Guest Lectures

Guest speakers hold the ability to provide students with an exposure to the real-world experiences they have personally gathered over the tenure of their career. They contribute to their overall personality development, pushing them to become critical thinkers and delve deeper into the practical applications of a certain subject.

At the Indian School of Business & Finance, owing to an application-oriented, world-class LSE curriculum, guest speakers and public lectures have always been an integral part of the learning journey.

Event Report

Placement Talk

Lecture by Sujoy Basu

 Job Description Orientation: Management

Mr. Sujoy Basu, who is currently working as the Executive Director HR Consulting for HeadSpace HR Pvt Ltd was invited as a guest lecturer at ISBF on 11th November 2019. The lecture was focused on what corporates really look for when they go talent hunting for their organization. Mr. Sujoy started out with understanding the educational background of the attendees. He further went on to explain how fancy jargon of the job description documents shouldn’t be taken literally but should be used as a starting point of enquiry regarding the post a fresher is applying for. 

He emphasized the importance of choosing well as a mismatch in the profile and expectations of a candidate in the beginning of one’s career can lead to job dissatisfaction. With the help of numerous examples from his career and insights from journeys of his colleagues, he further highlighted the need for grooming oneself into a multidisciplinary role for career progression. This allowed the students to gain clarity in career moves, switching profiles and succession planning. 

He also explained how necessary being flexible in an entry level role is and suggested taking up projects that are a learning experience instead of an eyewash. Moreover, he advised to have an individual career goal and choose jobs that align with them in the long run. In a nutshell, he engaged ISBF students with stories about the corporate world and their expectations from new hires.

Mr. Basu ended his lecture by stating the advantages of pursuing varied internships in the beginning in order to cater to opportunity cost pertaining to years spent on education.

Last but not least, Mr. Sujoy Basu revealed the secret to a fulfilling career, “Make a niche for yourself in the industry.”

About Mr. Basu:

He holds a Masters in Management from IILM, Bachelor degrees in Economics (DU) and Law (CCSU), Certificate in Social Sector Leadership from the ‘India Leaders for Social Sector’ (ILSS) and is an Exec-ed (ADP 2018-19) an alum of The University of Chicago, Booth School of Business. With 18 years of industry experience in General Management and Human Resources, he has been a part of diverse industries such as Consulting, Internet, Search & Selection, RPO, Media, Telecom, Automobile, Insurance, Education and IT/ITES. He was an Executive Director of Human Resource(Chief People Officer) for around 5 years. He has work experience of around 19 years and has worked with Top-Notch corporates. He has done an Accelerated Development Programme from Chicago Booth Executive Education.

Placement Talk

Lecture by Vikas Newatia 

Actuarial Sciences as a Career and Data Analytics at RSA

Mr. Vikas Newatia, CEO, Royal Science Alliance(RSA) was invited as a guest lecturer at ISBF on 17th October 2019. The lecture was focused on the essentials of Actuarial Science as a career and the role of Data Science in the field. Mr. Vikas narrated the journey of RSA from the conception till date along with the role of actuaries and the base of knowledge expected to help one pursue the same. 

In addition, he also highlighted the different branches of business where actuarial science is applied like general insurance, banks, brokerage, gaming and pension industries. This allowed the students to gain clarity in each area. He also explained the career path from an entry level professional to that of a Chief Financial Officer. He shed light on how data science is all about calculating, handling and strategising risk as a discipline. In a nutshell, quantifying risk for various business problems.

Diverse detailed examples in general insurance, telematics, wearables, marine cargo, satellite data, weather data were given to calculate the premium amount.

Mr. Vikas ended his lecture by sharing basic qualities like focus, lateral thinking, proactive attitude, discipline and social skills towards the requirements of this field.

Last but not least, Mr. Vikas Newatia revealed his motivation to go back to work everyday, “I love to see and help people succeed.”

