Interviews

After close to about 20 years of heading the Private Client Group for Paine Webber, Pioneer Investments and Phoenix Life Insurance in Los Angeles, I was looking at starting something that provides clients a bouquet of services, which is the lifecycle in the (end-to-end solutions) financial industry. Being bitten by the entrepreneurial bug very young I knew I would venture out on my own someday. And though BPO as well as the wealth management industry is quite strong, the latter is quite susceptible to drastic degrees of change and is fairly cyclical with very low-margins. It is this and the huge opportunity in the BPO/KPO space that induced me to take the plunge and that's how eNoah happened.

Tell us something about eNoah.

It's more than three and half years since we opened shop and eNoah currently has 250 employees on payroll, with revenues of about US $2.5 million. Our focus is mainly on financial services (Life Insurance, Asset Management and also Finance & Accounting) with clients based out of the US and Europe. Some of our clients include, Pfizer, Ford and Visteon. We're on the verge of expanding our employee base to 500, with revenues of US $10 million in 2009-10. I think that should pretty much give an idea of where we are today.

A brief outline about the way you started off

I wanted to create value for myself and at the same time start an organisation that differentiated itself from others, when it comes to employee benefits and services offered to clients. I think eNoah has pretty much managed to create unique value across borders.

The world is just recovering from a recession, so where do you think eNoah is poised at this stage?

From a business perspective we think the worst is over. But we do feel that North America and Europe will probably recover only in the latter part of 2010 and we see some strong opportunities for growth from then on. We are also venturing into newer markets, which will help us diversify our client base geographically, which includes South America, Asia-Pacific and Africa.

Can you share some light on your personal growth in the financial industry?

Personally I'm very happy with my growth in the industry. I started off as soon as I completed my MBA in finance from Los Angeles, California. I've seen tremendous opportunities for growth personally and in the wealth creation segment, especially in emerging markets such as India and China. I've basically been in the Wealth Management side my entire career. Although I started my career as a Junior Research Analyst, it was interest in equities and economics that spurred me on towards other avenues.

What do you think of a career in the BPO/KPO space?

I think the opportunity to grow in a BPO/KPO will continue to be there and the industry will continue to record high growth rate as usual. And as we see more of the high-end jobs moving to India the potential for better salaries and growth will remain intact. Though the industry does experience margin pressures due to currency fluctuations, it will still not deter profitability.

As Head of Business Development and Transition, what do your responsibilities entail?

I predominantly concentrate on North America and Europe and my core responsibility is to bring in clients, strengthen relationships and tap new markets. Seamless transition of various processes through the integration of training, technology and manpower is also one of the domains I partake with whenever necessary.

What do you think helped you get where you are today?

I think it is the passion I had for learning and the risks I've taken professionally. Experience has taught me that it is your own passion that drives you towards success, so no matter what you choose to pursue, do it with conviction and believe in it and most importantly enjoy what you do. There is nothing better than constant learning and there is definitely something that you can learn from every experience. In my case I started traveling the world at the age of twelve, playing tennis. Playing any sport helps and when it comes to an individual sport like tennis, you constantly have to deal with hardships, successes, failures and losses on your own, which prepares one to better cope with what life throws one's way.

How much of what you've learnt do you try to pass over to your team?

At eNoah we consider ourselves as a family first and we are very sensitive to the various needs of our employees. Because only if our employees feel secure, whether it be their family, health and various other factors, will we be able to deliver what our clients expect of us and also to proactively exceed those expectations. So we follow an open-door policy, ensure there is work-flexibility and provide unending access to various educational, empowerment and evolvement programmes and the key thing we encourage is a lot is sports, on and off office hours. We strongly encourage participation in this as there is enough evidence scientifically that a healthy body and mind is more focused in whatever needs to get done.