Vaibhav Shah Associate Vice President- Asset Management

Vaibhav joined Kotak Realty Fund in April 2019 and has over 6 years of work experience across financial due diligence (4 years) primarily in real state and infrastructure space and statutory audit (2 years) for banking and financial services. Before joining Kotak, he worked at PwC (2 years) and EY (2 years) in their deal advisory team where he was involved in financial due diligence across multiple sectors such as real estate, infrastructure, retail, pharmaceutical and manufacturing. He has also earlier worked with KPMG (2 years) in their assurance division involved in statutory audits of a bank, a private equity funds and a stock broking company.

Vaibhav holds a Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com) in Advanced Financial Accounting from Jai Hind College, Mumbai. Vaibhav is a Chartered Accountant and a Company Secretary.

Kshitij Gupta Vice President

Kshitij joined Kotak Realty Fund in 2019 and has 9+ years of work experience in the real estate investments and financial services industry.

Prior to joining Kotak, Kshitij was part of real estate finance team at ECL Finance Ltd, where he was responsible for managing key relationships, business development and due diligence for real estate investments in Mumbai and Pune. Prior to ECL Finance Ltd, he was with Kotak Realty Fund and has also worked with Arthveda Fund Management and JP Morgan (in equity research division).

Prior to joining Kotak, Kshitij was part of real estate finance team at ECL Finance Ltd, where he was responsible for managing key relationships, business development and due diligence for real estate investments in Mumbai and Pune. Prior to ECL Finance Ltd, he was with Kotak Realty Fund and has also worked with Arthveda Fund Management and JP Morgan (in equity research division).

S. Sriniwasan Managing Director

S. Sriniwasan (Srini) heads Kotak Investment Advisors Limited (KIAL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kotak Mahindra Bank, since January 2017.

Srini has played a crucial role in setting up and building the Alternate Assets business at KIAL. He established one of India’s first real estate funds in 2005 and steered the growth of the business since its launch. Srini also oversees Kotak Private Equity, Kotak Infrastructure Funds, Kotak Special Opportunities Fund. Overall, Srini manages about USD 2.7 billion in AUM across asset classes.

As one of the earliest fund managers to raise and invest capital in India, Srini has introduced significant financing, financial structuring and negotiating skills in the alternate assets industry.

Under Srini’s leadership, Kotak Realty Fund has scaled up to over USD 1.49 billion in AUM, making it one of the largest real estate funds in India, and has successfully established a strong track record of profitable exits from investments.

As one of the earliest fund managers to raise and invest capital in India’s alternate assets space, Srini has introduced significant financing, financial structuring and negotiating skills in the industry.

Srini joined the Kotak Mahindra Group in January 1993. He was a part of Kotak’s investment banking joint venture with Goldman Sachs from inception in 1995, and was also co-head of Kotak Investment Banking till 2005. At Kotak Investment Banking, Srini advised leading domestic and international companies on capital raising, M&A and strategic divestitures.

Srini is a member of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) committee for policy initiatives on Foreign Direct Investment and REITs and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) subcommittee on Capital Markets. He also serves as Chairman for the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), South Asia Valuation Professional Group Board. He is also a Board member of Asia Pacific Real Estate Association Limited (APREA) India Chapter and a member of the Governing Council of Global Real Estate Institute (GRI) – India Chapter.

Srini holds a Bachelor's degree in Commerce from Delhi University and an MBA from the Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Ghaziabad.

Vikas Chimakurthy CEO – Realty Funds

Vikas Chimakurthy joined the Kotak Investment Bank in 1999 and has over 21 years of work experience in the financial services industry.

Vikas moved to Kotak Realty Fund in 2007. He is a Chief Executive Officer at Kotak Realty Fund where he oversees fund raising and investments and divestments.

Prior to Kotak Realty Fund, Vikas was in the M&A team of Kotak Investment Banking. His last role in the investment bank was as the head of the real estate and energy sector verticals. He had set up the coverage of the realty sector for Kotak Investment Banking. He has led several M&A transactions across sectors such as energy, telecom, technology, media and chemicals. He was also appointed as part time advisor to the Board of IL&FS after Government of India took control to resolve the issues.

Vikas holds a Bachelor's degree in Technology from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, and an MBA from Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), Delhi University.

Chetan Shah Executive Director

Chetan joined Kotak Realty Fund in 2018 as Executive Director where he oversees investments across all realty segments with special focus on residential mid-income and affordable housing. He has more than two decades of work experience in real estate fund management, debt and private equity.

Prior to Kotak, Chetan worked with ASK Property Investment Advisors Pvt. Ltd., where he was a core team member of the real estate fund team. He was responsible for managing multiple real estate funds across functions including fund raising, deployment, monitoring and specific emphasis on exits. He was directly responsible for underwriting and monitoring over 20 investments across India from multiple residential real estate funds including an offshore fund under the ASK umbrella.

