Role of Chandha Kochhar
How has Chanda Kochhar played the biggest role in not only leading ICICI to beat competitors like HDFC, but also turning around the Indian banking industry. In short, how has Chanda Kochhar led the ICICI bank to such a high growth path?
Ameya Shastri Pothukuchi
Chanda Kochhar is the first woman to head ICICI, India’s 2nd largest Bank and largest private bank. She oversees assets of $93 billion, more than 2,750 branches in India and the bank 's presence in 19 countries. Kocchar joined ICICI in 1984 straight out of B-school and is credited with building the bank 's retail arm from scratch. In 2009, she became ICICI’s youngest CEO at age 47. Mrs Kochhar is credited with pursuing a new strategy, prioritizing day-to-day banking business through its branches rather than big-ticket deals. ICICI reported a neat 31% year-over-year increase in profits in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012.
Kamath, Kochhar 's predecessor, was one of the first banking executives in India to understand the changing face of the Indian consumer, and in 2000 he tapped protégé Kochhar to head retail banking operations. But things were not always so smooth. In May 2009, when Chanda Kochhar ascended as CEO of ICICI Bank, the world economic crisis was in full swing.
2008: Just to be sure, ICICI didn 't escape the 2008 financial crisis. The bank had been paying higher interest rates than its state-owned competitors by relying on retail and corporate term deposits, a strategy that curbed profits but worked fine as long as corporate term deposits held steady. As the global crisis hit India, big customers started withdrawing term deposits en masse to meet operating expenses. Rates on those wholesale, or "bulk," funds jumped to 13%.
Because of its high cost of funds, ICICI became the biggest player in the highest-rate, and as it turned out, most dangerous part of the market: unsecured lending for credit cards and personal loans for everything from vacations to the kids ' tuition. In 2008, just as
Ameya Shastri Pothukuchi
Chanda Kochhar is the first woman to head ICICI, India’s 2nd largest Bank and largest private bank. She oversees assets of $93 billion, more than 2,750 branches in India and the bank 's presence in 19 countries. Kocchar joined ICICI in 1984 straight out of B-school and is credited with building the bank 's retail arm from scratch. In 2009, she became ICICI’s youngest CEO at age 47. Mrs Kochhar is credited with pursuing a new strategy, prioritizing day-to-day banking business through its branches rather than big-ticket deals. ICICI reported a neat 31% year-over-year increase in profits in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012.
Kamath, Kochhar 's predecessor, was one of the first banking executives in India to understand the changing face of the Indian consumer, and in 2000 he tapped protégé Kochhar to head retail banking operations. But things were not always so smooth. In May 2009, when Chanda Kochhar ascended as CEO of ICICI Bank, the world economic crisis was in full swing.
2008: Just to be sure, ICICI didn 't escape the 2008 financial crisis. The bank had been paying higher interest rates than its state-owned competitors by relying on retail and corporate term deposits, a strategy that curbed profits but worked fine as long as corporate term deposits held steady. As the global crisis hit India, big customers started withdrawing term deposits en masse to meet operating expenses. Rates on those wholesale, or "bulk," funds jumped to 13%.
Because of its high cost of funds, ICICI became the biggest player in the highest-rate, and as it turned out, most dangerous part of the market: unsecured lending for credit cards and personal loans for everything from vacations to the kids ' tuition. In 2008, just as
References: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/forbes-india-chanda-kochhars-success-story/98938-7.html http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2011/10/04/chanda-kochhar-icici-bank/ https://www.bcgperspectives.com/content/videos/leadership_turnaround_chanda_kochhar_shifting_gears_icici_bank/