In a volatile world, investors look for stability and growth, and India fits that profile: Carnelian's Swati Khemani

Edited excerpts:I think the move into this role happened quite naturally for me. When you understand the product deeply, it becomes much easier to sell or convince people because you know exactly what you’re talking about. My investment banking and research background helped a lot in that sense.

I also always enjoyed public speaking, debates and meeting people, so connecting with clients came very naturally.At our firm, we strongly believe sales should be authentic. Don’t sell something you wouldn’t buy yourself. Performance can go up and down, operations can have issues, but honesty with clients is non-negotiable.We also place heavy emphasis on training and development.

Weekly, we have internal sessions where fund managers discuss portfolios, market trends and product updates, while teams share changes around onboarding, compliance and regulations.When we started the firm, the three co-founders were clear about one thing: we wouldn’t do to clients what we wouldn’t do ourselves. Even if that means slower growth or not aggressively chasing AUM targets, we’re comfortable with that.Two things have changed. First, client conversations have matured over time.

Investors today are far more informed, largely because of social media and easy access to information. Earlier, any geopolitical event could trigger panic—markets would fall sharply, and investors would rush to redeem. Today, that reaction is far less common.

In fact, even during recent volatility, we haven’t seen panic calls or redemptions like we would have pre-covid. Conversations are now more structured. People want to understand where markets are headed rather than reacting emotionally to every event.The second change is in investor behaviour.