About Mr. Newatia:

Royal and Sun Alliance is a general insurance company headquartered in London and today provides insurance products and services in more than 140 countries including India. Mr. Newatia is skilled at Actuarial Science, Valuation, Financial Modelling and Property and Insurance. He has 25 years of experience ranging from technical and business advisory, managed services, SaaS, software development and concepts to international clients in the financial and insurance services space. He has held leadership positions at AgRisk, Towers 

Watson and PwC and worked in Continental Europe, Middle-East and South-East Asia.

ISBF Distinguished Public Lecture Series

Lecture by Dr Pronab Sen

Growth and Distribution: The Theory and the Recent India Experience

From IMH, a celebration of the arts.

At ISBF, we had the pleasure of sitting down with Dr Pronab Sen, a distinguished economist and statistician, who discussed with us, a problem that has been ticking on the minds of all our economics students, ‘What is the cause of the slowdown in the Indian Economy?’ Is it structural? Is it cyclical?

He pointed out the fallacies of the Indian media, print and digital, as they scratch only the surface of the narrative, disguising the real problem, the demand-side problem, with individual financial events like Bank NPAs, the NBFC crisis and such.

Putting up the simple national accounting identity, Y = C + I + G + (X-M), he commented that the government was trying to please the nation, with short-run boosts, like fiscal stimulus, and failing to see the depth of the money cycle, and transactional movement from the poorest to the richest income classes.

Demonetisation, for a fact, completely wiped out the informal sector, its impact not having reversed even in 2019, as it shut the doors for an entire generation of small entrepreneurs and businesses.

A Panglossian Indian government believes that tax cuts would lead to investment increase, but it forgets that output isn’t selling at a great growth rate. Companies are placing heavier importance on keeping company stake close, buying back shares than reinvesting or paying out dividends.

At the end of the session, he entertained questions and answered them with utmost clarity and depth, leaving us all satisfied, but also, tempted enough to dig deeper.

Placement Talk

Lecture by Ashwini Bajaj

Job Orientation Description: Finance

Mr. Aswini Bajaj, Director, Leveraged Growth was invited as a guest lecturer at ISBF. His lecture primarily centred around Finance and its applications in the real world, along with focusing on the different potential qualifications that an individual can attain in this field. Mr. Bajaj also shed light on the latest news, current situation of the markets and gave his inputs on how the economy is going to proceed which gave the students a chance to expand their knowledge on the current happenings in the financial world. In fact, he further emphasized on the importance of being well read, because financial decisions and strategies are designed keeping in mind others decisions and mistakes. 

In addition, Mr. Bajaj also highlighted the different components of the world of Finance – Economics, Financial Reporting, Corporate Finance and others. This allowed the students to comprehend and gain clarity on what exactly is expected to be done in each area. 

Furthermore, he also helped the students understand that it is not possible for them to directly reach the highest position (i.e. CEO), unless they are patient and consistent. He advised the audience on the importance of diversification stating “Never put your eggs in one basket” which meant that all the money should not be invested in a single place and should instead be spread out to diversify the risk.

Lastly, he gave a detailed explanation of each qualification and ended by giving a quick comparison on different qualifications such as CA vs. MBA, CA vs. CFA etc.

Mr. Bajaj ended his lecture by sharing basic skills which an individual requires to excel in the field of finance, which included being well read, debating, having good IT skills/ vocabulary/ writing skills and much more! It not only motivated the students, but also gave a clear perspective towards the requirements of this field.

About Mr. Bajaj:

He Graduated from St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata & has successfully completed CA, CS, CFA, FRM, CAIA, CIPM, CCRA, CIIB, CIRA, AIM. He is also a Corporate Trainer and owns a Consulting Firm: Leveraged Growth which covers 4 verticals namely, Management Consulting, Research Advisory, Corporate Training, L&D (Learning & Development).

ISBF Distinguished Public Lecture Series 

Lecture by Mr. Joy Bhattacharjya

Management and Sports: A Perspective on Careers

From IMH, a celebration of the arts.

Before I begin, I would like to give a shout out to the OGs, Utsav Jain and Prof. Aryapriya Ganguly who work tirelessly to curate and organise insightful events headlined by absolute talismans, reminding me of modern age Gully Boy Ranveer Singh.

