Through the Looking Glass

The Financial Express Unless it reverses sustainably, India’s net foreign assets are expected to remain negative India’s financial relationship with the world has two large components: (1) a large trade account deficit balanced by services exports and remittances which still leaves a meaningful CAD financed by (2) large net inward flows of foreign capital. India’s large and consistent current account deficit (CAD) shows up in its changing net international investment position (NIIP). Data released by the Reserve Bank of India shows that as of March 2016 foreigners own $361 billion of assets in India more than what Indians own abroad (17.4% of India’s FY16 GDP), up from $165 billion in June 2010 (11.3% of the then annual GDP). A negative NIIP is the balance sheet corollary of running a persistent CAD: the valuation impacts of NIIP in an uncertain world can in turn impact CAD. Look beyond P&L to balance sheet India’s financial relationship with the world has two l...

CFA Institute Talented enough to be hired at one of the world's leading management consulting firms, Akhilesh Tilotia, CFA, is a numbers guy at heart and, in his head, likes to chase the big picture. At Kotak Institutional Equities, Akhilesh interacts with institutional investors who want to understand the long-term perspective of the India investment story across a range of asset types. Akhilesh is well-versed on macroeconomic and political scenarios playing out in the country in both the short and long term, which helps him advise clients on the implications. Akhilesh completed his post-graduate diploma in management (PGDM) at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad, and began his career at the Boston Consulting Group. A couple of years later, he joined the research team of Kotak Institutional Equities. Following an entrepreneurial itch, he left to set up PARK Financial Advisors, a niche financial advisory, wealth management, and investment banking firm. He suc...