CFA Society India Hosts the 16th India Investment Conference

Business Wire India

CFA Society India hosted the 16th edition of its flagship conference, India Investment Conference, in Mumbai recently. Co-hosted by the CFA Institute, the annual conference attracted over 600 financial markets professionals including CFA charterholders, investment professionals, and wealth managers.

The conference explored a wide range of topics such as opportunities in emerging markets, supply chain shifts, AI-Driven alpha, India's growth amidst geopolitical turbulence, followed by a thought-provoking panel discussion on Public Equity markets in India.

The conference was chaired by Shamit Chokshi, CFA (Director, CFA Society India and Founder, Aumori Capital Partners) and Vijayanand Venkataraman, CFA (Director, CFA Society India and Co-Founder, Wealth Yantra Technologies Private Ltd). 

“We are moving past the era where geopolitics was an ‘occasional footnote’ in an investment memo. Today, it is the headline, so “integrating the potential impact of trade realignments to energy security and access to tech” is a core requirement of our investment process and is being covered in the sessions at IIC. In 2026, a portfolio that ignores geography is a portfolio that ignores reality,” said Shamit Chokshi, CFA, Conference Chair.

The opening remarks were delivered by Paul Moody (Managing Director, Global Partnerships & Client Solutions at CFA Institute), where he highlighted India’s position as the leading market for CFA Program registrations globally and the Society’s key milestones of being a strong community of over 4,700 members in India. Acknowledging the conference theme, he said, “Taken together, AI and geopolitics remind us that technical skills alone are not enough. What truly differentiates our profession is judgment, ethics, and the ability to see the bigger picture — all qualities that CFA Institute and CFA Society India work every day to promote.”

(Senior Advisor & Former Head of Emerging Markets Equity, GMO) on ‘Opportunities in Emerging Markets, Supply Chain Shifts, and AI-Driven Alpha’. Arjun discussed the stock quality parameters, i.e., strong profitability, predictable earnings and cash flows, and financial safety like low leverage. Arjun also shared GMO’s framework focusing on value, momentum and quality. As someone who figured that it’s never too late to learn something new, Arjun shared a demo of the techniques which can help investors to leverage AI to synthesize information for investment decisions.

 

In the second Session ‘Twilight Before the Storm and its Investment Conclusions’, Viktor Shvets (Global Strategist and Author) shared insights on how AI will continue to shape everything around the world, and the past lived experiences not enough to prepare for the future. He highlighted the importance of Central Bank policy communication as forward guidance, credibility, and narrative shape expectations, financial conditions, and market behavior. Structural reforms, fiscal spending and capital efficiency have a great potential to influence India’s growth story in the future.

 

The next session was led by Ajit Ranade (Economist) focusing on India's growth amid geopolitical turbulence. Ranade highlighted growth to be the Indian economy’s structural feature across the various government regimes and external global events, and how the macro economic indicators, i.e., foreign debt, fiscal deficit, savings percentage, continue to be strong and resilient. India needs to continue the focus on large-scale reforms in order to remain competitive in the ever-evolving geopolitical scenario across the world.

Rajesh Sehgal, CFA (Chairperson, CFA Society India and Managing Partner, Equanimity Investments) spoke about the Indian Association of Investments Professionals celebrating its 20 years milestone. He noted that CFA Society India’s two-decade journey has been rooted in shared values and a common purpose. He highlighted the Society’s focus on enhancing member value, strengthening employer engagement, fostering a global outlook, and promoting diversity, while acknowledging the sustained and invaluable contributions of volunteers who have played a pivotal role in shaping the Society’s growth.

The next session focusing on integrating geopolitics and external factors into one’s investment process was led by Joachim Klement (Head of Strategy, Economics, and ESG, Panmure Liberum). Joachim highlighted that for a 10-year long-term investor, 9 out of 10 geopolitical developments should not matter. Most of such events create short-term noise rather than changing the fundamentals and intrinsic valuation over the long-term. Most of such events and the subsequent drawdowns are an opportunity rather than a signal to exit.

The conference concluded with an engaging panel discussion on Public Equity Markets (in context of India) which featured Vikas Khemani, CFA (Co-founder & CIO, Carnelian Asset Management & Advisors), Chirag Setalvad (Head - Equities, HDFC Mutual Fund), Prashant Khemka (Founder, WhiteOak Capital Group) and moderated by Prashant Nair (National News Editor at CNBC-TV18) where they offered their perspective on the important factors i.e. geopolitics, AI and structural reforms shaping Indian Equity markets. India’s equity markets continue to present significant opportunities in the Financial Services, Consumer, Technology and Pharma space in the near future.

From left to right ? Prashant Nair, Executive Editor, CNBC-TV18 ; Chirag Setalvad, Head Equities, HDFC Mutual Fund ; Vikas Khemani, CFA, Co-founder & CIO, Carnelian Asset Management & Advisors ; Prashant Khemka, Founder, WhiteOak Capital Group

About CFA Society India*

The Indian Association of Investment Professionals (IAIP), the India Society of CFA Institute, was established in April 2005 as an association of local investment professionals consisting of portfolio managers, security analysts, investment advisors, and other financial professionals. As one of the over 160 CFA Institute member societies, IAIP connects local CFA Institute members to a global network of investment professionals. For the continuing upgradation of knowledge and skills of members, IAIP conducts speaker events and workshops led by leading finance professionals. Find us at www.cfasocietyindia.org or follow us on LinkedIn and X @CFASocietyIndia.

*CFA Society India is a registered trademark of CFA Institute licensed to be used by the Indian Association of Investment Professionals.

 

About CFA Institute

As the global association of investment professionals, CFA Institute sets the standards for professional excellence and credentials. We champion ethical behavior in investment markets and serve as the leading source of learning and research for the investment industry. We believe in fostering an environment where investors’ interests come first, markets function at their best, and economies grow. With more than 200,000 charterholders worldwide across more than 160 markets, CFA Institute has 9 offices and 158 local societies. Find us at www.cfainstitute.org or follow us on LinkedIn.