Finance Is the Blood of Business

“Finance is the blood of business”. I become aware of this fact when I entered the professional world. I started investing in share market and managed my portfolio of equities and other financial instruments. This was the time, when I learnt the first lesson of finance i.e. risks and returns are proportionate. In 2009 the Indian stock market crashed. But fortunately, I had a well-diversified portfolio because of which my returns were protected from the downside risk. This was when I learnt the second principle of finance i.e. diversification reduces risk. While I understood these two principles intuitively, it produced in me a strong urge to learn and understand the complex theory behind the working of Finance. This, I believe, was a turning point in my career. I made up my mind to pursue a career in Finance and hence decided to do a Masters program in Business Administration.

Hence I took admission in Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGPM) at Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow, which is one of the prominent Business schools in India. Here, I developed a strong penchant for quantitative-oriented subjects like Portfolio theory, Derivatives and International Finance. I learnt how Derivatives can play an important role in optimizing a Portfolio's performance and in managing risk. This exposure left me wanting for more knowledge in the area of Risk Management. I learnt about various risks associated with Infrastructure Projects and how they were mitigated using different risk models and structured finance products. It was at this time that I realized the importance of mathematics and programming as invaluable tools in Finance. I had always felt that applying my technical knowledge to the field of Finance would be highly satisfying. This helped me in crystallizing my goals as I decided to make a career in Asset/Risk Management.