Money Majlis

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In this exciting episode, listen to the former president and CFO of SoftBank Group International, Alok Sama, talk about the man behind the legend of Masayoshi Son. Is the iconic founder of SoftBank an iconic visionary who can predict the future or a lucky gambler who bets the house? 

Sama, the chief dealmaker of the most influential technology investor in the world, SoftBank, tells us the fascinating tale of private jets, 5000-dollar wines, dinners with tech bros, elaborate honey traps, corporate smear campaigns and mega-deals worth billions. 

Author of the new book “The Money Trap”, a gripping memoir of his years at SoftBank and Morgan Stanley, Sama talks to Sarkar about the high points and low points of a roller coaster career in high finance. 

How do you value future technology? How much of investing is art, not science? Is growth at all costs worth it? How do you balance ambition and wellness? And what’s a good time to break free from the money trap? 

Listen to Sama and Sarkar debate all these topics and more in this unmissable episode of Money Majlis. 

Please visit give.moneymajlis.com to get your free Money Majlis GiveCard that you can redeem to contribute to a charity of your choice. Join our giving movement today. 

Research by : Shekhar Krishnamurthy 

Production : Poddster

“Giving” partner: Goodworld

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In this first episode of Season 2 of Money Majlis, we bring you a priceless conversation with Mark Mobius, the “Indiana Jones of emerging markets investing”.

Is the asset management industry in decline? How have ETFs revolutionised investing? Why is active investing better than passive? What matters more for an asset manager - size or speed? How does private equity feed into public markets?

Mark delves into the history of emerging markets and the describes the uphill task he faced in the initial years to convince his company and his customers to invest in markets like China, India, South Africa and Latin America.

Why will Trump have a “net positive” effect on emerging economies? Are the G7 countries “too big to fail” or “too big to bail”? Is the idea of a BRICS currency feasible? And should the average investor portfolio have an allocation to crypto assets? Mark answers all these questions and more.

Listen to the guru talk about what the future of investing has in store for us.

Research courtesy : Maurice Gravier

Production : Poddster

To get your Money Majlis GiveCard and join our movement of giving, please visit give.moneymajlis.com. The first 50 listeners to visit the website will get a USD 50 GiveCard that can be redeemed at any of the pre-selected causes. This initiative is powered by Goodworld. 

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In this last episode of Season 1, Suvo Sarkar is in discussion with Craig Moore, founder and CEO of Beehive, the leading P2P platform in MENA. 

Does P2P lending have the potential to disrupt banks? Will open banking force banks to collaborate with fintechs? And can the USD 250 billion funding gap for SMEs in the region be solved by the P2P model? 

Moore explains how Beehive hones its credit model with alternative data sources, why audited accounts are not important and what synergies the e& partnership brings to the table. 

In a masterclass on entrepreneurship, Moore says founders should start with a real life problem, hire the right team and learn from setbacks. Long term success is a relay race, not a solo sprint, is what he believes. 

Research by : Shekhar Krishnamurthy 

Production by : Poddster

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Welcome to another episode of Money Majlis focused on consumer marketing. Suvo Sarkar is in conversation with a doyen of the Indian business world, Bharat Puri, managing director of Pidilite Industries which owns the famous adhesive brand Fevicol, a case study on branding in many business schools. 

Why does a low-involvement brand like Fevicol dominate the Indian consumer psyche over decades with its tongue in cheek irreverence? How does a company and ad agency build a lifetime bond of trust and challenge? And will performance marketing take over from brand advertising in the near future? 

In an entertaining and inspiring discussion with Sarkar, the veteran Puri recounts how Asian Paints trained him to take calculated risks, how he managed the biggest PR crisis that Cadbury’s ever faced and how he is creating a “proneurial” culture at Pidilite. 

He explains how he starts and ends everything with the customer, how brands will become more relevant in an era of digital and AI and why treating marketing like an expense is the beginning of the end. 

Puri says leadership entails building a team that complements you, treating people well and doing the right thing every day. His serious advice to leaders: Don’t take life too seriously! 

Research by : Shekhar Krishnamurthy 
Production by : Poddster

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In this insightful episode about the business of Corporate Venture Capital (CVC), Suvo Sarkar is in a deep discussion with Nicolas Sauvage, President of TDK Ventures, the much-awarded CVC arm of TDK. 

