Business is like a game of cricket for this global banker

The India office of the German lender Deutsche Bank has a new boss, Ravneet Gill has come a long way from handling cash of petty travel companies and other firms, as a relationship manager with the bank’s wealth management team, to signing big-ticket cheques for large corporates as the head of India operations at the bank. He plays only to win.

Having played competitive cricket, Gill is adopting lessons learnt from his favourite sport, in his style of conducting business. It is going to be a challenge for him to build a new business model in the new macro-economic scenario.
From a profitability perspective, his endeavour is to double profits in next three years.

The slowdown in corporate activity and weak equity markets would pose a challenge for the bank to grow profitability and its balance sheet.

He plans to grow the transaction and markets business and also invest in the retail banking business. Attaining scale in the retail banking business will be a challenge with the limited network. Recently, the bank sold its credit card business to IndusInd Bank.

“If you are a good manager, I don’t think you will be slave to a particular style. You have to have the ability to adapt to the changed market environment,’’ said Gill. Unlike his flamboyant predecessor, he is soft spoken and calm. And unlike most foreign bankers he is down to earth. He gets worked up but never yells at his colleagues. He does not tolerate lack of punctuality. He prefers to resolve issues internally.

Romesh Sobti, MD & CEO of IndusInd Bank and a family friend, met Gill for the first time in Delhi on a cricket ground in the 90s.

Sobti was an opening batsmen for ANZ Grindlay’s cricket team and Gill a fast bowler for DB. “I will never forget him, he got me on one of the fast deliveries which also gave me an injury,’’ said Sobti. “He is very professional, respectful, traditional, soft spoken and not socially aggressive,’’ he said.

The 50-year-old banker is a fan of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the captain of the Indian cricket team. Gill is also a great fan of the Indian Premier League and regrets he can’t own a team. He believes in supporting the young boys and the team through thick and thin.

That reflects a personality willing to encourage young talent and stand for his team. He is also willing to give individuals the leeway to make mistakes as they execute strategies and deals.

Gill makes a conscious effort to maintain a work-life balance. He likes to take short sporty breaks and enjoys visiting wild life parks. He is looking forward to going back to Masai Mara in Kenya.

His love for Chinese food seems to be waning and he is gravitating towards Indian and South East Asian food. He relishes food at Bukhara in Delhi, Dakshin in Chennai and India Jones in Mumbai. In his leisure time, he likes to read and his favourite writer is Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Watching a lot of sport and collecting art works is Gill’s passion. Spending time with his two boys keeps refreshing his world view. Gill joined the bank in the private wealth management business in 1991 and shifted to corporate banking a couple of years later.

In 1995, when India announced the largest telecom privatisation in the world he was heading the Telecom Group from 1995-2000.

Then he structured the first cash-flowbased project finance deal for Bharti for `50 crore. Until then, project finance was largely asset based.

Gill became the head of corporate banking coverage in 2003 and held that position till 2008, before becoming the chief executive of the bank in India.