Mid-level executives are turning down swanky job offers from foreign banks. Find out why

In a bid to taste entrepreneurship challenges and have more say in decision making of a company, mid-level executives are turning down offers from foreign banks and institutions to join domestic financial services companies.

Many professionals are leaving their sought-after jobs at HSBC, CitiBank, Morgan Stanley, DBS, Goldman Sachs, etc to join Edelweiss, India Infoline and Centrum.

"I declined offers from two foreign banks with overseas relocation opportunities, but joined IIFL," Himanshu Bhagat, who recently joined India Infoline (IIFL) Wealth Management as a managing partner a few days ago, told Economic Times.

He said he left the job to seek fresh challenges and be a part of the growth history of the company.

Bhagat is not a rare example as many executives between the age group of 35 and 45 years are giving up their jobs, which is leading to brain drain as well.

Due to this, the number of employees at the domestic financial services companies has gone up.

ET reported that at India Infoline, about three-fourths of more than 50 bankers it hired in the past one year came from foreign institutions, which also included Anil Ahuja, chief investment officer at IIFL Global, who was earlier Asia managing director of 3i Group Plc.

Even at Edelweiss Group, it appointed 25-30 people from global financial institutions in the rank of vice-president.

"We want to promote people as personal brands and completely empower them to contribute in building business by using their skills, experience and relationships," Arpita Vinay, executive director at Centrum (Wealth), told the financial daily.

Varun Prakash, director, private wealth at Centrum, who joined from Standard Chartered told ET, "The company balance sheet size is growing fast leaving opportunity for my individual growth."

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