What are some of the factors that are driving legacy corporates to invest in start-ups? Why does innovation have to be external as opposed to internal? Do CVCs turbocharge innovation? What is the ideal oversight for a CVC? And what metrics should we use to measure the success of CVCs? 

In a free-wheeling discussion on the merits and challenges of CVCs, Sauvage and Sarkar debate a few big bets versus many small ones, exploitation versus exploration, financial returns versus innovation objectives and cultural osmosis versus a Chinese wall between the corporate and the venture. 

Listen to two Stanford alumni discuss the critically important topic of CVCs and share your comments.

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In this fascinating episode, Suvo Sarkar talks at length with a leading investment expert from India, Bharat Shah, executive director of ASK group, about the future of the Indian equity market. 

Is India over-valued compared to other global markets? Will it continue delivering double digit returns in the next 10 years? Which sectors will outperform? 

Bharat and Suvo, friends for 40 years and MBA classmates, debate if investing is a science or an art; if the principle of diversification is overstated; and what an ideal wealth portfolio should hold between equity and fixed income, between active and passive funds and between public markets and private equity. 

In a holistic overview of investing, Bharat connects it to spirituality and liberation, and argues that doing it right is as important as getting it right. 

Whether you are an amateur or professional investor, this is one episode you can’t miss. 

Research partner : Shekhar Krishnamurthy
Production partner : Poddster

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Welcome to this New Year 2025 special episode of Money Majlis XTRA, celebrating good food. Suvo Sarkar is in conversation in Mumbai with the talented young restauranteur Sameer Seth of Bombay Canteen fame. 

What inspired a young banker to move to the intensely competitive F&B industry? How are the trends of eating out changing with millennials? Is consistency more important than creativity in the restaurant world? And why is storytelling a core component of a successful food business? 

In a candid chat, the founder of Hunger Inc Hospitality, Sameer Seth, talks about the challenges and opportunities of scaling his restaurants, of partnering with Starbucks, of keeping the menu alive and of firing up his team every day. 

Research by : Shekhar Krishnamurthy
Production : Poddster 

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Welcome to this episode of Money Majlis where Suvo Sarkar debates the impact of “The Great Wealth Transfer” with two leading professionals from the industry, one an incumbent and the other a challenger: Maurice Gravier, chief investment officer, Emirates NBD and Mark Chahwan, founder & CEO of Sarwa. 

Are millennials more interested in good advice for investing, or in best-in-class digital channels for self service? Do next-generation investors prefer choice or focus? Should wealth managers create specific products for younger customers? Is ESG investing a passing fad or an important trend? And will digital apps soon take over from human Relationship Managers? 

Sarkar, Gravier and Chahwan discuss these and other topics like long-term investing versus short-term trading, simplicity versus complexity, passive versus active funds and crypto versus gold. 

As USD 100 trillion changes hands in the next 25 years, what does the inter-generational mean for the wealth management industry? Listen in to make your own conclusions.

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Continuing on the XTRA series of non-banking topics, Suvo Sarkar interviews successful Indian author Amish Tripathi, of the Shiva trilogy fame, to talk about his professional transition from banking to writing. 

What prompted Amish to take up mythological fiction? What genre is he taking up next? Why do most authors not make money? And how should parents train their children to be creative? 

Amish takes us through his creative journey that now goes beyond books to podcasts, video games and a new TV series from Hollywood. He tells us how a song helped him overcome writer’s block, why he wants to write fantasy fiction for his son and what he loves most about his life. 

Join us for an intimate conversation in the living room of a leading author who is re-inventing himself with every passing year.

Research by : Shekhar Krishnamurthy 
Produced by : Poddster

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In this episode of Money Majlis recorded in front of a live audience of CEOs and fintech leaders in Singapore, we look at the differences in the growth paths of fintechs in Asia versus the Middle East. 

In a debate with two senior leaders from Mastercard, J K Khalil, Division President of East Arabia and Yunsok Chang, EVP of Market Development, Asia Pacific, Suvo Sarkar compares the origins and future of fintechs from the two regions. 

How did Kakao Bank and Wio Bank achieve profitability so fast? What are the challenges Grab is facing? How have Alipay and Paytm transformed payments? What is the runway for fintechs like Careem Pay, STC Pay and Tabby? 

In a rich debate full of facts and anecdotes, JK and Yunsok debate wallets versus neobanks, scale versus profits, local versus global and B2B versus B2C. 

Tune in to join the debate with the experts.