HDFC AMC’s outgoing MD Milind Barve on leadership and how Deepak Parekh inspired him

Milind Barve, MD, HDFC AMC

Milind Barve, 63, will retire from HDFC AMC on February 15, 2021. Barve has spent 20 years as the founding managing director at one of India’s the largest mutual fund houses. In a chat with Jash Kriplani and Kayezad Adajania, Milind Barve traces his journey with HDFC AMC and HDFC Ltd.

Playing the boss

Many people talk arrogantly and are seen as effective bosses. That is not my definition of an effective boss. You have to be aggressive in your thought process, you have to be aggressive in your strategies and how you drive people to achieve them.

I believe in empowering my team and making them feel responsible. I often tell my zonal heads that they know their regions better than I do. It gives them a sense of belonging and ownership.

On why few fund managers left HDFC AMC over 20 years

Salaries are just one part. But we must make employees feel important. I believe in having an emotional connect with them. Today, I know most of my senior colleagues, their families, I know which colleges their children attend, here or abroad, or what are they doing.

What Deepak Parekh taught me…

He emphasized the importance of customer service, being accessible to and compassionate with my team-members. My goal has always been to make HDFC AMC culturally as close as possible to what I experienced at HDFC Ltd, where I worked for 16 years.

The growing years at HDFC

HDFC Ltd was not a big brand in its early days. But it was the first in the world of business and finance to lend money to retail borrowers for buying houses. We had to go from bank to bank for getting the finance for onward lending. It was tough to convince banks about our company and business. Mr Parekh was easily accessible to everyone in the company; even the junior-most. At age 26, when I applied for a job at HDFC, Mr Parekh had interviewed me.

On the early days in Poona (Pune)

There was great work-life balance in my early work years in Poona. I could even go home for lunch. After work, I used to play badminton. But as those were early days of HDFC Ltd, we had to create our own systems from scratch. Mr Parekh and team used to often call me to Mumbai for work, and I eventually shifted there.

On life after retirement

I would like to do something in an advisory role or do philanthropy.