Former Julius Baer India CEO Ashish Gumashta Builds New Wealth Firm with Star Fund Manager Roshi Jain

Julius Baer is witnessing several senior-level exits, with some executives joining a new wealth management and business advisory firm set up by former India CEO Ashish Gumashta and fund manager Roshi Jain.

Gumashta, who stepped down from Julius Baer in August 2023, has co-founded Veriqus Partners, which is expected to offer wealth management and business advisory services. Jain, known for her strong track record and for taking over schemes previously managed by Prashant Jain at HDFC Mutual Fund, is understood to be leading the investment function. She exited HDFC Mutual Fund in December 2025 after four years of superlative performance.

Veriqus Partners is in advanced discussions with a leading private equity firm, an Indian business family, and a senior corporate executive for capital infusion, according to people familiar with the matter.

“The cap table has not been finalised yet,” one person said.

Other founding partners include Debashish Purohit, former co-head of investment banking at Bank of America, and Kaushik Sanghvi, a long-time Merrill Lynch executive who retired from Julius Baer at 67.

Purohit is expected to head the business advisory vertical, which will focus on broader strategic and business needs of Indian promoters and companies, going beyond traditional investment banking services. Sources said a few more executives from Julius Baer are likely to join the firm.

Gumashta's track record

Gumashta is a veteran in India’s wealth management industry. He joined Julius Baer in 2015 after a long stint at DSP Merrill Lynch and became CEO of Julius Baer Wealth Advisors (India) in 2017.

During his tenure, he helped scale the India franchise and deepen its ultra-high-net-worth client base. After serving as CEO until 2022, he transitioned to Executive Chairman before exiting in August 2023.

Post his exit, Gumashta briefly joined Motilal Oswal Financial Services as Managing Director of Strategic Initiatives, before setting up Gumashta Partners, an independent advisory platform focused on wealth and family office services.

Roshi Jain’s track record

Roshi Jain has a remarkable track record of returns. She was brought into HDFC Mutual Fund to primarily manage schemes managed by Prashant Jain in a planned succession when he decided to leave the firm to start his investment company. When she quit, she was managing more than Rs 1.3 lakh crore in assets under management. During her tenure, the schemes under her management were HDFC Flexi-cap Fund, HDFC Focussed Fund and HDFC ELSS, beat their respective benchmark across all time periods with significant alpha.

‘Leadership churn at Julius Baer’

Besides the departures to Veriqus, Julius Baer has seen several exits in recent months. Among senior executives who have left the firm (some are still serving their notice period) are Unmesh Kulkarni, Sarika Shah, Gayatri Puranik, and Kashyap Barot, among others. There have also been unconfirmed reports around the potential exit of CEO Umang Papneja.

Responding to Moneycontrol queries on the exits, a Julius Baer spokesperson said, “Julius Baer does not comment on employee movements. India remains a key focus market for us, and as the country’s largest foreign wealth manager, we remain firmly committed on the ground. We have a strong talent pool with deep local knowledge, and we continue to work closely with our clients across our 13 locations as we grow our presence in the market.”

A source who quit the firm to join another foreign wealth management company a few months ago said, “Executives have left for various different firms, but the reasons are more internal.”

Strategic differences and cost pressures

People familiar with the developments attributed the exits partly to a wavering management approach and focus.

Under Gumashta's leadership, the firm followed a strong relationship-led but frugal operating model. However, the headquarters sought a more aggressive growth strategy.

“Foreign companies' cost structures do not match Indian revenue realities — it just doesn’t work,” said one senior industry executive.

Under Papneja, the firm is said to have increased spending significantly, without commensurate growth in AUM. Margin pressures thus limited flexibility on compensation. “There was not enough room to reward relationship managers through bonuses and hikes,” said a former employee who recently moved to another global wealth firm. “Even those who would have ideally retired with Julius Baer decided to leave,” said a former executive.

Julius Baer’s Global and India Operations

Julius Baer currently manages roughly ₹1.5 lakh crore in assets under advisory in India. Globally, Julius Baer manages over $600 billion in assets under management (AUM) with a presence in 25 countries.