Biography
Sivananth "Siva" Ramachandran, CFA, is the Director of Capital Markets Policy, India at CFA Institute. In his role, he is responsible for advocating policy positions on issues that impact Indian capital markets, including corporate governance, ESG, and financial reporting, to name a few. Siva was part of a SEBI working group that reviewed the related party transaction regulations. He is frequently quoted in media. Siva has nearly 13 years of experience in financial services. Prior to joining the CFA Institute, he spent five years at Morningstar, and led their global index product development team. He also served as a spokesperson for sustainability at Morningstar India. Prior to his time at Morningstar, Siva spent nearly five years at MSCI where he co-authored research papers on small cap investing, portfolio construction, and economic exposure. Siva has an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow. He also holds the chartered financial analyst (CFA) and professional risk management (PRM) designations, and the fundamentals of sustainability accounting (FSA) credential provided by Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB).
The closure of the six Franklin Templeton (FT) schemes last year is, at its core, a failure of risk management, as amply illustrated in the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (SEBI) recent order. But were these deficiencies specific to one firm, or can we take broader lessons for the Indian fund industry?
Assets under management with credit funds grew in India as long as their inflows exceeded outflows. It was only when the trend reversed that those funds had to face up to the task of selling in an illiquid market.
SEBI tackles novel and nuanced ethical issue by raising the threshold of what it considers acceptable executive behavior.
Rules to open up competition in Indian stock exchanges may not bring new entrants, but they may nudge the market leader to shape up.
A brokerage scandal in India led to an immediate reform which did not go through a consultation process. The resulting rules have had a significant unintended impact on client experience, which has varied across brokerages.
In a market like India, where corporate governance concerns are top of mind for investors, the role of auditors in providing assurance to investors is critical.
The London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) transition is a landmark event, and most discussions in India have focussed on the impact. The lessons the LIBOR transition holds for Indian benchmark reforms are more interesting.
Most countries either require or recommend separation of independent directors, but India had long incentivized this separation by requiring a higher minimum ratio (50% instead of 33%) of independent directors on boards on which the chair is also the CEO.
A standard taxonomy of green finance based on best principles, with an eventual path towards global convergence, would catalyse investments that are desperately needed. This global issue is framed from the point of view of India.
India's pension system is riddled with issues not least of which is the annuity market.