Country Boy From Wall Street

YOU may not agree with him, but it hardly matters. Ajeya Singh loves to describe himself as a country boy: "That’s what I am at heart. My secret desire is to esc-ape to the wild jungles." The world outside, however, knows him by many descriptions. One of which is incidental—country head, India, Lehman Brothers. Another—of which he is quietly proud—is being ranked among Euromoney’s 50 global financial leaders of the 21st century.

Yet another, which is purely coincidental, makes him uncomfortable. He’d rather stick to his tough moneymaker image—as tough and ambitious as they make them on Wall Street. Ajeya Singh also happens to be the Prince of Manda. "When you have a career path like V.P. Singh’s to emulate, you are up against a lot. But I wonder why my father is called the Raja of Manda. His habits are totally satvik. My habits? There’s just two words for it—Lehman Brothers," he laughs.

That legacy is really enough reason for Ajeya Singh to shun publicity. Getting entangled in the multi-million St Kitts payoff deal, thanks to being the elder son of a former prime minister and therefore a pawn in the dirty game of political rivalry, cost him his Wall Street job (at Tradition Berisford, New York) in 1989 and almost cost him his career. The British-trained chartered accountant has had a chequered career of 15 years in international finance, built up painstakingly over stints in Citibank, Merrill Lynch and Bear Stearns. He was 20 when he left for the UK in 1976, doing a BCom after finishing school at Mayo College, Ajmer. As a result, father and son did not share the usual close relationship. "For my father, public life always came before family life and he made that abundantly clear to everyone," he says.

That hardly diminished the father’s influence though. It is to stay close to his ailing father that he’s back home after 20 years—he was never once in the country when V.P. Singh was at its helm. And it’s from him that he inherited his patience, persistence and persuasive skills. And he has learnt to appreciate and admire certain values in people—forthrightness, integrity and character. Singh fondly recalls an incident when as a little boy he was strolling down the garden path of their newly-allotted ministerial house in Delhi with his father. As soon as they stepped out of the house, the security guard stood up to salute. Whom do you think he is saluting, me or the chair, asked the father. It was a lesson well treasured.

Quiet, savvy and soft-spoken, Singh laughs easily, often breaking out like a monsoon sun from behind the cut-and-dried, hard-nosed investment banker veneer. "Investment banking is a competitive field. You are pitted against the world’s best financial brains and your clients won’t do with second best. How then do you convince them? Especially when your competition has had the advantage of being an early bird? That’s the challenge for me," he muses.

Lehman Brothers has been operating in India for just a couple of years—in fact, the firm set up its Delhi office only a few months ago. But the late entry did not prevent it from closing fiscal 1996-1997 as the number one book-runner. "For me this was like being over the moon," gushes Singh. Only four equity deals coordinated in the year, but each above $100 million, executed and marketed beautifully and enjoying a good after-market pricing. Sound equity management? Singh calls it the classic Lehman strategy of focusing on quality rather than quantity.

His coup de grace was the $370-million SBI global depository receipt (GDR) issue. The deal came in October when the market was difficult and the SBI scrip was falling free—from Rs 330, when the mandate was given to Lehman, to Rs 229. It would’ve surely hurtled down some more but for capital support and market-making intervention. For four months, Singh was a zombie going through 84 pre-marketing meetings with institutional investors and an international roadshow covering 500 investors in 18 cities in Asia, Europe and the US. "It’s at such times—the times of high-profile offerings but empty-handed returnees—that the men are distinguished from the boys," he quips. Success came on two fronts—SBI’s offer was not only oversubscribed but also adjudged the Asian Equity Deal of the Year by The World Equity trade magazine and earned a notable mention in Asiamoney. Chairman Richard Fuld’s letter of commendation is all framed up in red and gold at Singh’s sombre and spartan 15th floor New Delhi office.

For Singh the business of investment banking, however, is not only about executing successful deals. It’s about building relationships. And about problem-solving. "Today if my client has a problem, he should be able to pick up the phone and ask for a solution," he says. It is this approach that finds him the support of clients and associates.

Lehman Brothers today provides ongoing coverage to the SBI in terms of shifts in international funds flow, impact of domestic policy changes, and providing liquidity to GDRs. "To me the measure of success of an investment banker is the repeat deals he gets from his clients," says Singh. When Larsen & Toubro repeated its mandate to raise $156 million in the international market last year, Singh saw the vote of confidence as his best award.

Business associates attribute much of his success to his ability to build personal rapport with people. "He has a good knowledge of the market and his overseas experience helps, but his USP is follow-up and his contact with clients at a personal level. He is also very persuasive," says Y.M. Deosthali, finance director, Larsen & Toubro. Agrees P.K. Sarkar, general manager, SBI Caps: "His public relations skills are excellent. He is also very articulate and can sell products easily."

Right now Singh is articulating a debt story for SAIL. The new external commercial borrowing guidelines are set to stir up the debt market, especially since the Indian capital market just isn’t deep enough to meet the insatiable thirst for funds in infrastructure. With many corporates expected to hunt outside the country for resources, Singh is hoping to develop a good product mix for Lehman. He has initiated a dialogue with the government for a sovereign debt deal so that Indian corporates can price their deals off it. For, in the absence of a yield curve for the country, most companies do not even know that they can command a premium.

Singh’s only regret is a punishing schedule that leaves him little time to spend with wife Shruti and two teenaged daughters. To unwind, he reads books on spirituality, philosophy and religion. He is deeply influenced by the philosophy of the Gita and the thinking of Vivekananda. His other link to stability and sanity is Manda, where he goes every year to participate in a traditional pooja. Cricket is another love—there was a time he was invited to play county cricket. His biggest consolation: the reforms process breaking out of the shackles of political dirt-trading. "Whatever the government, there is enough consensus on keeping the reforms alive. That’s the message I am carrying to foreign investors," he says.

With that, Ajeya Singh has his job cut out for the rest of his life. Not a spoonful of Indian politics for him, thank you; St Kitts was a trying period for the entire family. "Being V.P. Singh’s son has been more a liability than an asset," says Singh. But with the Euromoney recognition, the son has emerged from the shadows. Unvanquished, true to his name. "Considering that I was once the underdog, what’s it about every dog having its day?" he quips mischievously. But what a day.