Just like the power of his words break his shackles, and bloom the world around him into a vibrant hip-hop scene; outspoken, unfiltered conversations with witty and level headed people bloom us to think differently and break the shackles that hold us back. The energy in the LR is infectious and all-powerful.

We had the pleasure of being joined by Mr. Joy Bhattachariya on 27th September 2019, a person on top of the live-sport, broadcasting and sports management game. With a diverse and full body of work, from live sports production head at Star Sports, to independent, unfettered journalism for Economic Times and India Today in the recent past, he inspired me with the kind of versatility I want to showcase in my life.

He entertained us with his journey, and what two decades of work in sports taught him, about what goes on behind the camera. He broke conventionalism in career choice, something parents in India expect from all their children, to venture into something, he knew he would enjoy doing throughout his life.

He explained the value of punctuality in sport, and live streaming that can’t afford to miss the action because, in sport, there is no dress rehearsal. No screening, no filtering, no editing.

As team director at KKR, he proved his prowess, when he told us how he managed player routine, and preparedness, to get the maximum utility from the astronomic prices paid to bag these excellent coaches and cricketers.

I loved his ability to connect his insight with live cricket circumstance, and the flair with which he touched the underdog nerve in all of us: ‘Your biggest problem is your biggest opportunity. Your biggest strength is your biggest liability.’ Cheers.

He took our doubts and reservations with cheerful aplomb, sifting through the intricate details, to enrich all of us. I had a wonderful time. And never noticed it pass by. Thank you.

ISBF Distinguished Public Lecture Series

Lecture by Dr Arun Kumar

Missing Dimension of Macro Policy-Making in India: The Black Economy

On 26th August 2019, Dr Arun Singh, the Malcolm S Adiseshiah Chair Professor at the Institute of Social Sciences, entertained our distinguished faculty members and students across batches about the Black Economy, whilst simultaneously nudging our spirits by lightening the mood and providing real-world examples of bureaucracy and corruption, that gave possibly the best segue into the conclusion of his lecture. He sincerely tackled our queries and apprehensions and blessed our environment with what I would say is a masterstroke in public speaking. 

He compared the current economy to an iceberg, having a deceptive reflection when taken at face value. With his uncompromising fact-by-fact research, almost reminding me of the same spirit Shashi Tharoor had at Oxford Union, he made me ask myself a vital question I had forgotten since Demonetisation happened – “did it work?” 

He explained to us how 62% of India’s GDP forms the black economy and scoffed at the sheer negligence of our government, our judicial system and even our central bank, which refuses to account black money into our GDP.

In an era where most people only read bite-sized news, snippets and controversial headlines, you would weigh bureaucracy, and public sector corruption, as the biggest flag bearers of our country’s collective failure. He busted these myths in Indian economic history in a flash.

Most Indians believe that cash in itself is black and Demonetisation forced people who stuffed money into mattresses, to confront the system. But did you know, India’s tax structure doesn’t come into play till an income of 5 lakh rupees, and there are 94% Indians who earn below that. An income that doesn’t have to bear the tax, doesn’t count as black income.

“The clever find ways to hide money.”

Layering, a form of money laundering, is a method by which a citizen can illicitly siphon off money, leaving absolutely no trace back to him/her. Currency changes enough countries, hands and companies to become as good as invisible. 

Black money or income generation is actually done by hiding actual revenues and costs, by under-invoicing revenues and overstating costs. Such large scale overstating of costs shoots up inflation and dismantles our balance of payments.

Dr Arun gave us a brutal ‘joke that hurt’ as he said, the economy was booking costs of wages without any production or actual employment to back them up in what he called as ‘activity without productivity’. 

Concluding his detailed and well-planned lecture, he said that the only way to tackle black money was accountability. We need sustained mass movements that shake the pillars of our relaxed government into giving us the absolute Right to Information, to safeguard our whistleblowers and still maintain a sizable difference between the thief and the good samaritan.