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Mumbai: Nitin Rao, the chief executive officer of Reliance Wealth Management has quit abruptly, a little over a year after joining the firm from HDFC Bank.
The wealth management industry veteran is said to have resigned amid talk of the debt-ridden Reliance Group’s plan to bring the business back into Reliance Securities.
Separately, Amrita Farmahan, who joined KKR-backed Avendus’s wealth management arm at a senior position from Reliance last year, has left the firm.
An email query to Reliance Capital did not elicit a response.
In response to an email query, Avendus Wealth’s managing director George Mitra confirmed Farmahan’s exit from the firm.
Rao and Farmahan could not be reached for comments.
Rao did not respond to a text message seeking response.
Rao was roped in from HDFC Bank in early 2018 to boost the Anil Ambani-controlled group’s wealth management business.
The appointment was considered high profile as Rao was one of the top executives in HDFC Bank’s wealth management business--among the biggest in the country.
He spent 18 years at the bank.
With Rao joining the firm, the group carved the wealth management arm out of Reliance Securities to give it a fresh impetus, which was part of Anil Ambani’s son, Anmol’s plan to grow Reliance Capital.
The move had also triggered senior level exits at Reliance.
After Rao’s appointment, Farmahan along with a team of about 20 senior executives from Reliance’s wealth management arm quit to join Avendus Wealth in mid-2019.
Farmahan, who was a senior executive director at Avendus Wealth, headed the wealth management business of Reliance Group.
