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China’s Race for Global Leadership in New Energy Vehicle Market
Published on September 9, 2019 by Ruochen Shen
China’s new energy vehicle sector
High growth
According to China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), in 2018, the production and sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) in China stood at 1.27m and 1.26m, respectively, up 59.9% and 61.7% year-on-year (yoy), respectively. Driven by economic growth and favorable government policies, China’s NEV market experienced a CAGR of 141.5% from 2013 to 2017, outperforming the global market (CAGR of 16.2%) significantly. By the end of 2018, China’s NEV sector accounted for c. 4.5% of the overall domestic automobile production (2022 estimate: 12% share).
Clear leadership position in the global NEV market
China, home to more than half of the world’s NEVs, is the largest NEV market worldwide. In 2018, Chinese sales topped 1.26m, while US sales were just 358,000.
Table 1. NEV sales (000 units)
Source: CAAM, Frost & Sullivan
Preference for battery EVs (BEVs) over hybrids (HEV) and plug-in hybrids (PHEV)
Since the BEV is considered to be a zero-emission vehicle, it has been the preferred choice over the other two types, accounting for more than 60% of China’s NEV sales volume in the past five years. In addition, in 2017, China had the highest share of BEVs in NEVs (64.1%) vs. 27.3% for the global market. According to Frost & Sullivan, China has become the largest BEV market (54.3% of the global share, expected to grow to 64.6% in 2022).
Key drivers of China’s NEV growth
Strong regulatory push from central government
In the 13th Five-Year Plan, the national government introduced a series of policies and incentives to drive NEV growth, including national and local subsidies, taxation benefits, and development of charging infrastructure. Take Shanghai for example. The total number of charging piles in the city has reached 210,000, meeting the demand for the city’s 240,000 electric cars. Data released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) showed that subsidies totaled 19bn yuan during 2016-17. The MIIT is leading a 15-year plan (2021-2035) to support the NEV industry’s development and optimize industrial layout.
Car-plate restrictions in major cities
Owing to severe traffic congestion and air pollution, seven cities in China – Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Hangzhou, and Guiyang – have imposed a limit on the number of car plates issued each year, relying on lottery or auction. The total number of car plate applicants from these cities reached 6.1m by end-2017, representing a huge unmet demand. They could be converted to prospective EV buyers. However, in recent years, with the strong performance of NEVs, their sales volume in cities with no limits on vehicle purchase has been increasing, indicating their reliance on polices is decreasing and the evolution of the NEV industry is gradually shifting from policy-driven to market-driven developments.
Price advantage enjoyed by domestic players
Locally manufactured NEVs have several structural advantages over imported models owing to the absence of customs duty, lower manufacturing costs, and the availability of government subsidies. Frost & Sullivan compared the MSRP in the EV SUV category in China between domestic players and foreign manufacturers. It found that the retail price of the NIO-ES8 and BYD SONG EV300 is RMB448,000 and RMB266,000, respectively, while that of Tesla’s Model X 75D is RMB965,000. In addition, local NEV manufacturers benefit from ample manufacturing capacity, better understanding of Chinese consumers, and low-interest government loans.
Outlook for NEV market in China
Gradual easing of subsidies
In December 2016, several Chinese ministries jointly issued a policy to reduce subsidies for NEV buyers, effective 2017. In February 2018, the Ministry of Finance and four other ministries proposed a new scheme for subsidizing the NEV sector, setting stricter technological requirements for NEV makers. Cars with a driving range of less than 250km no longer qualify for any subsidy; the threshold last year was 150km. Central government subsidy reduced 40% yoy between March 26 and June 25 this year, and 60% after June 25. Subsides will be phased out by the end of 2020. With the subsidy policy change, NEV demand in China is being driven by consumer-led dynamics from the earlier government-led policies.
Table 2. Subsidies in NEV sector
Source: Chinese Ministry of Finance
Impending competition
Currently, there are c. 500 registered NEV manufacturers in China, with a total capacity of 3.9m units annually, or c. 3x the current sales level. Foreign brands have a small presence in China (c. 5% share). As global automakers seek to expand in China, a storm is brewing in the Chinese NEV market. Tesla is constructing Gigafactory Shanghai, with plans to significantly increase the affordability of Model 3 in China by reducing transportation and manufacturing costs and eliminating certain tariffs on vehicles imported from the U.S. In addition, Japan-based Nissan Motor, in partnership with Chinese automaker Dongfeng Group, plans to launch as many as 20 NEV models by 2022. Participation of foreign carmakers may result in better product offerings and more competitive prices.
Bullish growth outlook
Shenzhen Gaogong Industry Research (GGII) estimates the NEV market in China to continue to lead automobile growth, expanding to c. 2.3m in 2020 and 2.7m in 2021. BYD – China’s largest producer of electric vehicles – said cuts to subsidies would not impact the industry’s long-term growth and the leading companies would increase their market share. NIO, the first homegrown premium EV brand in China, reported that the production and deliveries of the ES8, its first mass produced premium electric SUV, reached 12,775 units and 11,348 units, respectively, in 2018. Over time, China’s NEV industry will likely have adequate room to grow.
How Acuity Knowledge Partners can help players in the Chinese NEV sector
For domestic NEV manufacturers, the absence of government subsides, technical upgrades, and brewing competitive storm are the biggest challenges. To continue to develop and stand out, local players, especially start-ups like NIO, are actively finding ways to overcome bottlenecks. For foreign brands eyeing China’s NEV sector, their expansion may face a bumpy road, as this segment is affected by policy uncertainty and the preference of locals.
Acuity Knowledge Partners leverages its global and local knowledge to offer market insights and theme-based research vital to players in the sector making important business decisions. Our professional services include industry research, risk mitigation, monitoring programs, and regulatory analysis.
Sources:
1. NIO Inc IPO Registration Statement
2. NIO Inc 2018 Annual Report
3. BYD Company Limited 2018 Annual Report
4. China Automobiles EV Corporate Day takeaways: Pain extending by Goldman Sachs
6. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201907/05/WS5d1e24a3a3105895c2e7bbfc.html
7. http://www.chyxx.com/industry/201801/605723.html
8. http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1107228.shtml
9. https://www.baidu.com/link?url
10. http://www.newsgd.com/news/2018-02/06/content_180721294.htm
What's your view?
About the Author

Analyst, CPB
Ruochen Shen is an Analyst of IB team at Acuity Knowledge Partners, Beijing office. She is proficient in conducting industry and company research on both qualitative and quantitative basis. Prior to joining Acuity Knowledge Partners, Ruochen worked in commercial banking industry and was responsible for Intermediary Business Management. Ruochen holds a BSc in Economics from Tianjin University of Science and Technology, China, a MSc in Finance from Renmin University of China, and a MSc in Applied Economics from University of Bath, UK.

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Tong Chen
Senior Associate, IB
Has associated with Acuity's for around 4 years supporting US-based investment banks’ Asia Pacific division. Currently the team leader of one IBD team, duties including financial analysis, company profile, industry research, IPO and bond issuance materials preparation, peers benchmarking, etc. Bachelor of Statistics from Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, and Master of Finance from Hult International Business School (San Francisco Campus)


Zahin Mohammed
Associate, FMS
Zahin Mohammed has over 4+ years of experience in the financial services industry. His expertise areas include investment banking, writing market commentaries, attribution reports and client reporting. In his current role at Acuity Knowledge Partners, he provides support in fund marketing services for the asset management industry. Zahin holds an MBA in Finance from Vellore Institute of Technology.


Achini Udugama
Delivery Lead, Commercial Lending
Achini is Delivery Lead at Acuity Knowledge Partners’ commercial lending team in the Colombo Office. She has over 6 years of onshore experience in corporate lending. Prior to this, she was part of the corporate banking team for a local bank in Sri Lanka. She has a Master of Economics and a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka.


Sandani Fernando
Associate, FMS
Sandani Fernando is currently part of the Fund Marketing Services (FMS) team at Acuity Knowledge Partners. She supports and contributes to digital marketing strategies for clients, handles marketing collateral projects for finance-related content and periodically updates and maintains digital marketing assets. She has over two years of experience in content management, marketing production, finance and capital markets. Sandani holds a degree in business management and finance. She is a CIMA passed finalist and is currently preparing for her master’s degree in Business Administration.


Shamila Deen
Delivery Manager, Commercial Lending
Shamila Deen has over 12 years of banking experience in corporate lending. Prior to joining Acuity Knowledge Partners, she supported the local arm of a leading international bank; an Islamic bank in Doha, Qatar; and a local commercial bank in Colombo, Sri Lanka. She holds a BBA from Northwood University of Michigan, USA, and an Advanced Diploma in Management Accounting from CIMA, UK.


Supuni Dharmasena
Analyst, Commercial Lending
Supuni Dharmasena is an analyst with over a year of work experience in supporting the Commercial Lending team at Acuity Knowledge Partners. Her responsibilities involve writing credit reports, covenant monitoring and risk rating.
She is a CIMA Passed Finalist and a CFA Level I candidate.


Manish Mohan Raj
Delivery Manager, Forensic Testing
Manish is the delivery manager and subject matter expert for the forensic testing compliance practice. He has over 8 years of experience in the financial services industry. Prior to joining Acuity Knowledge Partners he worked as an associate with Goldman Sachs - GSAM Compliance. He was part of the global forensics team and was part of the marketing and portfolio management compliance team. Manish was also part of the controls management team for the asset & wealth management team at JP Morgan and was part of the HSBC KYC remediation team for multiple lines of business.


Mahima Sahney
Delivery Lead, Compliance
Mahima Sahney has over 9+ years of experience in compliance and Investment banking having worked for firms including Ameriprise Financial. Her expertise spans across compliance and risk sector, focusing on compliance reviews of Electronic Communication. At Acuity Knowledge Partners she is part of the central compliance team and specializes in Electronic Communication review. Mahima is a post graduate (Masters of commerce) and hold a degree from Bundelkhand University Jhansi.


Gaurav Sharma
Delivery Manager,Private Equity and Consulting
Gaurav Sharma has over 11 years of experience across various leading research firm. He works as an Oil & Gas (O&G) subject matter expert based out of India. Gaurav has worked closely with strategy teams of O&G supermajors and Oil Field Service companies, as well as with energy team of one of the leading management consulting firm. He is an MBA from University of Petroleum and Energy Studies and also holds a BE degree in Mechanical.


Yashas Gilganchi
Senior Associate, Investment Research
Yashas has about 5 years of experience in investment research and capital markets. In his 6+ months experience in Acuity Knowledge Partners, he has been working on the real estate sector as a Senior Associate. He is proficient in financial modelling, understanding and interpreting debt issuance term sheets, assessing changes in capital structure and its impact on cost of capital and understanding evolution of capital under Solvency II regulations. Yashas holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Management (Majors in Corporate Finance and minors in Macroeconomics).


