Benjamin Watsa, chairman, Fairfax India Holdings Corp
The firm also hired insider Gopalakrishnan Soundarajan as its new CEO, with effect from July 1, replacing Chandran Ratnaswami, who will transition to the role of executive vice chairman
Toronto: Fairfax India Holdings Corp on Monday said Prem Watsa, popularly known as “Canada’s Warren Buffett,” will step down as the investment firm’s chairman.
He will be replaced by his son Benjamin Watsa, effective July 1, as chair but will continue to serve as a director on the board, the company said.
Prem will continue to serve on the board of directors of Fairfax India.
Apart from other areas,, Fairfax India Holdings Corp has investments in multiple insurance companies in India including Digit General Insurance, Digit Life Insurance and the company is in the process of setting up first private sector reinsurer.
In addition, Fairfax India announce that, Gopalakrishnan Soundarajan, currently the chief operating officer and a director of Fairfax India will be appointed chief executive officer (CEO) of Fairfax India effective July 1, 2024. The current CEO of Fairfax India, Chandran Ratnaswami will become executive vice chairman of Fairfax India effective July 1, 2024.
Ben is the Founder and CEO of Marval Capital Ltd. (Marval), which began operations in 2017. Marval is an investment firm that focuses on the Indian market, specialising in small and mid-cap publicly listed companies.
Ben began his career in 2001 and has twenty-three years of experience in the investment industry.
Gopal joined Fairfax in 2019 and has played an important role in Fairfax and Fairfax India’s investments in India. Prior to joining Fairfax, Gopal was head of investments at ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited (“ICICI Lombard”) and had an outstanding track record managing ICICI Lombard’s investments.
Sumit Maheshwari, managing director and CEO of Fairbridge Capital Private Limited will continue to manage Fairfax India’s investment operations on the ground in India.
Both Sumit and Gopal will continue to report to Chandran in his role as executive vice chairman.
Prem Watsa, Chairman of Fairfax India, commented, “Fairfax India has thrived under Chandran’s leadership since its inception 9 years ago. We are so fortunate to have the executive depth within the Fairfax family to continue, as we have in the past, to execute sound succession planning. Chandran, Gopal, Sumit and myself are focused on continuing to grow Fairfax India over the long term.”
Prem Watsa is also the founder and CEO of Canada-based insurer Fairfax Financial Holdings. The company has a market capitalization of roughly C$37 billion ($27.15 billion), according to LSEG.
Fairfax Financial Holdings is the controlling shareholder of Fairfax India, which was founded in 2014 to invest in Indian businesses over the long-term.
($1 = 1.3626 Canadian dollars)