Saurabh Jain, head of Standard Chartered India's wealth management and affluent client segments, is leaving the bank by the end of this week to join Bandhan AMC Ltd. as chief business officer on August 3. According to reports from Business Standard, Jain re-joined Standard Chartered in 2019 after spending just over a year in HDFC Bank Ltd. and led the UK lender's wealth arm and GIFT City strategy. He also spearheaded the bank's push into the affluent client segment. The exit comes as Standard Chartered reorganizes its wealth business and shifts away from mass-market retail banking.
The exit follows earlier departures of two other senior executives from Standard Chartered's Indian operations. Nitin Chengappa, head of affluent distribution and branch network, left in April after serving at the bank since December 2016. Another senior executive, Pankaj Walia, who led Standard Chartered's private banking unit, left late last year. As reported by Business Standard, Standard Chartered has not yet found replacements for Chengappa and Walia, with Amit Mamgain, currently head of investment strategy and wealth sales, taking over Jain's role.
The departures come as Standard Chartered sharpens its focus on building out its wealth business by tapping the rising affluent class in India. According to Business Standard, the bank sold off its personal loans portfolio to Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. in 2024 and agreed to sell part of its India credit card business to Blackstone Inc.-backed Federal Bank Ltd. earlier this year. In 2024, Standard Chartered executives estimated there were about 750,000 potential clients with a revenue pool of over $300 billion, and the bank hopes to capture a share of that market. The bank is also expanding into smaller towns and pursuing owners of small and medium enterprises as clients.
Bandhan AMC, led by ex-Standard Chartered banker Vishal Kapoor, is backed by Bandhan Bank, Singapore's GIC and private equity firm ChrysCapital Management and has over $20 billion of assets under management. As reported by Business Standard, the firm also offers alternative investment funds and portfolio management services. Standard Chartered confirmed Jain's exit and said the bank was committed to grow their small and medium enterprise business alongside wealth and retail banking segments. Bandhan AMC's CEO Kapoor said as the "business continues to grow, we are strengthening our organization by investing in talent, technology and distribution capabilities."
