Convergence is pleased to welcome Ritesh Thakkar as our new Senior Advisor for the Asia Pacific region. With over 18 years of experience in financial services, development finance, and management consulting, with a focus on advancing public-private partnerships in the Asia and Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) region, Ritesh is uniquely suited to this position.
Ritesh will be based in Singapore and focused on developing and maintaining a robust network of public, private, and philanthropic Convergence members in the Asia Pacific region, and catering to the region's specific needs for blended finance data, deals, and intelligence, as well as capacity building and networking.
“Asia is emerging as an increasingly prominent destination for blended capital,” says Ritesh Thakkar, Senior Advisor, Asia Pacific, at Convergence. “Working closely in partnership with the key actors and stakeholders in the ecosystem will be crucial in generating new transactions at scale to accelerate the blended finance market in the region.”
Previously, in his role at Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI), Ritesh worked to foster enabling ecosystems for a net-zero transition through the development of green finance policies, working closely with central banks, governments, the private sector, and multilateral development banks. He also was part of the core team for the Asia Asset Management practice at McKinsey & Co. He has assisted clients in a variety of key areas, including market entry, growth strategy, digital, and distribution strategy. Moreover, through his work at ING Investment Management and ICICI Prudential Asset Management, he has helped build institutional partnerships with central banks, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, life insurance companies, and banks in the Asia region to deliver tailored ESG integrated investment management solutions. He also founded an NGO in India that gave youths an opportunity to serve the underprivileged.
Ritesh holds a Master of Business Administration from the Asian Institute of Management and completed a sustainable finance course from the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership.
