Ashu Suyash made history yesterday as she quit her post as the Chief Executive Officer of L&T Investment Management Ltd to head ratings agency Crisil Ltd. Her exit marked the end of her journey as the only woman to head an asset management company in one of Asia’s biggest economies. However, this is just one of the many accomplishments that Ashu has under her belt. Moving past her new title, here are 10 other things no one would tell you about super achiever and doting mother of two, Ashu Suyash.
When Ashu started out, armed with a degree in chartered accountancy, in 1998, she was keen to get into banking. Her parents, however, weren’t too thrilled with her choice. “There were certainly fewer women in financial services then. It was natural for parents to speak to their daughter about medicine and advertising, but not so much about a career in finance,” she said in an interview.
Despite the general assumption that finance is a male-dominated industry, Ashu feels that there is no glass ceiling, so to speak. She says, “The mutual fund industry is very much woman-friendly. In fact, I have been in the industry for 10 (now 26) years and my organisation has women across all levels, right from entry through the management cadre.”
Ashu believes that being flexible is the biggest characteristic needed in a leader. “Depending on the situation, I could be directional, taking suggestions or even dictatorial. There are times I would prefer to lead from the front, while at times I would allow the team to go ahead,” she says.
Ashu is also a complete people’s person. While her colleagues have gone on record to praise her for it, the fact that she ensured that each and every person retained their jobs when Fidelity was acquired by L&T, speaks for itself.
Having spent 15 years with Citibank and then moving to Fidelity and then L&T, Ashu believes that the vast corporate knowledge helps her manage people better. She says, “While moving from being managed to managing, you pick up a lot from your managers.”
At the launch of Fidelity Equity Fund in India (from L to R) Ashu Suyash, Arun Mehra and Richard Wastcoat.
Despite her high flying job as a top career woman, Ashu is very much a family person. Between balancing her family – she has two daughters, and her husband, Aseem works for ONGC – she also finds time for her religious duties and fasts for Navratri every year.
When it comes to her influencers, Ashu maintains that two people have had the maximum influence on her life. One being her mother, who dictated but also pamper her, and the other, Indira Gandhi who showed this self-confessed “diehard” patriot, how to lead and take responsibility. She also greatly admires Abby Johnson, the daughter of the Fidelity chairman, for her business brain as well as her approach to thought leadership.
Ashu was appointed as the CEO of L&T Management following the Fidelity acquisition (which she also helped found). In the past two years, under her leadership the company’s assets have doubled, now amounting to Rs.22,000 crores. She is also a part of L&T Capital Markets Limited, which is the wealth management arm of L&T Financial Services and has over Rs.6,500 crores of assets.
Despite being one of the most successful corporate women in India, Ashu feels that it was the efforts of others than put her where she is today. In an interview, she shared, “I found it very hard to manage after my girls were born and wanted to leave my career and perhaps pick it up later … In fact, at one point I actually resigned! While I served my notice period, my husband and my boss constantly asked me to reconsider. If that had not happened who knows I may not be where I am today.”
Ashu has consistently been featured amongst the Top 50 Women in Business in India several times in the past 10 years. Recently she was a part of the Fortune India list of Top 50 Powerful Women in Business. She also has to her credit the title of being one of the 25 most influential women in the asset management industry in Asia.
Image courtesy: BCCL
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