Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd’s private wealth management unit has appointed Virendra Somwanshi as its managing director and CEO.
Somwanshi will take over from Vijay Goel, who has been named CEO of Motilal Oswal Home Finance Ltd, the group’s mortgage lending arm, according to a press release.
Goel replaces Sanjay Athalye, who left the housing finance company a few months ago.
Somwanshi has 22 years of experience. Prior to joining Motilal Oswal, he worked with BOB Capital Markets Ltd for two-and-a-half years as the head of wealth management and equities.
Previously, he worked with Citigroup for about 17 years. At Citi, he worked in multiple businesses across consumer banking, wealth management, and securities and investments management in India and Singapore.
Motilal Oswal, managing director at Motilal Oswal Financial, said Somwanshi brings with him great expertise and experience in handling affluent client portfolios. “We are on a positive growth trajectory and well-positioned to continue building on our momentum… I am sure he will inspire the private wealth team to realise the potential of being leaders and most preferred wealth managers.”
Somwanshi said that the private wealth management industry is at the cusp of high growth in India and that he would strive to lead the next phase of expansion at Motilal Oswal.
Instituted in 2007, Motilal Oswal Private Wealth Management caters to companies, institutions and individuals with high and ultra-high net worth.
As of June 2019, the company claimed to manage the wealth needs of over 3,000 HNI families through a 200-plus team across nine cities. It had assets under advisory of over Rs 18,000 crore.