Chetan has earlier also worked with ICICI Bank Ltd. in their Corporate and Realty Finance, Hypo Real Estate International and IL&FS.

Chetan is a Commerce Graduate from Mumbai University and a Chartered Accountant.

Sonu Jalan Executive Director

Sonu Jalan joined the Kotak Mahindra Group in 2006 and has over 12 years of professional experience.

Sonu joined Kotak Realty Fund in 2011. Prior to that, he was a Vice President at Kotak Investment Banking, covering the Financial Sponsors Group and the Alternate Energy practice. At Kotak Investment Banking, Sonu has worked on a wide range of sectors including, among others, renewable energy, healthcare, financial services, and industrials and was involved in marquee transactions such as the USD 104 million growth equity raise by Apollo Hospitals from Apax Partners, USD 175 million equity raise by Mahindra & Mahindra from Goldman Sachs PIA, USD 175 million buyout of Sigma Electric by Goldman Sachs PIA and USD 50 million growth equity investment in Magma Fincorp by KKR.

Sonu is a Chartered Accountant and has cleared all three levels of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA Institute, USA) program.

Vithal Suryavanshi Executive Director

Vithal Suryavanshi joined Kotak Investment Advisors Ltd in 2023 and has over 30 years of work experience in the financial services industry.

Vithal will be a senior member of the Commercial Real Estate Vertical. Prior to joining Kotak, he has worked as Senior Vice President at K.Raheja Corp. where he was heading commercial leasing vertical across Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad and Bangalore. He has also worked as Senior Vice President and Regional Head for Western India at Brookfield Properties. In his previous role at Brookfield, Vithal built a strong commercial leasing portfolio where he was responsible for Leasing, Design, Development and Operations of assets in the western region.

Vithal holds Bachelor's degree from Commercial University and an Executive MBA from NMIMS and currently perusing an Accelerated Development Program Chicago Booth.

Rahul Deshpande Executive Director

Rahul Deshpande joined Kotak Realty Fund in September 2015 and is a real estate professional with over 20 years of rich experience in real estate investments, project management, construction management, asset management, techno-commercial operations and team management.

Prior to joining Kotak, Rahul worked with Landmark Capital Advisors Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai.

Prior to Landmark, Rahul has worked with Milestone Capital Advisors Ltd., Mumbai, as Vice President – Real Estate Investment Management; Prozone Enterprise Pvt. Ltd. (a subsidiary of Provogue India Ltd. & a Joint Venture with Liberty International, UK), Mumbai as General Manager – Projects; and Gherzi Eastern Ltd., Mumbai, as Project Manager/Coordinator.

Rahul holds a Bachelor of Engineering (BE) degree in Construction Engineering from Mumbai University. He has also completed his Diploma in Fabrication Technology & Erection Engineering from Mumbai as well as a Post Graduate Diploma in Advance Construction Management (PGDACM) from NICMAR, Pune.

Saurabh Gupta Vice President

Saurabh Gupta joined Kotak Realty Fund in March 2017 and has over 9 years experience in real estate investments, investment banking and research.

Prior to joining Kotak, Saurabh worked with Essel Finance, Knight Frank and Citi Group in various capacities.

Saurabh holds a Bachelor's of Technology (B.Tech) degree in Electronics & Communication from NIT Allahabad and a MBA degree from NMIMS, Mumbai. He has also cleared the second level of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA Institute, USA) programme as well as both the levels of Financial Risk Manager (GARP, USA) programme.

Dhananjay Borse Associate Vice President – Asset Management

Dhananjay Borse joined Kotak Realty Fund in 2018 and has over 14 years of work experience in all aspects of construction management, project management, due diligence, techno-commercial operations and team management.

Prior to joining Kotak, Dhananjay worked with Quantum Projectinfra Pvt. Ltd. Mumbai. He was heading Project Management Vertical in Quantum. Prior to Quantum, Dhananjay worked with Godrej Properties Ltd; Everest Developers & K Raheja Corp. in various capacities.

Dhananjay holds a Bachelor of Engineering (BE) degree in Civil Engineering from Mumbai University and Post Graduate Diploma in Advance Construction Management (PGDACM) from NICMAR, Pune. He has also earned his Executive Post Graduate Diploma in General Management from Symbiosis International University & Certification course in Infrastructure project finance management from ICFAI.

Suresh Kumar Vice-President

Suresh Kumar joined Kotak Realty Fund in 2018 and has over 6 years of work experience in the real estate financing industry.

Prior to joining Kotak, Suresh worked with ECL Finance (Edelweiss Group) in real estate funding team where he was responsible for managing key relationships and handling the investment process in the real estate sector. He has also worked ICICI Bank in Real Estate Credit Risk management team in Mumbai.

