonas Mayer Award, chaired the Thunderbird European Alumni Association and is a long-standing member of the Thunderbird Leadership Councils. John graduated cum-laude with a BSIM from the Krannert School of Management at Purdue University (1974), completed the pre-med curriculum at University of Washington (1977), obtained an MBA in International Management from Thunderbird School of Global Management (1979), and has completed advanced management studies at Oxford University, England
  • Rakesh Agarwal
    Ex-UBS & Citibank Rakesh earned his MBA from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM- Ahmedabad) and a B.Tech from IIT, Delhi. He worked with Citibank & UBS for 25 years. Through the years, he has been an active investor and entrepreneur. He founded and managed various enterprises and has served as an active board member at Sony Entertainment Television, India, and World Media Group, Singapore. In the past, he has served as the Chairman of the East Asia Credit Committee at UBS.
  • Dr. Lawrence Duke
    MBA, Harvard Business School, ex-IMF, Citibank Lawrance holds a B.S (Mechanical Engineering), MIT, USA & MBA, Harvard Business School, Class of 1984. He has held senior international management positions at Citigroup, International, Monetary Fund, Nomura Securities & State Street Boston Corp. From June 1984-Nov 2002, he was an Editorial Review Board member, The Journal of Investing New York, NY. From Jan 1992 to the present, he holds various roles of Advisor at Local/Regional and international companies. Lawrence has also been a Faculty Advisor at Drexel Investment Group and has been a Clinical Associate Professor (Marketing) at Lebow College of Business at Drexel University.
  • Suneil Kucchal
    MBA, FMS, New Delhi Bachelor of Commerce, SRCC Suneil Kucchal has over 20 years of experience in value investing and momentum trading using fundamental & technical analysis- specialized in customized indicators & currency trading. He is a Certified "Gold" currency trader at Apiary(USA) (a currency Hedge Fund) & manages funds for 3 other such funds in USA, Canada, and Australia. He has 34 years experience in Financial Services, Building Commercial Banking, Shared Services & Payments Businesses that create financial value through well integrated technology & customer focused operations. Specialties: Trading Equity & Forex Markets using technical algorithms & fundamental analysis. Driving Business Transformations - Strategy, Operations Management & Technology projects with measurable business outcomes, Startups and business unit turnarounds.
  • Arif Khan
    MA, BA (Hons), St. Stephens College Arif Khan currently holds the position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at MAC Management Group, Jakarta & Singapore. He has worked in various organizations such as CIC Group, Jakarta as an adviser, PT Bank CIC International Tbk, Jakarta as the Chairman, and Standard Chartered Bank PLC, New Delhi. Multi-dimensional international business and finance professional with more than 37 years of progressive experience in the management of new organizations and in leading change. Global trading and risk management expertise as Group Treasurer in the major financial centers of New York and Hong Kong; experience in London and in the Philippines, India, and Indonesia in the areas of asset-liability management, market risk management, and financial restructuring; profitable track record.
  • Fosters excellence in:
  • Fosters excellence in:
  • Mohan Kulkarni
    MBA, Harvard Business School, ex-Citibank Mohan holds a B.Tech from IIT, Mumbai, and an MBA from Harvard Business School (class of 1981). A leader and innovator, he has been an international Banker with more than 30 years of experience in all aspects of the banking and BPO industry, spanning various countries in Asia and the Middle East. He has worked at L&T, Citi, HSBC, and other organizations. After a successful banking career, Mohan founded a Business Process Outsourcing Company, “FinSourceInc.”, which was acquired by Tele Tech USA in Nov.'05. Subsequently, Mohan served as the CEO of TeleTech India.
  • Fosters excellence in:
  • Prof. Viney Sawhney
    Faculty, Harvard University A. Background Professor Viney Sawhney has 25 years of executive experience at Citicorp, National Bank of Bahrain, and Kuwait Asia bank (1967- 1993) where he held senior-level positions (Senior/Executive Vice President) managing a group of over 100 employees and was responsible for meeting profit center earnings targets. Professor Sawhney has three decades of financial services industry experience prior to joining Harvard University. He launched three start-ups during his working career one of which was in India and the other two were in the USA and the Middle East. B. Professional Qualifications He has a Master's of Science degree from MIT’s Sloan School of Management and has authored a thesis on the “Privatization of Energy Sector in India” under the supervision of MIT’s Center of Energy. In addition, he has an (i) MBA, (ii) Bachelor of Laws, and (iii) Bachelor of Accounting & Commerce from the University of Delhi, India. He is a frequent speaker at Harvard Business School and MIT’s energy forum. C. Knowledge Sharing & Training Venture Capital and Fund Raising, Private Equity and Investment Banking, Technology and Innovation, Strong Networking, Creative and