The Innovator

Sanjay Guglani recalls his entrepreneurial journey that led him to reinvent himself repeatedly, culminating in the launch of Silverdale.

Always up for a challenge, Sanjay Guglani has what it takes to be a winner. His foresight and understanding of financial markets has helped him lead Silverdale Capital to success.

Here is an exclusive interview with Guglani, 49.

India Se: Tell us a little about yourself.

Sanjay Guglani: In 1968, almost immediately after my birth, my father took up the challenge of joining EDP (Electronic Data Processing) Department of Indian Railways, where he wrote programs which today run the Bombay local trains. When I was nine years old, he joined Hindustan Zinc at Udaipur. I remember I was refused admission at St Paul’s School for not knowing Hindi, because Hindi wasn’t taught in Bombay where I lived earlier. I not only learnt Hindi but became a topper, earning a National Talent Scholarship. Subsequently, I obtained my Chartered Accountant (CA), Management Accountant (ICWA) and Company Secretary (CS) degrees. I chose chartered accountancy as I wanted to be an income tax expert. In those days, the tax rates were over 50 per cent and CAs ruled the roost.

India Se: So what took you to the investment world?

Sanjay Guglani: I started my formal career in Elite Stock Management, then one of the largest brokerage houses, and ended up launching one of the first retail portfolio management schemes (PMS) in India. Thereafter, I moved to SRF Finance (now, GE Capital) where I managed India’s largest badla cash-future arbitrage book.