MANAGEMENT TEAM

Raj Bhatt - Vice-Chairman & CEO

Raj is the Vice Chairman and CEO of the group. He has 21 years of senior management experience working in complex and multi-cultural organizations in seven different locations spread over three continents. He has an outstanding track record in financial re-engineering, including restructuring, mergers and acquisitions and also in raising equity and debt in international markets. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and also a member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India. He is also a corporate finance representative registered with the FCA.

Ajay Pandey - COO & Head ECM

Ajay is the Chief Operating Officer and head of Capital Market business. He is part of the founding team  and responsible for the overall growth of Elara group of companies. He has more than 20 years experience in financial services industry. Previously, as an entrepreneur for two years he invested discretionary funds for his clients in emerging markets. Prior to that he has worked with Kotak Mahindra. He has a Master of Business Administration degree from Faculty of Management Studies, Vadodara and Master of Science from M.S. University, Vadodara.

Harendra Kumar - Managing Director - Head – Institutional Equities & Global Research

With over 17-years of experience in the profession and having built several highly successful and profitable sell side businesses (up to 150 people teams), primarily in Institutional & Retail equities, sales, trading, research and distribution, Harendra Kumar spearheads Elara Securities´ institutional equities business in India as well as its cutting edge global research. Prior to joining Elara Securities, he worked with ICICI Securities and Centrum Broking. He is a Commerce Graduate and holds a post graduate degree in law.

Mahesh Iyer – Chief Technology Officer

Mahesh has over 23 years experience in the IT industry working for various organizations in India and UK. He has an Electronics Degree and has extensive experience in the application of technology mainly for the financial services sector. He has managed multiple technology teams in the design, development and implementation of technology and infrastructure solutions for various domains like Asset Management, Investment Banking, Broking, finance, manufacturing, outsourcing and product development.

Joseph K. Mammen - Managing Director - Head : Elara Capital (Asia ) Pte Ltd.

Located in Singapore, Joseph currently heads the firms’ expansion in South East Asia. His primary focus is to grow Elara’s investment banking platform to cater to corporates in the region as well as enhance cross border deals flows by leveraging on Elara’s presence across Europe and the United States.  The team will also originate and execute regional Corporate Finance, Structured Debt and M&A mandates.  Joseph was previously heading the Sales & Trading activities at the London, New York, Singapore and Mumbai offices, originating and executing  IPO, QIP, GDR and Convertible Bond new issues. Joseph has over 10 years’ experience in investment banking, he has previously worked with Aberdeen Asset Management and GE Capital. Joseph holds a first degree in Economics from Madras Christian College and a Master’s degree from Manchester Business School, U.K. He's been with Elara since 2005.

Nalin Pant – Head, Human Resources

Nalin has had diverse corporate experience across sectors, including financial services, FMCG, consumer durables, engineering industry and office equipment. He has handled staff and operational responsibilities across areas such as marketing & sales, sourcing, project management, corporate strategy, M&As, JVs and international business, culminating into general management roles. He earned Post Graduate Diploma in International Management, from IMI, New Delhi and was awarded Gold Medal for outstanding academic performance. He takes keen interest in education & training and underwent Faculty Development Program at IIM, Ahmedabad.

David Somekh, President - Head of Elara Americas

David Somekh is the head of Elara Capital’s Americas business, spearheading activities in the region.  David joined Elara Capital’s London headquarters in 2008 where he was instrumental in building up the Capital Markets division, in 2010 he moved to New York to start Elara’s Americas business.  The team works with institutional investors and corporates around the world, focusing on Corporate Finance origination/execution, Cross-Border M&A,  Emerging Market Sales/Trading and third-party LP fund raising.  Prior to this role, David worked in a number of different areas including speculative energy investment, interest rate futures investment, sales/trading and management accounting, previous firms include BP and Fujitsu.  David graduated with a theoretical physics degree from University College London.

Ramnish Kochgave – President – Investment Banking & Head ECM

Ramnish has had extensive experience in Investment Banking and Equity Capital Markets. He has held responsibility for origination, coverage banking for multiple sectors including chemicals, engineering, cement and hospitality and as Deal Team Lead for Capital Market groups. He brings with him broad based experience in areas of Capital Markets (Equity and debt), M&A, PE, and restructuring & advisory business.

 Prior to joining Elara Capital, he was working with SBI Capital Markets Ltd.

He holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) from IIM Lucknow with major in Finance & Marketing and a Bachelors degree in Statistics (H) from University of Delhi.

Nitesh Shah - Chief Executive Officer - Wealth

Nitesh Shah has been a leader with over 25 years of experience in the Financial and Banking Industry. His presence in the industry has given him opportunity to interact with the elite and influential personnel in the industry enhancing his corporate relationships. He was effectively involved in close working relationships to CEOs and CFOs of industry leaders in various organizations over the years which have enhanced his presence in the financial industry across the globe.

Nitesh has decades of experience maintaining and handling private client portfolios across India and the globe and he also managed a venture for a couple years and raised capital in a very short period of time. Nitesh strengths lie in his efficient strategies to various Organizations and ventures by assisting them with business development and capital raising requirements. His educational background is Master of Business Administration (Finance) and qualified Cost Accountant.