MPW 2022: How Kaku Nakhate is powering Bank of America's India strategy

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS, formerly known as Prince of Wales Museum) will soon house the Kahu-ja-daro Buddhist stupa recovered from the province of Sindh, Pakistan. This was made possible by the monies donated by Bank of America for the preservation and documentation of the relics, under Kaku Nakhate’s watch. Serving as President and India Country Head of Bank of America (BofA) since 2010, Nakhate has been instrumental in supporting arts and culture in India, including sponsoring the Children’s Museum at CSMVS, apart from leading the bank’s operations in India.

“We believe in the power of the arts to help educate and enrich societies, bring communities together and create cultural understanding. In every country where we do business, we have been steadfast in our support of the arts,” says Nakhate, who joins the BT Most Powerful Women in Business’s Hall of Fame this year, having won the award seven times.

Nakhate, who had earlier worked for J.P. Morgan India and DSP Merrill Lynch, is currently focussed on key businesses, from mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and capital markets to corporate banking, equity research and global transaction services. “Our idea is to win. And, frankly, it is to win with no excuses,” says Nakhate, who presides over assets totalling Rs 62,333 crore as of March 2022. Its deposits have improved from Rs 36,301 crore in 2020-21 to Rs 39,184 crore in 2021-22, and advances have gone up from Rs 18,186 crore to Rs 21,912 crore during the same period.

Currently, BofA is the sixth-largest foreign bank in India in terms of assets. The bank—which deals with large conglomerates such as Reliance Industries, Tata Sons, Aditya Birla Group, etc.—is singularly focussed on innovations and developing new businesses. In fact, the bank has played a significant role in bringing new sectors and start-ups to the IPO market.

Incidentally, five years ago, the bank set up an office in Bengaluru to be closer to the burgeoning start-up community, with a view to provide investment banking services to them. “It was important to establish an early presence in that ecosystem,” she says. In a changed market scenario, Nakhate is tapping new opportunities in the start-up space, especially debt mobilisation, offering cash management and advisory services, along with supporting their overseas offices.

In a period when start-ups are focussing on profitability, restructuring their businesses and consolidation, Nakhate believes that M&A activity will pick up in the space, going ahead. She adds that even private equity (PE) players are not in a hurry to pump in capital due to these reasons. In fact, she says, PE players are looking for an exit. “This year will be the year of M&As for start-ups,” she says.

In the other spheres of the economy, Nakhate says that there’s a lot of space for creating more depth in the capital markets, more avenues for raising resources, and more space for new players to enter the financial services sector, for the country to achieve the $5 trillion-GDP mark. “Asset monetisation is one big opportunity for us to really encash as a country. We will need to bring in global funds for infrastructure development,” she says.

Once an IIM aspirant who could not find a place in its classrooms, Nakhate currently serves as a Member on the Board of Governors of IIM Ahmedabad. And recently she realised her dream of attending the vaunted institution’s convocation ceremony and wearing the traditional graduation gown. “I told myself that I have finally arrived,” grins Nakhate.

@anandadhikari