Khushboo Periwal
Senior Associate, Investment Research
Khushboo has over 2 years of experience in equity research on various sectors. She has recently joined Acuity Knowledge Partners and is working in Real Estate sector as Senior Associate. As an equity research analyst she has worked in US and Australian markets and is proficient in modelling, forecasting and valuation. Khushboo holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Management (Finance) and a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering (Information Technology).


Archana Anumula
Assistant Director, Quantitative Services
Archana Anumula has more than 12 years of experience in economic research. She is proficient in writing country-specific economic reports and short notes on macroeconomic releases and in building and maintaining large databases, among others. She has been with Acuity Knowledge Partners since 2011, and currently manages the Economics Research Support team that carries out sell-side research for a global investment banking firm. She is adept in managing accounts, teams, and pilot projects. Prior to joining Acuity Knowledge Partners, Archana was at the Research division at UBS ISC (Cognizant) and Infosys BPM.
Archana Anumula holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Master of Economics from Bangalore University, India.


Ankita Mohanty
Associate, Business Research, Consulting Practice
Ankita Mohanty has over four years of experience in secondary research, database management, report writing, company profiling and data analysis. At Acuity, she works for a client in the mining and metals industry, with special focus on analyzing ‘iron ore’ as a commodity across CIS countries, Middle East and China. Prior to Acuity, she worked with Universal Data Solution, SNP Infra Research and Infoedge India Ltd. Ankita is a B. Tech from Biju Patnaik University.


Abhishek Modi
Delivery Manager, Investment Research
Abhishek Modi is a CFA charter holder with 6 years of experience in equity research. Currently, is a Delivery Manager at Acuity Knowledge Partners and is proficient in semiconductor industry where responsibilities include supervise all the deliverables closely including quality assurance, workflow management and client relationship and provide the technical know-how to team in case of any support.


Paramjit Ahluwalia
Delivery Manager, Investment Banking
Paramjit has over 12 years of experience in the investment banking domain. He has been with Acuity Knowledge Partners since 2012, actively assisting boutique and leading investment banks with company profiles, pitchbooks, financial models, capital structure analysis, precedent transactions and comparable analysis, operational and financial benchmarking, case studies, and other ad hoc projects. He also has extensive experience in supporting multiple industry teams, including consumer discretionary, telecom, pharmaceutical, mining, oil and gas, and agriculture, across geographies.
Paramjit holds an MBA from Symbiosis International University, Pune.


Hiral Rupani
Delivery Lead, Commercial Lending
Hiral Rupani has 8 years of experience in commercial lending, credit recovery and NAV reconciliations. In her 3+years of experience at Acuity Knowledge Partners, she has worked with one of the largest UK based banks. She is an expert in the UK and the US Private Equity Sector and has core competency in building the borrowing base from scratch –that helps the credit risk team evaluate investors’ credit worthiness. She has also worked on many new-to-bank and ad hoc cases helping the origination team build and maintain solid relationship with clients.


Ruochen Shen
Analyst, CPB
Ruochen Shen is an Analyst of IB team at Acuity Knowledge Partners, Beijing office. She is proficient in conducting industry and company research on both qualitative and quantitative basis. Prior to joining Acuity Knowledge Partners, Ruochen worked in commercial banking industry and was responsible for Intermediary Business Management. Ruochen holds a BSc in Economics from Tianjin University of Science and Technology, China, a MSc in Finance from Renmin University of China, and a MSc in Applied Economics from University of Bath, UK.


Pramod Padhy
Delivery Manager, CCP
Pramod Padhy joined Acuity Knowledge Partners in 2015 and is a part of the company’s Private Equity and Consulting Division. His current role involves managing a fund-of-funds/alternative investment client and providing research support to a solar energy fund. He is primarily responsible to supervise all the deliverables closely including quality assurance, workflow management and client relationship and provide the technical know-how to team in case of any support. Overall, Pramod has over a decade experience in working on financial research and consulting projects that includes experience in writing various reports and case studies at industry/company level and preparing commentaries on asset classes including equity, fixed income, commodity etc. In his previous roles, he also gained exposure to pitch book, financial spreading, trading and transaction comps and other syndicated research. Pramod holds a PGEM from IMT Ghaziabad, Bachelors in Law and CFA L1 Candidate.


Zhen Zhao
Delivery Manager, IB
Zhen Zhao has 7 years of experience, with over 5 years associated with Acuity Knowledge Partners supporting US-based investment banks’ Asia Pacific division. He is currently responsible for overseeing two IBD teams, new staff training, team coaching, client communication, workflow monitoring, trouble shooting, work quality check and more. Zhen is a bachelor of accounting and master of applied finance from university of Adelaide, Australia.


Rajarshi Maulik
Delivery Manager, Commercial Lending
Rajarshi Maulik has 13 years of experience in commercial lending, investment banking and equity research. In his 6+ years at Acuity Knowledge Partners, he has worked with some of the largest investments banks in Europe. He is an expert in the UK housing sector and part of the commercial lending team at Bangalore delivery center.


Avinash Saxena
Delivery Manager, Consluting Practice
Avinash Saxena has over 8 years of work experience in consulting, market research, and project management. Prior to Acuity Knowledge Partners, he has worked with Capgemini, Infosys, and Persistent Systems. His expertise areas include business & operational strategy, emerging technologies, innovation for financial services sector - particularly banking, payments, and FinTechs. He has also authored several though leadership pieces such as World Retail Banking Reports and World FinTech Reports. Currently, he is working as a strategic consultant for one of the leading global financial solutions provider firm. Avinash has done MBA from NMIMS Mumbai and B.Tech. from VNIT Nagpur.


Sajid Kachhi
Delivery Manager, Compliance
Sajid Kachhi has over 12+ years of experience in compliance, having worked for various firms including HSBC and Goldman Sachs. His expertise spans across the risk and compliance sector, focusing on portfolio compliance. Sajid has done his graduation in Business Management from Bengaluru University.


Venkatesh Krishnamurthy
Assistant Director, Commercial Lending
Venkatesh Krishnamurthy has over 14 years of experience in Commercial Real Estate (CRE). He currently co-leads CRE client engagement based out of US and is actively involved in client management, training and quality control of deliverables. He holds a MBA (Finance) and a bachelor’s degree in Commerce.


Rajeev Hota
Assistant Director, Commercial Lending
Rajeev Kumar Hota has over 14 years of experience in Commercial Real Estate (CRE) Underwriting. He currently leads CRE client engagement based out of US and is actively involved in client management, training and quality control of deliverables. He also represents himself as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) in CRE at various client meetings and conferences. He holds an MBA (Finance) and a bachelor’s degree in Commerce.


Tianyang Li
Consulting Analyst
Tianyang Li is Consulting Analyst at Acuity Knowledge Partners Beijing office. He is experienced in conducting consulting analysis of high-tech industries, including Fintech, New materials, and Biomedicine, covering macro trends, industry situations, and company research. Prior to joining Acuity Knowledge Partners, Tianyang worked in the Commercial Bank industry and has experience as an intern in Public Fund. He has strong research and risk expertise with multi-language, analytical, and operational capabilities. Tianyang holds a Bachelor of English Literature from Beijing Foreign Studies University, China, and a Master of Business Management from Hong Kong Polytechnic University.


Ruwani Kapuge
Assistant Director, Investment Research
Ruwani Kapuge has over 14 years of work experience in strategic planning and investment research. Currently works in the Fixed Income and Credit Research team, supporting a European sell-side client. Holds a Bachelor in Business Administration (Finance) and Master in Business Administration, and is a CIMA (UK) associate member.


Anitha Revanna
Sr. Associate, Compliance Operations
Anitha has 6+ years of experience in Marketing Compliance. She has previously worked with State Street Global Advisors. Her expertise spans across compliance and risk sector, focusing on compliance reviews of marketing/advertising materials and social media contents. At Acuity Knowledge Partners she is part of the central compliance team and specializes in marketing material review and social media reviews. Anitha is an MBA graduate from RV Institute of Management, Bangalore University.


Wilfred Peter
Delivery Manager, Compliance Operations
Wilfred Peter has over 10+ years of experience in compliance and Investment banking having worked for firms including State Street Global Advisors and HSBC. His expertise spans across compliance and risk sector, focusing on compliance reviews of marketing/advertising materials and social media contents. At Acuity Knowledge Partners he is part of the central compliance team and specializes in marketing material review and social media reviews. Wilfred is a graduate (Bachelors of commerce) and hold a degree from St Joseph’s College of Commerce Bengaluru.


Sachith Vijayaraghavan
Senior Associate, Compliance Operations
Sachith Vijayaraghavan has 7 years of experience in compliance and has completed 5 years with Acuity Knowledge Partners. His expertise spans across the risk and compliance sector, focusing on compliance reviews of marketing/advertising materials and Email Surveillance. At Acuity Knowledge Partners he is part of the central compliance team and specializing in marketing material review. Sachith is an MBA from Bharathiyar University.


Jingrong Ma
Analyst, SPDP/BR-BMK
Jingrong Ma is a part of Consulting Research team at Acuity Knowledge Partners, Beijing Branch. She is proficient in consulting analysis of emerging industries such as Pharmaceutical, Banking, and Automotive covering macro trend, industry situation and company research. Prior to Acuity Knowledge Partners, Jingrong worked in commercial banking industry and served with multinational Global 300 clients. Her work combines strong research and analytical expertise with multi-language, analytical, and operational capabilities. Jingrong holds a BSc in Economics with Accountancy from University of East Anglia, UK, and a MSc in Economics and Finance from University of Bath, UK.


Chayanika Perera
Delivery Lead, Quants
Chayanika has over 10 years of experience in equity valuation, financial modeling, and industry research. She is currently supporting a leading Europe-based multinational banking and financial services corporation in analyzing macroeconomic environment for fund performance. Chayanika is an Associate Member of CIMA UK and is currently reading for a Masters in Financial Economics from University of Colombo.


Shekhar Mishra
Delivery Manager, Data Analytics
Shekhar has over 10 years of experience in market research. He is leading multiple client engagements across market research value chain. He is also actively involved in innovation and data analytics endeavors. Prior to Acuity Knowledge Partners he worked at WNS Global Services. Shekhar holds a bachelor’s degree in Information Technology


Aradhna Chaudhry
Delivery Lead, Acuity Knowledge Partners
A Level II CFA candidate, Aradhna Chaudhry is a member of the Investment Research team at Acuity Knowledge Partners. She has nearly five years of work experience and currently supports buy-side clients on financial models, recommendation reports, earnings reports, and thematic notes. Aradhna also holds a Bachelor in Science (Chemistry) degree from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi.


Mitalee Jain
Analyst, Fund Marketing Services
Mitalee Jain has experience in the consultant database space. At Acuity Knowledge Partners, she supports fund marketing services for the asset management industry. She holds a Master of Science in Finance from IESEG School of Management, Paris, and a Bachelor of Commerce from Jain University, Bangalore .


