Leading the Way for Women in Finance: Punita Kumar-Sinha Shares Her Life's Journey in this Powerful Interview
“Thinking alike isn't always the best way to build a business. And so, I think that's why everybody is now striving to have more women on boards.” Today’s woman dreamer, Punita Kumar-Sinha is a true trailblazer, leading the way for women in finance and business. She was a Senior Managing Director at Blackstone, is a member of CFA Institute, and is on the board of multiple companies around the world. She is frequently featured in the media and at global conferences as an expert commentator on Asian capital markets and women’s issues. In this inspiring and topical interview with our co-founder Shaleen Sheth, she shares how she became the leader she is today, gender diversity in the workplace, financial market trends, and her expertise on how women can prepare for the CFA and purposeful finance careers. Enjoy this inspiring interview!
1: You were the chief investment officer and the head of Blackstone Asia Advisors, and you are also on the board of many organizations including the CFA Institute. So, tell us your story. What were some of the key moments in your life and in your career that really kind of define who you are?
When I reflect on the key moments in my career, getting admission into IIT Delhi was one of them. I was very fortunate to have studied with some very, distinguished and bright people, and that really shaped my life in many, many ways to come. With only about a 1 to 3 % women students in the class, one learnt very early on how to cope in a male dominated professional world.
Another defining moment in my career was stumbling upon the world of emerging markets investing. Being an early investor in emerging markets as well as in quantitative finance helped me rise in the corporate world quite quickly. I am truly grateful that I was able to find a career that I am passionate about.
What defined my career in a very important way was when I started to manage NYSE listed funds which were run as investment companies. It gave me exposure to corporate governance and reporting to a Board. That gave me the inspiration and experience to venture into becoming a Board member myself. I am now on multiple Boards, so this experience has been invaluable. Interestingly, I now Chair the Investment Advisory Board of my alma mater, IIT Delhi. Who would have ever thought, that one day, I would be invited to give back to an institution where there were so few women when I entered college!
2: What do you think was the key aspect in your personality that really drove your success and really made you exceptional in some ways?
I think some of it, of course, is very intentional, and some of it is also destiny. I have been strategic about taking risks in my professional career by choosing to go into professions that were unconventional for women. Going to IIT to do engineering, doing a Ph.D. in Finance at Wharton, were all very deliberate decisions. I was the second Indian woman to have got the CFA charter in the US. When I moved to Boston in 1990, I was one of the first few Indians in the investment profession in Boston’s financial district!
I intuitively put into practice what one learnt later in business school that it is much easier to succeed if one plays to one’s competitive strengths. So, when you do something that is unique and different, you are able to excel and if you execute well, then you have tremendous opportunities ahead of you. There are challenges too when you do something new as you charter your own path and have to break many glass ceilings.
To a large extent, I attribute my drive to all the stories I heard in the family about Partition and how it impacted their lives. My father always said that one can lose everything but not one’s education, so I ended up getting four degrees and a CFA! And of course, I saw how the Indians took pride in having sons but not daughters, so I wanted to prove that I too could accomplish all that the boys could!
3: Absolutely awesome. The next topic I wanted to address was gender diversity in the workplace. Why do you think it's so important for companies to have women on their boards and in leadership positions?
Well, you know, it is well known that diverse perspectives lead to better outcomes. I think when you have diverse perspectives, whether it is through gender or ethnic diversity or other forms of diversity, you come up with very creative solutions.
So, thinking alike isn't always the best way to build a business. And so, I think that's why everybody is now striving to have more women on boards. Many, many companies now have 30 percent women on their boards in the U.S. India actually took very progressive steps and instituted a law that required every company to have at least one woman independent director, and while I joined some of my boards before this law was instituted, I've seen how the law has enabled companies to get comfortable with first having one woman, and once they have seen the benefits of diverse thinking, more companies have voluntarily brought in more than one woman. Several of the boards I serve on, now have two or three women on the Board. Therefore, it was so critical to get that first board position for many women.
In terms of gender diversity, the world is really progressing very well as compared to the times that I grew up in. Even when I look at institutions where I studied, in engineering at the IIT’s in India, we were four women out of class of 250, but now the class is much larger, and there are at least 20 percent women
Even at the entry level, all companies are trying to recruit almost 40 to 50 percent women, even in private equity. When I was at Blackstone, I was one of five women partners in the firm and I was the only one to head up a business unit, and one of the only women to be leading an investment team. There were very few women in that role, but now private equity firms are actually looking to bring in more women, so the pendulum has swung the other way. I think now it is up to the women to really stay in their careers.