Resourceful, Leadership, Strong Work Ethics & Team Work. ​ D. Strong Independent Ventures and Start-ups Professor Sawhney, as Chairman and CEO, launched his first independent venture involving the floatation of a publicly quoted financial services company made up of 10,000 shareholders at the Mumbai (India) stock exchange in the year 1986. He successfully exited the firm in 1989 making significant capital gains. Profession Sawhney articulated the design and concept of a “Development Bank” under the supervision of Bahrain’s Ministry of Finance and National Economy dedicated to serving the underserved community of the Island state. The project was completed in record 9 months and continues to flourish as a viable financial institution. His third start-up included setting up a venture-funded finance boutique in Boston devoted to promoting energy-related infrastructure projects in emerging market countries. The firm assembled a workload of $2.2 billion over a 7-year period. He manages a boutique investment banking practice in Massachusetts and has strong networking amongst investors, lenders, and leading corporates within and outside the country. E. Academic experience As a key member of the Finance team in the faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University, Professor Sawhney teaches four finance courses namely “Project Finance”, “Investment Banking”, “Private Equity” and “Venture Capital”. He has earned top honors by appearing on the Dean’s List at Harvard several times and has received “excellent” student reviews for the past 7 years. He has delivered high-level “Project Finance” related seminars at Pratt and Whitney, a subsidiary of United Technologies, Mann of Germany & Exim Bank of France, Paris, and several other leading corporates around the world. Professor Sawhney is frequently invited as a Key Note Speaker in international forums and travels frequently to China and India for this purpose.
  • The School of Venture Capital fosters excellence in
  • Fosters excellence in:
  • Shweta Luthra Mathur
    M.Sc., University of Oxford, B.A. L.L.B (Hons) Shweta supports about 20 workplaces in her capacity as an External Member of the Internal Committee. She conducts awareness sessions on the Sexual Harassment of Women at the Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2013, as well as the Prevention of Child Sexual Offences Act 2012. She has conducted over 150 awareness sessions and has been a part of about 40 plus inquiries on sexual harassment. Her Ph.D. research, which she is still pursuing on a part-time basis, is focused on the socio-legal aspects of fitness to plead and stand trial in English and Indian Courts.
  • Fosters excellence in:
  • Fosters excellence in:
  • Fosters excellence in:
  • Praveen Suri
    Ex-Bank of America & Citibank Mr. Praveen Suri, based in the United States, along with Mr. Arvind Mathur, will provide training in derivatives trading. Praveen has several years of global exposure in Citibank, Bank of America, Standard Charted Bank & ABN-Amro Bank. He led investment funds and high net worth banking teams in Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and the United States. He has worked in various locations such as Singapore, Miami, Dubai, Mumbai, New York & various Latin American countries. Praveen has managed portfolios of derivatives of US-listed stock indices as well as FX and commodities for over a decade. Besides being a derivatives strategist and trader, Praveen is a specialist in financial technology and an alumnus of the prestigious Indian Institute of Science and St. Stephens College.
  • School of Venture Capital
    Venture capital drives startups, disruptionand ambitious entrepreneurs. But for every successful, disruptive, trailblazing start-up, there are dozens of other businesses that fail, even after receiving multiple infusions of capital. Exploring the multifaceted issues that investors face over during market cycles, venture capital raises your level of investment expertise. As you examine the full range of industry models, from venture capital to growth equity to buyouts, you will learn how to build more effective investment strategies for your firm and adapt your approach to rapidly changing conditions. Evaluate the impact of market cycles so you can move on opportunities with the most potential, apply best practices for making investments, both within your borders and in other countries & assess opportunities in emerging industries The venture capital courses will lift the veil on one of the most exciting and perhaps least transparent areas in finance. Case studies will be discussed in each course.
  • Course Overview