Varad Sharma
Delivery Lead, Moody’s Analytics Knowledge Services
Varad Sharma is a part of Investment Research team at Acuity Knowledge Partners. He has around four years of work experience and currently supports sell-side clients with research assignments including thematic reports, economic updates, data research, and earnings review. Varad holds Post Graduate Diploma in Management with specialization in Finance from Institute of Management Technology, Hyderabad and Bachelor in Engineering (Mechanical) from University of Pune.


Swati Gera
Senior Associate
Swati Gera has 5 years of experience in Anti Money Laundering(AML) Analytics and Compliance reporting, having previously worked for Infosys. Her expertise spans across the risk and compliance sector, focusing on AML and know your customer (KYC). At Acuity Knowledge Partners she is responsible for KYC/AML support to Compliance Services. Swati has done her engineering from Lingayas University, Faridabad.


Xiaoyu Zhang
Analyst, Consulting Practice
Xiaoyu Zhang is Consulting Analyst serving Beijing office of Acuity Knowledge Partners. She is proficient in consulting analysis of retail, consumer goods and TMT industries covering macro trend, industry situation and company research. Her work is highly recognized by clients for high quality production and solid experience in manipulating a considerable amount of databases. She has outstanding interdisciplinary ability with a Bachelor of Arts (World History) of Peking University, China and a Master of Science (Marketing) of University of Manchester, UK.


Avinash Kumar
Associate Director, Investment Research
Avinash Kumar has over 11 years of work experience in investment research. He currently leads multiple client engagements and is actively involved in training, quality control of deliverables, and client discussions. He is also a part of Projects and Transitions team and is responsible for handling various fixed income pilots and projects. He holds an MBA (Finance) and a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration.


Jeetendra Prakash
Assistant Director, Investment Research
Jeetendra Prakash has over 9 years of experience in investment research with a focus on corporates and banks. He currently supports a large European buy-side client. The work involves building REIT models, NPL analysis, fair market value reports and theme-based research. He holds an MBA (Finance) and a bachelor of commerce.


Srinidhii Sreeram
Analyst
Srinidhii is an Analyst at Acuity Knowledge Partners Fund Marketing Services (FMS) division. She works for a US-based client and provides support on various marketing materials, including competitive snapshots, commentaries, and pitch books. She is a CFA level III candidate and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce (Honours) from the University of Madras.


Vishnu Menon
Analyst
Vishnu is currently an Analyst in the Fund Marketing Services (FMS) division. His areas of expertise include financial markets and International relations and geopolitics. Vishnu holds a Master’s Degree in International Finance and Economics from the University of Glasgow, United Kingdom.


Aiswarya Unnithan
Senior Associate
Aiswarya has over four years of total work experience in the financial services industry. She is part of the Fund Marketing Services (FMS) division at Acuity Knowledge Partners, providing support in writing market commentaries, letter to shareholders reports, attribution reports, and updating marketing material. Prior to joining Acuity Knowledge Partners, she was Portfolio Control Analyst in the asset management division of a US firm. She is a Level III candidate of the CFA program and holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance).


Anisha Shangari
Senior Associate, Compliance Ops
Anisha Shangari has 5 years of experience in compliance/anti-fraud, having previously worked for American Express. Her expertise spans across the risk and compliance sector, focusing on know your customer (KYC) and fraud management. At Acuity Knowledge Partners she is responsible for KYC/AML support to Compliance Services. Anisha has done her Masters in Mathematics from University Of Delhi.


Vinod Kavali
Delivery Manager, Compliance Operations
Vinod Kavali has over 10+ years of experience in compliance, having worked for various firms including Dell and Goldman Sachs. His expertise spans across the risk and compliance sector, focusing on know your customer (KYC) and risk management. Vinod has done his graduation in Commerce from University of Madras.


Swati Gera
Senior Associate, CMPLNC_ANA
Swati Gera has 5 years of experience in Anti Money Laundering(AML) Analytics and Compliance reporting, having previously worked for Infosys. Her expertise spans across the risk and compliance sector, focusing on AML and know your customer (KYC). At Acuity Knowledge Partners she is responsible for KYC/AML support to Compliance Services. Swati has done her engineering from Lingayas University, Faridabad.


Manjunath Pola
Delivery Manager, KYC
Manjunath Pola has over 10+ years of experience in compliance, having worked for various firms including Thomson Reuters and Deutsche Bank . His expertise spans across the risk and compliance sector, focusing on know your customer (KYC) and risk management. Manjunath has done his MBA in Finance and Marketing from Bangalore University


Raghavendran Vijendran
Assistant Director Quantitative Services
An MBA graduate with 14 years of experience in Index Operations, Data management, Client Servicing, and Portfolio Analytics. Has been with MA Knowledge Services for the past 9 years, supporting a global benchmark index provider in portfolio analytical and client service group engagements. Previously, worked with Fidelity and Reuters.


Mrutyunjay Panigrahi
Delivery Manager, Investment Banking
Mrutyunjay Panigrahi is part of the Investment Banking division at Acuity Knowledge Partners, attached to the Energy & Natural Resources sector. He has spent more than 10 years at Acuity Knowledge Partners and currently leads a team catering to a leading global investment bank. He holds an MBA in Finance from Utkal University.


Suren Weerasekera
Delivery Manager, Commercial Lending
Suren currently supervises an engagement for a leading Europe-based multinational banking and financial services corporation in covenant monitoring and credit rating process. Previously worked as an offshore analyst for a leading US-based multinational financial services firm and provided support in equity valuation, financial analysis, and financial modeling.
Suren holds a Bachelor of Business Studies (Accounting and Finance) from Massey University, New Zealand. He is also an ACCA UK member.


Ying Ye
Compliance and Consulting Analyst
Ying Ye is Compliance and Consulting Analyst, responsible for executing new pilots for the compliance business in our Acuity Knowledge Partners Beijing office. She has solid experience serving on the front line, cooperating with the global compliance team and contributing to several cross-border compliance projects. Prior to compliance, Ying supported clients in the consulting industry. Her work combines strong research and risk expertise with multi-language, analytical, and operational capabilities. Ying holds a Bachelor of Arts from Sun Yat-sen University, China, and a Master of Arts from King’s College London, UK.


Sujatha Shetty
Delivery Lead, Investment Banking
Sujatha Shetty has over 9 years of experience in the financial reporting, market risks, and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) domains. Prior to Acuity Knowledge Partners, she worked with J.P.Morgan and Deutsche Bank in the fund accounting and investment banking divisions, respectively. At Acuity Knowledge Partners, she is Delivery Lead, responsible for providing support to a US-based mid-market investment banking client in M&A research and analysis. She has completed Level II of the CFA examination and holds a Bachelor of Business Management.


Deshitha Amarasinghe
Delivery Lead, Commercial Lending
Deshitha is a Delivery Lead at Acuity Knowledge Partners Commercial Lending team in the Colombo office. He has over 3 years of experience at Acuity Knowledge Partners. Earlier, he supported a sell-side investment bank by carrying out rating assessments, creating pitch books (involving issuer/sovereign analysis of credit profiles, among other factors), and performing other fixed income-related tasks. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics and Finance from University of London, UK.


Jayraj Gohil
Delivery Lead, Compliance Operations
Jayraj Gohil has over 8 years of experience in compliance, having worked for various firms including State Street Global Advisors and Goldman Sachs. His expertise spans across the risk and compliance sector, focusing on compliance reviews of marketing/advertising materials. At Acuity Knowledge Partners he is part of the central compliance team and specializing in marketing material review. Jayraj is an MBA from Global Academy of Technology, Bengaluru (VTU).


Shenuk Alles
Senior Associate
Shenuk is part of Fund Marketing Services (FMS) at Acuity Knowledge Partners, where he focuses on the implementation of various digital marketing strategies for clients. He has over 12 years of experience in digital marketing and publishing, content management, business analysis, and client services. Additionally, he has experience in the application and execution of W3C standards, web design and applications, and web accessibility guidelines. Prior to joining Acuity Knowledge Partners, he was Web Production Officer at a leading international bank. Shenuk holds a Bachelor of Science (Business Information Systems and Management) and a Certificate in Telecommunication.


Naveen Katakam
Delivery Manager, Fund Marketing Services
Naveen Katakam, CFA, has over 11 years of experience in commentary writing, RFP creation/writing, and regulatory/client reporting. At Acuity Knowledge Partners, he supports fund marketing services for the asset management industry. He holds a Master in Business Administration from Bangalore University.


Divya Jain
Analyst, Fund Marketing Services
Divya Jain has extensive experience in the Consultant Database space and in RFP creation. At Acuity Knowledge Partners, she supports fund marketing services for the asset management industry. She holds a Master of Science in Finance from the University of Glasgow and a Bachelor of Commerce from Jain University.


Tanya Raj
Assistant Director, Forensic Testing
Tanya heads Forensic Testing for Compliance practice. She has nearly 14 years of experience in the financial services industry. Prior to joining Acuity Knowledge Partners, she worked at Goldman Sachs as Vice President; GSAM Compliance as team manager - Bangalore, line compliance officer for the India businesses, and lead for forensic and marketing compliance initiatives. Tanya has also handled marketing strategy and communications at GSAM and market research at Thomson Financial. Tanya holds a Bachelor of Business Management (Marketing) from Bangalore University.


Sadeera Wijesuriya
Delivery Manager, Commercial Lending
Sadeera Wijesuriya is part of the Commercial Lending division at Acuity Knowledge Partners, and is attached to the Energy team. His current responsibilities involve assessing the creditworthiness of corporate clients, covenant monitoring, and performing risk raters. Prior to joining Acuity Knowledge Partners, he was part of the Commercial Banking team for a multinational European Bank in Dubai, UAE. He holds over 10 years of onshore experience in managing corporate client portfolios. Sadeera holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Clarion University of Pennsylvania, USA.


Shashike Weerapura
Delivery Manager, Commercial Lending
Shashike Weerapura is part of the Commercial Lending division at Acuity Knowledge Partners, attached to the Energy team. His responsibilities involve writing credit reports, covenant monitoring, and performing risk raters.
He is an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, UK and the Chartered Institute of Marketing, UK. He also holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Management from University of Derby.
He has over 10 years of work experience, handling portfolios with customers in various sectors, in the field of commercial lending both locally and internationally. This includes relationship management, loan structuring, credit evaluation, and risk management.


Devin Kandage
Analyst
Devin is part of the Quantitative Services team. He supports a benchmark index provider, conducting research on emerging market bond liquidity. He also contributes to Acuity Knowledge Partners’ data science projects and is a python trainer. He has experience in the entire process of data analysis, from extraction, cleanup and organization, to analysis. He has a first class degree in Economics and Finance and is a Level II candidate in the CFA program.


Anupama Sharma
Delivery Manager, Corporate and Consulting
Anupama Sharma has over 8 years of experience in research and consulting domain. She has been associated with Acuity Knowledge Partners since 2011 and has been actively assisting investing firms. In her current role, she has been providing analytical and research solutions to Private Equity clients. She has extensive experience across business environment and investment opportunity analysis. She also holds experience in market research and database creation. Anupama is an MBA from Bangalore University.


