Sanjai Vohra was born and educated in India, and got a B.Sc. (Physics) from St. Stephen’s College (Delhi) in 1981, and PGDM from I.I.M. Ahmedabad in 1983. He started his 25+ years of experience in the banking / investing industry in Asia, with Citibank in India. After almost 6 years, he went overseas and worked with various global financial institutions, including 17 years at JP Morgan / Chase. His initial years were in Credit / Risk Management functions, with responsibility at various times for companies in N. Asia, ASEAN, etc. He then moved to pan-Asian roles in Fixed Income markets, and was involved with Research & Debt markets (Bond issues, Loans, Credit Rating Advisory) for various Asian companies. The Asian economic crisis in 97/98 generated opportunities in Distressed Debt, and his team was responsible for identifying, valuing and managing investments in such companies in Asia (ex Japan). The team was one of the 3 largest players in Asia in this space – investing in such assets in almost every country in Asia. With the opportunities arising from the subsequent Asian recovery (especially the intensifying growth in China and India, and the impact this had on companies elsewhere in Asia), he moved to Private Equity & Principal Finance and later Loans & Private Finance – wherein he was responsible for making investments & arranging financing across Asia, across a range of industries. Starting in early 2005, the PE/ PF portfolio was approx. $1bn in invested assets, across Asia (then largest portion being in India, followed by Malaysia, Korea, and China).
His roles have given him considerable insight into a wide range of industries, across Asia – eg. retail, agri-businesses, healthcare, media, auto ancillaries, forest products, heavy engineering, infrastructure, real estate, transportation, etc. It has also enabled him to compare & contrast how similar industries work in different Asian countries and the strategic priorities & challenges of some leading groups in these countries. In his Private Equity & Private Finance roles, he has been on the board of various companies, in India and elsewhere in Asia. He is married with 2 children, and has lived in Hong Kong since 1989, except for 3 years in-between, in Singapore.