The Hidden Leverage in Structured Credit

Q1. Could you start by giving us a brief overview of your professional background, particularly focusing on your expertise in the industry?

I have spent the last 16 years working across different aspects of the credit space - starting with credit ratings and structured finance, then moving to debt deployment, portfolio management, credit evaluation, underwriting, and debt investment banking. I worked with products ranging from plain-vanilla term loans to ECBs, subordinated debt, preference shares, and capital-market products, including securitization notes and NCDs. Along the way, I also had brief exposure to infrastructure financing cashflow models and stressed asset models, which aligned with my understanding of cashflow-aligned structuring. I also spent nearly two years building the tech platform business for a large NBFC to improve tech adoption in-house and externally, while enabling faster, more exhaustive credit evaluation through SaaS products and platforms.

Q2. What structural shift in India’s institutional lending and capital markets feels most important right now, and why is it changing decision-making today?

The most important structural shift is the expansion of risk appetite among investors and lenders, which has led to the growth of the "discovery-credit" segment encompassing MSMEs and start-ups, including those with an increased focus on…