Career Spotlight: Seasoned Banker Anil Chaturvedi Balances Specialization with Broad Leadership

As pragmatic and measured as most people perceive the financial industry to be, it may come as a surprise to some just how much credence seemingly seasoned financial experts lend to trends with dubious fundamentals. Yet history is littered with stories of financial industries run amok.

You only need to look back forty years, the span of Anil Chaturvedi’s career, to find three major examples: the Japanese real estate bubble, the Dotcom bubble, and the U.S. housing bubble. Ultimately, each one of these economic crises were caused by neither pragmatic nor measured decision making. They were caused by a lack—or perhaps deliberate ignorance—of attention to detail. And there are far more crises there were caused, at least in part, to illogical decision-making on the part of financial experts when they became blind to fundamental, underlying issues with their investment decisions.

All that to say, Anil Chaturvedi, a banking executive with experience in investment, private, and commercial banking, presents an insightful case study on career modeling in the financial industry.

Anil Chaturvedi’s Career Arc

Chaturvedi began his career at the State Bank of India (SBI) in the country he grew up in. After a successful tenure at SBI, Chaturvedi moved to a position as the Vice President and Senior Representative of US operations for Grindlays bank. Following that position, he joined Merrill Lynch as the International Managing Director. Finally, he moved into a new role in 2011 as the Managing Director at Hinduja Bank.

With names like Merrill Lynch, the State Bank of India, Grindlays, and Hinduja—not to mention four decades of experience—on his resume, it’s worth taking a closer look at what Anil Chatruvedi did and how he approached his career.

To Specialize or Not to Specialize?

In an interview with CEO World, Chaturvedi was asked what advice he would give to young people in the financial industry. He said that young people should stay focused and disciplined and he encouraged them to “acquire greater knowledge and be specialists in their job.”

In the modern economy, specialisation is an engine for sustainable growth. In truth, the importance of specialisation was arguably as important in 1980 as it is today. But what’s not up for debate is the massive increase in size of the world’s so-called knowledge economy. And that’s what makes Chaturvedi’s advice so timely.

Today, those of us who are fortunate enough to work in a highly competitive industry like finance must make a choice: should I be a specialist or a generalist? In a globalised economy, specialists and generalists both have their place, but Chaturvedi shows it doesn’t have to be one or the other.

Chaturvedi Illustrates Specialisation in Action

For an example of a balanced career developing specialist and generalist skills, you can analyze Chaturvedi’s career arc. When he began his career at the State Bank of India, he was responsible for planning and implementing a marketing strategy for driving customer growth, targeting Non-Resident Indians in the USA. At Grindlays, Chaturvedi headed operations of the bank which meant he was responsible for development, marketing, regulatory issues, and creating a profitable model for the bank. On top of that, he was responsible for developing leadership skills among his employees.

Then, at Merrill Lynch, he specialized in custom investment solutions for ultra-high net worth individuals. Following that, he joined the Hinduja bank to facilitate and oversee strategic alliances (mergers and acquisitions, capital raising, etc.) between corporations in Asia, the USA, India, and Europe.

From marketing to operations and leadership and then to custom investment solutions and global strategic partnerships, Chaturvedi’s career arc is an elegant blend of specialist and generalist. And his continuity, forty years in the industry, is all the proof you need to see the value of specialisation in the modern age.

Staying Disciplined and Focused

Another value Chaturvedi espouses, and that we can observe in his career, is the importance of discipline and focus. Discipline and focus, after all, are what make it possible to take in the sort of knowledge required to have a job in any finance-related field. By its nature, finance is an abstract concept to grasp and requires a broad base of knowledge and critical thinking from even its most junior employees.

Very few are blessed with these thinking skills and knowledge so a focused, disciplined approach to learning on the job is paramount. In fact, for most young financial professionals, their first years will be spent climbing a steep learning curve before they attain the knowledge they need to be productive.

Chaturvedi as a Case in Point of Discipline and Focus

Even for Chaturvedi, who has had a stable, 40-year career in banking, there was quite a bit of change throughout. While he started in his home country of India, he moved from India to the United States to Switzerland throughout the course of his career. To remain focused and continue climbing up the corporate ladder at Merrill Lynch and Grindlays required an immense amount of discipline.

Not to mention, with a career spanning so many different aspects of the banking industry, Chaturvedi never allowed himself to get comfortable. He was constantly learning, taking on new challenges, and building his skills and knowledge in the process. This, again, could only be possible with discipline and focus.

Lessons from Anil Chaturvedi’s Career Spotlight

Chaturvedi achieved his goals largely because he applied discipline and focus to learn everything he could. Over time, this made him increasingly valuable as an employee, then a manager, and then an executive. But discipline and a commitment to knowledge aren’t the only thing Anil Chaturvedi credits for a successful career.

Chaturvedi also firmly believes in optimistic thinking, which he also explained in this interview with CEO World. His view is that every catastrophe gives an opportunity, and for young adults starting their career in the finance industry, this is valuable advice to follow, especially today. While there are many exciting changes ahead, there are undoubtedly going to be many difficult times ahead. By its nature, the financial industry can be volatile. And, if history is any indication, financial careers will continue to be disrupted by crises.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes