Board of Directors

Mr. Donald Stewart

Mr. Donald A. Stewart graduated from the University of Glasgow in 1968 with first class honours in Natural Philosophy. He joined Sun Life Financial in 1969 in London, England, and qualified as a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries in 1972. In 1974, he left the Company to pursue a career in benefits consulting, ultimately joining William M. Mercer in Toronto.

Mr. Stewart rejoined Sun Life Financial in 1980 with overall responsibility for the Canadian pension division, where he led six years of rapid growth. In 1986, Mr. Stewart led the project team to launch the Company's Canadian mutual fund operation. From 1987 to 1992, Mr. Stewart held overall responsibility for information Technology at Sun Life Financial. During this period, he completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.

As Chief Executive Officer of Sun Life Financial's trust operations from 1992 through 1995, Mr. Stewart restored profitability via re-structuring and re-engineering. In May 1995, Mr. Stewart was appointed Senior Vice–President & Chief Actuary. His appointment as President & Chief Operating Officer followed in 1996.

Mr. Stewart was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Company in April 1998. Then, in March 2000, he led the demutualization of Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada with the successful IPO of Sun Life Financial on the Toronto, New York and Philippine stock exchanges.

He is a member of the Board of MFS Investment Management and Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada (U.S.).

Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla

Mr. Birla is a Chartered Accountant and has also earned an MBA (Masters in Business Administration) from the London Business School, London.
He is the Chairman of the Aditya Birla Group, which is among India's largest business houses. Among its major companies in India are Grasim, Hindalco, UltraTech Cement, Aditya Birla Nuvo and Idea Cellular and globally — Novelis, Minacs, Aditya Birla Minerals, Aditya Birla Chemicals. Its JV operations include Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company, Birla Sun Life Distribution Co. Ltd and Birla Sun Life Insurance Co. Ltd.
The media has showered various accolades on him. Between 1997 to-date, India Today has named him among the top 5 in their "High and Mighty" Power List and The Economic Times - among the top 10 most influential Leaders. The NDTV, Star Plus "India Business Week" designated him as "The Businessman of the Year". Global Finance has cited him among the 10 Super Stars of Corporate Finance. Business World ranked him among the top 10 of India's most admired and respected CEOs and the top CEO of the coming millennium, and Hindustan Times named him as "The Businessman of the Year" as well. He is also on the Board of various companies.

Mr. Jayant Dua

Mr.Jayant Dua is the Managing Director at Birla Sun Life Insurance. He is a Chemical Engineer from IIT Delhi and an MBA from IMI, Delhi. He also holds an Advanced Management Program (AMP) from Harvard Business School, USA. He has joined Birla Sun Life Insurance in July 2010.

In his role as Managing Director, he provides Birla Sun Life Insurance a strategic direction and leads the insurance team towards achieving rapid growth and profitability. He focuses on long term sustainability while being nimble footed and using the multi-faceted regulatory environment to business advantage.

Prior to this, Jayant spearheaded Aditya Birla Insulators (ABI) in the capacity of President & CEO and was responsible for expanding ABI's customer base nationally and internationally while positioning the organization as a leader globally. He has been associated with the group for the last 14 years and as CEO of ABI, he has been instrumental in making the ABI business the fourth largest in its segment globally. Prior to his appointment with the Insulators Business, Mr.Dua spent close to a decade in Groups' Cement Business in capacities as diverse as Marketing, IT and Strategy.

Mr. Ajay Srinivasan

Mr. Srinivasan holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with Honours in Economics from St. Stephens College, University of Delhi and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He is the Chief Executive, Financial Services and Director, Corporate Strategy and Business Development at the Aditya Birla Group since July 2007.

In his role as Chief Executive, Financial Services, Aditya Birla Group, he sets the strategic direction and vision and provides operational leadership for the Group's Financial Services business. In his role as Director, Corporate Strategy and Business Development, he directs and strategies on business portfolio issues for the Aditya Birla Group focusing on the long-term sustainability, profitability and value creation of the Group's businesses.

Prior to joining the Aditya Birla Group, Mr. Ajay Srinivasan was associated with Prudential Corporation Asia, Threadneedle Asset Management, etc. at senior levels. With a proven track record for building successful businesses, his experience in the financial services industry spans almost two decades.

Mr. Bishwanath Puranmalka

Mr. Puranmalka is a commerce and law graduate and also a Fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and Institute of Company Secretaries of India. He is the Director of Aditya Birla Group's Financial Services and has a total working experience of more than 45 years. He has been associated with the Aditya Birla Group in various capacities since the inception of his career.

He has a rich experience in implementation and running of several manufacturing, training, service industry business and setting up Greenfield manufacturing operations. He is on the Board of various companies.

Mr. Dikran Ohannessian

Mr. Gian Gupta

Mr. Gupta holds a Masters in Commerce from University of Delhi. He is a director on the Board of the Company and is the independent director on the Board of Aditya Birla Nuvo Limited (holding company of BSLI). He is also a member of the Audit Committee, Finance Committee and Share Allotment Committee of the Company.

Mr. Gian Prakash Gupta has been the former Chairman and Managing Director of Industrial Development Bank of India & Chairman of Unit Trust of India. He has wide and rich experience in Project Financing including Infrastructure projects, Capital Market, Financial Management and General Management. He is on the Board of various companies.

Dr. Rakesh Jain

Mr. Suresh Talwar

Mr. Talwar is a commerce graduate and has done his L.L.B. He practices as a solicitor. He is a partner of M/s Talwar, Thakore & Associates, a law firm he has founded in partnership with Shobhan Thakore. He was also associated with M/s. Crawford Bayley & Company prior to his forming his firm of Advocates. He also acts as a legal counsel to numerous Indian companies, multinational corporations, Indian & foreign banks. His professional specialisation is in corporate law, corporate tax, foreign exchange laws, Monopolies & Restrictive Trade Practices laws, & international issue of securities by Indian companies. He also holds the directorship in several eminent public & private limited companies.

Ms. Tarjani Vakil

Mr. Venkatesh Mysore

Mr. Mysore holds a BA with Honours in Economics and an MBA from University of Madras. He also holds the professional designation of Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) – American College, Philadelphia, PA. He is the Vice-President and Country Head, India of Sun Life Financial-Asia since January, 2007.

Prior to this, Mr. Mysore was the CEO & Managing Director of MetLife India. He was responsible for the start-up of the India venture. Mr. