The Klay Edge

Kalpesh Khakhria is the Group Chairman of Klay Group based in Dubai. He chairs the Klay Board and oversees Klay’s global strategy and development.

Kalpesh is a seasoned banker with over 25 years of experience. He joined Klay in 2013 with a vision to create a boutique financial services firm to meet private clients’ increasingly complex wealth and business needs.

Prior to Klay, Kalpesh spent over 13 years at leading financial services firms across India and the UAE, including Citibank, HSBC and Reliance Capital Asset Management. In addition to chairing the Board, Kalpesh sits on the compliance and investment committees. 

Kalpesh graduated with a Master in Business in Marketing from Pune University.

Anirudh Sisodia is responsible for driving strategic initiatives and overseeing governance risk and compliance for the Klay Group, as well as for running the Dubai office.

Anirudh joined Klay in 2013. He previously had over 17 years of experience at leading financial institutions including HDFC, Citibank, HSBC Middle East and Reliance Capital Asset Management.

He brings a breadth of experience to his role spanning consumer and corporate lending, banking, investment services and asset management.

Anirudh has a Bachelor’s degree in Physics from St. Stephen’s College, [Delhi] and a postgraduate qualification in Business Management with a specialisation in Finance from Mumbai University.

Amit Asnani is the Group Chief Operating Officer for Klay Group leading the global strategy, operations, and process transformation. 

Amit joined Klay in 2013 as the Head of Client Advisory, overseeing sales and investment operations. With more than two decades of experience in the financial services sector with companies like HSBC, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB), and Reliance Capital Asset Management, he has a proven track record in designing and developing strategies that bring innovation, growth, and transformation. 

His energetic and charismatic personality inspires many and results in high performance teams delivering the highest customer satisfaction while his plethora of knowledge helps in successful operational transformation and overall organizational success. 

Born and raised in Dubai, Amit has completed his Masters of Business Administration from S P Jain School of Global Management, Dubai.

Cheryl Lee is the Group Chief Marketing Officer for Klay Group, based in Singapore. 

Cheryl has nearly 30 years of strategic brand management experience working with global financial services providers, government-linked institutions, lifestyle luxury brands and a tech start-up.

A serial entrepreneur who is passionate about building ecosystems to drive change, her past pursuits include being CEO and Co-Founder of Spectrum (a successful home-grown strategic technology and innovation-based community) and Co-Founder and Director of 1-Group, a multi-award-winning food and beverage, lifestyle and hospitality business, to name a few.

She is a Board member of the CEO Philanthropy Advisory Council for KK Women's & Children's Hospital, is a life member of the Chinese Women’s Association (CWA), Goh Loo Club and CRIB (a social enterprise start-up dedicated to empowering women in Singapore). She is listed in Tatler as one of Asia’s 300 Most Influential.

Cheryl graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Maritime from Cardiff University, Wales.

Roberto Viano is the Group Head of Legal and Compliance for Klay Group, based in Dubai. 

Roberto has over 30 years of management experience working with global financial services institutions in the UK, Middle East and Asia. Over the years he provided strategic solutions on Compliance and ESG matters to Private Equity, Corporate & Investment Banks, Private Banks and Islamic Finance desks, during which he was a member of their ExCo and OpCo.

Roberto graduated with a Law degree from University of Torino (Italy) and he is member of the Italian Law Society of the Law Society of England and Wales. He also held an LL.M. from London School of Economics (UK) and an MBA from London Business School (UK) and University of Chicago (USA).

Ali is the Co-CIO at Klay Capital, offering a highly customized service to suit the risk profile of each family, and build a globally diversified portfolio across asset classes with a focus on wealth preservation and providing superior risk-adjusted returns to families. Over a 20 year period in financial markets, Ali has worked in various roles - Equity investment and research with Morgan Stanley and Enam Securities and Fixed Income Prop Trading and Fund Management with Mashreq Capital DIFC.

Prior to joining Klay Capital, Ali was the Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of Massar Investments, a Family Office for one of the wealthiest Emirati family in UAE. Over a 7 year period, he built the investment team and process, structured an institutional style Family Office with a globally diversified portfolio in Private Equity, Public Markets, Alternatives and Real Estate.

Ali has a Master of Science in Applied Economics with an emphasis on Financial Economics from Marquette University, Milwaukee WI, USA.

