But there are the ‘plusses’ and the ‘minuses’ of this ‘strength’ and ‘uniqueness’ and there is a story behind this Team. Way back in 2003, when the present Managing Director of AFII Corporate Advisors Limited, Dr. Mahesh Gandhi, along with his colleague Ms. Vinnie Puri was looking to identify his initial team in the reborn Arbeiten Für (India) Inc., they decided to train young women, fresh out of MBA Schools, who could Research and assist them in new Product Development.

In this team, some young ladies were raised from JIMs, New Delhi and Udaipur University who got into intense research on Structured Products and International Business. This team supported in arranging finance, structured incentive and delivery assistance for the first ever Legacy Business Aircraft bought by an Indian Entrepreneur. Here, AFII was successful in bringing cash advantage to the Entrepreneur of over 10% on the total transaction cost of USD 20 Mn. The team earned a minimal percentage fee of less than 0.50% as they were new in business and were looking to find first takers.

The Second batch was recruited again in 2005 by an advertisement and some references that were sent to colleges in New Delhi. Among the newcomers, they had a joinee from JIMs, Ms. Payal Jain, who now in the position of Vice President, Business Advisory, at a young age of 26 leads a team of young ladies raised from Management Schools from in and around Delhi, including the Banasthali Campus of Jaipur. The strategy and method has remained the same, over years, to bring in fresh talent, to train them, to develop them according to the unique vision and needs of AFII, where it’s always an endeavor to provide interesting solutions to Clients’ complex challenges of business. This team has developed a global network of relationships, now criss-crossing over 30 Countries.

Problems in coping, yes, acknowledges Ms. Jain, "as we continue to serve our Clients, many a times, we are taken for granted and our ‘freshness’ and simplicity misused; our unique solutions are accepted, and used unpaid… besides, Clients very often refuse to pay after getting all the knowledge and information they need to get the task concluded; in one case, the Client owes our team over USD 0.50 Mn for a successful relationship we brought to him; but refuses to pay… AFII is of course going to Court for recovery, but such things happen more because of our apparent vulnerability…" At the same time, there are other Clients who acknowledge the unique strength of this group and offer opportunities which her team is happy to realize.

The unique advantages of an all women team are, the low employee turnovers, more focused work, desire to present achievement to the masses, and last but not the least, the ability to bond together as a group of achievers and go getters. As fresh blood joins year after year, the team grows at the top in experience and at the lower end it gains advantage of renewed vigour. The work environment remains healthy; of course, there is a lot of work pressure which leads to professional tensions between peers internally; but interestingly, like some sisters, younger and elder, like some mothers and their daughters, like some conscience keepers, and like some keepers of their homes, these ladies, are intent of delivering new structures in finance, new international relationships for Indian Ventures, and new solutions to acknowledged problem areas in India.

The M&A Team is working on Projects that include Energy (Generation, T&D), Fuel (Upstream), Infrastructure and Automotive Business. The Trade Finance Team enjoys a long standing relationship with State Bank of India and has now concluded a MoU with State Bank of Patiala for Structured Products’ development and distribution. Their order book exceeds several billion dollars but with little financial support from prospective Clients. Probably what this Team needs is a pat on the back, with some honest clients who would pay up. There seems to be no looking back for this team and under the technical guidance of Dr. Mahesh Gandhi, it is well expected that their young ‘all women team’ would excel and make a lot of money for the ladies as also add significant value to the Clients.

AFII Corporate Advisors Limited on the occasion of International Womens’ Day, 2008, in a communiqué felicitated and thanked its women

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