Harshwardhan Khandelwal
Assistant Director, Investment Research
Harshwardhan Khandelwal has over 10 years of work experience in investment research, with a focus on financial institutions, sovereigns and supranational entities. He currently supports a large European buy-side client. The process involves performing fundamental and technical analyses of issuers and discussions with the client’s rating committee. He is also actively involved in training, quality control of deliverables, and other client discussions. He holds an MBA and a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering.


Ankit Agarwal
Delivery Lead, Investment Research
Ankit Agarwal has over 5 years of experience in investment research with a focus on sovereigns and corporates. He currently supports a large European buy-side client. He holds a Master degree in Business Administration (Finance) and a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration (Finance).


Vipul Gupta
Assistant Director, Commercial Lending
Vipul Gupta has over 10 years of experience in credit analysis, financial modelling, leveraged lending, industry coverage and onshore client-facing roles. At Acuity Knowledge Partners, he leads a specialized leveraged lending credit analysis team covering diverse industries. Vipul holds a MBA from ICFAI Business School, Hyderabad and a Bachelor in Engineering from Maharshi Dayanand University, Haryana.


Nipun Mehra
Delivery Lead, Commercial Lending
Nipun Mehra has around six years of experience in the financial services sector, particularly in corporate banking, including experience in corporate credit analysis, market research, credit support and sanctions. At Acuity Knowledge Partners, he is part of the Credit Analysis and Research team that has a specialized focus on large corporate leveraged lending customers. Nipun holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Management from Lancaster University, UK.


Subha Herath
Delivery Manager, Investment Research
Subha Herath has over 12 years of work experience in strategy, corporate finance, risk management and investment research, with a focus on the financial, sovereign and real-estate sectors. She currently works with the Fixed Income team in Colombo and supports a large European buy-side client. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Applied Sciences and is an Associate Member of CIMA. She is also a CFA Level III candidate.


Harshwardhan Khandelwal
Assistant Director, Investment Research
Harshwardhan Khandelwal has over 10 years of work experience in investment research, with a focus on financial institutions, sovereigns and supranational entities. He currently supports a large European buy-side client. He is also actively involved in training, quality control of deliverables, and other client discussions. He holds an MBA and a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering.


Binayak Ransingh
Delivery Lead
Binayak Ransingh is an Energy & Utilities practice lead in Acuity Knowledge Partners’ Private Equity & Consulting vertical. He has over five years of experience in the power and utilities sector, helping clients with various consulting and business research projects involving market assessment & intelligence, competitive benchmarking, market entry & expansion strategy, technology impact analysis, and business model analysis. Binayak holds an MBA in Power Management and a bachelor’s degree in Power System Engineering.


Miriam Manrique
Director, Country Manager Costa Rica
Miriam has over 16 years of work experience transforming, growing, and leading near-shore specialized finance companies with high levels of client satisfaction and employee engagement; our Costa Rica center has been ranked as a Great Place to Work for nine years consecutively. She is ranked in the Top 100 Business Women in Latin America. A CFA charterholder, she holds a Master of Business Administration in Finance and Economics, a Certification in Strategy and Innovation, and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics.


Suresh Chavali
Delivery Lead, Compliance
Suresh Chavali has over 8 years of experience in compliance, having worked for various firms including Barclays and Deutsche Bank. His expertise spans across the risk and compliance sector, focusing on know your customer (KYC) and risk management. At Acuity Knowledge Partners he is responsible for Pre-sales and Product Management support to Compliance Services. Suresh has done his engineering from JNTU Hyderabad.


Kartikeya Arora
Senior Associate, Investment Research
Kartikeya Arora has over 4 years of experience in research and advisory, financial modeling and report writing. During his two and a half year tenure at Acuity Knowledge Partners, Kartikeya has worked in both equity and credit domains, covering companies primarily located in North America and Asia. He is currently working with the Investment Research team tracking the Asian Insurance space.


Chhavi Sharma
Delivery Lead, Business Research
Chhavi Sharma has over 7 years of experience in the research and consulting industry. As part of Acuity Knowledge Partners Corporate and Consulting practice, she is currently working of ad-hoc projects for clients across the globe. Chhavi’s expertise is in secondary research, and she is experienced in preparing company and industry focused reports, newsletters, competitor analysis, country profiling, data gathering, press searches, and other related tasks. She holds a BBA from the Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University and an MBA in Human Resources and Marketing from the Amity Business School.


Shivam Dua
Delivery Manager
Shivam Dua joined Acuity Knowledge Partners in 2009 and is a part of the firm’s Private Equity and Consulting Vertical. His current role involves managing multiple PE and fund-of-funds clients. Shivam has extensive experience across a broad range of private equity and hedge fund services, including fundraising pitchbook, investment due diligence, investment memorandums, fund cash flow modeling, portfolio monitoring and fund revaluation models. Shivam has cleared all three levels of Chartered Financial Analyst exam conducted by the Chartered Financial Analysts Institute (USA). He also holds Master in Science (Finance) from ICFAI University and has done his Bachelors in Commerce from Delhi College of Arts and Commerce.


Harsha Krishnakumar
Delivery Manager,Fund Marketing Services
Harsha Krishnakumar has over 7 years of experience in RFP creation/writing and personal coaching. In his current role at Acuity Knowledge Partners, he provides support in business development and content strategy for fund marketing services. Prior to this, he was part of the Sales Enablement team at JPMorgan. He holds a Master of Business Administration from ICFAI Business School and a Bachelor of Engineering from Bangalore Institute of Technology.


Lakshmi Krishna
Delivery Manager, Fund Marketing Services
Lakshmi Krishna has over 6 years of experience in commentary writing, RFP creation/writing, and client reporting. In her current role at Acuity Knowledge Partners, she provides support in fund marketing services for the asset management industry. She holds a Master of Science in Finance from the University of Texas and a Bachelor of Engineering (Information Science and Technology) from Visvesvaraya Technological University.


Supratik Shankar
Assistant Director, Investment Research, CFA
Supratik Shankar is a CFA charterholder with over nine years of experience in equity research, covering the industrials sector. He currently works in the Investment Research division of Acuity Knowledge Partners and supports buy-side clients with research assignments. He is experienced in performing investment thesis validation, spotting secular plays, conducting ESG research, writing thematic reports, and creating financial models.
Supratik holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Finance from SDM Institute for Management Development, India, and a Bachelor of Technology (Electrical) from West Bengal University of Technology, India.


Nivesh Shankar
Delivery Manager, Fund Marketing Services
Nivesh is a Finance and Economics postgraduate with over 7 years of total work experience. He has experience in the capital markets domain, with exposure to investment banking, commentary writing, performance reporting, client reporting, and preparing RFPs/DDQs for mutual funds and ETFs. Nivesh is currently Delivery Manager at Acuity Knowledge Partners, preparing, maintaining, and updating fund marketing material and client reports, such as factsheets, presentations, and brochures. Prior to this, he was Analyst at an investment banking firm, where he was responsible for equity/sector research and company valuations.


Rangana Hettiarachchi
Senior Associate, Digital Marketing
Rangana Hettiarachchi is a Senior Associate at Acuity Knowledge Partners Digital Marketing function with over four years of experience in corporate reporting and content management. Prior to joining Acuity Knowledge Partners, he worked as Manager, Content Development, at Smart Media (PVT) Ltd. In this role, he had worked with local and international clients on corporate communications strategy development. Rangana holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Postgraduate Institute of Management, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka.


Megha Wadhwa
Associate, Compliance
Megha Wadhwa has over 4 years of experience in investment compliance. In her current role she is working as an Associate with Acuity Knowledge Partners supporting Coding & Post Trade Monitoring functions and has previously worked with JP Morgan Chase. She holds MBA degree from IBS Hyderabad and B.Tech from Rajasthan Technical University.


Nachiketa Trivedi
Senior Associate
Nachiketa Trivedi is a senior RFP writer at Acuity Knowledge Partners with over six years of experience in asset management and information technology. Nachiketa, who joined Acuity Knowledge Partners in June 2017, has worked across various asset classes. Prior to joining Acuity Knowledge Partners, he was with Invesco Asset Management where coordinated and completed RFIs/RFPs/DDQs for institutional and retail clients based in Asia (ex-Japan, ex-Australia). Prior to that, Nachiketa worked for Infosys in its banking platform Finacle as an Associate Consultant responsible for presales and business development activities. Nachiketa holds a Masters in Business Administration and a Bachelors in Technology (Civil Engineering).


Richa Gambhir
Senior Associate, Corporates and Consulting
Richa Gambhir has over 5 years of experience in the research and consulting industry. As part of Acuity Knowledge Partners’ Corporate and Consulting practice, she is currently handling a media monitoring project for a US-based hedge fund. Richa’s expertise is in secondary research, and she is experienced in preparing company- and industry focused-reports, event updates, newsletters, and other related tasks. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Delhi University and a Master’s degree in Business Economics.


Shivani Dogra
Assistant Director, Corporate and Consulting
Shivani works in the Corporate Strategy & Research practice at Acuity Knowledge Partners. She has more than 10 years of experience working on assignments related to strategy formulation, market feasibility, market expansion (buy/build options), business transformation, process/efficiency improvement and related areas. Her recommendations are used by client’s senior management team to prioritize their products and deploy resources accordingly.
Acuity Knowledge Partners works across corporate divisions and helps them manage change, capitalize on opportunities, improve operational efficiency, optimize costs, and increase agility and responsiveness in today’s ever-changing global business environment.


Neha Sharma
Senior Associate, Corporate and Consulting
Neha Sharma has over 6 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, particularly in life sciences and healthcare consulting, sales and marketing. She has successfully led and executed a variety of client projects covering competitive intelligence, situation analysis, mapping patient journeys and business development. She has also played an active role in front-end client engagements.
Neha holds an MBA in International Business Marketing and a bachelor’s degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences.


Deepti Kapoor
Senior Associate
Deepti Kapoor is a member of the Consulting and Corporate practice with experience in the research and consulting industry. She has supported private equity funds, financial institutions and stock exchanges on a range of assignments and engagements across sectors.
Deepti’s expertise is in secondary research projects involving comparative performance analysis, data collection, and benchmarking. She holds a Bachelors of Technology.


Aditya Singh
Senior Associate, Consulting and Corporate
Aditya Singh works with the Consulting and Corporate business where he has been engaged in multiple projects related to equity research, sector specific analysis and stock reports. His expertise includes financial and business research along with secondary research.
Prior to Acuity Knowledge Partners, he has worked at a KPO, where his role included providing qualitative research to investment banking clients, analysis of fixed income securities, and other secondary research projects. Aditya holds a Bachelor in Computer Applications (BCA) and an MBA in Finance from University of Lucknow.