4: Wow, that's very exciting for me to know, especially as someone in an entry level professional. I think it just kind of how you, you know, Blackstone that's one of the most respected firms in the world, in the finance world. How did you kind of really find your footing there and really position yourself in a way that made you that a strong leader there?
As I mentioned to you earlier, when you do something unique and are early on in discovering a trend, when that trend becomes the mainstream, you are seen as a leader. When I was doing emerging markets and when India opened up to foreign investment in the 1990s, I was one of the first foreign investors into India. I was the largest investor at one point into Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, and I ran the largest India fund for fifteen plus years. When Blackstone decided to move into India and Asia investing, they wanted teams like mine who had been doing very well in India, with a very strong track record in Asia as well.
I was very fortunate, that Blackstone allowed me to work from Boston. I had teams in New York, India and Hong Kong, and I ran my own business unit overseeing investments, compliance, trading, operations and finance functions. I reported into the President of Blackstone and CIO of Blackstone’s Private Equity. Running my own business unit as well as working with an independent board, has really helped me then transition into, being on boards. I have been on boards in North America and India and several of the boards I have served on have revenues in both geographies such as Infosys and Lupin.
5: Wow, that’s amazing and very inspiring. So, the next big area I want to talk about was the CFA Institute and your involvement there. So, what really inspired you to kind of join that board and get involved in that?
That's a great question. Interesting story. When I moved to Boston, where my husband had come to do his MBA, I was still doing my PhD. I finished my coursework and started doing my thesis remotely, but we were both students, one of us needed to work, so I also ended up taking a job. As soon as I finished my PhD, the investment firm I worked at told me that they required everybody in the firm to have a CFA. Despite my having a PhD and three other degrees, I still had to take the CFA! I was very reluctant then to yet again study for another 3 years while working, but now I thank them for having forced me to take the exam.
I have always obviously been somewhat of an academic having done my PhD, so when I got the opportunity to bring my professional experience as an investor and as a business leader in the finance profession, to an institution which educates financial professionals, I was very pleased.
And I think the other thing that also interested me to join the CFA board was because the CFA Institute is the premier “Association of Investment Professionals” globally. But most of its members were U.S. or U.K. or Canada based, and there were very few CFA holders in the developing world. I wanted to contribute to the growing demand for the CFA in India and China as their financial markets have grown and also be a role model to women joining the finance profession. The CFA Society in India did an interesting exercise They went back historically to see who the women of Indian origin were who have taken the CFA charter, and as it turns out, I was the second woman of Indian origin to have taken the CFA charter! I now Chair their Investment subcommittee and am on the Audit committee as well. I am also on the Board of Trustees of the CFA Institute’s Research Foundation.
Let’s do some fun rapid fire questions. See below!
What is your number one tip for preparing for the CFA?
Oh, I think you have to study really hard, I studied perhaps just a week or two before the exam. I studied 10-12 hours a day for those two weeks and then took the exam, but I think it needs more preparation than that.
Your family is in the political world and you've also lived in many different places. Which is your favorite? What is your favorite place that you've traveled to?
I always love going to Switzerland. Calm and beautiful!
Which sector for investing do you think is going to be the hottest for 2020 too? And why?
I think this is going to be a challenging year. I think, for investments, given how well 2020 and 2021 have been and that the market valuations are not that great anymore, inflation is ticking up so one should be in more conservative assets.
And the last one is going to be, who is one woman you admire and what it can be? Celebrity can be someone in your life. Anyone?
I don't want to call out any one woman because that would be unfair to all the other women I admire. In general, I admire those who are courageous, who are able to stick to their convictions, and execute on their ideas. I also like women who speak their mind clearly and chart their own course. I see many young women of Indian origin doing this. They are so talented and courageous. I really admire them.
What is your one big dream, can be something you're working on anything.
Well, given that we all (in my family) pushed our careers so much, we lost a lot of family time. I would love to chill, watching and hearing the sounds of the ocean. My next project is to own a house on the water, where I can spend quality time with family and friends!
Thank you Punita for sharing your inspiring story with us! We are excited to have you in our global women’s network
Bio: Punita Kumar-Sinha, PhD, CFA, is a Senior Investor and a Board Member. She chairs Audit, Risk, Investment and Stakeholders Relationship Committees for many Boards. Prior to this, she was a Senior Managing Director of Blackstone. Ms. Kumar-Sinha has also anchored TV shows on ET Now and hosted many podcasts.