Sunniva Kolostyak: Welcome to Morningstar, where I’m today joined by Amrita Sanyal, who is a senior fund manager at HSBC. Thank you very much for joining today. I would love to start by talking about the funds that you manage.
Amrita Sanyal: Sure. So I’m the lead portfolio manager for all our global aggregate bond strategies, three in total, which includes our flagship Global Aggregate Bond Index fund, which has an AUM of more than $12 billion. I’m also the lead portfolio manager on our Sukuk bond index, which is part of our Islamic range of offering.
But I would like to add by saying that within the passive fixed income team here at HSBC Asset Management, we use a team-based approach. So for each product we have a lead portfolio manager and a backup portfolio manager. But all team members are involved in the investment and portfolio construction process equally.
Kolostyak: So on March 8, we are celebrating International Women’s Day. And I know that you’ve been quite vocal about navigating motherhood with the career that you have. So I wonder if you can tell us a bit about the challenges that you’ve had to face.
Sanyal: So I would say the biggest challenge has been lack of female role models, which meant that I had a lot of self-doubt and there were not many female leaders that I could reach out to and seek mentorship from.
But of course, managing a young family, a full time job, and doing my CFA alongside a one-year-old at home is probably the biggest challenge I’ve had to overcome. There was a lot of mum guilt, balancing a lot of things outside of work. There were times I felt I couldn’t do it all. There were times when I was calling my mother and having her fly from India, you know, with a few hours notice. I leaned a lot on my mother and my mother in law because I didn’t have family around. And they would fly in because there was no flexible working back in the day. And you have a small child who’s not well, and that can be pretty overwhelming at times. But, HSBC Asset Management was very supportive and I had some wonderful line managers who made the journey easier for me.
Kolostyak: You’re recognized as a as a leader in your field. So I wonder, can you tell us about the day to day of your job, and what is it that you enjoy the most about it?
Sanyal: I love analyzing numbers and markets, and I never get tired of looking at spreadsheets. So managing money and doing it day after day is the most enjoyable aspect of my job. I mean, it is a job that needs constant learning. It means you’re constantly adapting to a changing market environment. In the 20+ years of me being a portfolio manager I have navigated the 2008 financial crisis, low interest rate environment, Brexit, Covid, Russia-Ukraine crisis, and higher interest rates and sticky inflation. The list goes on and you need to adapt quickly to the changing market dynamic.
But I also on top of that, I really enjoy mentoring younger colleagues who are new to the industry. And I, you know, really try to do my best to help them navigate the asset management landscape.
Kolostyak: Amrita, thank you very much for joining today. For Morningstar, I’m Sunniva Kolostyak.
The author or authors do not own shares in any securities mentioned in this article. Find out about Morningstar's editorial policies.