Not many expected UTI to emerge from the crisis of credibility it faced nearly a decade ago. But it took one man and his small team to do the impossible
Being a civil servant, U.K. Sinha is a very particular man. For instance, he likes to have his tea black, but not entirely. He likes to add just two spoonfuls of milk to it. That makes the tea a bit richer and thicker without losing its essential bitter-sweet feel.
After getting the board on his side, Sinha started looking for a new HR head. Finding one wasn’t easy. The rigid organisational structure at UTI was hardly appealing to private sector candidates. Sinha cast his net wider. He eventually found a willing candidate in T.N. Radhakrishna, who came from the information technology outsourcing industry. He didn’t have much of an idea about how a mutual fund functioned. But Sinha wasn’t bothered. He wanted a good people’s person and was convinced Radhakrishna was one such.
Sinha asked Jaideep Bhattacharya, chief marketing officer, to come up with a renewed plan.
Bhattacharya pointed out that UTI followed a “horizontal selling architecture” that the same salesperson would handle all types of clients. There was no focus to selling and most salespeople tended to stick to the easy targets, independent financial advisors. The large potential of selling through foreign banks and private banks was thus missed. Bhattacharya suggested moving to a vertical structure, in which separate sales teams will focus on reaching out to specific groups. Sinha gave his nod to this plan and Bhattacharya got down to work.
(This story appears in the 19 February, 2010 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)