Fidelity appoints Ramanathan (BMD 2000) as fixed income fund manager

From Myiris.com

Fidelity Mutual Fund today announced that it has appointed Shriram Ramanathan as the new fund manager for its fixed income funds.

He will be the fund manager for five fixed income / hybrid funds - Fidelity Cash Fund, Fidelity Ultra Short Term Debt Fund, Fidelity Flexi Bond Fund, Fidelity Flexi Gilt Fund and Fidelity Wealth Builder Fund.

Commenting on the appointment, Andrew Wells, Global chief investment officer (CIO) - fixed income, Fidelity International, said, ``I am pleased to welcome Shriram to the India fixed income team. With his decade long experience in fixed income investing locally and domestically, he brings expertise that will strengthen the team as we look to grow our fixed income business in India.``

Prior to joining Fidelity, Shriram was senior investment manager - global emerging market debt (Asia) at ING Investment Management Asia Pacific in Hong Kong. He started with ING Investment Management as a fixed income fund manager in India. His earlier assignments were with Zurich Asset Management Company in fixed income research and with the treasury department of ICICI Bank. Shriram started his career with Larsen and Toubro.

He is a chartered financial analyst and holds a post graduate diploma in business management from XLRI Jamshedpur and an engineering degree from the university of Mumbai.

Christmas Party - Bangalore

Hi Xlers,

We are planning a christmas party on the 11th of Dec at the KGA party hall. Unlike the regular Happy Hours, this will be a 'with family' event where the kids can come and have fun too!

Any suggestions / idea on what we can do are most welcome. Any volunteers to be Santa? :)


Regards
Pratik Bhartia
Secretary, XL Bang Alumni

Felicitating Fr. McGrath

Fr McGrath - one of the founding fathers of XLRI (and the only one who still walks the planet) was honoured for his contribution to the instititute and to the field of education during XLRI's Diamond Jubilee Annual Alumni Homecoming (Nov 21st, '09)... and he still continues with his work in his Human Life Center @ Bhubneswar... Salute to the man!

Radhika Sood Nayak (94PMIR)

Veteran vocalist Sushila Rani Patel believes Radhika Sood Nayak is the only singer who can carry on her legacy. “She’s hardworking, and picks up difficult things easily,” said the 90-year-old Jaipur-Atrauli gharana exponent about her student. “Recently, I taught her a tarana in raga Sohini that she grasped within no time. She has that inner drive.” Like Patel, 38-year-old Sood Nayak has been blessed with a powerful voice and she’s not afraid to use it. “My teacher insists that the voice should be projected without any inhibition,” said Sood Nayak. At her recital this fortnight, which has been organised by the Bhavan’s Cultural Centre, she will sing khayals in Bageshri and Bhoop and a thumri in Des.

From Time Out Mumbai

Aggressive Growth Plan on XLRI Radar

From The Telegraph

Jamshedpur, Nov. 21: XLRI is planning to go big in the next few years.

Along with developing academic strength and infrastructure, alumni members of the 1983 batch have decided to set up an endowment fund for the growth of the institute.

These and other plans were shared at one of the sessions of XLRI Homecoming 2009, the annual alumni meet on campus that began today, organised by XLRI Alumni Association.

On the spare eight acres behind the existing campus, the B-school has decided to set up a learning centre, a hostel for 300 students, a 100-seater International Centre, about 15 guest houses and 100 faculty offices — all within five years at a budget of Rs 50 crore.

“We are giving it some time, at least five years. We are first giving preference to classrooms as we feel that is the priority. Things will be bigger and better. We aim to become an institute of global standards as we already have tie-ups with a score of international B-schools from all over the world and many more are in the pipeline. So, development is necessary,” said XLRI director Father E. Abraham, while addressing alumni members at the annual homecoming.

The alumni members have set up an endowment fund of Rs 6 crore. A sum of Rs 10 lakh has already been deposited with the fund to enhance the brand value of XLRI. Alumni members are looking at more research work, management development programmes, support for student activities, faculty strengthening and improved infrastructure with the funds.

The XLRI Endowment Fund (XEF) will be used with the consent of the XLRI board of governors but it will have a secretariat, a fund utilisation committee and a sub-fund utilisation committee to decide on the ventures. A presentation was also given on the workings of XEF, though things are yet to be finalised.

Plans are already afoot to set up new campuses in Calcutta, Hyderabad and Bhubaneswar as these places are more feasible than Jamshedpur.

Accessibility, along with visibility, is one of the guiding reasons now.

“Land acquisition is the major problem, so things need to be chalked out. Nothing is finalised because of accessibility problems. Also there is a lot of work we do here but that is not noticed outside,” said Father Abraham.

Low visibility is a problem for many. While most B-school rankings put XLRI in the top five positions, the board of governors is still not happy with the current rankings and is working out a strategy to compete with other B-schools, especially Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) in Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Calcutta.

“The competition is mainly with the three IIMs. Otherwise, we are the best private B-school. Also we are managing well as compared to the funding that IIMs receive from the central government. We would try to chalk out ways and strategise to see how we can develop,” added Father Abraham.