Entrepreneurship goes with one line, "When everyone is headed in one direction, chances are your best opportunities lie in the opposite direction." And Mr Nagaraj Garla takes it to heart.
The vivacious leader blazed his own trail and sparked an investing revolution in the line of his professional journey of almost 2.5 decades. Today, the maverick is cutting through the noise and is successfully sailing the endeavour of IDBI Capital.
His focused approach and character of clear vision have enabled him to move forward-and inspired the IDBI's team to do the same-despite sceptics, challenges and obstacles.
Mr Garla knew the way, went to the way and showed the way. Today, under his pilotage, IDBI Capital has registered a growth rate of over 30% in respect of top line as well as bottom line as against negative growth of over 30% during the last 3 years.
A dealer in hope, Mr Garla has played an active role in digital initiatives of the company including the creation of separate mobile application IDBI direct and complete digital platform for account acquisition across various channels.
Broadly IDBI Capital provides services in three major areas – Investment Banking, Institutional & Retail Broking and Portfolio Management Services. Empanelled with leading Institutions as a preferred broker.
The firm also services a vast network of retail and HNI customers and has alliances with leading banks to extend the reach of its broking services across India.
IDBI Capital's provenance branched out from IDBI Bank Limited which innated a rich estate from its predecessor entity – Industrial Development Bank of India – which was an apex Development Financial Institution (DFI) in the realm of the industry from July 1, 1964, to September 30, 2004.
As a DFI, the erstwhile IDBI stretched its canvas beyond mere project financing to cover an array of services that contributed towards the balanced geographical spread of industries, development of identified backward areas, the emergence of a new spirit of enterprise and evolution of a deep and vibrant capital market.
A change of scene came on October 1, 2004, the former turned over new leaf as a banking company – IDBI Ltd with a sole intention of undertaking the entire gamut of banking activities while constantly shouldering his secular DFI role.
Today IDBI Bank Ltd., as a full-service universal bank, provides a wide gamut of financial products and services encompassing deposits, loans, payment services and investment solutions.
Recognized as "Dream Company to Work for – Financial Services" by ET Now and World HRD Congress for the second year in a row
Awarded the title "Asia's Most Trusted Investment Banking & Securities Services Company – 2018"
Ranked #1 in "Bloomberg's Global Syndicated Loans League Table Report – H1 2018", for category "India Borrower Loans (Mandated Arrangers)"
Adjudged as "The Financial Services Brand of the Decade—2018" by Herald Global – ERTC Media
Recognized as "Best Investment Banking & Securities Services Company, 2017" by International Brand Consulting Corporation (IBC), USA
Ranked #19 in "Global Bridge Loans (Mandated Lead Arranger)"
Ranked #11 in M&A deals in BFSI space in terms of no. of transactions executed in FY18 and continue to hold the position
Ranked #7 in terms of IPOs launched in BFSI space in FY18*
Ranked #12 in terms of IPOs (across sectors) launched in last 15 months
Ranked #6 in terms of Qualified Institutional Placement launched in BFSI space in FY18*
Ranked #2 in Buyback managed in FY18*. Have managed one of the largest buybacks of NMDC Limited (Offer Size – Rs.7500 crore)
Rated among the Top 30 Brokerage House in the Asia Money Poll 2017
Voted as the Most Improved Broking House for 2017
Today, IDBI Capital provides capital market services, M&A and PE, syndication and advisory services for the resolution of stressed assets. Till the publishing of this report, the company has handled more than 2 lakh crore of corporate debt restructuring mandates.
The company recently launched the Retail PMS to focus on wealth management for the niche segment of customers. A business superpower it is today, IDBI credits its consumers for its success and growth inside and out.
While IDBI Capital is gearing up to bringing on board young investors with exponential ability to invest over the next few years with well-researched investment guidance & providing personalised strategies for achievement of long-term investment objectives, we sat down with Mr Garla, an inspiring soul who speaks his heart out with us.
Edited Excerpts
IDBI Capital has been providing a range of services to customers during its 25 glorious years.
The journey which began as an arm of IDBI Bank providing stockbroking services that have now risen up to stand tall amongst financial houses in the industry offering a complete bouquet of services under one roof including investment banking, research, portfolio management etc.
We look at the coming years with a growing hope of diversifying further to provide our customers with a memorable experience in the financial services space.
Volatility sustained over a longer term has its roots in changing fundamentals, overall economic changes as well as the impact of global conditions & regulations.
It is, therefore, necessary to monitor the impact of these conditions / changes on the future prices of the investments & make necessary adjustments to your holding, investment rationales, investment strategies & exit decisions.
To improve our bouquet of services, we are about to launch commodities broking services for our retail clients, the same is in the advanced stages of implementation & also a few other fine-tuned products.
We have recently gone live with products like Margin trading facility for 90 days which is unique in the industry, Securities lending & borrowing & online account opening for our retail customers.
Broking industry will see consolidation & two types of entities – the first focused on plain simple execution & the second focused on well-researched advisory with executions as a secondary or support service.
Believe in yourself – Believe that you can succeed, and you'll find ways through different obstacles. If you don't, you'll just find excuses.
Have a vision – An entrepreneur is someone who has a vision for something and a desire to create it. Keep your vision clear at all times.
Say yes to opportunities – Always look for opportunities, don't be afraid to get out there and meet like-minded people.
Follow your passion – Do what you love, you will spend a lot of your life working but if you're doing something that interests you and you are passionate about then you'll keep going even when it gets hard and it will get tough.
Know your customer – Know those you serve better than anyone else, and you'll be able to deliver the solutions they need.
Know your market – If you want any chance of success, you need to thoroughly research your target market before launching your business. This will help you identify important attributes such as the price point and marketing messages that will appeal to your target audience. The better you understand your target market, the easier it will be to avoid costly misfires.
Tune up your business Knowledge – Take time to improve your business skills.
Prepare to make sacrifices – There's no such thing as an overnight success. Burn the midnight oil.
Prepare to take risks – If you risk nothing then you risk everything _Geena Davis
Mr Garla nestles over 2.5 decades of experience in banking & finance spanning across different verticals like Corporate Banking, Retail Banking, MSME, Agri and Rural Credit, Trade Finance and International Banking Operations, Remedial Management and Stressed Assets and Investment Banking.
Mr Garla's competencies include building strategies, framing business plans and successfully implementing result-oriented strategies for achieving targeted growth.
Executive Vice President – Mr Anantapadmanabhan Sarma
Executive Vice President – Mr Nalin Kumar
Senior Vice President – Mr Aseem Saroop
Senior Vice President – Mr Kishore Chinai
Senior Vice President – Mr Ambrish Sahni
Vice President – Ms Meena Jawahrani
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