CEO Insights India

In today’s highly volatile world, individuals are largely leaning towards various investment options to build their wealth whilst outpacing inflation. Investors must understand that while the key to investing lies in diversification, market volatility can still disrupt the value of their holdings. Alternative investments, in contrast to traditional public markets investing, are relatively less correlated with such vast market movements. Over the years, there has been a growing demand for alternative investments across the globe to counter inflation as well as volatility.

After her Master's in Investment and Finance and whilst completing her second Masters of Science in Business Analytics, Anushka Mathur first entered the asset management industry as an intern. She quickly rose through the ladder, securing high-profile mandates and building a vast network of clients. Eventually, she decided to establish her own entity, focused on exclusively providing asset management services to private equity and venture capital firms, as well as hedge funds and ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNWI), and family offices. At just 28, Anushka is combining her industry expertise and leadership skills to drive her firm’s success, consistently delivering strong returns for her clients.

In an exclusive interview with CEO Insights, Anushka sheds light on her career journey, her UCL days, and much more.

What inspired you to establish Renaissance Bridge Capital?
The pandemic happened just upon completing my first master's degree. While we were all stuck indoors, I decided that I wanted to continue to gain experience and exposure in the asset management industry. I secured an internship with a New York and Old Greenwich-based alternative asset management firm, which taught me a lot of what I work through on a day-to-day basis today. I pivoted my focus to developing my network with single and multi-family offices as well as a wide range of clients, including investment banks, merchant banks, private equity and venture capital firms, and hedge funds globally.

By age 25, I was already securing $100M+ mandates from large US-based private equity firms. I developed an expertise in being able to converse with high

-profile clients, just because of the environment that I was working in and was exposed to early on in my career. Simultaneously, I was also quickly promoted to the role of Director of Investor Relations. I was thriving building my own relationships. I still enjoy speaking with people across the globe. Approximately, two and a half years ago, I finally decided to venture out and start my firm. I opted for Dubai because of its business-friendly environment and strong support from a capital-raising standpoint. Currently, I split my time between Jakarta, Dubai, and London, and continue to grow our global presence.

Could you tell us about the most valuable lesson or experience you gained from University College London?
I studied my Master's in Business Analytics at UCL, which was an incredibly data science-oriented degree. I learned to visualise data at a granular level through several analytical skills and gained proficiency in programming languages like Python, RStudio, and SQL. UCL helped me meet with many remarkable and distinguished professors, but I was in particular very fond of David Alderton, the Program Coordinator, who introduced us to advanced programming and analytics. He was very supportive of me working alongside studying my Master’s at UCL. Apart from the brilliant curriculum, one of my major takeaways from UCL is the network I built with the diverse cohort of bright people across the globe, some of whom have been my friends for life. We were on the 51st floor at Canary Wharf, London’s financial hub, giving us an overall 360 degree and gorgeous view of London. Looking back, I have extremely fond memories of spending time with my classmates, group studies, and finishing up university projects.

Tell us about your leadership approach. What are the guidelines or methodologies you follow as a leader?
I am an incredibly flexible and empathetic leader. I strongly believe in employee and women empowerment and want to mold the next generation of ambitious and driven women leaders by creating a safe working environment for them. While business growth has always been one of my topmost priorities, I also want to create a collaborative environment for everyone. I always encourage my employees to speak their mind out in the case of doubt, with an understanding that I am always there to support them. While working as a team, I always encourage them to go out there to build their network and

develop those relationships on their own. I also help them with client queries and transactional execution at the moment.

Could you reflect on some of the toughest challenges you have encountered in your journey so far and how did you mitigate them? What is the future destination you are heading towards?
Being a young woman in the space, my journey has naturally been far from smooth sailing. Initially, I was being mentored by industry leaders and veterans, many of whom I continue to learn from even today, given their experience. In the case of competition, there are hurdles that you have to face together as a team. There will be deadlines, pressure to execute transactions and hence longer working hours, many times which will spill over into working over the weekends as well. But I think that I am well prepared to counter any of the roadblocks thrown at me. Years of industry experience prepare you for the next task or situation that would come up. I have learned to be very calm through the hardships that I've faced over the years. I have also learned to let the bad times pass as well. I believe in keeping my head down, focusing on execution, and letting the results speak for themselves.

As for the future roadmap, while I did initially establish my entity in Dubai, I would love to have a presence in London as well given my background and having been in the city for over the past decade or so. Of course, this will depend on the growth of the business which we are achieving. While I think that I have done well for a person of my age, I do think that we are only just getting started. We will continue to consistently deliver outstanding results for our client base worldwide.

Anushka Mathur, Founder & Principal, Renaissance Bridge Capital
A new-age business leader with around a decade long industry experience in asset management, data analytics, and financial consulting. Today, as the Founder & Principal of Dubai-based asset management services provider Renaissance Bridge Capital, Anushka is using her industry experience as well as leadership capabilities to help the firm experience consistent growth. A strong supporter of women empowerment, Anushka has completed her BBA in Finance, an MSc in Investment and Finance, as well as a MSc in Business Analytics.

•Hobbies: Walks in nature, Swimming
•Favorite Cuisine: Indian, Italian
•Favorite Book: I do love auto biographies, and a recent one that I read was Hilary Clinton’s Living History
•Favorite Travel Destination: Paris