The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan is opening an office in Mumbai, India, which will be headed up by Deepak Dara, currently chief of staff to the pension fund’s chief investment officer.
According to a press release, the Ontario Teachers’ expects the new office to help source investments, nurture long-term partnerships and attract local talent. It also expects to appoint a 10-person team that will be working in the office by the end of 2022. The team will include local talent and transfers from its other offices. It will be the organization’s third office in Asia, after Hong Kong and Singapore.
“India is an attractive investment destination and will be one of our growth markets over the next five to 10 years,” said Jo Taylor, president and chief executive officer of the Ontario Teachers’, in the release. “It has a large, growing and dynamic economy, with openness to foreign capital which makes it a strategically important market for us.”
The office will be overseen by Dara, who will become the senior managing director and head of India at the Ontario Teachers’ in early 2023. In the newly created role, he’ll be responsible for accelerating investment activities and enhancing portfolio management in India, according to the release, which noted he’ll report to Ben Chan, executive managing director and head of Asia-Pacific.
“I am very excited to return home and to take on the role of head of India,” he said in the release. “I look forward to working with our asset class teams and partners in the region and bringing our global expertise to bear in India. The last 12 months saw a marked growth in our investment activities in India and I am enthusiastic about the opportunity to further build out our presence, networks and capabilities in the country.”
Dara will be joined by Keki Mistry, who’ll be a senior advisor at the new office. Currently, Mistry is the vice-chairman and chief executive officer of the Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd., a financial conglomerate. In his new role, Mistry will enhance the Ontario Teachers’ market reach, providing access to a high-quality network and opportunities and sharing guidance on market dynamics.
“I’m pleased to be partnering with Ontario Teachers’, one of the world’s preeminent institutional investors,” he said in the release. “I look forward to helping Ontario Teachers’ to continue to build its network and portfolio.”
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