Rahul Kajla
Delivery Manager, Corporate and Consulting Practice
Rahul Kajla has over 8 years of experience in the research and consulting industry. He currently works in the Strategy Research and Consulting practice at Acuity Knowledge Partners and supports business management consulting clients in their research assignments. He is experienced in preparing company and industry focused reports, competitor analysis and benchmarking. Rahul holds B.Com (Hons.) from Delhi University and Masters in Finance from ICFAI Business School (IBS), Hyderabad.


Mayur Bhakre
Senior Associate, Corporate and Consulting
Mayur Bhakre has over 3 years of experience in Business and Strategy research. As a team member of the Strategy Research and Consulting practice at Acuity Knowledge Partners he supports clients in the FinTech sector. His focus areas include company and industry analysis, competitor profiling, market studies of strategic interests. Prior to Joining Acuity Knowledge Partners he was associated with Deloitte (USI). Mayur holds an MBA from Devi Ahilya University, Indore and a Bachelor’s in life sciences from Jiwaji University, Gwalior.


Rohit Makker
Senior Associate, Investment Banking
Rohit Makker has over 5 years of experience in consulting and research. He currently provides Food and Agriculture research and analysis support to a leading European Bank.
Prior to joining Acuity Knowledge Partners, he was associated with Netscribes where he worked on market sizing, customer satisfaction and industry analysis on consumer goods, food and agriculture sector.
He holds an MBA - Marketing from ITM Mumbai and Bachelors in Business Administration from Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalya, Indore.


Sonali Pahwa
Delivery Lead, Corporate and Consulting
Sonali Pahwa has over four years of experience in business research and analysis in the private equity/venture capital funds practice. She joined Acuity Knowledge Partners in 2014 and is currently a part of one of its largest private equity engagements. Her key focus areas include company screening, industry study, macroeconomic analysis, competitor profiling, product benchmarking and portfolio monitoring. She holds an MBA in Finance and a Bachelor’s in Business Administration.


Sanyam Bhatia
Delivery Manager, Investment Banking
Sanyam Bhatia has over 9 years of work experience in Investment Banking, encompassing a number of sectors including Aviation, Industrials, and TMT. His area of expertise includes financial modeling, industry research, and client engagement. Sanyam holds a Master of Business Administration (Finance) from ICFAI Business School (IBS), Dehradun, and a Bachelor of Commerce from Punjab University, Chandigarh.


Sudhir Arora
Assistant Director, Presales
Sudhir Arora has over 12 years of experience delivering innovative solutions to Market Research Firms. He has in-depth expertise in quantitative and qualitative market research methodologies across industry sectors. At Acuity Knowledge Partners Sudhir is responsible for pre-sales activities including RFP/RFQ/RFI management, preparing cost estimates and liaising with clients for requirements, and sales support. Sudhir holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Project Management, a Diploma in Civil Engineering and is a Bachelor of Arts in English.


Nuha Hameed
Associate, Commercial Lending
Nuha Hameed is an Associate in the Commercial Lending business at Acuity Knowledge Partners. She is experienced in earning updates, monitoring covenants, and performing risk raters. Nuha is a Passed Finalist from the Chartered Institute of Management (UK) and is a CFA (USA) Level 1 Candidate.


Niranjana Mathur
Senior Associate, Quantitative Services
Niranjana has over 4 years work experience, supporting financial services across different product lines. She is currently a part of the Quantitative Services team at Acuity Knowledge Partners. Prior to joining Acuity Knowledge Partners, she was an Analyst at Goldman Sachs. She holds a master’s degree in Finance and a bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Finance.


Gayathri Bodhidasa
Delivery Manager, Fund Marketing Services
Gayathri Bodhidasa works as an RFP writer in the Fund Marketing Services (FMS) team at Acuity Knowledge Partners. She has over 4 years of experience in asset management, RFP/ RFI compilation, and due diligence, focused on mutual funds. Prior to joining Acuity Knowledge Partners, she worked as a Finance Associate in a leading global conglomerate. Gayathri is an Associate member of CIMA and holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Business Psychology.


Aasaf Samoo
Senior Associate, FMS
Aasaf Samoo works in the Fund Marketing Services (FMS) division at Acuity Knowledge Partners, where he provides client support in maintaining consultant databases and writing RFPs. He has over 3 years of experience in Consultant Databases and RFPs. Previously, he was an MIS Analyst at a leading local bank. Aasaf holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business.


Geo Thomas John
Delivery Manager, Investment Research
Geo Thomas John has close to 10 years of experience in equity research and has covered multiple sectors including Oil & Gas and Technology. Prior to Acuity Knowledge Partners he worked at Goldman Sachs in the Equity Research division.
He holds an MBA from Indian Institute of Science (Bangalore) and a B.Tech in Electronics & Communication from University of Kerala.


Irisha Boruah
Delivery Manager, Corporates and Consulting
Irisha Boruah has over 7 years of experience in consulting and research. At Acuity Knowledge Partners as a part of the Business Research, Consulting and Content practice; She supports multiple clients across industries in areas such as media monitoring, content creation, validation, index and market research. Previously, she worked with Dion Global Solutions, supporting clients on business and equity research. Irisha holds B.Com (Hons.) from Calcutta University and Masters in Business from Bangalore University.


Pratap Singh
Associate Director, Private Equity
Pratap Singh leads the Private Equity and Venture Capital practices at Acuity Knowledge Partners, responsible for managing and developing client relationships and overseeing multiple accounts. He has extensive experience in managing direct investments, primary fund investments, FoFs and complex secondary transactions. Over the last 11 years, he has been involved in more than 5,000 PE direct and FoFs deals.


Sameera Singh
Delivery Lead, Corporates & Consulting
Sameera Singh is life sciences practice lead within the corporates and consulting vertical at Acuity Knowledge Partners. She has over seven years of work experience in life-sciences consulting, business research, and marketing. She has hands-on experience in strategic projects, such as therapeutic area assessment, competitive intelligence, disease insights, and brand management. Sameera is an MBA (Pharmaceutical Management) gold medalist and holds a bachelor’s degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences.


Alok Aswal
Delivery Manager, Survey Programming
Alok Aswal has 12 years of experience in survey programming using multiple programming tools like Dimensions, Qualtrics, and Decipher. He is also experienced in web technologies such as HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. He is skilled in strategic planning, new business start-ups, market-plan execution, budgeting/finance, customer service, staff training, supervision and mentoring. He has been at Acuity Knowledge Partners for 12 years, now responsible for conceptualizing specific client needs and framing solutions to assist in business development efforts. Alok holds a master’s degree in Computer Applications and a bachelor’s in Business Administration.


Nikunj Shinghal
Senior Associate, Quantitative Services
Nikunj is a part of the Strategy and Benchmark Index team at Acuity Knowledge Partners. The team manages calculation, rebalancing, and various other activities related to strategy and benchmark indices. Prior to joining, he worked at Northern Trust as an analyst. Nikunj has over 4 years of total work experience. He is a FRM charterholder and CFA level II candidate. He also holds PGDM in Finance and a bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering.


Chinmay Pednekar
Delivery Lead, Corporates and Consulting
Chinmay Pednekar has over 5 years of experience in providing advisory and research services for PE/VC funds across Oil & Gas, Infrastructure, Healthcare verticals and in particular FinTech. He has extensive experience in working on a variety of projects covering the entire life cycle of a PE/VC fund, including fund raising, industry deep dives, target mapping, due diligence and portfolio monitoring. Prior to joining Acuity Knowledge Partners Chinmay worked with Genesis Capital Advisors, a boutique M&A advisory firm. He holds a Bachelors in Financial and Investment Analysis from University of Delhi.


Aditya Jaiswal
Analyst, Quantitative Services
Aditya Jaiswal has over 3 years of experience in equity research. Prior to joining Acuity Knowledge Partners, he worked at William O’Neil India and Stewart and Mackertich, a front-end wealth management firm. He is an alumnus of St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata, where he studied finance.


Sana Ansari
Senior Associate, Corporates and Consulting
Sana Ansari has over 6 years of experience in the research and consulting industry. As part of Acuity Knowledge Partners’ Corporate and Consulting practice, she is currently handling a media monitoring project for a US-based hedge fund. Sana’s expertise is in secondary research, and she is experienced in preparing company- and industry focused-reports, event updates, newsletters, and other related tasks. She holds a BA in Computer Applications from the Jamia Millia Islamia University and an MBA with a specialization in Finance from the Jamia Hamdard University.


Vaibhav Methi
Assistant Director, Strategic & Consulting Research
Vaibhav Methi has 14 years of experience in the financial services sector with exposure into corporate strategy, research, advisory, financial planning & analysis and corporate development. He has handled multiple client engagements across the spectrum from bulge bracket investment banks to PE giants ranging from valuations to industry research. He has deep expertise in account management, team management and new project initiation. Recently, Vaibhav was assisting the CEO on corporate strategy and operational development projects. Prior to joining Acuity Knowledge Partners, he worked with Oracle Corp in their corporate finance division.


Manish Gupta
Delivery Lead, Compliance_Ops
Manish has over 8 years of experience in investment management industry and specializes in investment management compliance. At Acuity Knowledge Partners, he is responsible for successful migration, implementation, ongoing maintenance of global clients’ investment guidelines which includes guideline interpretation, rules coding, testing compliance rules, list update and post trade monitoring. Prior to Acuity Knowledge Partners Manish worked at AXA, Infostep India and a prominent chartered accountant’s firm. He holds an MBA in Finance and International Business form Kohinoor Business School.


Yojak Khanse
Assistant Director. Fund Marketing Services
Yojak manages RFP teams within Fund Marketing Services (FMS) at Acuity Knowledge Partners. He is responsible for meeting client expectations on deliverables, introducing process improvements, and team coaching/mentoring. Prior to his current role at Acuity Knowledge Partners, he served in similar capacities at top custody and asset management firms such as J.P. Morgan. Yojak has over 8 years of experience in business development and strategy related roles. He holds an MBA, with dual specialization in Finance and Strategy from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.


Anandita Ray
Delivery Manager, Corporate and Consulting Practice
Anandita Ray has over 7 years of experience in the research and consulting industry. She currently works in the Strategy Research and Consulting practice at Acuity Knowledge Partners and supports clients in the payments and remittance industry with assignments related to growth strategy formulation, go-to-market strategy, market entry and expansion, and competitor analysis and benchmarking. Anandita holds B.Com (Hons.) from Calcutta University and Masters in Finance from Amity University.


Chetali Varshney
Associate, Corporate and Consulting Practice
Chetali Varshney has over 3 years of experience in strategic research and consulting role, covering various sectors including technology, oil and gas, heavy machinery, and automotive. She holds an MBA degree from ICFAI Business School, Hyderabad and is a mechanical engineer from Maharishi Dayanand University.


