The VCCircle India Limited Partners Summit will bring together the country's leading private equity funds, top global and Indian Limited Partners and other stakeholders in the PE ecosystem to discuss the issues fund managers and their investors face. The summit will also host prominent industry leaders and experts on the Indian economy.
The summit will deliberate on the trends shaping the course of investment in India. It will also provide an attractive platform to participants to explore issues related to India’s growth story.
Here is the final agenda with speakers.
Day I - Wednesday, March 9th, 2016
8:30am - 9:30am
Breakfast, Networking & Registration
9:30am - 9:45am
Introductory Note
9:45am - 10:30 am
Panel I: Plenary session: The current state of the Indian economy
Top economists and India strategists debating on the current state of the Indian economy and what is in store for the future. The debate will also touch upon what the state of economy and reforms agenda means for the growth of business and the Indian private equity.
Saugata Bhattacharya - Senior Vice-President, Business and Chief Economist, Axis Bank
Shubhada Rao - Group President & Chief Economist, Yes Bank
Saurabh Mukherjea - CEO of Institutional Equities business, Ambit Capital Pvt. Ltd
Bharti Gupta Ramola - Markets and Industries Leader, PwC India
Roopa Purushothaman - Managing Director and Head of Research, Everstone Capital Advisors (Moderator)
10:30am - 10:55am
Keynote Address - K.T Rama Rao - Minister for Information Technology and Panchayat Raj, Government of Telangana
10:55am - 11:20am
Special Address on : "Challenges for Make in India" by Atul Chaturvedi - Joint Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India
11:20am - 11:40am
Tea & Networking
11:40am - 12:25pm
Panel II: Changing Dynamics of LP-GP relations - Are LPs the new GPs?
Deal making in India has gradually evolved, from large institutional investors backing blind pool corpuses initially to a managed account structure and now platform deals and joint ventures. Platform deals, where both the investor and the developer bring equity, have gained currency in recent years. Large institutional investors such as Goldman Sachs, GIC, APG, CPPIB have preferred this route to invest- particularly in Indian real estate.
- Why are LPs taking more direct position in deal making?
- Do capital partners want to be closer to their assets and joint ventures (between investors and developers), bypassing fund managers, is a way of doing that?
- Will LPs compete or partner with PE funds going forward?
- How will the independent crop of fund managers in India cope with the global norms of governance?
- How will LPs bring in the expertise of managing direct investments vis-a-vis their indirect investments?
Simon Hopkins - Chief Executive Officer, Milltrust International Group
Lucian Wu - Managing Director, HQ Capital
Jürgen Rigterink - Chief Risk and Finance Officer, FMO
Gordon Fairclough - South Asia Bureau Chief, The Wall Street Journal (Moderator)
12:25pm - 12:45pm
Special Address on “The regulatory and policy initiatives for the Indian alternative investment industry: Where are we headed?" by Gopal Srinivasan, Chairman & MD, TVS Capital Funds Limited
12:45pm - 2:05pm
Lunch & Networking
2:05pm - 2:50pm
Panel III: India’s China Syndrome
With the stock market in China decline, the currency unstable and consumer sentiment weakening, India, despite its own challenges, remains the last standing stable BRIC nation. A stable government, low oil prices, a business friendly regime and relatively stable economy provide great macro conditions for India to make a renewed case to become a great destination for investment. Even as India can’t escape any global downturn, is there a clear window of opportunity for India now?
- What would it take to solidify this seemingly temporary opportunity?
- What lessons from China’s startup boom can India learn, unlearn and adapt to its own trajectory?
- What would major global investors want to see more of in India now? What do they want to see less?
- What benchmarks would we want to set to measure success 12, 24, 36 months out?
Bryan Stewart - Director of Asia-Pacific at Emerging Markets, Liberty Global Partners
Manish Kejriwal - Managing Partner, Kedaara Capital Advisors LLP
Amit Chandra - Managing Director, Bain Capital Advisors
Nishant Parikh - Partner, Trilegal
Tarun Bhatia - Managing Director, Kroll (Moderator)
2:50pm - 3:35pm
Panel IV: The role of risk and rescue capital in deleveraging India
Limited partners (LPs) see opportunities in this space and 2016 would be an active year for stressed asset investment. Global funds specializing in stressed assets have started to look at India for investment opportunities as banks and corporate houses try to pare debt with offers of equity and asset sales. What are the return expectations of investors? What is the opportunity set in the space? What are the investment opportunities under the CDR Regime?
Mintoo Bhandari - Senior Partner and Managing Director, Apollo Global
Devinjit Singh - Managing Director, The Carlyle Group
Suresh Prabhala - Co Founder & Partner, ADV Partners Capital
Harsh Pais - Partner, Trilegal
M.K Sinha - Managing Partner & CEO, IDFC Alternatives
Munesh Khanna - Head - Corporate Finance, PwC India (Moderator)
3:35pm - 4:20pm
Panel V: Specialist or sector agnostic, what does an LP look for in India?
Developed markets are positioning themselves as specialist funds and investors are globally appreciating the move. Do international LPs endorse a similar move for India-dedicated funds? LPs want to see sector specialists driving the investments in the funds providing operational assistance. LPs want fund managers to have operating partners for the sectors that they endorse.