Uday Vikram is a Co-CIO and is based in Singapore. He joined the Klay Group in 2013. Prior to Klay, Uday worked at Reliance Capital Asset Management, DIFC.

He is a part of the global investment committee and oversees investment strategy for the group. Uday is a CFA charterholder and holds master's degree in Advanced Finance from IE University, Spain

Vaibhav Loomba is the Group Head of FX and Rates business at Klay Group, based out of Dubai.

He has over 18 years of experience in trading various fixed-income assets and rates at a global level covering financial institutions and corporates. He has previously worked for large tier 1 banks, such as Citibank, JP Morgan and Credit Agricole, where he was responsible for market making in the local market currencies for various products such as Interest Rate Derivatives and FX swaps, as well as fulfilling balance sheet hedging and Asset Liability Management for Internal and External institutional clients.

At Klay, Vaibhav spearheads the FX and interest rates markets strategy to help clients gain an edge in optimizing their investments. 

Vaibhav has a Bachelor's degree in Engineering from Punjab Engineering College in India , as well as a Master's degree in Finance from Cass Business School, London.

Shivkumar (Shiv) Rohira is the CEO of EMEA responsible for overseeing Klay’s operations in the Middle East, UK & Europe.

Shiv has been part of Klay since it’s early days in 2013 and has grown to oversee the group’s interests in the Middle East Region. 

Prior to Klay, Shiv has undertaken assignments in the Central Team in HSBC India & the NRI business in HSBC UAE and has a cumulative industry experience of over 15 years in the banking and advisory business. 

Over the years at Klay, he has served as an Executive Director responsible for building Klay Group’s service offering and leading teams of client advisors and associated support functions. He has a proven track record in building Klay Group’s service offering, working with a diverse range of clients (UNHWs & FOs) across international markets and leading teams.

In his current role, Shiv carries the responsibility of fulfilling Klay’s growth ambitions in the region and expanding the coverage to newer markets in EMEA.

Shiv has an engineering degree in Information Technology and a Master of Business Administration with a major in finance from XLRI Jamshedpur.

Ian D’Souza leads Klay Wealth, Klay’s India-based wealth management, financing, broking, and corporate advisory business.

He joined Klay in 2017 and has been instrumental in building the Klay Wealth platform in India, ensuring that Klay is uniquely able to support inbound investment into India and global asset allocations from India, working with international, non-resident, and resident Indian clients and corporates. 

Leveraging the Klay Wealth platform, Ian is responsible for driving talent growth and recruitment of advisors and extending Klay’s reach into more top-tier cities.

Prior to joining Klay, Ian worked with Deutsche Bank as a Vice President in Institutional Sales in their Capital Markets business. During this stint Ian had worked in some of the largest IPOs and Qualified Institutional Placements (QIPs) in the country. He started his career in the Indian Merchant Navy.

Ian has a postgraduate diploma in Business Management from XLRI Jamshedpur.

Arjun Anand is Chief Executive Officer APAC for Klay, currently leading the expansion of the business to serve Ultra High Net-Worth families, SFOs & Institutional clients in Asia. He is also spearheading strategic initiatives for Klay Group and  assisting to set up new business verticals.

Arjun has been with Klay since 2013 and prior to moving to Singapore he spent 8 years in Dubai building client advisory teams & the UHNI business. He thrives in an environment of integrating wealth, succession planning and corporate advisory solutions for entrepreneurs with complex needs. 

Having spent over 17 years focused on private client advisory, he started his career at HSBC where his last role was Vice President, Wealth Management at HSBC Middle East.

He holds a Master’s in Business Management and a bachelor’s degree in Commerce from St Xavier’s Kolkata, India. 

Vipul Thakkar is the Head of Klay’s global asset management business.

Vipul has over two decades of experience in the asset management industry, where he has helped companies build investment product platforms, distribution channels, and global footprints from the ground up.

Vipul joined Klay in July 2014 as Head of Investments to develop the investment solutions offering for wealth management clients. He managed a team of investment professionals across the UAE, Singapore, and India. In 2021 he was appointed to oversee Klay’s foray into asset management capitalising on his understanding of the investment needs of high-net-worth, ultra-high-net-worth, and family office investors.

Prior to joining Klay, Vipul was head of investment advisory at Principal Retirement Advisors and previously held positions at Reliance Capital Asset Management. He has a Masters in Management Studies and holds a CFA Charter.