Suresh holds Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore and Bachelors of Science (Maths) degree from Bikaner University. He has also cleared all three level of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA Institute, USA) programme.

Kshitij Gupta Vice President

Kshitij joined Kotak Realty Fund in 2019 and has 9+ years of work experience in the real estate investments and financial services industry.

Prior to joining Kotak, Kshitij was part of real estate finance team at ECL Finance Ltd, where he was responsible for managing key relationships, business development and due diligence for real estate investments in Mumbai and Pune. Prior to ECL Finance Ltd, he was with Kotak Realty Fund and has also worked with Arthveda Fund Management and JP Morgan (in equity research division).

Kshitij holds B.Tech and M.Tech degrees from IIT Kharagpur and has cleared all three levels of CFA.

Vishal Parekh Associate

Vishal joined Kotak Realty Fund in 2018 and has over 6.5 years of work experience in the banking and real estate industry.

Prior to joining Kotak, Vishal worked with Yes Bank in the Corporate Finance – Urban Infrastructure Banking team, where he was responsible for managing key relationships, credit evaluation, financial analysis and project due diligence in the real estate sector. He has also worked with JLL, an international property consultant (IPC), as part of the Commercial Transactions team in Mumbai.

Vishal holds a Bachelors of Engineering in Electronics & Telecommunication from Mumbai University and has completed his M.M.S. – Finance from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies. He has also cleared all three levels of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA Institute, USA) programme.

Virat Nilangekar Associate

Virat Nilangekar joined Kotak Realty Fund in 2018 and has over 7 years of work experience in the banking and real estate industry.

Prior to joining Kotak, Virat was part of real estate investments team at Edelweiss Group. He has also worked at Pwc for 2 years as management consultant where he was mainly involved in projects from BFSI industry.

Virat holds post graduate diploma in management (PGDM) from IIM Lucknow. Prior to that he completed his graduation from IIT Bombay in the stream of ‘Metallurgical Engineering and Material Science’. He has also passed all three levels of chartered financial analyst (CFA) and Part 1 examination of Financial risk management (FRM).

Hardik Bajaria Associate Vice President

Hardik Bajaria joined Kotak Realty Fund in August 2018 and has over 8 years of experience in the real estate investments, investor relations and investment banking.

Prior to Kotak, Hardik worked with Indostar Capital Finance Ltd., where he was a core team member of the real estate team with investments over INR 25 billion. He was responsible for deal origination, deal structuring, due diligence and credit monitoring. Hardik has earlier also worked with Finsight Financial Advisors Pvt Ltd and Seagull Value Consultants LLP.

Hardik is a Post Graduate in Management from Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Research and holds a Bbachelor’s Degree in Information Technology.

Arpit Khandelwal Associate

Arpit joined Kotak Realty Fund in December 2016.

Prior to joining Kotak Realty, Arpit worked at EY for three year in their assurance division where he was involved in diverse engagements of multiple industries.

Arpit holds a Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com) in Advanced Financial Accounting from Narsee Monjee College, Mumbai. Arpit is a Chartered Accountant and a Company Secretary and is pursuing the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA Institute, USA) program

Srihari KS Associate

Srihari joined Kotak Realty Fund in July 2018.

Prior to joining Kotak Realty, Srihari worked with Goldman Sachs in their Investment Management Division where he was part of their Buy-side fundamental research team, investing in High Yield / Junk rated debt instruments issued by banks & other non-banking financial institutions. He has also interned with Deutsche Bank in their Transactions Banking division.

Srihari holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) from IIM Bangalore & Bachelor’s degree in Electrical & Electronics Engineering from Amrita University. He has obtained Certified FRM designation from US-based GARP & has cleared all three levels of Chartered Financial Analyst programme (CFA Institute, USA).

Sanjay Gupta Associate

Sanjay joined Kotak Realty Fund in 2019.

Prior to joining Kotak, Sanjay was part of the India underwriting team at Bank of America Merrill Lynch where he covered multiple sectors including telecom & technology, metals & mining, and pharmaceuticals among others.

Sanjay holds a post graduate diploma in management (PGDM) from IIM Lucknow. A graduate in management studies from Sydenham College of Commerce & Economics, Sanjay is also a CFA Charter holder (CFA Institute USA).

Vaibhav Lodha Vice President

Vaibhav Lodha joined Kotak Realty Fund in 2019 and has over 10 years of work experience in the real estate investments and financial services industry.

Prior to joining Kotak, Vaibhav was part of Corporate Finance – Urban Infrastructure Banking team at Yes bank, where he was responsible for managing key relationships, business development, credit evaluation and due diligence for investments in real estate & hospitality sector. He has also worked with Kotak Mahindra Investments Limited as part of their real estate investment – business development team and with PwC, in their assurance division.

Vaibhav holds a Post Graduate in Management from IIM Indore and is an all India rank holder Chartered Accountant.