Avendus Wealth Management announced on Tuesday the appointment of Umang Papneja as Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately, succeeding Apurva Sahijwani in the role.
Sahijwani had led Avendus Wealth Management as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer since his own appointment in May 2024, meaning Papneja inherits leadership of a firm that has been under relatively recent management.
PAPNEJA JOINS FROM JULIUS BAER INDIA
Papneja was most recently Chief Executive Officer of Julius Baer India, a role he departed in May 2026 after four years in the position. Before that, he spent over a decade as Chief Investment Officer at IIFL Wealth, now known as 360 ONE, giving him an extensive background spanning both international private banking and domestic Indian wealth management.
Avendus Wealth Management manages assets under management of over USD 9 billion and was established in 2010, making it one of the more established players in India's wealth management sector as it now transitions to new leadership under Papneja.
FOUNDERS WELCOME NEW LEADERSHIP
The announcement included quotes from Papneja himself as well as from Gaurav Deepak, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Avendus Group, and Kaushal Aggarwal, Co-founder of Avendus Group, reflecting a coordinated group-level endorsement of the leadership change at the wealth management subsidiary.
The appointment places Papneja at the head of a firm managing more than USD 9 billion in assets as it continues to compete in India's increasingly crowded high-net-worth wealth management market, an industry that has attracted significant senior talent movement among firms in recent years.
Avendus Wealth Management, founded in 2010, has built its assets under management to more than USD 9 billion over roughly sixteen years of operation, a track record that Papneja now inherits as he takes on the combined Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer title. The immediate-effect nature of the appointment suggests the firm sought a swift handover from Sahijwani rather than an extended transition period.
Papneja's move follows his May 2026 departure from Julius Baer India, meaning he spent a few months outside an executive role before taking up the Avendus position, a gap not uncommon for senior wealth management hires navigating notice periods and non-compete arrangements in the Indian financial services industry.
His combined Chief Investment Officer background at IIFL Wealth and chief executive experience at Julius Baer India gives Papneja exposure to both domestic Indian wealth platforms and the international private banking model, a blend Avendus Group's co-founders appear to have viewed as suited to leading its wealth management arm through its next stage of growth beyond USD 9 billion in assets under management.
The combined Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer title given to Papneja consolidates strategic and operational leadership of the wealth management arm in a single role, a structure that gives him broad authority as he steps in to succeed Sahijwani with immediate effect.
Gaurav Deepak and Kaushal Aggarwal's public endorsement of Papneja, delivered jointly in the announcement, signals that the change was coordinated at the top of Avendus Group rather than driven solely by the wealth management subsidiary, reinforcing continuity of group strategy as the new chief executive takes over from Sahijwani.