CFA Society India in collaboration with CFA Institute, the global association of investment professionals, hosted the second edition of its Private Markets Conference in Bengaluru on 7^th February, bringing together investment professionals, fund managers, allocators, and CFA charterholders to discuss key developments across India’s private markets. The conference featured sessions spanning the venture capital, family offices, private equity, private credit, and deep tech sectors.

The conference began with remarks by Sachin Naik, Director – Society Relations and Member Services, India, CFA Institute, who highlighted the growing importance of private markets globally and the role of the CFA Program and member societies in advancing professional standards. This was followed by remarks from Vijayanand Venkataraman, Director, CFA Society India, who set the context for the day and emphasised governance and valuation discipline as key enablers of sustainable growth in India’s private markets.

The first session by Sameer Brij Verma, Founder and CIO, Northpoint Capital focused on capital-raising strategies for venture capital fund managers, and was moderated by Mandar Barhate, CFA, Global Head of Valuations and Portfolio Monitoring, Alpha Wave Global. The discussion highlighted the rapid acceleration in startup scaling timelines and the increasing penetration of venture capital in India. The speakers traced the evolution of India’s fund management ecosystem and underscored the importance of LP–GP alignment through manager commitment, long-term orientation, and disciplined portfolio construction. The session also examined challenges specific to solo GPs, including concentration risk, institutional process building, and mitigating behavioural biases in portfolio decision-making.

The second session on “Family Offices: Levelling Up Private Markets,” by Deepak Padaki, President, Catamaran Ventures was moderated by Sandeep Gupta, CFA, CEO CornerBricks and Director, CFA Society India. The discussion explored the distinctive role of family offices as long-term capital providers, with a focus on ecosystem development alongside financial returns. Insights highlighted opportunities across manufacturing, deeptech, artificial intelligence, healthcare, and robotics, as well as the role of family offices in strengthening governance frameworks and supporting companies through growth and public market transitions.

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A panel discussion on the evolution of private equity in India, featured Abhishek Loonker, CFA, Managing Director, GEF Capital Partners; A P Vasanthkumar, Partner, Ascent Capital; and Kazi Arif Zaman, CFA, Partner, GestAlt Network LLP, which was moderated by Shamit Chokshi, CFA, Director, CFA Society India. The panel discussed the shift from capital scarcity to capital abundance, the growing challenge of sourcing high-quality opportunities, and the importance of governance and management capability as long-term value drivers. Emerging themes included the rise of continuation funds, opportunities in rural consumption, and exit pressures driven by LP return expectations.

The fourth session focused on private credit and its role in India’s expanding alternatives landscape. The panel featured Saurabh Jhalaria, CFA, CIO – Alternative Credit Strategies, InCred; Subhashree Vijayaraghavan, Senior Fund Manager – Credit Alternatives, HDFC Asset Management Company; and Soumendra Ghosh, CIO, Vivriti Asset Management and moderated by Chanchal Agarwal, CFA. The discussion covered the growing appeal of private credit for bespoke financing solutions, particularly in sectors such as real estate and Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC). The panellists emphasised the importance of evaluating risk-adjusted returns, collateral structures and regulatory considerations includissng the need for pass through vehicles.

The final session was a panel discussion focused on deeptech investing, featuring Arjun Rao, General Partner, Speciale Invest; Shubham Sandeep, Managing Director, Pi Ventures; and Manu Iyer, Managing Partner, Bluehill.VC. The session was moderated by Ramkumar Venkatramani, CFA, Director – Impact Investing, AVPN. The discussion focused on investment approaches in deeptech across India’s evolving innovation landscape. The session examined founder evaluation criteria, including technical depth and clarity of problem-solving. The panellists also discussed the importance of market adoption velocity over headline market size, while noting challenges related to early-stage unit economics.

In the closing remarks, Shamit Chokshi, CFA, Director, CFA Society India, reflected on the breadth of discussions across the conference and highlighted the diverse perspectives shared on the evolving role of private markets in India. He emphasised the value of informed dialogue across asset classes and concluded by thanking speakers and participants for their contributions to the day’s discussions.