IFMR Digest - December 2018

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Alumni Corner

On November 17th, 2018, Mr. Malhotra passed out of
IFMR in 2011 and worked as a
Mr.Paras Malhotra, a business analyst with Infosys
batch-10 alumnus of IFMR, before leaving for his current
visited the campus to give a job at IHS Markit.
guest lecture on “Business
Analysis - Requirement Can you run through how your
Gathering/ Elicitation/ career has been since leaving
Engineering”. IFMR?

Mr. Malhotra who works as Paras Malhotra: I was placed in

Assistant Vice-President of Infosys right after completing

Product Management in IHS my MBA from IFMR. Initially

Market has a wealth of experi- my posting was in Chandigarh

ence in the field of financial and as a Business Analyst. I also

capital markets. His experience worked in Bangalore and Lon-

and expertise on the subject don before quitting the compa-

were evident throughout the ny for my current role in IHS

lecture which was very interac- Markit.

tive and engaging. The session

went on for an hour and half How was your life back when

after which Mr. Malhotra took you were at IFMR?

on a few questions from the au-

dience. Both the Batch-18 and PM: Life was most certainly in-

the Batch-19 students attended teresting back then. I owe a lot

the lecture in huge numbers. to IFMR and enjoyed a lot while

doing my MBA. Despite being

Mr. Malhotra sat down with the a medical aspirant, circum-

members of the IFMR Editorial stances forced me to do B.Sc. in

and Communications Team for Chemistry after which my in-

a short interview. terest in the financial markets

IFMR Digest 42

led me to joining IFMR. During my MBA, my academics were
good while my extra-curriculars were also pretty good. I was
involved in organizing IFMR’s national level entrepreneur-
ship event, while also being the representative of Abhudhya.
Can you tell us about how your internship and projects
went?
PM: I actually got selected to do an internship at Washing-
ton Centre in the United States but I was unable to go due to
scheduling issues. Instead, I did my summer internship in the
Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). I also worked on a Deloitte
project on the Japanese automobile industry. Also, I worked
with Prof. Lakshmi on her project with the University of
California.Fintech is an industry that is on the up.

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Is it difficult for freshers to enter the field since they have a
glaring lack of experience at a lower level?

PM: No, it most certainly is not. In my team, almost 75% are
comprised of fresh MBA graduates. There is no correct or wrong
time to enter the Fintech world. However, the sooner you do it,
the better.

Can you elaborate a little on derivatives and how it impacts
your job at IHS Markit?

PM: It is important for people in the financial sector to be aware
of what derivatives are and how they work. In IHS Markit, from
OTC derivative post trade processing perspective we provide
Electronic Confirmation, Regulatory Reporting, connectivity to
Clearing Houses & Straight Through Processing to Sell side &
Buy side firms. We look at some of the major risks involved
with it, especially counter party risk. Most investment banks
are our clients and we act as a bridge between them and the
counter-parties, regulators, Clearing houses, etc.

To finish up, can you give out some suggestions to the current
students at IFMR? You have, after all, trodden the same path
that we are walking on now!

PM: Concentrate on your academics and your concepts. Don’t
just limit yourself to something specific. Knowing a little bit of
everything will come in handy. Even if you are into finance, it
doesn’t hurt to know the basics of marketing. Also, enjoy your
life and the happiness in it. Always look at the positives in your
life and work hard. Success will come naturally.

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Interview the inception of my career.
with Nakul Another thing which I would
Verma like to suggest is to have
a thorough knowledge of
On 22nd September, 2018, PowerPoint and have good
presentation skills.
Mr. Nakul Verma, an Alum-
nus of batch 2012-2014, visit- What suggestions do you
ed the campus to give a lec- want to give to the students?
ture on “Valuation of Young
Growth Companies”. NV: I believe networking
with people is something stu-
A Chat session was arranged dents should work on. A great
with him. Excerpts: way to connect and network
with people is by participat-
What do you feel should ing in various inter-college
be added to the curriculum competitions. I think it is a
from your industrial two-way process where you
experience? not only get an opportunity
to learn but also to build con-
NV: I think it would be help- nections.
ful for the students to work
on financial databases. I be- What is the difference be-
lieve that a part of your ca- tween doing valuation as an
reer in Finance will always Individual and for the com-
include working with at least pany?
one of the financial databases.
So, I really think one should NV: As a strategy firm, we
have a strong knowledge of advise clients on improving
these databases. From my ex- operational performance by
perience, I think that if I had focusing on value drivers i.e.
known this earlier, I would growth and return on invest-
have done much better during ed capital. It’s an interaction
of strategy principles with

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corporate finance fundamentals.

How did you learn Valuation?

NV: Apart from IFMR courses, I also learned from watching
videos books on Corporate Finance and Valuation by Aswath
Damodaran.

What is the most used method of Valuation? Is it DCF or
Multiples?

NV: Multiples are frequently used by equity research ana-
lysts and investment bankers. It is a quick and dirty way to
get a target price estimate. However, they should be explicitly
linked to drivers of value creation.

IFMR Digest 46

Obituary

Prof. S. Badrinathan passed away at his residence in Chennai
on November 30 2018 at the age of 73. He is survived by his
wife and two sons.
An alumnus of IIM Calcutta, with over 3 decades of experience
in senior roles in sales and marketing functions, Mr. Badri
was regarded as IFMR’s very own ‘Kotler’ by his students. He
would say to them, “Get your hands dirty in sales and you will
go on to become expert marketeers.” A warm and an amicable
personality who inspired many.
He has certainly left an indelible mark in our memories and
he shall live in our hearts, forever. And, his wisdom shall re-
flect in our actions. We pray to the almighty for his soul to rest
in peace, and also that his family members find
fortitude to bear his loss.

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About IFMR GSB:

IFMR Graduate School of Business is a leading business school with the objective of
moulding ambitious young men and women into competent and socially respon-
sible organisational leaders in a global setting. IFMR’s curriculum offers a mix of
theory with simulated real life exposure and endeavours to shape global business
practices through inventive, sharp thinking and cutting-edge research. IFMR cur-
rently offers full-time and part-time PGDM/MBA programmes, a Ph.D programme
as well as both open and customised management development programmes.

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