SAMVEDANAM Consulting is a boutique growth and investment advisory firm, which advises seed / early growth stage start-ups on fund raising as well as various growth and operational levers, to enable their growth journey. For more details, please reach out at rohit@samvedanam.com, or check our website https://samvedanam.com.

Founding Member of this start-up banking Venture in the UAE. SFG erstwhile was known as the Saudi American Bank with share holding / ownership from the Citi Group. Today SFG is one of the biggest banking conglomerates in the GCC.The last 10 years' story of the Banking industry environment has been of Growth – downturn ( post the global recession) & now currently scaling rapidly towards optimism.Post the launch the entire environment & business dynamic changed due to global recession, these events had a tremendous adverse impact on the UAE business dynamics. As a start-up the challenges were more intense as we did not have a sizeable portfolio to cater to increasing loss trends or basic risk absorption capabilities & the business objective was to break-even within a set time frame.The above-unprecedented events needed special and specific risk management strategies to make this new venture financially viable, all within the framework of a well-defined Product Program. Specific Deliveries:1. Growth in good performing segments- Business solicited only in approved list of companies (MNC’s, LLC’s, Government and Semi Government). Additionally a strong Wealth Management Credit Platform.- Credit TESTS Approach to grow the ENR- Focus on mid to high income segments- Continuous Rationalizing & expanding the existing Target Market Segments. 2. Optimal losses through collections & portfolio management- Scaling up of collections infrastructure and capacity- Implementation of risk mitigation programs ( Re-writes / EPP`s) - Proactive management of exposure through CLD- Tighter authorization policies3. Creation of Credit Cycle Infrastructure / Building Blocks- Accountable Credit Initiation/Company Approval Infrastructure- Collections & Recovery Department- Collection Agency Management (International Agency for UAE /KSA Book) - Advanced Portfolio Monitoring & Analytics (Incl. use of B- Score) - Project Ownership for Credit Bureau & Credit Automation System

- Instituting Prudent Income and Loss Recognition policies for the portfolios with a view that accurate financials are published and the business is gauged properly for further expansion / risk assessment.- Brought in the Discipline of Product Programs (PPG`s) formulation.- Key new initiatives/segments launched to Test parameterized SME lending under Personal Loans, Mortgages and Auto Products. - High level Credit Analytics / Pack made, helping business as well as credit to speak common language on health of the portfolio.- Spear-headed the Loan Origination System (Finn-One) implementation.- Designing Processes/Systems for Centralized Credit Approvals and effectively ensuring uniformed policy implementation and interpretation consumer bank wide.- Played a key role with the Finance Department to formulate a 3 year financial /strategy Plan for the Consumer Bank.- Active role in Retail Bank Due diligence for Merger with National Bank of Dubai. (Recognition from The CEO for the effort).

The Bank had recently moved to the concept of Credit Products Group for the new businesses of Mortgages (UAE & Qatar), Investments & IPO’s wherein the Risk Manager is aligned formally with the Business Managers for development for these products based on the Banks Strategies. The role also included managing the existing Auto Portfolios. Herein and in this role the credit decisions were based on Return on Total Assets (ROTA) and not loss prevention in isolation.Job Entailed:- Strategies on Product Parameters & Credit Policies with regard to the product.- Providing the Risk perspective during the design of new products and variants in close coordination with Marketing/ Product Managers. - Conducting independent market scan to assess competitor offerings. - Visiting related constituents such as Dealers, Real Estate Developers, Major Corporate`s, in order to update on product features and risk related issues.

As the Credit Policy Manager have had the full ownership on the Credit Policy of Retail Personal loans under MashreqBank (UAE & Doha) and Osool products. The total earning portfolio under the products assigned was approx. AED 3.7 Billion. Purpose of the job is to prepare, STRATEGIZE, modify, and TRACK / business/portfolio performance / loss rates based on the policy. {Last 24-30 months 2 major policy changes under each of the assigned products}. Having mentioned the same also to align credit policy with organizational goals on business growth / risk appetite and overall Banks strategy with respect to Market Share and profitability. Special focus on the analytics on the portfolio dynamics through forecasting, Vintages, flow modules, and benchmarking tools. After spending 1 year as a Credit Analyst in the Personal Loans Unit was responsible to set up a green-field unit for Credit Administration checks – Back End Review Unit. Further was also involved in the Compliance & New Initiative Unit as a Team Leader.

Served as an Officer in a joint-venture company of the Salomon Brothers - a premier boutique investment bank , catering to the best Indian corporate`s. Exposed to the following:- Merchant Banking / Corporate Finance- Corporate Advisory Services / Mergers & Acquisitions- Research