Former Credit Suisse exec Ashish Gupta to join Axis MF as CIO

Gupta, who was head of equity research for India at Credit Suisse, left the Zurich-based bank last November after a 14-year stint

Axis Mutual Fund has appointed former Credit Suisse executive Ashish Gupta as its Chief Investment Officer (CIO), sources told Business Standard. At present, Axis MF does not have a CIO. The investment team is led by Jinesh Gopani (Head-Equity) and R Sivakumar (Head-Fixed Income).

Previously, Gupta was the head of equity research for India at Credit Suisse. He left the Zurich-based bank in November 2022 after a 14-year stint.

A query sent to Axis MF remained unanswered till the time of going to press.

Gupta is known for his ‘House of Debt’ report that first uncovered the extent of non-performing assets (NPAs) in the Indian banking industry.  The research helped push policy makers to review banks’ loan books and revise the nation’s official bad-loan ratio from about 3 per cent to 9.3 per cent, one of the highest in the world.

Last week, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) had released its interim order against Axis MF's former chief dealer Viresh Joshi over front running allegations. The order barred Joshi and 19 others from accessing the capital markets. The regulator ordered the impounding of Rs 30.6 crore — total wrongful gains earned from front-running activities.

The star analyst’s switch from ‘sell’ side to ‘buy’ side will boost the image of the fund house mired by this controversy, said experts.