Shikha Sharma – an Indian Economist and Brilliant Banker

About Shikha Sharma – an Indian economist and brilliant banker

You are reading a success story of Shikha Sharma – an Indian economist and brilliant banker who has carved a niche in his own way.

Shikha Sharma is an Indian economist and brilliant banker, She was born on 19 November 1958.  She was the managing director and CEO of the Indian’s third largest private sector bank, Axis Bank from 2009 to 2018. Shikha’s father was a brigadier in the ordnance corps of the Indian Army.

Shikha completed her schooling from Loreto Convent in Delhi. Sharma & family traveled all over the country. Due to which she has attended seven schools in as many cities of India. She obtained her degree of MBA (Masters of Business Administration) from the Indian Institutes of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM Ahmedabad).

Shikha received her degree of Bachelor of Arts – BA (Honours) in Economics from the Lady Shri Ram College for Women (LSR) in Delhi. She went to the National Centre for Software Technology in Mumbai to do a post-graduate diploma in Software Technology.

Shikha Sharma is married to her batch-mate at IIM Ahmedabad, Sanjaya Sharma, Her husband is the former CEO of Tata Interactive Systems. The couple has two children, Tvisha and Tilak. Shikha has two younger brothers who right now are cardiologists.

In 1980, Sharma joined India’s largest financial service provider, ICICI (Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India). She got the mentorship of K.V. Kamath and Mark Tucker. K.V. Kamath is the current chairman of ICICI bank and Mark Tucker is the CEO of AIA Group Ltd. Shikha has faced many challenges and hurdles in ICICI.

Shikha has taken ICICI Group to another level of success. In 2009, Shikha Sharma joined Axis Bank replacing PJ Nayak, and focused on enlarging its investment banking, strengthening its retail lending franchise, developing a comprehensive portfolio of banking products, and advisory capabilities.

Sharma had performed various roles in ICICI which included running consumer lending, setting up its investment banking wing, Life insurance department and personal services divisions. As CEO and  Managing Director of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company, Shikha contributed and built remarkably to make it the number 1 private sector Life Insurance Company in India.

Sharma took over the position of the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer – CEO of Axis Bank. Shikha has a work experience of more than three decades in banking and finance. She also acts as the Chairperson of Axis Bank UK limited, Axis Asset Management Company Limited, Axis Private Equity Limited, and Axis Capital Limited. 

Axis bank continues to grow bigger under her leadership. Today, the bank has achieved more than 36% of retail assets. Axis bank has assets of Rs 6.79 lakh crore. Axis Bank has more than 15,000 ATMs and over 3,500 branches making it the largest ATM network pan India and opened a representative office in Dhaka.

Axis Bank has won many awards notably, ‘Bank of the Year in India’ for the year 2014 under Sharma’s leadership by The Banker Magazine, Financial Times. Shikha Sharma retired on 31 December 2018 from Axis Bank.

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