Board of Directors

Neil Parag Parikh is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Company.

He has been a part of the Capital Market for over a decade with experience across wealth management, research, Institutional desk, marketing, operations, broking, key client management to name a few.

He started his career as an intern with JM Morgan Stanley in 2003. He has been a part of Parag Parikh Financial Advisory Services Limited since July 2004 in various capacities. At PPFAS Mutual Fund, apart from handling key client relationships, he is also entrusted with the fulfillment of strategic responsibilities.

Keeping with his father’s, Parag Parikh's philosophy, Neil believes in Value-investing and is a strong advocate of applying behavioral finance fundamentals in investing.

Neil’s academic excellence is reflected in his qualification from prestigious universities. He holds a Masters in Business Administration from IESE Business School, Spain and a BA in Economics from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

He is an avid reader and a passionate golfer. He also plays several other sports for recreation.

He is performing his duties as a Chief Investment Officer (CIO) and Director of the Company.

Rajeev Thakkar possesses relevant experience of over two decades in various segments of the Capital Markets such as investment banking, corporate finance, securities broking and managing clients' investments in equities.

His tenure at PPFAS Limited (The Sponsor of PPFAS AMC), began in 2001. His passion for researching and analysing the fundamentals of companies was evident. from the very beginning and very soon he was heading the Research division at PPFAS. His responsibilities soon expanded as he was appointed the Fund Manager for the flagship scheme of the Portfolio Management Service, titled "Cognito" in 2003.

Rajeev is a strong believer in the school of "value-investing" and is heavily influenced by Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger's approach. His keen eye for ferreting out undervalued companies by employing a diligent and disciplined approach has been instrumental in the scheme's stellar performance ever since he assumed the mantle.

Apart from his technical ability, what distinguishes him from many others is his ability to stand his ground and remain unflappable during difficult times. This trait enables him to resist the temptation of entering speculative stocks during extremely bullish times as he believes that it is not appropriate to wager on clients' funds and faith by chasing companies that one does not have any conviction in. He strongly believes that only stocks purchased at right valuations will provide long-term returns and is unperturbed by short-term fluctuation. Besides that he also has had the courage and wisdom to reject fund infusions in the scheme if he felt that the investment opportunities were absent. Under Rajeev's able stewardship, "Cognito" has performed excellently, as many satisfied clients will readily testify.

A very impressive aspect about Rajeev is that even before he was appointed the CEO (in 2007), he was always observant about various aspects of the business and did not restrict himself only to his functional area. Although he was officially assigned to manage the PMS and handle the equity research team on the broking side of operations, he has played a pivotal role in a number of PPFAS' new initiatives such as the introduction of web-based broking, the emergence as a depository participant, the various modalities involved during the merger of two related companies in 2007, etc. He is a man of few words but his low-key demeanour often underplays the fact that he is a good listener, a team player and a razor-sharp thinker.

Rajeev's academic inclination is evident in the plethora of degrees earned by him. He is a Chartered Accountant, Cost Accountant and CFA Charterholder.

He likes reading, playing chess and listening to music in his spare time. Singing is another talent which comes to the fore on certain occasions.

He is responsible for taking care of day for day accounting & ensuring statutory compliance of various government dues. He is also responsible for preparing yearly financial statements of the PPFAS Asset Management Private Limited & getting the books of accounts audited ,signed & approved by statutory auditors as well as directors. He was previously associated with DSP Blackrock Investment Managers Private Limited as an Manager Finance. He had also worked on assignment basis in various companies like Cargotec India Private Limited, Redbull India Private Limited, UTV Software Limited, UCB Pharmaceuticals Limited , Cravatex Limited while he was associated with Ganesh Jagadeesh & Co., Chartered Accountants. He is commerce graduate from Mumbai University & an fellow member of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI).

Rajesh Bhojani holds an MMS degree from Mumbai University, from the Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS). He is a senior professional with over 30 years’ experience in financial services and education sectors. He has worked in senior positions in asset management and other financial services organizations in India. He was a Senior Vice President at Birla Sun Life where he has worked for the Mutual Fund, Insurance and Wealth Management companies of Aditya Birla Group. He was associated with Birla Mutual Fund since its inception. He is currently heading the Examinations Division in West India of British Council.

He is a former President of Sales at UTI Mutual Fund where he headed a large team of marketing and sales professionals who helped the organization maintain its leadership after the restructuring of the fund. He was also the Chief Marketing Officer at Zurich India Mutual Fund.

He has been associated with the financial planning movement and was associated with the Financial Planning Standards Board which awards the CFP qualification.

He is an independent director of the company. He is an entrepreneur, he is managing his family business since 1976.

Being an independent director he ensures that responsibilities cast on him as independent director by applicable laws and regulations are complied with and interest of unit-holders are safeguarded at all the time.

Being the Owner of family business he is involved in providing directions to the business. To exercise control over administrative and operational functions.

He is involved in looking over complete finance functions of the company. Develop system and exercise control over finance function and reporting.

He has also played a key role in setting up financial controls and fraud detection / prevention measures in his company.

He is acting as a Principal Trustee of 'Chandisar Madhymik Education Society'. Being the Principal Trustee, he is involved in looking after and exercising control over finance and treasury operations of the Trust. Important part of his duty is to ensure trust property is invested as per the 'Trust Object' and in the best interest of the beneficiaries of the Trust.