About Us

Mr. Nagesh Pinge

Independent Director

Mr. Nagesh Pinge has over 38 years of experience in Ethics, Corporate Governance, Risk Management & Internal Audit.

Nagesh retired from Tata Motors in November 2016 as “Chief-Internal Audit, Risk Management & Ethics”. Prior to that he was Chief Internal Audit of Reliance Retail Ltd. & JSW Group. He has also worked for ICICI Bank & its Group Companies in Risk Management (Chief Risk Officer), Regulatory Compliance and Internal Audit (Group Head-Internal Audit).

Nagesh is the Past President of the Institute of Internal Auditors, India. He is a recipient of “ACIIA” Award given by “Asian Confederation of Institutes of Internal Audit” for “Outstanding Contribution in Internal Audit” for the year 2017. He is also a recipient of “ICAI” Award given by the Institute of Chartered Accountant of India for the year 2014.

Nagesh is a Regular Faculty at “Masterclass for Directors” being conducted by the Institute of Directors in India. He has authored a technical guidance note on “Risk based Audit for Banks” being published by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. He is an Independent Director on many companies i.e. Goa Carbon, Arvind Fashions, MCX Clearing Corporation, Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance, Automobile Corporation of Goa, Inventia Healthcare, Hero Housing Finance & Utkarsh Small Finance Bank.

Nagesh is a Chartered Accountant and Law Graduate from India. He has also completed Executive Education Program from The Stephen M Ross School of Business of the University of Michigan, USA.

Mr. Sharadchandra Abhyankar

Independent Director

Mr. Sharad comes with an experience of more than 32 in years corporate laws, securities laws, anti-trust laws, telecom regulations, constitutional litigation and international commercial arbitrations.

Sharad is the Partner of Khaitan & Co, Advocates & Solicitors Mumbai. He advises Indian and international clients on strategic M&As, private equity investments and exits, capital markets transactions, financing transactions, domestic and cross-border foreign collaborations and joint ventures, foreign exchange and securities law related matters.

Sharad holds a B.A. L.L.B. L.L.M. degree (Commercial Laws) from Mumbai University, Solicitor (The Bombay Incorporated Law Society), Patent & Trademarks Attorney, and IICA certified Mediator.

Mr. Ajith Punnakkal

Director

Mr. Ajith Punnakkal has 27 years of experience in investment operations, fund accounting, risk management, regulatory reporting, accounts and client servicing. Prior to joining White Oak Capital, he has worked with Edelweiss Financial Services as Vice President at their Prime Brokerage, Securities and Fund Services business advising Foreign Portfolio Investors on accessing Indian capital markets and on-boarding related matters.

Before that, he was working with IIFL Capital (Singapore), a regulated investment manager under the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), as the head of operations and client services at their Singapore office. Earlier, he has handled various assignments based out of Dubai and Mauritius with Kotak Mahindra group for their India bound asset management business.

Ajith is a graduate in commerce from the University of Madras.

Mr. Prateek Pant

Chief Business Officer

Prateek is responsible for driving the overall business objectives through multiple distribution channels, innovative marketing strategies including digital and effective product architecture.

Prior to White oak, Prateek was the Head of Products and Solutions at Sanctum Wealth Management and was also a part of the Founding Management Team. In his role he managed the delivery of client solutions which included investments, wealth planning and real estate services.

Prateek has over 25 years of experience in Banking and Financial Services in India and the Middle East. Prior to Sanctum Wealth Management he worked with RBS Group, Franklin Templeton, Bank of America, ABN Amro Bank, HSBC and Commercial Bank of Qatar in the domains of Branch Banking, Credit Cards, Asset and Wealth Management.

Prateek holds a Bachelor's degree in Engineering, with a specialisation in Chemical Engineering, from the University of Mumbai. He has also obtained an MMS degree from the Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, with a specialisation in Finance.

Mr. Rahul Dayal

Chief Technology Officer

Rahul is an accomplished technology profession with over 24 years of multifaceted experience in Banking and Financial services, centred around Technology Strategy, Digital Innovation, Financial Management, Business Solutions & Service Delivery, Program Management, and Technology Risk & Governance.

His core focus at WhiteOak Capital Asset Management Limited, is to build a robust, resilient, agile & scalable technology foundation, enhance digital capabilities, and implement new age AI/ML solutions.

In his most recent role as Head of Information Technology function at Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC ltd., Rahul was responsible for transformation of the business by leveraging technology, data and analytics. He has been instrumental in implementing various industry first innovations and initiatives.

Prior to this, he held leadership positions with RBL Bank Ltd, where he managed a large program for a strategic business acquisition, set up various technology functions & governance processes, and executed multiple successful partnerships with Fintechs. He has also been associated with organizations such as L&T Infotech, HTC Global Services Inc. etc.

Rahul is an B. Com from University of Mumbai, has an advanced diploma in Software technology and has completed his management from IIM Kozhikode.