Vipul Gupta
Assistant Director, Commercial Lending
Vipul Gupta has over 10 years of experience in credit analysis, financial modelling, leveraged lending, industry coverage and onshore client-facing roles. At Acuity Knowledge Partners, he leads a specialized leveraged lending credit analysis team covering diverse industries. Vipul holds a MBA from ICFAI Business School, Hyderabad and a Bachelor in Engineering from Maharshi Dayanand University, Haryana.


Somsukla Biswas
Senior Associate, Corporate and Consulting Practice
Somsukla has over 4 years of experience across various corporate and financial sectors, with special focus on Insurance. As a part of the Business Research and Consulting practice at Acuity Knowledge Partners; She currently provides insurance research and analysis support to a global management consulting firm in multiple areas including model building, financial analysis, trend analysis, competitive benchmarking, market entry strategies and product segmentation studies. Prior to this, Somsukla performed financial analysis and opportunity identification for multiple companies across industry sectors. She is a post graduate in Economics from Jadavpur University, Kolkata.


Atul Gupta
Delivery Manager, Corporate & Consulting
Atul works in the Strategy Research and Consulting practice at Acuity Knowledge Partners. He has 10 years of experience in the oil & gas sector and executed projects involving oil & gas industry research, corporate finance strategy, market entry & growth strategy, and M&A transactions. He worked and lead research and consulting projects supporting clients on developing results-driven strategies, including oil, gas & LNG market assessment, retail fuels market analysis, fiscal regime & policy recommendations, M&A support, opportunity identification & evaluation, oil & gas valuations, performance & best practices benchmarking, etc. across various geographies.
Prior to Acuity Knowledge Partners, he was associated with Deloitte’s Corporate Finance Advisory team and worked on corporate strategy engagements involving M&A support and strategic & general corporate finance advice.


Nitin Sonawane
Delivery Lead, Compliance Ops
Nitin Sonawane is an Investment Guidelines Professional with over 10 years of experience in Coding, Monitoring, Reporting, and Testing in Compliance Systems. He is adept at logical coding and monitoring of investment guidelines in Sentinel and SimCorp for Equity, Derivatives, Mutual Fund and Fixed Income. At Acuity Knowledge Partners, he works for leading global financial services clients for implementing Investment Guidelines on Sentinel System replacing various in-house legacy systems. Previously Nitin worked for AXA Business Services and served AXA Rosenberg, AXA Investment Managers Paris on various projects for implementing Guidelines Management Systems. He holds an MBA in Finance from University of Pune.


Rahul Thakur
Assistant Director
Rahul has over 10 years of experience in business research and analysis within private equity practice. He joined Acuity Knowledge Partners in 2007 and currently oversees one of the largest private equity engagements within the company. His key focus areas include account management, client relationship and providing oversight to the teams’ day-to-day deliverables. He has an extensive experience of working on a variety of assignments covering the entire life cycle of a private equity investment including industry deep-dives, trend analysis, portfolio monitoring and similar assignments for clients.


Ambadas Yemul
Delivery Manager – Investment Compliance
Ambadas has over 8 years of experience in guideline monitoring. His expertise includes guideline interpretation, rules coding, list update & post trade monitoring with a good knowledge of UCITS, 1940 Acts & ERISA regulations. Ambadas holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Shivaji University.


Zahoor Bhat
Delivery Lead, Investment Research
Zahoor Bhat has over six years of experience in equity research, covering the technology, banking, telecom and cement sectors. At Acuity Knowledge Partners, he supports a private equity and asset management team in the GCC with over USD2.5bn worth of assets under management. He covers different asset classes (fixed income, equities, REITs) and has developed different investment strategies to help the client earn the highest return on investment. He previously supported a sell-side client, covering Saudi Arabia’s banking, telecom and cement sectors.
He holds a B.E. (Computers) from Jammu University and an MBA (Finance) from ICFAI Business School, Pune.


Archana Kanojia
Delivery Lead, Corporate and Consulting Practice
Archana Kanojia started her career with Acuity Knowledge Partners in 2010. She currently assists client business development teams with proposal content, requests for proposal/requests for information, due diligence questionnaires, lead generation and consultant databases. Previously, she set up fund databases for funds of funds, analyzing private equity (PE) firms and their funds from an investment standpoint, and extended investment support to PE firms through industry studies, information memoranda and similar activities.
Archana holds a Post Graduate in Business Management with a specialization in Finance and Marketing from New Delhi Institute of Management, Delhi. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in Commerce (with honors) from Delhi University.


Wayomi Hemantha
Delivery Lead, Commercial Lending
Wayomi is part of the Commercial Lending team at Acuity Knowledge Partners. Her responsibilities involve writing credit reports, monitoring covenants, and performing risk raters.
She holds a BBA degree from University of Colombo. Wayomi is an Associate member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, UK. She has completed all three levels of the CFA examination from CFA Institute, USA and is currently pursuing a MBA from the University of West London, UK.


Shenuk Alles
Associate, Fund Marketing Services
Shenuk is part of Fund Marketing Services (FMS) at Acuity Knowledge Partners, where he focuses on the implementation of varied digital marketing strategies for clients.
He has over 11 years of experience in digital marketing and publishing, content management, business analysis, and client services. Additionally, he has experience in the application and execution of W3C standards, web design and applications, and web accessibility guidelines. Prior to joining Acuity Knowledge Partners, he was a Web Production Officer at a leading international bank.
Shenuk holds a Bachelor of Science (Business Information Systems and Management) and a Certificate in Telecommunication.


Mohit Mittal
Associate Director, Investment Research
Mohit Mittal has 10 years of experience in research and advisory, financial modeling, business planning, team management and training. During his eight-year tenure at Acuity Knowledge Partners, Mohit has handled various positions of responsibility and leadership, including managing the Investment Research business for Acuity Knowledge Partners China. He contributes to the company’s automation initiative – Business Excellence and Automation Tools – and currently manages several client delivery teams, in addition to setting up new teams/projects.


Hitesh Acharya
Assistant Director, Commercial Lending
Hitesh has over 12 years of experience in working with leading global organizations in the banking and commercial lending domains. His expertise spans a broad range of analyses, including credit appraisal, leveraged lending, stressed assets, industry reports, cash flow modelling, and client pitch presentations. At Acuity Knowledge Partners, he has led sector and product-specialist pilot teams in Commercial Lending, focusing on diverse sectors such as real estate, manufacturing, aerospace and defense, transport and logistics, and business services.
Hitesh holds a Masters in Management Studies from K.J. Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research, University of Mumbai, and a B.Com from University of Mumbai.


Maulin Thaker
Assistant Director, Commercial Lending
Maulin has over 12 years of experience across Equity research, Commercial Lending and Corporate finance/consulting. At Acuity Knowledge Partners, he is involved in Pre-sales efforts and special client projects along with thought leadership and marketing initiatives for the commercial lending vertical.
Prior to joining Acuity Knowledge Partners, Maulin was with an institutional equities team at New York based Brown Brothers Harriman for over 6 years, mainly providing US thematic-strategy research to global buy-side clients. He holds an MBA-Finance from Pace University – New York (USA) and is a qualified Chartered Accountant from India.


Harshwardhan Khandelwal
Delivery Manager, Investment Research
Harshwardhan Khandelwal has close to 10 years of work experience in investment research, with a focus on financial institutions, sovereigns and supranational entities. He currently supports a large European buy-side client, providing opinion-based credit research (initiation and maintenance) and issuer rating recommendations by performing fundamental and technical analyses of issuers, and analyzing the capital requirements and structure of banks.
Prior to this, he supported the co-branded bottom-up research alongside onshore fixed income strategists for a major European investment bank’s private banking division. He is also actively involved in training, quality control of deliverables, and client discussions. He holds an MBA and a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering.


Rajan Kumar
Delivery Manager, Investment Banking
Rajan Kumar is responsible for working on end-to-end Equity Capital Markets (ECM) projects, quality reviews, and client interaction. His responsibilities also include executing a wide range of ECM analysis covering support during deal origination and execution stages.
Prior to joining Acuity Knowledge Partners, Rajan worked with the Investment Banking team at HSBC and JP Morgan Services. He holds am MBA (Finance) from BITS Pilani and an Electrical Engineering degree from Bhagalpur College of Engineering.


Avishek Suman
Associate Director
Avishek Suman manages the Investment Research business in Acuity Knowledge Partners, Beijing. He has close to 15 years of work experience in research, including 10 years in Acuity Knowledge Partners. Prior to assuming this responsibility in Beijing, Avishek served as Delivery Manager for a team supporting the private banking arm of a large bank. He has managed multiple buy-side and sell-side clients in the past.


Ayoma Peiris
Assistant Director Commercial Lending
Ayoma is part of the Commercial Lending team at Acuity Knowledge Partners. She has over 10 years of experience, prominently in equity and credit research. She previously worked in the Projects and Transition team at Acuity Knowledge Partners. Prior to joining Acuity Knowledge Partners, she worked as Trader in a local investment bank. Ayoma holds an MBA and is a Fellow Member of ACCA (UK) and an Associate Member of CIMA (UK).


Ramesh Tunga
Assistant Director, Quantitative Services
Ramesh heads Data Management services at Acuity Knowledge Partners, responsible for driving projects on data collection, cleansing, maintenance, analytics and visualization to help asset managers and banks form informed business insights. He has rich experience across different asset classes and multiple service lines, including operations, market research, data analytics, and financial services.


Subhrojyoti Mandal
Associate Director - Commercial Lending
Subhro has been with Acuity Knowledge Partners for over six years. He has 12+ years of extensive experience in credit analysis in the commercial lending, counterparty and credit research space. Subhro manages transition of new clients encompassing the credit analysis function. He has extensive work experience in banking products, process and systems across the lending value chain for global corporate and commercial banks. He holds a Master of Commerce degree from Calcutta University.


Nuwan Jayawardana
Senior Vice President Investment Research
Nuwan is currently in charge of fixed income research delivery at our Colombo office. He is involved in capacity creation, driving revenue growth, profit optimization, and providing overall delivery leadership to the fixed income delivery platform in Sri Lanka. As a Senior Vice President and a member of the Colombo office’s senior management committee, he contributes to the planning and implementation of location-specific strategies and policies. Previously, at Acuity Knowledge Partners, he managed multiple teams, supporting buy- and sell-side clients in the credit and equity domains.
He supported a global investment bank by providing fixed income and credit research covering a portfolio of companies in the telecom and media sectors across key emerging and developed markets, and served the real estate finance team of a leading global investment bank, contributing extensively to modeling, valuation, and investment note writing. Nuwan is a CFA Charterholder and a CIMA Passed Finalist.


Priya Vaidyanathan
Associate Director, Investment Research
Priya has over 17 years of experience in equity research and financial auditing. At Acuity Knowledge Partners, she currently manages client relationship and delivery for leading private banks. She has been with the company for over 14 years and has led teams in sell-side and buy-side engagements. She previously worked at Ocwen Financial Services and as an auditor at Deloitte. Priya is a Chartered Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Bangalore University.


