Raju Panjwani founded Epitome in late 2005. He has 27 years experience in financial services with a deep understanding of financial instruments and products. He has hands on operational experience in areas of asset management, equity sales and trading, investment banking and prime brokerage. His mission is to create path breaking initiatives to delight clients through comprehensive and cost-effective business solutions with commitment, integrity and reliability.

At Morgan Stanley (MS), Raju was a Managing Director. In his 18 years at MS, New York, he was exposed to many businesses. He spent his first seven years setting up MS’s internal audit group in 1987. In 1994, Raju was instrumental in setting up MS’s presence in India for equity broking and custody, and supported the investment banking and asset management businesses. From 1999 to 2001, he was the Country Representative and Chief Operating Officer for Morgan Stanley India. During his India stint of seven years, he played a key role in negotiating and launching MS’s joint venture with JM Financial. He also pioneered offshoring for MS in India in the late 1990s, and established its “Global Knowledge Center” in 2003 that supports the Firm’s global institutional businesses.

Raju has served on the Board of Directors of the U.S. India Business Council in Washington, D.C. from 2002 to 2005. Prior to joining MS, Raju served as an Investment Company (Mutual Fund) specialist with Price Waterhouse. A Chartered Accountant from India (1979) and a CPA (Certified Public Accountant) from New York State (1980), Raju has a Bachelor of Commerce (Honors) from Delhi University (1975).

A tsunami survivor along with his family, Raju has also founded and helped to initiate charitable organizations. He played an active role in establishing the United Way of Mumbai and is a member of the Board of Directors of the United Way International. He chairs its Member Support Committee and is also on its Executive Committee. He and his wife Kim have played an active part in tsunami relief in Sri Lanka. Raju is active in community in India, and supports many worthwhile causes including the "Hedge Funds Care for Children".

Krishnan (Kris) Sakotai brings to Epitome more than 20 years of diversified IT and capital markets experience, including 15 years in the US investment industry. During his association with the investment industry in the US, Krishnan managed equity portfolios, supported securities trading desks and risk management systems, developed analytical frameworks for measuring transaction costs and managed data operations projects across the front, middle and back office functions.

At Standish Mellon Asset Management (SMAM), Boston, Krishnan was a Quantitative Analyst, responsible for developing and back testing quantitative models for stock selection. Additionally, as member of the investment team, he was responsible for research and stock selection for the Asia-ex Japan part of SMAM’s International Equity Fund. In the US, Krishnan also worked at eminent investment companies, including Putnam Investments, Blackrock, and Wellington Management. At Putnam, Krishnan’s team was responsible for implementation of quantitative data models for the Equity Portfolio Management division. At Blackrock, Krishnan supported the firm’s equity trading system, managed the transaction cost analysis platform and implemented FIX connectivity between the trading desk and over 80 brokers.

Prior to joining Epitome Global Services, Krishnan was Vice President and SBU Head at Karvy Global Services, the KPO subsidiary of KARVY (a top institutional brokerage house in India). He was instrumental in building the KPO business from scratch, and was responsible for delivery, pre-sales, hiring, and operations. Before joining Karvy Global Services, Krishnan was the head of the financial services practice at Zensar Technologies, a global software solutions provider in Pune, India.

Samir manages the operations team at Epitome and assists client delivery in areas like fund accounting, middle and back office support, OTC derivatives valuation, financial research and research support operations. He is responsible for ensuring quality and timeliness of the deliverables on a day-to-day basis.

An MBA with over 7 years experience in financial services industry, Samir is proficient in the financial information product business, hedge fund administration, securities operations & research support. He has an exceptional track record in financial information product operation, securities master file, corporate action processing, fund accounting and research support operations.

Previously with Patni Computers (a financial services BPO in India), Samir supervised the migration of processes to India, and managed operations in fund accounting & securities master file activity for a leading fund administrator. He had acquired intimate knowledge of transaction & market data product operations at Thomson Financial, where he was responsible for SDC platinum and DataStream product operations.

Shreyas, a qualified Chartered Accountant, brings to Epitome over 11 years of experience in finance & accounting across various industry segments. He has been successful in setting up the finance function at Epitome and formulates policies, procedures and plans for its smooth operation. Before joining Epitome, Shreyas was associated with companies in varied industries including Star News (News Corp subsidiary), Rohm and Haas (a specialty chemical conglomerate), Pepsico and Reliance Industries (Petrochemical Giant).

Devoted to automation and process improvements, Shreyas has implemented sound finance framework in start up environments, enhancing them through efficient software solutions. He specializes in leading cross-functional projects as diverse as implementation of the crucial Channel Operating Software as well as switching of Satcom Technology at Star News to being part of the Asia Pacific team for SAP implementation at Rohm and Haas.

Shreyas was associated with the planning, budgeting, supply chain and market studies at Pepsico India and with transition management for acquired units at Reliance Industries. He has also worked on cross border transfer pricing and regulatory matters.

Mahesh Iyer
Manager-HR


Mahesh manages Epitome's human resources. He comes with a rich experience of 7 years in human resource management and operations, including recruitment, employee relations and training and development.

He has successfully implemented recruitment procedures, appraisal systems and attrition reduction measures in a 900 person company with diverse backgrounds and responsibilities ranging from high-end analytics to transaction level operations. Mahesh has presented a paper on innovative processes in human resource operations in a NASSCOM conference.