Close X
Wednesday, November 27, 2024
ADVT 
National

Ludhiana To Toronto: How Indo-Canadian Whizkid Asdhir Bhim Scripted Super Success Story In Canada

Darpan News Desk IANS, 01 Sep, 2015 12:09 PM
  • Ludhiana To Toronto: How Indo-Canadian Whizkid Asdhir Bhim Scripted Super Success Story In Canada
Toronto-based Bhim D. Asdhir ranks among Indo-Canadians whizkids who have scripted super success stories in the Canadian financial sector.
 
Asdhir, whose family comes from Ludhiana in Punjab, is the founder of Excel Funds which was Canada's best performing mutual fund last year.
 
"We are also doing well in India as we are the biggest India-dedicated Canadian mutual fund investing in the Bombay Stock Exchange,'' Bhim Asdhir told IANS.
 
Gung-ho on India, he says, "After the turbulence, India has taken off again. I met Prime Minister Modi when he was here in Toronto and I am very positive on India.''
 
Bhim expects the Indian economy to hit the 10-trillion mark in the next 10 years.
 
"Remember, China was a two-trillion-dollar economy a decade ago and today it is $10 trillion. I am very sure that in the next 10 years, India too will be a $10-trillion economy,'' says Bhim from his swanky office in the Toronto suburb of Mississauga.
 
This bold Punjabi corporate man was one of the first NRIs to take plunge in India in the late 1990s as he foresaw its potential.
 
"I went to India in 1996 and I saw what was coming. When I came back to Toronto, I said to myself that now is the time to invest in India. But since there was no vehicle to invest there, I started Excel Funds,'' says Bhim.
 
 
"Today, we are one of the best performing of all mutual funds in Canada. Last year, we were the best performer among mutual fund. We are also the biggest mutual fund from Canada dedicated to India where we operate through Birla Sun Life. But we are also geared towards other emerging markets - China, Russia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, etc. We also have a BRIC fund.''
 
Bhim's a first-generation Indian immigrant super success story in Canada. "I in the 11th class when we came to Toronto from India in 1981. I used to be the only India guy in our class in Toronto.''
 
As his immigrant family set about rebuilding their life in Canada, he says, "I chose to pursue two degrees - Actuarial Science and Computer Science - at the University of Waterloo from where I graduated with these two degrees in 1987. Actually, I was the first Indo-Canadian to get a degree in Actuarial Science. ''
 
The two degrees got young Bhim a very prestigious corporate job in one of the best financial addresses in the world - Bay Street Toronto.
 
"For about 10 years, I worked on Bay Street where we were consultants to lots of big insurance companies and helping establish small insurance companies.''
 
 
But that trip to India in 1996, he says, changed the course of his destiny.
 
"Early this year, I took a delegation of 20 people to India... the energy is palpable everywhere and the country is becoming a dream destination for investors,'' says Bhim who was honoured with Male Entrepreneur of the Year in 2007 by the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce.
 
His mission, he says, is to sell India as a dream destination for investors.

MORE National ARTICLES

Worse Than Beijing And New Delhi: Smoke Haze From U.S. Fires Making Life Difficult For Calgarians

Worse Than Beijing And New Delhi: Smoke Haze From U.S. Fires Making Life Difficult For Calgarians
 A Calgary air quality official says smoke from wildfires in the northwestern United States has made the quality of air in the city worse than in Beijing and New Delhi.

Worse Than Beijing And New Delhi: Smoke Haze From U.S. Fires Making Life Difficult For Calgarians

Beer Trial Told Fathers Of Confederation Wanted Free Trade Among Provinces

Beer Trial Told Fathers Of Confederation Wanted Free Trade Among Provinces
 A professor of political history testifying at a hearing over the right to buy beer in another province says the Fathers of Confederation wanted Canada to be a united country with unfettered trade.

Beer Trial Told Fathers Of Confederation Wanted Free Trade Among Provinces

Making Hay While The Sun Shines: Feed Prices Go Up During Drought In The West

Making Hay While The Sun Shines: Feed Prices Go Up During Drought In The West
Hay producers are struggling to fill the demand for animal feed from  western livestock producers hit by this year's drought.

Making Hay While The Sun Shines: Feed Prices Go Up During Drought In The West

Restlessness Resumes On Toronto, U.S. Markets As China Volatility Continues

Restlessness Resumes On Toronto, U.S. Markets As China Volatility Continues
The Toronto Stock Exchange's main index showed a triple-digit gain within the first 10 minutes of trading Wednesday but that quickly evaporated.

Restlessness Resumes On Toronto, U.S. Markets As China Volatility Continues

Budgets And Balance Are Key Themes In Election Campaign Today

Budgets And Balance Are Key Themes In Election Campaign Today
Conservative Leader Stephen Harper is in rural eastern Ontario, where's he's promising to spend $200 million over seven years on expanded broadband Internet access for remote areas.

Budgets And Balance Are Key Themes In Election Campaign Today

Doctors group looking at intensive course to train willing MDs in assisted death

Doctors group looking at intensive course to train willing MDs in assisted death
Doctors who are willing to assist in a patient's death once the act becomes legal early next year will need to be trained because they've never been taught the procedures for ending a life, the Canadian Medical Association says.

Doctors group looking at intensive course to train willing MDs in assisted death