Mr.Vaibhav Chugh

Head - Retail Sales

Prior to joining WhiteOak Capital Asset Managment Limited, Vaibhav worked with Aditya Birla SL AMC for 14 years and served in various roles across North, South and West India. In his last assignment, he was the Zonal head of West zone for all the distribution channels and was also managing HNI sales for the country.

Vaibhav has over 20 years of experience in retail sales and distribution and has worked with organisations like ICICI Prudential AMC, IDBI Principal AMC and Franklin Templeton (erstwhile Kothari Pioneer Mutual Funds).

Vaibhav holds a Bachelor degree from Punjab University and a PGDM from IMT- Ghaziabad. He has also done a LDP- Finance for Executives from IIM- Bengaluru.

Vaibhav is responsible for driving retail sales for the organisation along with managing the retail distribution partnerships across India.

Mr.Harit Gautam

Head - Digital

Harit heads the Digital proposition at WhiteOak Capital Asset Management Limited and is responsible for Digital - strategy, business, platforms and marketing.

He brings in over 20 years of experience in the digital space within the BFSI industry. He has set up digital platforms in multiple organizations and has subsequently monetised them for business generation.

In his last stint, Harit was the Business Head for Mutual Funds at Bajaj Finance, where he built a digital only Mutual Fund proposition from scratch. He has also served as Digital Head Retail at NipponLife AMC and has also lead digital set ups at IIFL Securities, HSBC Bank and ICICI Bank.

Harit is a B.Tech in Computers and has also completed an Advanced Diploma in Software Engineering (Hons)

Mr. Girish Dhanani

Head Mutual Fund Operations and Client Service

With an overall experience of more than 25 years, prior to joining WhiteOak Capital Asset Management Limited, Girish was associated with Mirae Asset Investment Managers (India) Private Limited as Head Operations and Investor Relations for 15 years.

Before Mirae Asset, Mr. Dhanani had also supervised the customer service function with SBI Funds Management Pvt. Ltd and prior to SBI Mutual Fund, he also worked with Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC Ltd. & IL&FS Investment Managers Limited in the Mutual Fund Operations and Customer Service segment. He has also been associated with organizations like E-Serve International Ltd & World Network Services.

Girish is a Masters in Financial Management from Mumbai University.

Girish has been entrusted with the responsibility of the entire scheme operations including RTA Operations, Banking Operations, Fund Accounting and Custody Operations. He will also be supervising and managing the Investor Relations piece across different branches of the AMC and facilitating the service delivery channel across mediums.

Ms. Shobha Ramchandani

Chief Risk Officer

Shobha has over 18 years of experience in the Financial Services Industry. She has been instrumental in setting up operations and processes at WhiteOak Capital Asset Management Limited. Prior to WhiteOak Capital AMC, Shobha has worked for IDFC Asset Management as Sr V P – Operations and was also associated with Shinsei Asset Management, HSBC Bank and JM Financial Asset Management. She has successfully handled various roles within the gamut of mutual fund operations.

Shobha is a qualified Chartered Accountant and FRM.

Mr.Prannav Shah

Head - Compliance, Legal and Secretarial

Prannav brings with him over 15 years of experience in the Compliance function of Mutual Fund industry. In his last assignment he was heading Compliance at Edelweiss Asset Management Limited. He was responsible for the managing overall Compliance activities of Mutual Funds, PMS and AIF business of the AMC.

Prior to joining Edelweiss, he was associated with organizations like Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC Limited, Invesco AMC and ICICI Prudential Asset Management.

He is a Company Secretary from ICSI with Diploma in Enterprise Risk Management.

Ms.Vasudha Shah

Head of Investor Services

Ms. Vasudha Shah comes with an experience of over 17 years. She is an accomplished Service and Operations professional with experience in setting up and successfully leading and managing the Investor Servicing and Registrar and Transfer Agent(RTA) Operations.

In her career spanning, she has worked pre-dominantly in the Mutual Funds industry. Her mutual fund journey began in the year 2003, when she joined Fidelity International followed by leading the Customer Service Team of Fidelity Fund Management Private Limited (Asset Management business in India). Prior to WhiteOak Capital Asset Managment Limited, she has worked for DHFL Pramerica Asset Managers Pvt Ltd, where she was heading the Investor Servicing Function and RTA Operations.

Vasudha holds a Master’s Diploma in Business Administration from Symbiosis Center for Distance Learning, Pune and is a Commerce graduate from Shaheed Bhagat Singh College, New Delhi.

Mr. Deepak Shivathaya

Head Information Technology

Mr. Deepak Shivathaya has over 26 years of experience in the field of Information Technology (IT) with the last 18 years being in Insurance and Asset Management companies. He was part of the Religare Aegon Asset Management India (now Invesco Asset Management India) start-up team, where as Head of Technology & Change Management function was responsible for laying down company-wide systems, processes and Information Security Policies. He has expertise in various areas of IT and has worked in various organization of repute like Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), ING Life, HDFC Life, Allianz Life, Unilever, GEBBS and Systems Plus. Deepak holds a Commerce degree and an Honours in Systems Management.

