Sudipto Haldar: A Leader With Deep Experience & A Successful Track Record In The Investment Banking & Fintech Industry
Sudipto Haldar
Managing Director
Recently, CEO INSIGHTS engaged in an exclusive discussion with Sudipto where he recounts his journey and gives us a glimpse of his contribution to the financial services sector. Let’s read through!
Could you give a brief account of your professional background and experiences? What is the motivation that fuels your daily routines?
I have always been attracted by the innate beauty of mathematics and anything that involves numbers in general Finance/ Fintech industry is the natural fit for me. I have been fortunate to have spent most of my career in the Finance/FinTech space I cherish the engaging experience I have had working with the brightest minds in the industry and doing my small part in contributing to solutions that are in use in various forms across various firms on Wall Street and beyond.
I am driven by the hunger to find beautiful solutions to important problems.
You possess over twenty-five years of experience. How has been your path to success and what is your success mantra?
My journey has been filled with anything but monotony the twists and turns, and the speedbumps, have not only kept me deeply engaged but have helped me build teams that can take on difficult challenges and deliver. I have a lot to be thankful for, for the support and validation I have received from my mentors, senior management, and team members who have worked with me, beside me, and for me. Success, to me, means delivering value to customers, and the ability to do that does not come overnight. There is no alternative to working smart, working hard, and working long hours. This motto may mistakenly be attributed to recent CEOs, but Chrysler president Lee Iacocca said that in his autobiography in 1984, and I have been deeply influenced by it at a young age.
Could you tell us about the unique experiences IIM Calcutta offers and what did you learn from the campus beyond academics?
I look back to my time at IIM Calcutta with great fondness. I formed friendships and lasting bonds that I cherish to this day. I learned how to work in teams comprised of members with diverse backgrounds and got a glimpse of the professional life that I was going to step into shortly but most importantly, life at IIM Calcutta
taught me the importance of living life to the fullest, to never forget to stop and smell the roses. The campus life prepared me for success in my career and beyond.
How would you define PeerNova as an organization and its current position in the market? Also, do tell us about your flagship offerings and the value additions customers can expect from your offerings.
PeerNova is an innovation-led disruptor in the IPV (Independent Price Verification) market space. We have brought digital transformation into the IPV workflow and are targeting to fulfill the gap we have created by raising customer expectations. Our goal is to revolutionize price verification by bringing market observ ability and business visibility through data science, and by streamlining the information flow among Traders, Product Control, and IPV functions.
Our flagship product is Clear Consensus. Our goal is to help financial firms reduce valuation risk by bringing transparency and reliability to the Mark-to Market process. We offer market observability backed by data science, this helps our clients value their books according to the latest representative transactions in the market, which is the gold standard in the market segment with illiquid financial products.
What differentiates your product in the market?
Innovation is the short answer! We have significant intellectual property in this business segment; we are continuing to invest, and we continue to file new patents to maintain our competitive edge and establish ourselves as a clear leader I am happy to be one of the contributors in our quest for intellectual leadership.
Tell us about your leadership approach. What are the guidelines or methodologies you follow as a leader?
It is important for a leader to have a clear vision, and to convey that to internal and external stakeholders. To materialize that vision, it is essential to have clear priorities and focus the resources on what matters most. I have been on a continuous learning path to understand the clients’ businesses and perspectives to make sure I guide my team to create the right solutions for the right problems.
What are the toughest challenges you see ahead? How do you plan to over come them?
We are the market disruptor; we value being the best, over becoming the biggest. The changes we are bringing about are both evolutionary and revolutionary. We help our clients not only do things better but also do better things, getting new insights that were not possible before. This requires a change in perspective, and a new way of looking at things. It is not always straightforward to get the clients to see the value proposition of a radically better solution, that is the primary challenge that we face at this point.
Going forward, what are the changes in market behavior that you anticipate and what are the
How would you define PeerNova as an organization and its current position in the market? Also, do tell us about your flagship offerings and the value additions customers can expect from your offerings.
PeerNova is an innovation-led disruptor in the IPV (Independent Price Verification) market space. We have brought digital transformation into the IPV workflow and are targeting to fulfill the gap we have created by raising customer expectations. Our goal is to revolutionize price verification by bringing market observ ability and business visibility through data science, and by streamlining the information flow among Traders, Product Control, and IPV functions.
It is important for a leader to have a clear vision, and to convey that to internal and external stakeholders
Our flagship product is Clear Consensus. Our goal is to help financial firms reduce valuation risk by bringing transparency and reliability to the Mark-to Market process. We offer market observability backed by data science, this helps our clients value their books according to the latest representative transactions in the market, which is the gold standard in the market segment with illiquid financial products.
What differentiates your product in the market?
Innovation is the short answer! We have significant intellectual property in this business segment; we are continuing to invest, and we continue to file new patents to maintain our competitive edge and establish ourselves as a clear leader I am happy to be one of the contributors in our quest for intellectual leadership.
Tell us about your leadership approach. What are the guidelines or methodologies you follow as a leader?
It is important for a leader to have a clear vision, and to convey that to internal and external stakeholders. To materialize that vision, it is essential to have clear priorities and focus the resources on what matters most. I have been on a continuous learning path to understand the clients’ businesses and perspectives to make sure I guide my team to create the right solutions for the right problems.