- Which sectors in India are hot for LPs?
- What level of operational assistance do LPs prefer in portfolio companies?
- Will a sector specialist fund work for Indian market?
Rubi Arya - Executive Vice Chairman, Milestone Capital Advisors
Mathew Cyriac - Co-Head of Private Equity & Senior Managing Director, Blackstone
Sanjiv Aggarwal - Partner; Energy, Actis
Dhiraj Poddar - Director, TA Associates Advisory Pvt. Ltd
Michael Liu - Senior Vice President, Portfolio Advisors (Hong Kong) Limited (Moderator)
4:20 pm onwards
High Tea & Networking
5:45pm - 6:15pm
Awards Registration
6:15 pm onwards
VCCircle Awards 2016
Followed by cocktail & dinner
Day II - Thursday, March 10th, 2016
8:30am - 9:45am
Breakfast, Networking & Registration
9:45am - 10:30am
Panel I: Fundraising: Past experiences and Outlook for 2016
Around $5 billion was raised across some 37 India-dedicated funds cutting across investment strategies and asset classes, as per VCCedge, the data research platform of VCCircle, in 2015. Are VC firms finding it relatively easier to raise money? What is the outlook of LPs for 2016? Will we see more allocations in 2016? If yes, which strategies and spaces will attract capital?
Alagappan Murugappan - Managing Director and Head of Asia Funds, CDC Group
Sudhir Variyar - Managing Director, Multiples Alternate Asset Management Private Limited
Anand Prasanna - Managing Partner, Iron Pillar
Jaganath Swamy - Vice President, Harbourvest Partners (Asia) Limited
TCM Sundaram - Founder & Managing Director, IDG Ventures India Advisors
Nupur Garg - Regional Lead - South Asia, Private Equity Funds, International Finance Corporation (IFC) (Moderator)
10:30am - 11:15am
Panel II: Re-defining Private Equity Deal Due Diligence in Challenging Times
Private equity investors in India cannot apply due diligence and risk mitigation practices from developed markets to India, where auditing standards have not fully matured and corporate governance standards are still evolving. In an environment where private equity investors do not always have access to good quality information and they have few options to enforce compliance, investors need to re-define due diligence to fully unravel the truth behind target businesses. While there is no “one size fits all” strategy for India, this panel discusses the best practices of the most effective pre-investment due diligence approach.
Haresh Vazirani - India Head, Aberdeen Asset Management PLC
Jayanta Basu - Managing Partner, CX Partners
Ravindra Bandhakavi - Partner, Trilegal
Sanjay Chaudhary - Partner, Tata Capital Growth Fund
Reshmi Khurana - Managing Director & Head of South Asia, Kroll (Moderator)
11:15am - 11:35am
Tea & Networking
11:35am - 12:05pm
Presentation on Budget 2016 and its impact on asset management sector by Vikram Bohra - Financial Services Partner, Tax & Regulatory Services, PwC India
12:05pm- 12:50pm
Panel III: Domestic fund raising - Emergence and role of Indian investors in rupee capital funds
India is experiencing the birth of domestic investors for alternate investment funds. Government has allowed funds from the National Pension System to be utilized for private equity funds. HNIs and family offices have increased their portfolio exposure to alternate assets. They are now setting the trend for specific sectors to take precedence over the other. Domestic investors are asking for more transparency in transactions.
- What are HNIs and family offices seeking today from fund managers?
- Are the return expectations and risk appetite of domestic investors similar to their foreign counterparts?
Sateesh Andra - Managing Director, Endiya Partners
Vik Mehrotra - CEO & CIO, Venus Capital
Sanjay Nath - Co-founder & Managing Partner, Blume Venture Advisors Pvt. Ltd
Arun Korati - Senior Managing Partner, IIML Asset Advisors Limited
Umang Papneja - President & Chief Investment Officer, IIFL Wealth Management Ltd.
Rahul Khanna - Managing Partner, Trifecta Capital (Moderator)
12:50pm - 1:50pm
Lunch & Networking
1:50pm - 2:10pm
Keynote Address on : Creating India’s Most Trusted & Valued Pathology Laboratory Network- My Story by (Hony) Brig Dr Arvind Lal (Padma Shri) - Chairman & Managing Director, Dr. Lal PathLabs Ltd.
2:10pm - 2:55pm
Panel IV: The state of Indian venture capital and startup investing
With India’s internet and technology sector showing huge promise, the country has attracted several billions of dollars in VC in the last few years. Have they paid off for Indian early stage investors? Can we see some of these startups starting to build sustainable businesses and grow into big boys? And what does that mean for VC investors? Did Indian classic private equity miss out on e-commerce, SaaS and other new age sectors?
Sandeep Murthy - Partner, LightBox
Sasha Mirchandani - Founder & Managing Partner, Kae Capital
Vineet Chadha - Partner, Tata Capital Innovations Fund
Rehan Yar Khan - General Partner & Founder, Orios Venture Partners
Deepak Shahdadpuri - Founder & MD, DSG Consumer Partner (Moderator)
2:55pm onwards
Tea & Networking
To find out more about the private equity and investment ecosystem in India, register now or write to Kanika at register@vccircle.com.
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