Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)

Achin Bhati joined Acuity Knowledge Partners (Acuity) in January 2022 as Head of ESG Research. He has more than 15 years of experience in credit and investment research, including 8 years of experience in ESG research. He leads Acuity’s ESG research delivery franchise across its global delivery locations. Previously, Achin worked with MSCI as Vice President and ESG Research Production Controller for global coverage of publicly traded equities and fixed income issuers. Achin has led large global research teams, successfully delivering on expansion targets relating to global coverage of securities. He has extensive experience in ESG research across products, in diverse roles covering hands-on research, developing rating frameworks, strategic planning for coverage growth, production planning for targeted coverage, quality assurance and delivery. Achin is well-versed in the ESG ratings framework and ESG assessment of fixed income issuers and is an ESG specialist for the BFSI, IT, retail, real estate and utilities sectors. During his tenure of more than 8 years with MSCI, Achin was instrumental in setting up onshore and offshore ESG research teams from scratch. He has also pioneered research and delivery of ESG data on social impact metrics and sustainable finance products such as green bonds. Achin has led cross-functional teams to drive strategic initiatives of transforming ESG research operations.

He also worked with CRISIL (an S&P subsidiary) at its Centre of Excellence, where he published incisive analytical studies and developed credit ratings criteria for a variety of issuers and structured finance instruments. Prior to CRISIL, Achin was a credit analyst with Natixis SA, focusing on large Indian banks and corporates, and worked on landmark corporate finance and wholesale banking deals. Achin is a Chartered Accountant and holds a Master’s in Finance, Taxation and Accounting.

Ramesh has over 19 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.

Pedro Armstrong is a Director at Acuity Knowledge Partners and leads business development efforts in the Americas for the Corporate and Commercial Banking, Buy-side, and Sell-side segments. He is responsible for managing key client engagements and works in partnership with capital market firms to provide customized solutions across research and analytics support, origination and lending support, and marketing and compliance support. He has been with the organization for 12 years, serving in various roles across Sri Lanka, Costa Rica, and now the US. Prior to joining Acuity Knowledge Partners, he was a Central Bank Regulator at the Central Bank of Barbados. Pedro, who is a British Chevening Scholar, holds a Master’s degree (honors) in Banking and International Finance from Cass Business School, City University, London.

Chanakya Dissanayake leads the investment research vertical at Acuity and counts over 16 years with the firm. In addition, Chanakya manages the Colombo delivery center that provides investment research, quant – data science , commercial lending and FMS services. Investment research vertical is responsible for the buy-side, sell-side and private wealth management clientele that obtains equity and fixed income research from Acuity. Chanakya is a CFA charterholder and a fellow member of ACCA (UK) and CIMA (UK).

Balaji Ramakrishnan leads Europe and Middle East business development for Acuity. Having spent his formative years in core banking technology operations, he brings a deep understanding of credit processes and the ability to make analytics-driven decisions. He works closely with senior client stakeholders as a trusted partner, shaping the business case for scaled efficiencies through centralisation, standardisation and intelligent automation within Commercial Lending and Asset Management verticals.

Balaji has established long-term partnerships with banks, asset managers and insurance firms across a number of front and middle office transformation initiatives over the past 20 years. Prior to Acuity, he worked at Accenture and Oracle, serving European financial services clients. He holds an MBA from the London Business School.

Marie Filotti heads APAC Business Development at Acuity Knowledge Partners and is based in Hong Kong. She joined the firm in 2018 after 13 years in Investment Banking and Capital Markets, mainly at Nomura (previously Lehman Brothers), and also worked on the corporate side, having run Investor Relations at a China-based ASX-listed gas company. She uses her experience in the industry to advise our clients on best practices in implementation of engagements across all sectors. Marie holds a BA from Yale University and a Masters in Finance from Sciences-Po Paris.