Private Inspiration: Q&A with Lavanya Chari of HSBC

Our Private Inspiration series recognizes and celebrates the triumphs of women in the world of private banking.

In this edition, we speak to Lavanya Chari, HSBC’s Global Head of Investments and Wealth Solutions for Private Banking and Wealth Management.

“In addition to providing equal opportunities for all, I truly believe that gender equity drives better performance in an organization.”

Career

Current role

At HSBC, I am the Global Head of Investments & Wealth Solutions (IWS), the centre of excellence for products, platforms, and propositions that delivers an extensive range of solutions and market insights to Global Private Banking & Wealth clients.

IWS spans and supports the product needs of all client segments across Wealth & Personal Banking (WPB), providing world-class, digitally-empowered solutions to Personal, Premier, high net worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients around the world, serving client needs both locally and by providing a unique internationally-connected offering.

My working day involves spending time with my team on strategic initiatives to grow the business, managing risk, and ensuring that we are getting the right things done, with customer centricity at the heart of everything we do. One of the most rewarding parts of my role is meeting clients and being able to draw upon the full breadth of HSBC’s capabilities to address their needs and aspirations.

 

Career highlights

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) is something I am incredibly passionate about, with one of my proudest achievements being the success of our ESG program over the last two years.

Wherever our clients are on their sustainable investing journeys, we can help them bring about positive change in the world through their investment decisions, enabling them to address their sustainability objectives whilst achieving their investment goals.

Our sustainable investments assets under management (AUM) have more than doubled over a twelve-month period, following a series of successful product launches in the sustainable space, reflecting our clients’ growing interest in this area.

Another noteworthy achievement is the launch of HSBC Prism Advisory, our portfolio-based advisory service for clients that combines expert guidance and data-driven insights, leveraging high-quality, timely and personalized advice to help clients manage their investments.

 

Career lowlight

During the COVID-19 pandemic, I was interviewed and onboarded entirely virtually, as part of joining HSBC in 2020.

In the absence of actual workplace experiences such as watercooler conversations, and understanding that building close relationships was an important prerequisite for success in my role, I created a long list of people to meet and set up Zoom meetings, asking questions about people’s interests, backgrounds, and families – and shared my own personal story. Getting to know a new organization and its people virtually was tough, but it became an enormous test of resilience that I benefited from in the end.

Personal

Out of office

I actually hold two full-time jobs – the other being that of a mother. I try to spend as much time as possible with my two kids.

I love adventure sports and socializing with friends, as well as reading and meditating, which are great ways to unwind and relax. I am even learning to play the piano, which I find rewarding and challenging in equal measure!

 

Stress management and self-care

In addition to practicing positive psychology and meditation, I commit to exercising every day with an early morning high-intensity workout, which serves as an excellent form of stress relief.

Whenever I encounter a stressful situation, I tend to ask myself: “Will this still be on my mind in a year’s time?” If the answer is “no”, I try not to let it affect me too much.

 

Book recommendations

I enjoyed reading “Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know” by Adam Grant. The author challenges us to rethink and unlearn our assumptions, affording us the chance to be more successful and happier in life and at work.

I was also inspired by “My Life in Full”, the autobiography of Indra Nooyi, former Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo, which covers her trailblazing career, vision, and deep sense of purpose, as well as how she met the challenges of managing her demanding role with raising a family.

 

Personal philosophy

A key value instilled in me when I was growing up was to treat everyone with respect and empathy. This has shaped my leadership style, which is to be truly authentic and make a conscious effort to understand the pressures and challenges that colleagues are facing. Other than being the right way to behave, I find that it enables me to be a more effective leader.

 

Career advice

Sometimes, having a linear view of your own career journey can actually hold you back.

When you look at the careers of many senior leaders in private wealth, they have done a variety of work with experience spanning different business lines and areas.

In terms of my own career, I spent 14 years in global markets before moving into private wealth. I strongly believe that exposure to different areas of the business makes you a more well-rounded professional, and can accelerate your career progression.

I would also encourage people to seek out a mentor who can deliver honest advice and reflections. Over the course of my career, I have benefited from the guidance and wisdom of mentors who had really invested in me and helped shape my career journey. It is important to find a mentor who will challenge you – at times telling you what you don’t want to hear – as part of facilitating your personal growth and career trajectory.

Outlook

A post-COVID world

Customer service is at the heart of everything we do in the wealth management industry. It is about ensuring that the customer feels that every interaction and touchpoint with us is seamless, efficient, and relevant, whether navigating our digital platforms, speaking to an adviser, or receiving information about their portfolio.

The pandemic has accelerated client expectations when engaging with their wealth manager across a number of channels.

Wealth Managers are expected to deliver a robust and easily navigable omni-channel experience, where customers can select the engagement and consumption methods that work best for them.

 

Trends this year

The world we live in has changed dramatically in recent years, impacting economic growth, inflation, interest rates and sectors. We see four key trends and opportunities that run across geographies and sectors, covering both short- and longer-term periods.

• Remaking Asia’s future: Asian economies maintain relative outperformance against global peers due to China’s faster-than-expected economic reopening and the structural policy change towards supporting growth.
• Opportunities amid high rates and slowing growth in developed markets: We are always looking for the best opportunities in equities and bonds, balancing the attraction of improved valuations and declining inflation against the deterioration of cyclical momentum.
• Investing for a sustainable future: There is a broad spectrum of crises facing life on earth, but the good news is that we have everything we need to achieve our sustainability objectives. We now have the understanding, the technology, the capital and increasingly, the desire. As a result, the opportunity set is getting deeper and broader for investors every day.
• Digital transformation: The digital transformation, which started a few decades ago, continues to transform businesses, products and services we use. From the music and entertainment industry to automobile and connected home systems, digitalization cuts across multiple sectors that are close to our everyday life.

 

The role of technology

Clients increasingly expect technology to play a central role in the way their wealth is managed, but they also want human expertise that understands their needs and aspirations and delivers high-quality, responsive and personalized advice.

At HSBC, we have been accelerating a seamless omnichannel and digital experience for our clients, investing in the full lifecycle of digital capabilities at every stage of their journey with us to ensure we have the right digital solutions to address their needs now and in the future.

 

International Women’s Month

The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day/Month is #EmbraceEquity, which strongly resonates with me. In addition to providing equal opportunities for all, I truly believe that gender equity drives better performance in an organization.

The industry has made much progress over the years but there is still more to do.  At HSBC, we are taking action to remove barriers to deliver an inclusive environment where all colleagues can flourish and progress. After achieving our ambition of having 30% of senior leadership roles held by women in 2020, we set a new goal to reach 35% by 2025, and are already on track with 33.3% of senior leadership roles held by women at the end of 2022, an increase of 1.6 percentage points since 2021.

As a woman leader, I recognize the important role I have to play and take this responsibility seriously. We launched the IWS Women’s Network (IWin) last year, an initiative to drive change and deliver a culture where IWS women are empowered and inspired to develop and progress, focusing on areas such as career development, leadership, networking, and work-life balance.

 

The information and opinions expressed herein reflect the opinion and views of the interviewee at the time of writing; they are not necessarily representative of the views of HSBC.

Interested in how Bloomberg can help with your private banking needs? Find out more.