Since my childhood, I had been hearing India was a developing country and that with development a number of things were to change. Brought-up in a middle class background, shopping was a huge thing especially on festive or celebratory occasions. Around 20 years back, the shopping was done differently- there were open markets where consumers would physically go to the market often walking long distances in the midst of commotion trying to find-out what they really looked for but often having to compromise on choice. While I loved the idea of shopping the experience often used to be unpleasant one. On day I decided to visit the newly opened Pantaloons store in my city- and that completely changed the shopping experience for me. I was thrilled to find myself shopping in fully air-conditioned shop with sparkling interiors (a huge thing in those days), skimming through assorted selections of multiple brands while being attended by courteous and professional customer executives. Instead of having to walk long distances in hot and humid weather and asking one shopkeeper after another, it was as-if a crème-de-la-crème selection of fashion was let-out on a tray for me to choose from! This was my first and an everlasting experience with Aditya Birla Group (ABG) - I instantly developed tremendous respect as well as a sense of pride for it was an Indian conglomerate.
Since then the name- Aditya Birla Group has been a synonymous with excellence for me. Being from chemical manufacturing industry and having a keen interest in the sector, I have been able to learn in great depth about the company’s chemical manufacturing activities- the wide range of high-value and quality products with plants across multi-national locations, the strictest standards of safety adopted and encouraging atmosphere within the organization to nurture talent has always raised my respect and a sense of pride for the company. The group, which started with trading and manufacturing of textiles todays boasts of leading in 14 industry sectors- with its goods and services setting benchmarks for entire industry. The biggest example of this for me in the asset management business. As a keen investor, I actively take investment calls across multi- asset categories. Whatever be the asset the asset manager is always Aditya Birla Capital- due to plethora of investment options and consistent generation of market- beating investment returns. Whether it be seamless integration of investing, financing, insurance and advising needs or be it developing novel products like combining systematic investments with insurance to provide tremendous value, the excellence of ABG is reflected each of its companies. This focus on excellence also resonates well with my own belief of taking on challenges and making real impact.
I have always had an innate proclivity for quantitative subjects and have also won a prize at a national-level math competition. Inevitably, my strong quantitative foundations sparked a long-abiding passion for Finance. Consequently, I decided to participate in the coveted Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) program while working full-time.
My job required working in shifts. The actual working-hours often vary and hugely exceed planned-hours – occasionally extending to 20hours a day. Hence, my greatest challenge was balancing this intense and unpredictable work-schedule with the CFA-program – that too without having any financial background.
However, it was my dream to learn about finance. Therefore, I decided to self-study and not take any assistance from test-preparation providers. I divided my curriculum into goals, drew monthly timelines and tracked progress periodically. Whatever time I could find after work, I engaged in understanding sophisticated Finance paradigms – even if it meant cutting-back on sleep or skipping meals occasionally. I consulted other CFAs & finance-professionals and continuously leveraged smart tech-tools (for instance, using trading-simulators for derivative strategies or utilizing spreadsheet-models for cash-flow analysis, providing twin benefits of deep learning and time-saving simultaneously). Additionally, to garner crucial hands-on exposure, I created my own investment portfolio with my savings and advised family and friends with their investments.
During the entire program, I was out of my comfort-zone. There were often reasons to just give-up after a long day of work. Happily, I stuck to my passion, and passed all three levels of CFA in the first attempt itself. Additionally, I generated above-market returns for my own, families’ and friends’ investment-portfolios while receiving regular accolades at work as an engineer. These newly developed skills allowed me to advise family, friends and colleagues on financial awareness while also protecting their hard-earned money from frauds or cheating. Overcoming seemingly insurmountable challenge has bolstered my confidence and resilience while providing me a rare distinction of being a chemical engineer equipped with the CFA advantage.
There similarities between culture of ABG and my own beliefs of taking on challenges, striving to solve problems and excelling are clear and I believe getting honed at such a coveted organization would not only make my childhood dream come true but transform my raw passion into a winning force.