Jia Guo
Associate, Credit Research
Jia Guo focuses on credit research delivery that helps investors better understand, estimate and benchmark the fundamental credit risk of China-listed companies at the firm’s Beijing office. He has 7 years’ experience in credit and auditing. Prior to joining Acuity Knowledge Partners, Jia worked at China Business Credit & Guarantee Company and KPMG China.
Jia Guo holds a Bachelor of Accounting and Finance (Honours) from Napier University in the UK.


Eric Swecker
Director - Retail & CPG Analytics, North America
Eric leads the firm’s Retail & CPG Analytics sales organization in North America. He offers 20 years of progressive experience providing leading Retailers and CPG organizations with technology solutions to drive efficiency and productivity.
Prior to his current role, Eric has served in a sales management and business development capacity for leading technology firms; including GE Capital, IBM, Siemens AG, and 3M. He currently lives and works in the Boston, Massachusetts area.
Eric earned his bachelor degree from Tufts University with a double major in Economics and Spanish.


Dr. Paul Chen
Director – Credit Risk Analytics, US
Paul has nearly 20 years of experience spanning roles across risk analytics, consulting and general management. Prior to joining Acuity Knowledge Partners, he worked as a SVP and Client Initiative Leader at a boutique Risk Consulting firm. In one his previous roles he lead Barclay’s Western Europe Retail Credit Risk Analytics team and was based in London. Prior to that he worked with banks such as Citi and Chase Manhattan. He has also had a short stint in Shanghai where he lead the local office of Opera Solutions (a management consulting firm).


Rajesh Singla
Senior AVP, PE and Strategic Research
Rajesh is a senior member of the Private Equity and Strategic Research practice at Acuity Knowledge Partners and leads strategic projects across funds and portfolio companies of PE clients.
He has over nine years of experience across sectors such as aviation, transport and logistics, consumer goods, and health and fitness; and focuses on target due diligence, industry analysis, opportunity assessment, and portfolio growth strategy.


Vikas Arora
Senior Vice President, Private Equity and Consulting
Vikas has over 14 years of experience in strategy, research and corporate treasury. He joined Acuity Knowledge Partners in 2006 and oversees one of the largest private equity engagements in Gurgaon. He has played a key role in setting up and scaling this engagement since inception. His key focus areas include account management, client relationship and expansion within the PE firm and their portfolio companies. Prior to joining Acuity Knowledge Partners, Vikas worked with Genpact / GE where he led a team in treasury department. He holds an account technician certificate from Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. Vikas graduated from Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University. He is six sigma certified from GE.


Gaurav Rulhan
Senior AVP, Investment Research
Gaurav is part of the Investment Research / Credit Research team at Acuity Knowledge Partners. He is responsible for managing an investment research team for a leading asset management company.
He has nearly 10 years of experience in investment research, conducting research for asset managers/private equity firms across all stages of an investment lifecycle. In his previous stint at Acuity Knowledge Partners, he led a team serving distressed opportunity funds of a private equity firm and a team for a bulge bracket investment bank.
Gaurav is a CFA Level III candidate and holds a Master of Business Administration (Finance).


Vimal Tripathi
Senior Vice President, Fund Marketing Services
Vimal is a fund marketing professional with over 11 years of experience in capital markets and the fund marketing industry. He is experienced in project transition, setting up and managing core functional teams supporting preparation of investor reports, marketing materials, RFPs/RFIs, consultant databases, website content management, and MIS reporting. He has worked with several asset managers at Acuity Knowledge Partners to streamline their processes, helping them implement industry best practices and deploy high-performing teams to achieve process efficiencies. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Finance.


Abhishek Singh
Senior Associate Vice President, Index Quants
Abhishek is part of Index Quants team at Acuity Knowledge Partners. He leads the team responsible for publication of strategy indices and contributes to projects related to index quants. He has over nine years of experience in Index operations, Risk Management, Equity Research and Investment Banking with more than 6 years of experience in Index operations. Abhishek holds an MBA in finance and B.Tech in Computer Science.


Priya Chakkingal
Senior Vice President, Index and ETF Services
Priya has over 14 years of work experience, of which twelve years were in developing and maintaining fixed income benchmarks and multi-product indices across asset classes for various clients. She has been with Acuity Knowledge Partners for 7 years and is responsible for managing clients in the index and ETF space. Prior to Acuity Knowledge Partners, Priya has worked with Infosys Technologies Ltd and Clearing Corporation of India. She holds a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles and Master and Bachelor of Economics from the University of Mumbai.


Adam Grant
Vice President, Risk Management Services
Adam Grant is a VP in the Risk Management Services team, focusing on Business Development for the UK, Ireland, Nordics and Russia. Previously, he worked as a Lead Consultant at Eames Consulting Group and Huxley Banking and Financial Services, focusing on the Risk and Quantitative Analytics markets.


Ambarish Srivastava
Delivery Manager, Private Equity & Consulting
Ambarish Srivastava is a delivery manager within Private Equity practice at Acuity Knowledge Partners, and has about 13 years of experience in business research, analysis and consulting. He focuses on leading deep-dive strategic projects, due-diligence support, issue-focused trend analysis and similar assignments for our PE clients. His previous experience includes tenure with startups, Big Four and consulting organizations, where he focused on industry studies, price forecasting, company analysis, macro-economic studies, and other strategic engagements.


Rohit Agarwal
PE and Strategic Research
Rohit has around 10 years of experience across asset management and private equity (PE). His current role involves providing support to alternative asset management teams on salesforce and e-front maintenance, financial reporting, and investment due diligence. Rohit has extensive experience across a broad range of analyses, including financial reporting, industry reports, due diligence memorandum, fund cash flow modeling, track record creation, fund revaluation models, client pitch presentations, quarterly market overview reports, and newsletters.
Prior to joining Acuity Knowledge Partners, Rohit has worked with Kotak Asset Management Company based in Delhi. He holds a Master of Business Administration (Finance) from Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India (ICFAI), Gurgaon.


Priyanka Jain
AVP, Corporate and Consulting Practice
Priyanka has nearly 10 years of experience in research and consulting, and has supported clients across sectors such as CPG, Retail, IT, and Supply Chain. At Acuity Knowledge Partners, she is part of the corporate and consulting practice with focus on retail and consumer goods, where she assists clients to improve their key processes and identify new avenues for growth.
Priyanka holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and Political Science from University of Delhi and a Diploma in French from Alliance Française.


Vikash Kumar
Senior Vice President, Capital Markets Technology Solutions
Vikash heads product management for the BEAT (Business Excellence and Acceleration Tools) platform. He has over 15 years of experience including corporate banking and retail banking, with expertise in commercial banking (entire commercial lending life cycle), banking processes and operations, digital banking, domain consulting & business analysis, product conceptualization and management, and strategic alliances. Prior to Acuity Knowledge Partners, Vikash worked as a Principal Consultant & Banking Practice Lead at Mindtree Ltd. He also worked in various roles for HSBC, YES Bank and ICICI Bank. Vikash holds Master of Business Administration from IRMA, Anand & B.Tech. from IIT (ISM), Dhanbad.


Karan Sehgal
Senior AVP, Private Equity Research
Karan is part of the Private Equity team at Acuity Knowledge Partners and is responsible for providing research and business development support to clients.
He has over 9 years of experience in account management and solutions selling in the KPO space, and has worked in different capacities in the pre-sales, sales, and operations functions over the course of his career. Prior to joining Acuity Knowledge Partners, Karan worked with Dun & Bradstreet as Account Manager and with another KPO in their Marketing and Sales Operations team.
Karan holds a Bachelor of Technology degree from Jaypee University of Information Technology, Solan, and has recently completed a postgraduate program in Business Analytics from Great Lakes Institute of Management.


Prashant Gupta
Assistant Director, Private Equity
Prashant Gupta has 13 years of experience in Investment Research domain. In his 8+ years at Acuity Knowledge Partners, he has managed several investment research projects. Currently, he is a part of Strategic Research & Consulting practice and supports consulting clients in their research assignments. Prashant holds an MBA in Finance and a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (Electronics). He is also a CFA charterholder.


Arquib Ismail
Delivery Lead, Fund Marketing Services
Arquib is part of Acuity Knowledge Partners Fund Marketing Services (FMS) division. Within the FMS team, he focuses on digital marketing implementation for clients.
He has over 3 years of experience in both digital marketing and business analysis. Prior to joining Acuity Knowledge Partners, he was Marketing Executive and Business Analyst with a global provider of human resource solutions.
Arquib holds a Bachelor of Science (Information Systems and Business Management) and a Professional Graduate Diploma in IT.


Damian Burleigh
Managing Director and Global Head of Sales and Marketing
Damian leads the sales and marketing organization at Acuity Knowledge Partners. He has more than 20 years of experience in sales, marketing, and product development and is responsible for developing the sales pipeline, achieving sales targets, and building and expanding senior client relationships. Prior to his role at Acuity Knowledge Partners, Damian was Senior Director of EMEA and Africa Sales. He managed a team covering key European markets, including the UK, Germany, and Italy. Prior to joining Acuity Knowledge Partners, Damian was Managing Director – EMEA Sales, Marketing and Client Services for Standard & Poor’s Capital IQ. Earlier, he was Managing Director of S&P’s Investment Services group.


Sarath Gollanapalli
Senior Vice President
Sarath is responsible for identifying challenges and creating solutions that drive operational efficiencies, optimize costs, and build robust risk management systems for banking clients. He also works closely with the Business Development team and service line owners to drive a market-led strategy and marketing innovation at Acuity Knowledge Partners. Sarath has over 13 years of experience in financial services and investment research.
Prior to his current role, he was involved in product management, pre-sales, and delivery. In the past, he has worked with OPI Global (now EXL) and Deloitte Consulting. Sarath holds an MBA from Cardiff University (UK) and is an Associate Company Secretary (ACS).


Manoj Fernando
Vice President
Manoj currently provides technical leadership across software development engagements. In addition, he provides solutions and architecture support to clients, trains and mentors employees, and sets up standards and best practices. He has over 15 years of experience in delivering enterprise scale system integrations and introducing IT strategy transformation initiatives for global clients across multiple domains.
Prior to joining Acuity Knowledge Partners, he worked as Director at WSO2 Pvt. Ltd., leading a number of client-facing assignments, architectural reviews, and product presentations. Manoj holds a bachelor’s degree in Science (Information Systems).


Sailaja Devireddy
Senior Vice President, Quantitative Services and Fund Marketing Services
Sailaja currently manages operations of the Fund Marketing Services (FMS) division at Acuity Knowledge Partners. She is actively involved in scoping, white boarding, hiring, transition, executing pilot projects and setting up teams for new projects and clients.
Prior to her current role at Acuity Knowledge Partners, she managed the operations of a 20 member team working for a Top 5 Global Asset and Wealth manager. She has over 12 years of experience in capital markets covering equity research, fund marketing, operations and credit assessment. Sailaja is a qualified Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.


