Feeling at home
Come upturn or downturn, Arpit Agarwal will keep rolling, looking for new opportunities and challenges.
When Arpit Agarwal begins his working day, he has quite a motley group for company—Jetto and Jinny, his two cocker spaniels, his son (once he’s back from school) and, of course, the core team of his mint new startup. Christened Aryss Knowledge Partners—Aryss represents the initials of the first names of the founders, Arpit, Yogesh Bajaj, Surabhi Gupta and Sajjan S. Raut Desai—the base of this venture, at least for now, is a sprawling 10th floor apartment in central Mumbai.
These days, two opportunities are a gleam in Agarwal’s eye, whose last job was at the helm of the Indian operations of UK-based financial services major Dawnay Day. Agarwal left along with this three-member team when Silk Route Advisors, a private equity firm, bought Dawnay Day’s equity stake in the Indian business. “We will pick up distressed assets, to begin with in financial services. And we also want to set up a greenfield venture in education,” says Agarwal, a Science graduate from Delhi’s St. Stephen’s.
Agarwal’s blueprint involves setting up six companies with the Aryss prefix, of which one—Aryss Knowledge Partners—has been flagged off. Education in the area of financial products and services isn’t a field that’s alien to Agarwal. At the ICICI Group, where he was Head (Private Banking) from 2002-2006, he had drafted a private banking curriculum for some two dozen business schools. Today, there is a dearth of institutes that offer high-end courses in structured products, and wealth and portfolio risk management.
Agarwal, who hails from Lucknow, is fascinated by the talent and energy that exists in Tier II and III business institutes. “All they require is quality industry exposure and practical knowledge and we will have another 50,000 future business builders every year,” he says. Is he nervous starting out in today’s challenging environment? “There were apprehensions in the family when I moved out from a big brand like the ICICI Group to Dawnay Day in February 2006. But now (they realise) it’s more of an extension of my entrepreneurship journey,” says Agarwal. “If he puts his mind onto something, he can achieve it,” says Alok Vajpayei, who was till recently Chairman, Dawnay Day India, until he sold his stake.
These days, two opportunities are a gleam in Agarwal’s eye, whose last job was at the helm of the Indian operations of UK-based financial services major Dawnay Day. Agarwal left along with this three-member team when Silk Route Advisors, a private equity firm, bought Dawnay Day’s equity stake in the Indian business. “We will pick up distressed assets, to begin with in financial services. And we also want to set up a greenfield venture in education,” says Agarwal, a Science graduate from Delhi’s St. Stephen’s.
Claim to fame: He was MD & Group CEO (Financial Services), Dawnay Day AV. Built businesses for ICICI Group, DSP Merrill Lynch & BNP Paribas |
Agarwal’s blueprint involves setting up six companies with the Aryss prefix, of which one—Aryss Knowledge Partners—has been flagged off. Education in the area of financial products and services isn’t a field that’s alien to Agarwal. At the ICICI Group, where he was Head (Private Banking) from 2002-2006, he had drafted a private banking curriculum for some two dozen business schools. Today, there is a dearth of institutes that offer high-end courses in structured products, and wealth and portfolio risk management.
Agarwal, who hails from Lucknow, is fascinated by the talent and energy that exists in Tier II and III business institutes. “All they require is quality industry exposure and practical knowledge and we will have another 50,000 future business builders every year,” he says. Is he nervous starting out in today’s challenging environment? “There were apprehensions in the family when I moved out from a big brand like the ICICI Group to Dawnay Day in February 2006. But now (they realise) it’s more of an extension of my entrepreneurship journey,” says Agarwal. “If he puts his mind onto something, he can achieve it,” says Alok Vajpayei, who was till recently Chairman, Dawnay Day India, until he sold his stake.
