Falconstar Investments
Apr 5, 2021·4 min read

Maulik N. Parekh: In the Pursuit of Excellence

Background, Education and Beginnings

One of India’s Global Investing experts, Maulik Parekh has come a long way from his modest beginnings at St. Xavier’s Loyola Hall in Gujarat. Since early days his life had been marked by educational accomplishments and an aspiration for achievement. The culture of commerce in Gujarat helped mould his value system through the different stories he was told, and the role models he looked up to. Much like the film 3 Idiots, Maulik opted for the Science stream, and he was destined to eventually join the same Engineering college his father had gone to, some thirty years ago.

Maulik Parekh during his early days

Upon completion of his BE in Mechanical Engineering, a desire to hone his skills and knowledge in the field of Engineering Management took him to Michigan, United States. There he pursued MS (IE) at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Having thus furthered his higher studies, he could well have stopped there. But he couldn’t get over the feeling that his education was incomplete. In an effort to attain a holistic business education, Maulik went on to pursue a 2 year full-time MBA programme at Cornell University. Much later in his life, he also completed the CAIA (Alternative Investments) charter to familiarize himself with the Alternatives domain.

The confluence of eastern and western systems of education equipped Maulik with much-needed attributes for his career. While the Indian system infused hard work, focus and discipline, the western system built on these foundations by grooming him with a holistic, self-governed, pragmatic and application-based education.

After his MS (IE), Maulik worked for 3 years at United Technologies (UTC) and gained cross-functional experience of a Global fortune 500 company. His experience at UTC helped him connect the dots of Operations Management and Product Development in a Manufacturing Technology intensive sector. He was able to deliver on Lean Manufacturing principles in a practical shop floor environment.

But post MBA, he discovered his leanings and interest in the Financial markets. To quench his intellectual curiosity in the fields of investment and business management, Maulik made the switch to the Banking and Financial Services Industry (BFSI) sector. He worked in MNC Bank Treasuries for 10 years in Balance Sheet Management, ALM and Investment functions. Working in the Treasury of a Global Fortune 500 Bank helped him in gaining broad-based, multi-asset, global markets and macro-economic perspective along with a bird’s eye view of the multi-business bank’s balance sheet and risks. Developing functional expertise as Head of ALM bestowed upon him the opportunity to contribute towards the Bank’s Governance and Credit Committee.

For around 12 years, he worked in Fortune 500 companies like Barclays, Citi and UTC in the investment and treasury domain, managing a balance sheet worth $5 Billion and an investment portfolio of $1 Billion. He made a lot of money for his stakeholders in the Lehman crisis in the low interest rate environment of 2008–2012.

All in all, through a combination of education, experience and exposure, his thinking was enriched and turned more holistic and analytical, with this unique combination of Anglo Saxon education and Indian entrepreneurial mindset.

The Genesis of Falconstar Investments

Having worked in conventional foreign bank treasuries for a decade, the Basel regulations were preventing dynamic action in the investments domain in bank treasuries. Although he was given an opportunity to shift to Group Treasury in London, Maulik knew that it would lead to specialisation and would not add much to his already substantial basket of skills. Having already spent half a decade in NYC, it was now time to focus on the path of investments in the Dubai-India axis.

Sensing tremendous market opportunity in public side equity investing and high-yield private credit, Maulik Parekh launched Falconstar Investments with a multi-strategy approach towards developing an Investment platform. Falconstar will serve as a gateway to global investing for HNIs in India and act as a bridge to access Indian Financial Markets for NRIs outside India. It will provide an eco-system for the discerning HNI and NRI investor for their entire spectrum of Investment requirements while offering indigenous Investment Management products.

Corporate Identity of Falconstar Investments