[ G C
Legends
L E G E N D
|
S A N J I V
S A W H N E Y ]
Internationally renowned
Sanjiv Sawhney has worked across almost every function of a securities services firm, taking him
from India to Luxembourg and now London as Citi’s global head of custody and fund services.
GC: How did you begin your journey in securities services and
what have been some of your career highlights?
Sanjiv Sawhney: I have been fortunate to be involved in a wide
range of activities and functions over the course of my 27-year
career in the securities services industry, spanning operations,
technology, country and regional management as well as global
business leadership positions.
I graduated in engineering and economics in 1992, at a time
when the mutual funds industry was growing internationally. I
joined Citi in India, straight after university, within a technology
division supporting the securities services business. At the time,
in addition to the US funds industry, European UCITS products
were also becoming large and globally distributed, and a number
of Asian domiciles were growing in importance.
I moved to Luxembourg in 1994 and worked in a variety of
Operations roles at Citi Luxembourg, prior to being promoted to
lead Citi’s European funds business. In 2007, I was hired by JP
Morgan to head their Luxembourg office, which at the time, was
the largest local custody & administration bank in the country.
I was also responsible for JP Morgan’s European funds opera-
tions.
I re-joined Citi in 2009 to run the global fund services busi-
ness and moved to London in 2013 to lead Citi’s EMEA securi-
ties and funds services division.
At the end of 2014, Citi built a new division combining the full
suite of investor solutions across prime, futures and securities
services and I was promoted to lead Citi’s custody and fund
services business globally.
GC: How has your international perspective influenced your
industry outlook?
SS: Even before I started working in global organisations, I was
fortunate enough to have a decent international exposure. My
father worked for a multinational company and I spent time in
Hong Kong during my childhood and travelled to many countries.
Working for a global organisation like Citi gave me the chance
56
Global Custodian
Winter 2018
to work with teams and clients in many countries. We have
clients and teams operating globally across time zones, and the
ability to adapt in this international environment is an extremely
important element of one’s working life.
Having benefitted from the international perspective has al-
lowed me to fit into and work effectively with diverse and global
teams.
GC: What have been some of the big changes you have seen in the
industry?
SS: If you look at the clients we serve, their business is signif-
icantly larger in size than in the past, and they are much more
complex in terms of fund structures and investment types. What
used to be a single-domiciled investment product has become
very international, with certain products sold in 60-70 countries,
so setting up the necessary infrastructures to help them manage
the challenges associated with their scale and evolving models
has been essential.
Regulation has become much more mature and defined, but
that comes with complexity as many jurisdictions have different
approaches and needs, which need to be incorporated into your
business model and approach.
On the operational front, our industry model has become more
dispersed and functional. Years ago, a single fund accountant
provided end-to-end processing for the fund he serviced. The
growing size of the industry has meant we have had to decen-
tralise and functionalise operations, leveraging the related scale
and time zone differentials into the service model for our global
clients.
The fundamental role of the custodian has also shifted over the
years. What started as a safe keeper of assets has now grown into
becoming a strategic partner, performing activities much closer
to the investment decision. Service differentiation is provided by
the rising importance of middle-office, transfer agency and data
management services, in addition to the core existing functions
of fund administration and custody services.