    Venture capital and angel funding have become critical elements in the start-up, entrepreneurial, and capital market scene. Unlike in the past, billions of dollars are now being allocated to these asset classes, despite their high-risk high-return risk profile. The factors driving this change will be discussed interactively in the Masterclass. New business models attracting venture capitalists are disrupting old approaches and with the potential to innovate and create billions of dollars of value and unicorns. New investors - large and small- are entering these asset classes including sovereign wealth funds, angels, and high net-worth individuals. ​ Challenges to the strategies of leading venture capitalists like Tiger Global, Softbank, and Sequoia Capital will be analyzed and discussed with case studies including the new area of crypto and blockchain. ​ The inner working and, structure of venture capital funds will be analyzed. The characteristics of deals that attract the top VCs and angels will be identified. ​ How the top VCs source deals and what they regard as the key ingredients of successful entrepreneurs and their investment rationale will be discussed interactively. VC’s methods to add value to portfolio companies will be illustrated. ​ The attributes and the operating methods of angel investors will be identified. Case studies of successful investments will be used to highlight key lessons. ​ The challenges faced by start-ups will be identified. Particular emphasis will be placed on how start-ups can scale successfully. Examples of start-ups that have scaled exponentially will be provided. ​ The methods of valuing start-ups at various stages will be covered. The capital structure and the role of the option pool in incentivizing and aligning the interests of founders, staff, and investors will be illustrated. ​ The structuring of various types of exits, the risks involved and their implementation will be shown with examples. ​ Finally, in order to drive home key techniques, the crescendo will be a negotiation game, facilitated by the Course Director, which will be played by all participants to prepare and negotiate VC term sheets.
  • Previous Masterclass
    Over the past 13 years, the International Institute of Venture Capital, Private Equity and M&A (IIVPM) delivered 100+ Masterclasses across the globe in Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Dubai,  Mauritius, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, the  Harvard Business School (Cambridge,Massachusetts, USA).,New Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. The list of previous masterclasses are given below.
  • International Institute of Venture Capital, Private Equity and Mergers & Acquisitions (IIVPM)
    Private equity Venture capital M&A Investment strategies for sovereign wealth funds, Valuation LBOs Fixed income Investment banking Distressed investing, Risk management, Bourse Game, Credit risk analysis, Derivatives IIV
  • Dr. Narhari Rao
    Ex-Deputy Country Director Asian Development Bank Dr. Narhari Rao was the Deputy Country Director at the Asian Development Bank, India Resident Mission. Before joining the ADB, he worked in the Ministry of Commerce, Government of India, and also held various assignments in the Government of India. He holds a D.Phil. in Economics from Oxford University and Bachelor’s degree from St. Stephens College, New Delhi.
  • Anjana Narain
    Anjana Narain brings 30 years of experience with major pharmaceutical companies such as CSL, GSK, Merck, and Bayer. She is currently the Managing Partner and Founder of Twenty Four By Seven Strategies LLP, a global business advisory firm and Founder & CEO of Sehat Sevika LLP, facilitating digital access to primary healthcare in rural India. Anjana is a key note speaker with recent appearances at Sankalp Global Summit 2022 roundtable discussing Innovative financing in primary healthcare in India and the Women Economic Forum Silicon Valley roundtable to discuss The Impact of the new normal on the Healthcare sector. She was featured by Womany.net, the largest women’s network in Greater China in their Global Women’s Impact Forum in 2018 as a keynote speaker. She was a panelist in the 2019 Women of Substance with Superpowers sponsored by Seniors PGA Tournament and WRAL TV in RTP North Carolina, USA. Narain completed the General Management Program at the Harvard Business School in Boston, Masters of Business Administration from the University of New Haven in Connecticut and Bachelor of Arts from RG College in India. She has a track record of strategic vision and strong leadership delivering industry-leading performance and sustainable growth in large scale biotechs and pharmaceuticals. Narain has extensive global experience, living and working across three continents, including North America, Europe and Asia.
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Arun Kumar Sharma

President of Grovepike Associates

Arun Kumar Sharma is President of Grovepike Associates. Mr. Sharma is a global leader in structured finance and has pioneered securitization and related structured products in a range of markets and is widely considered as one of the pioneers of blended finance as well as climate finance.

 

He was the Chief Investment Officer at the IFC where he led a wide range of pathbreaking transactions in areas such as infrastructure, renewable energy, agribusiness, affordable housing, trade finance, distressed debt, and financial institutions and fintech.

 

He now serves as a senior advisor to a range of global corporations and international agencies, including Mastercard, AXA Insurance, and the International Finance Corporation (IFC/World Bank).

 

Mr. Sharma also serves as a non-resident Senior Fellow at the institute of international finance and as non Resident associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC.

 

He also advises the Board of Grass Roots Trading Network for Women, an Indian nonprofit organization linking women micro-entrepreneurs to markets on fair and equitable terms.

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