Shikha Singh
Vice President, Head of Editorial Services
Shikha has been working with Acuity Knowledge Partners for over 4 years. She works as an equity research editor and also provides training support on regulatory- and content-related issues to editorial teams. Before Acuity Knowledge Partners, Shikha worked with Goldman Sachs (5 years) as a Supervisory Analyst and editor. She helped set up and manage their 8-member Bangalore editorial team. Before Goldman Sachs, Shikha worked with JPMorgan as an equity research editor. Shikha has also worked as an editor with Crisil Research (an S&P company) for 2 years. Shikha has a post graduate degree in finance.


Ramesh Punugu
Director, Investment Research
Ramesh has over 20 years of experience in global capital markets – research and investment banking.Prior to joining Acuity Knowledge Partners, Ramesh worked with the offshore research and analytics units of Crisil and iGate, managing sell-side research and investment banking teams for global clients. He started his career as an investment banker at Ind Global Financial Trust (currently part of Ernst & Young’s corporate finance practice in India), advising companies on M&A and capital raising. He holds an MBA and a bachelor’s degree in Technology.


Rajul Sood
Senior Director - Commercial Lending
Rajul has been with Acuity Knowledge Partners for over a decade. She has extensive experience in investment banking analytics and commercial lending research services. Rajul heads the commercial lending practice and leads teams managing end-to-end activities across the lending value chain for global corporate and commercial banks. Apart from banks, the teams she oversees also have in-depth experience in working across different lending products, processes and systems for Fortune 100 companies, SMEs and real-estate businesses. She holds a Master of Finance and Control, and a Bachelor of Commerce from Delhi University.


Dinesh Saboo
Vice President
Dinesh has 7 years’ experience in investment research focusing on fixed income research and currently covers CEEMEA fixed income markets. He is actively involved in identifying strategic investment opportunities in the fixed income domain. Prior to Acuity Knowledge Partners, Dinesh has worked with leading investment banks including HSBC and UBS.
Dinesh holds a PGDBM in Finance and Investment Banking from ICFAI Business School, Hyderabad and a Bachelor of Commerce from University of Calcutta.


Ashish Juneja
Deputy Senior Associate, Acuity Knowledge Partners
Ashish works with the CRM and Marketing Analytics team and is engaged in articulating specific client needs, framing the approach and managing the final analytics deliverables through tools such as SPSS, SAS, WebTrends, Test and Target. He has over three years of experience in Marketing and Web Analytics with a focus on building digital engagements and helping protect clients’ online footprints. Prior to Acuity Knowledge Partners, he was working with a global strategic and management consulting group, delivering analytical insights for the client’s products.


Adarsh Gupta
Senior Vice President
At Acuity Knowledge Partners, Adarsh leads the fixed income research practice for buy-side clients. He has over 9 years of experience in managing teams, clients and setting up and managing efficient research delivery processes across multiple strategies and geographies. Previously, he worked with a leading audit firm, where he was responsible for internal and tax audits.
Adarsh is a Chartered Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Delhi University.


Jacob Mario
Vice President
Jacob heads the Business and Research Content team at Acuity Knowledge Partners. He has over seven years of experience in setting-up and managing efficient and well-organized outsourced delivery processes for global financial and corporate clients. Based out of Our Gurgaon office, Jacob overseas research engagements across delivery centres and domains, including business research, company and sector profiling, financial media and editorial support. He previously worked with a KPO, where his responsibilities included managing market and business research engagements out of the India and Chile offices.
Jacob holds a Masters in Business Administration degree and a Bachelor of Science degree in Biotechnology. He is also a certified Six Sigma Green Belt professional (received from the British Standards Institution).


Rohan Fernando
Vice President, Quantitative Research
Rohan helps Acuity Knowledge Partners Colombo identify technologies and involve in-system designing and implementation. He has over 9 years of experience in software development covering multiple domains with a special passion towards the capital markets domain. Previously, Rohan worked at Virtusa Pvt Ltd. and James Finlays.
Rohan holds a Master of Science in Enterprise Application Development from Sheffield Hallam University, a Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Information Technology from Middlesex University and is pursuing a PhD in Information Technology at Management and Science University, Malaysia.


Miriam Manrique
Director, Country Head – Costa Rica
Miriam is Country Head at Acuity Knowledge Partners, Costa Rica. She has over 11 years of experience in finance; management consulting; strategy and economic and sell-side research. Prior to joining Acuity Knowledge Partners, Miriam worked at Banco Del Caribe in Venezuela leading the strategy and economic research department. She has also consulted on strategy, economics and finance in Costa Rica, Venezuela and Ecuador.
Miriam is a CFA charterholder, holds an MBA in Finance and Economics from INCAE and a Bachelor of Economics from Universidad Católica Andrés Bello in Venezuela.


Karthik Vijayapalan
Senior Vice President, Business Development
Karthik manages Analytics business development and engagements at Acuity Knowledge Partners. He works with senior management executives of leading financial services and Fortune 500 companies, in providing end-to-end Analytics solutions that combine industry domain and technology expertise across data aggregation, econometric modeling, visualization, dashboard design and reporting. Karthik has over 12 years of experience providing analytics, technology and outsourcing solutions in the financial services sector.
Karthik has completed doctoral coursework in finance and econometric modelling from Michigan State University, holds an MBA from Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, and a Bachelor of Technology from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras.


Chanakya Dissanayake
Country Head/ Director, Sri Lanka
Chanakya is currently responsible for all aspects of research delivery and client relationship management for engagements serviced out of the Colombo delivery centre. Chanakya also leads strategic initiatives at Acuity Knowledge Partners, working very closely with the Senior Leadership team in seeking, evaluating, and overseeing the implementation of new ideas. He has also supervised sell-side equity sector coverage teams, credit research teams, and buy-side/hedge fund teams.
Chanakya has sector coverage experience in Financial Institutions and Telecommunications. He is a CFA charter holder, an Associate Member of CIMA (UK), and a Fellow Member of ACCA (UK).


Paul Alapat
Senior MD, Quantitative Services and Fund Marketing Services
Paul manages the Quantitative Services division at Acuity Knowledge Partners. He has over 22 years of capital markets’ experience in both research and trading. Previously, Paul was Chief Economist Asia (ex-Japan) at Nomura, Regional Financial Economist at Lehman Brothers, and a visiting Professor of Finance at IIM, Bangalore.


Rahul Narsian
Vice President, Investment Compliance
Rahul is the delivery manager for Investment Compliance division within the Compliance Services business unit. He is responsible for expanding and stabilizing the investment compliance team and enhancing client experience. He has 10 years of experience in asset management compliance. He has previously worked with firms such as AXA, Goldman Sachs & JP Morgan Asset Management. Rahul holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Finance and a Master of Commerce from the Gujarat University, India.


Suraj Atreya
Assistant Director, Marketing & Communications
I run solutions marketing for banking, research and lending business lines. I enable the marketing of technology and automation driven initiatives to supplement the services based model.
My work provides me an opportunity to be at the forefront of innovation and disruption impacting the financial services industry. I am excited about the application of emerging technology areas such as AI, ML, robotics and automation programs to fundamentally transform business models and inspire innovation across the ecosystem.


Puneet Prakash
Senior Vice President, Head of Compliance Services
Puneet is the product head of the firm’s Compliance Services business unit. He is responsible for strategizing and creating optimal solutions for the firm’s Compliance clientele, globally. He has over 14 years of experience in financial services and knowledge offshoring. He has previously worked with firms such as TCS and WNS.
Puneet holds an MBA (Finance & Marketing) from the Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode and a Bachelor of Technology from the Indian Institute of Technology, India.


Santosh Kumar
Manager, Data Processing
Santosh has around 12 years of experience in data cleaning, tabulation, and visualization. He has provided data support to marketing research agencies, helping them prepare key insights for business processes.
He has successfully delivered projects around diary data, pharmaceutical data, and product/concept test. He has been at Acuity Knowledge Partners for 11 years, where he is responsible for conceptualizing specific client needs and framing solutions to assist in business development efforts. Prior to joining Acuity Knowledge Partners, he worked at Annik, where he delivered tabulation projects.
Santosh holds a Bachelor of Commerce from University of Delhi and Diploma in Computers from DOEACC.


Yugal Kishore Yadav
Practice Lead - Private Equity and Venture Capital
Yugal is part of the Private Equity and Venture Capital team at Acuity Knowledge Partners. He is responsible for setting up, managing, and overseeing multiple accounts. Yugal is a fiction geek and enjoys following the technology startup ecosystem. He has nearly 7 years of experience in providing advisory and research services for PE / VC funds and corporates across the technology, financial services, infrastructure, and healthcare verticals.


Rahul Jain
Vice President
Rahul co-manages a large private equity team at Acuity Knowledge Partners and leads strategic projects across funds and portfolio companies of the client. He has over eight years of experience, and focuses on target due diligence, industry analysis, opportunity assessment and portfolio growth strategy. Prior to joining Acuity Knowledge Partners, he worked as a management consultant with Strategy& (formerly Booz & Company). He has over two years of consulting experience, working with clients across geographies and in multiple domains including telecom, technology, infrastructure and consumer products. His consulting engagements included commercial due diligence, long-range strategy, profitability turnaround and business process transformation.
Rahul holds an MBA in Finance from the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, and a Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science and Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee.


Abhijit Sahay
Vice President
Abhijit manages the pre-sales function at Acuity Knowledge Partners and is the acting bridge for the sales engagement team in Asset Management (Alternatives), Investment Banking, Business Research, and Analytics. He has over nine years of experience; previously, he managed the Alternative Asset Management accounts of Acuity Knowledge Partners for a suite of service offerings across Investment Due Diligence, Business Development, Portfolio Monitoring, and Client Reporting. As part of the operations team at Acuity Knowledge Partners, he worked with some of the top global Private Equity Fund of Funds and Fund of Hedge Funds. Prior to working with Acuity Knowledge Partners, he worked as a Senior Analyst with D.E. Shaw India, where he conducted due diligence for D.E. Shaw’s successful investments in DLF, and Amar Ujala (a leading national daily). He holds a degree in Economics from the University of Delhi, and an M.B.A from I.C.F.A.I Business School, Hyderabad


Pratap Narayan Singh
Vice President, PE and Strategic research
Pratap leads the private equity and hedge fund of funds practices. He has over 10 years of experience in investment banking, advisory alternative asset management including private equity fund of funds verticals. He is responsible for managing and developing client relationships and overseeing multiple accounts.
Pratap has extensive experience in alternative asset products, covering business development, investment due diligence, portfolio monitoring, co-investment valuation, revaluation, client reporting, database management processes.


Upendra Singh
Associate Vice President
Upendra is an expert in the energy sector within the corporate and strategic research practice. At Acuity Knowledge Partners, he is responsible for project management and execution of projects in the power and oil and gas domains. He has over 8 years of experience in consulting and analytics. His previous stints include working in an energy sector market research firm and with an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM).
Upendra holds a Master of Business Administration in Power Management.


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