Mr. Ashish Agrawal

Director & Head – Equity Dealing

Ashish is responsible for the Dealing function entailing all Equities transactions for the AMC schemes. Ashish has total 18 years’ experience on MF Buy Side (~6 years) and Institutional Broking Sell Side (~12 years) engaging with FPIs/Insurance and domestic AMCs in the institutional Equities business across multiple organizations.

Prior to joining WhiteOak AMC, Ashish was Head, Dealing at Motilal Oswal AMC overseeing the entire executions across India (Passive and Active) and Overseas trades (US and EMEA).

Earlier he has worked as VP- Sales Trading between 2010-16 at Citigroup Global markets, Brief stint as Executive Director at RBS in 2009-10 and with Edelweiss Capital between 2005-09, on the institutional equities desks. Ashish Is a PGDBM (Finance) from IMT Ghaziabad and Bachelor of Commerce from University of Lucknow.

Mr. Piyush Baranwal

Senior Fund Manager (Fixed Income)

Piyush brings with him approximately 13 years of experience in fixed income fund management function. Prior to joining WhiteOak Capital Asset Managment Limited, he was last working as Head-Fixed Income at BOI AXA Investment Managers. Earlier, he was a portfolio manager at Morgan Stanley Investment Management after having started his career at Principal PNB AMC.

Piyush has completed his B.E. in Electronics & Communication from MIT Manipal and post graduate diploma in business management from SPJIMR Mumbai with specialization in finance.

He has also completed the CFA certification course conducted by the CFA Institute, USA.

Mr. Shariq Merchant

Fund Manager - Overseas Investments

Shariq is responsible for covering the Auto, Consumer, Real Estate, and Logistics sectors. He has over 11 years of experience in the financial services industry and joined White Oak in 2022.

Prior to joining White Oak, Shariq worked as an Investment Analyst with Duro Capital, covering autos, consumer, and healthcare, and as an analyst with Quest Investment Advisors. Shariq started his career with the Ambit Group, where he worked across multiple roles spanning sell side, strategy, and investment management.

He is a Chartered Accountant and has cleared all 3 levels of the CFA program.

Mr. Dheeresh Kumar Pathak , CFA

Director - Investments

Dheeresh is responsible for covering the Healthcare, Chemical , Cement & Building Material sectors.

He has over 15 years of rich experience in investment management.

He joined White Oak in June 2022. Prior to joining White Oak Capital Dheeresh was the Executive Director at Goldman Sachs Asset Management.

During his 14 years at Goldman Sachs he covered a wide range of sectors including Healthcare , Chemicals , Telecom & Media , Logistics , Building Material & Retail.

At Goldman Sachs India Equity Fund , Dheeresh was among the top rated professional generating the highest alpha per unit of capital.

He holds a B.E in Electronics Engineering from Punjab Engineering College (Gold Medallist) and a PGDBM from MDI Gurgaon.

Mr. NEERAJ PARKASH

Associate Director - Investments

Neeraj has 4 years of experience in equity research on the buy side.

Prior to joining White Oak, he worked as an investment analyst at Nepean Capital, an India focused mid and small-cap fund, where he covered a wide range of sectors including healthcare, chemicals, consumer, and financial services.

Prior to Nepean Capital, he was an equity research analyst at Lazard Asset Management, in New York, covering the healthcare sector within US Equities.

Neeraj has a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Psychology from Cornell University, New York.

Mr. VINEET NARANG

Investment Associate

Prior to joining White Oak Capital, Vineet started investing at the age of 16.

He ended up co-founding and managing a special situations fund for 2 years during his college years.

He is a gold medallist graduate from University of Delhi and holds an MBA from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

Ms. Trupti Agrawal

Assistant Fund Manager - Equity

Trupti has 12 years of total work experience, since starting her career as a statutory auditor with Ernst & Young's affiliate in India, S. R. Batliboi & Co.

She later joined the credit team at L&T Infrastructure Finance Limited where she was responsible for evaluating credit for large projects and corporate finance deals across Infrastructure, Resources and Capital goods.

She has also been an entrepreneur and has run her own ecommerce venture prior to joining White Oak Capital.

Mr. Deep Mehta

Assistant Fund Manager – Fixed Income & Credit Analyst

Deep has 9 years of prior work experience in Credit research domain having worked in rating agency, lending, and investment management firms.

During his career, he has handled lending and fixed income investments in corporate debt, structured loans and securitized instruments across borrowers from diverse sectors.

He has also handled debt dealing assignments in his prior organisations. Prior to WhiteOak, he has worked with Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance, Union Asset Management, RBL Bank and ICRA. Deep holds a Master’s degree in Finance and Bachelor’s of Engineering from Mumbai University.