What are the toughest challenges you see ahead? How do you plan to over come them?
We are the market disruptor; we value being the best, over becoming the biggest. The changes we are bringing about are both evolutionary and revolutionary. We help our clients not only do things better but also do better things, getting new insights that were not possible before. This requires a change in perspective, and a new way of looking at things. It is not always straightforward to get the clients to see the value proposition of a radically better solution, that is the primary challenge that we face at this point.
Going forward, what are the changes in market behavior that you anticipate and what are the
opportunities that you foresee?
Anticipating changes in market behavior and waiting for them to happen is one way of doing business. Our modus operandi is different, we place our belief in ‘Be the change that you want to see’, as we like to be a step ahead by being the driver of change.
We are bringing transparency, reliability, consistency, and auditability to the price verification function and our clients are starting to see the benefits of being able to do more in addition to performing the required functions better. The feedback we are getting from our clients is consistent by looking at our solution, they realize they have been missing the forest for the trees for so long. We allow our clients to analyze their pricing performance in different levels of market segments, over time, and against their competitors. We anticipate these capabilities would become the norm for running IPV (Independent Price Verification) and Product Control functions and we would be recognized as the established leader.
What is the future destination you are heading towards?
Financial Industry reinvents itself every 10-15 years. Presently, we are going through a phase where market observability and risk mitigation are gaining attention and traction due to the recent market turmoil and volatility. We would like to be positioned as the thought leader in this space.
In light of your strong experience within the industry, what advice would you give to budding industry leaders?
Be on a continuous learning path to understand the customers’ business put yourself in the customers’shoes to understand the pain points. Make it your mission to bring fresh perspectives and innovative solutions to the market.
Sudipto Haldar, Managing Director, Peernova
Having pursued B.Tech. in Computer Science & Engineering(with a Minor in Mathematics) from IIT Kanpur and completed his PGDM (Post Graduate Diploma in Management) from IIM Calcutta with a triple major in Finance, Strategy, and Systems, Sudipto developed his deep understanding of financial markets and financial products by taking leadership roles in developing market-leading solutions in investment banks and hedge funds. Currently, he is Managing Director at PeerNova, a Silicon Valley based FinTech innovator.
Hobbies:Football, Cricket, Long distance running (completed two half marathons, regularly competes in 5K), Sabre Fencing (Was brought into it due to his daughter’s intense interest in the sport. Over time, both of them achieved podium finishes in several Sabre Fencing competitions and were also featured in a ‘Dad-Daughter Fencing Duo’ piece by the local newspaper), Martial Arts, and more.
Favorite Cuisine: Adventurous gourmet. No clear favorite but Brazilian Churrascaria and Japanese Nigiri are the top contenders.
Favorite Book: Iacocca: An Auto biography The Wealth of Nations Born to Run
Favorite Travel Destination: Oxford, UK
Anticipating changes in market behavior and waiting for them to happen is one way of doing business. Our modus operandi is different, we place our belief in ‘Be the change that you want to see’, as we like to be a step ahead by being the driver of change.
We are bringing transparency, reliability, consistency, and auditability to the price verification function and our clients are starting to see the benefits of being able to do more in addition to performing the required functions better. The feedback we are getting from our clients is consistent by looking at our solution, they realize they have been missing the forest for the trees for so long. We allow our clients to analyze their pricing performance in different levels of market segments, over time, and against their competitors. We anticipate these capabilities would become the norm for running IPV (Independent Price Verification) and Product Control functions and we would be recognized as the established leader.
What is the future destination you are heading towards?
Financial Industry reinvents itself every 10-15 years. Presently, we are going through a phase where market observability and risk mitigation are gaining attention and traction due to the recent market turmoil and volatility. We would like to be positioned as the thought leader in this space.
In light of your strong experience within the industry, what advice would you give to budding industry leaders?
Be on a continuous learning path to understand the customers’ business put yourself in the customers’shoes to understand the pain points. Make it your mission to bring fresh perspectives and innovative solutions to the market.
Sudipto Haldar, Managing Director, Peernova
Having pursued B.Tech. in Computer Science & Engineering(with a Minor in Mathematics) from IIT Kanpur and completed his PGDM (Post Graduate Diploma in Management) from IIM Calcutta with a triple major in Finance, Strategy, and Systems, Sudipto developed his deep understanding of financial markets and financial products by taking leadership roles in developing market-leading solutions in investment banks and hedge funds. Currently, he is Managing Director at PeerNova, a Silicon Valley based FinTech innovator.
Hobbies:Football, Cricket, Long distance running (completed two half marathons, regularly competes in 5K), Sabre Fencing (Was brought into it due to his daughter’s intense interest in the sport. Over time, both of them achieved podium finishes in several Sabre Fencing competitions and were also featured in a ‘Dad-Daughter Fencing Duo’ piece by the local newspaper), Martial Arts, and more.
Favorite Cuisine: Adventurous gourmet. No clear favorite but Brazilian Churrascaria and Japanese Nigiri are the top contenders.
Favorite Book: Iacocca: An Auto biography The Wealth of Nations Born to Run
Favorite Travel Destination: Oxford, UK