Privately held investment banking firm Anand Rathi has roped in Anil Kakani as an executive director of crossborder initiatives. He will work along with investment banking CEO Praveen Chakravarty to boost the business.
Till recently, Kakani was part of the Obama administration and worked in a senior position in the Treasury Department. He was involved in building US-India Economic and Financial Partnership. Given his background, he is expected to specially strengthen the Indo-US investment advisory practice for Mumbai-based Anand Rathi.
This is yet another major hire for the boutique investment banking firm Anand Rathi, backed by Citi Venture Capital International. Last August, it roped in Praveen Chakravarty (formerly BNP Paribas Securities’ India managing director for institutional equities) as the CEO of its investment banking and equities business. Chakravarty, co-founder of Mumbai Angels and an active angel investor, quit BNP Paribas in August 2010 to join former Infosys honcho Nandan Nilekani-led Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) project. He was a volunteer for its Financial Inclusion initiative. Incidentally, both the senior hires by Anand Rathi have been from the public policy field.
The financial services firm has been looking to grow its business in areas like private equity, venture capital and crossborder M&A advisory businesses, besides the equity capital markets (ECM) play. In addition to institutional equities, Anand Rathi is also into retail and wealth management businesses.
