Ajit Dayal

Ajit has four decades of experience in the investment management and financial services industry. In 1990 Ajit had the vision to create Quantum Advisors as an  India-focused investment firm – before the July 1991 Big Bang Reforms propelled the Indian economy on a path to long-term economic growth and wealth creation.


Ajit has worked with leading US and UK investment management firms either as a key member of the executive management team or, through Quantum Advisors, as a joint venture partner. He has also served as a Deputy Chief Investment Officer at Hansberger Global Investors USA, and, on behalf of HGI, was the lead manager for the Vanguard International Value Fund from 1999 until 2004.


Ajit is a pioneer and flag-bearer of using governance factors as an inherent criteria for building long-term investment portfolios. Quantum Advisors introduced an Integrity Screen in 1996 to minimise the risk of investing in companies where the interests of the founders and the management team are not aligned with the interests of minority investors. 


In addition to his focus on managing the investment portfolio of well-respected global institutions, Ajit has spent much of his career trying to help individual investors make long term sensible investment decisions. He has authored hundreds of columns and articles on investing and had published a comic book on the benefits of investing in 1988.The popular stock market and wealth advisory portal Equitymaster.com (launched in April 1996) were part of the “original” Quantum. In 2006 Quantum Asset Management Company – a 100% subsidiary of Quantum Advisors – launched India’s first direct-to-investor family of products under the Quantum Mutual Funds banner.


Prior to founding the Investment Advisor in 1990,  he was the CEO of UTI Investment Advisory Services Limited, the Delaware-based investment advisor of The India Growth Fund, a closed-ended fund listed on the NYSE. Ajit was a “jobber” on the floor of the Bombay Stock Exchange, the oldest stock exchange in Asia, and was a Director of the Ashok Birla Group of companies, focusing on establishing new businesses through joint-ventures with multinational companies such as S. G. Warburg of UK, Yamaha Motor Company of Japan, and 3M of USA.

Ajit is also the founder of efforts to promote and enhance charity giving in India. HelpYourNGO has a financial database of over 650 Not-For-Profit organisations and helps NGOs improve their efficiency and efficacy. The National Streets for the Performing Arts (www.NSPA.in) started supporting busking in Mumbai in October 2012 with the simple but revolutionary idea of paying musicians a salary – with no box or hat for donations from the audience – and was a part of the metropolitan’s cultural scene until the onset of Covid.

Ajit earned his Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1983 after completing his Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Bombay University in 1981 and serves on the Board of Advisors of Kenan Flagler Business School and is part of the Global Leadership Council of UNC.

Ajit Dayal

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Ajit Dayal

Will Farrell

Federated Hermes
Assistant Manager, EOS
London

Will co-leads the climate change theme at EOS, the stewardship arm of Federated Hermes Limited, where his coverage includes companies in Europe and Australia, primarily financial services, energy, chemicals, and materials. Prior to joining EOS, Will worked in the energy and infrastructure investment banking team at Macquarie Capital, where he specialised in renewable energy. Before that, Will held a number of roles across the UK climate policy space, including as a parliamentary researcher for Rt. Hon. Chris Skidmore MP on climate and energy issues, and as a climate and economic policy analyst at a diplomatic institute. He was appointed as a voluntary adviser to Rt. Hon. Alok Sharma MP, President of COP26, on preparations for COP26 after co-founding a Westminster climate policy group in 2019, which engaged MPs and Members of the House of Lords to advocate for more ambition on climate action in public policy. Will has a Bachelor’s degree (1st Class Honours) in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science.