In 2010, I had just turned 40 and the world was coming out of the GFC Crisis of 2008. The crisis had exposed the mind-set of short-termism and a loss in confidence that clients felt about their banking partners. The system was rife with conflicts of interest and there was a significant trust deficit.

Looking at what was happening in the developed world, I felt that in India too, the Private Banking business models were fraught with risk, because of a misalignment of interests. Within the Wealth Management space, Banks were focusing on the transactional aspects of investments and not on the broader issues around wealth management like estate planning, succession for family businesses, family governance and philanthropy, in order to provide a more holistic experience to clients. However, no alternative existed for clients; everyone was a wealth distributor (a firm that earns revenues from the product manufacturers of financial products). Moreover, the best solution for a client was not always with the Bank or Financial institution that you represented, so you needed a “free radical” in the system, one that could work for a client across the broader spectrum of financial services products and services. It was with that ambition that Waterfield was founded ten years ago, to create a company, on the client's side, based on the values of trust and transparency. Today we manage assets of US$4bn, have a global advisory platform for clients and pride ourselves on our motto, “Insight with Integrity”.

When I look back at the summer of 2011, I deliberated a great deal before taking the plunge to be an entrepreneur. It meant starting all over after a 17 year banking career. I found that hard in the first few years but always had an enormous amount of self-belief that I was doing the right thing. My family was a huge pillar of support during that period, particularly my husband. We were always a double income family and starting a business also meant dipping into our savings, so I knew entrepreneurship would impact our lifestyle for the next few years, so it was very important for me that we took this decision together as a family.

Any entrepreneur will tell you that the initial days are the toughest and you need a lot of mental strength to get through that period. Today, I consider myself one of the fortunate few who have successfully survived those initial rocky, lonely and uncertain days as an entrepreneur.

I am a big believer that for organisations to succeed ultimately teams have to win; it's about a group of ordinary individuals who can create extraordinary outcomes.

But finding the right team when you are a start-up is difficult – you can't pay very well, yet talent is the key to success, so for founders, being able to articulate the vision and big picture of the organisation is crucial. Yet, in the early days, you also don't know the larger shape of the organisation that you are going to create. You have a broad construct in your mind, but that keeps evolving, because of regulation, competition, emerging opportunities and market dynamics.

From my own experience, in the initial days, I made many mistakes when I was hiring. I let others persuade me about the right people for the company; in a situation where they were passive and I was running the company.

My advice to young founders is to trust your gut when hiring. Don't go with what looks like a great CV on paper. Think of complementary skills of the team members when you are building a team. Also watch out for people with big egos. They can be very destructive to a more inclusive culture that an organisation needs to have.

I am also very proud that Waterfield's first employee, a woman, is still with us even today, and have a great sense of pride that the company is certified as a “Great Place to Work”.

Building a business is like a roller-coaster ride - from the exhilarating highs to that sinking feeling in your stomach, when you are hitting the lows. As an Entrepreneur and CEO the most important leadership lessons for me have been to help others dream big and realise their full potential. Its about leading from the front and trusting your team. It's also about having difficult conversations, yet being fair, compassionate and treating people with respect.

Building a business is about patience…building it brick by brick, if you really want to create something valuable and sustainable for the longer term. There are no short-cuts.

Not everyone is also cut out to be an entrepreneur; and that's ok. For budding entrepreneurs, it is important to ask yourself, if some of the personal qualities listed below, resonate with you. I call them the FIRST Principles.

F - Future-Orientation – Do you have a future oriented mindset?

I - Invest in Themselves – Are you competent in your chosen field? Are you a lifelong learner?

R - Risk-Taking – Are you a risk taker? Are you comfortable with change?

S - Self-Awareness – How self-aware are you about your values, goals, beliefs? Can you hold your own against the nay-sayers?

T – Team – Can you lead and inspire a team?

If you answered in the affirmative for most of the questions above, chances are you have the right mindset to be an entrepreneur!

The fundamental reason for the friction between founders and investors is because the entrepreneur has the long view on the business while an investor is looking for an exit on his/her investment in a defined period of time. This can create differing business objectives, which needs to be sensitively managed.

I find regular communication, a participative and supportive Board and independent intermediaries (when communication lines have broken down) can play a crucial role to restore trust.

We are very excited about the PEVC space. We concluded our first close of Waterfield's Fund of Funds on June 7, 2021, and have raised 200 crs (40% of our target fund corpus). The landscape is changing quickly and our aim is to channelise more domestic capital to this asset class.

Our top three takeaways, from our unique vantage point, on why this industry looks so interesting are that there are many great businesses and companies that are being built; there are some wonderful home-grown fund managers emerging, who have the expertise to evaluate and invest into unlisted companies and India has a large domestic investor base that can benefit from better portfolio returns by backing good fund managers.

I am very proud of the gender diversity and mix that we have at Waterfield. 50% of my leadership team at Waterfield are women. It wasn't conscious from Day 1. At my previous employer, I saw many good women leave their jobs mid-career, despite the organisation being very supportive. It stayed with me that we need to make a conscious effort to bring women who take a career break back into the workforce. That has influenced our hiring at Waterfield, where we actively encourage such women to apply to us for a job. The work environment is collegial, collaborative and supportive, which helps women ease into full time roles.

Equally important is to support our existing women employees who are taking a career break and for them to know that Waterfield is there for them when they come back. Its probably easier in a smaller organisation, but the motivation is to create jobs for women, because at different levels - the individual, our society and our economic progress - it has so many positive outcomes. Madeliene Albright's quote, in particular resonates; “there is a special place in hell for women who don't help other women”!

Yes, I do see a difference for the allocations that these women manage. Unlike what many individuals may think, these women are comfortable with alternative investments in the PEVC space (because they themselves run businesses) and are curious to learn more about the asset class.

They are also very focussed on sectors or areas that they would like to support. It isn't an ad-hoc allocation to PEVC but more deliberate and curated. They are equally conscious of the impact that their investments make; and channelise their wealth to have a purpose.

It should be remembered that purpose and impact does not necessarily mean lower returns. There is a growing curiosity about Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) principles and how they integrate into investment decision making. Waterfield is the first wealth management company in Asia that has become a signatory to the United Nations supported Principles of Responsible Investing (UN-PRI) and we work with many of our women clients on how these factors impact their investment choices.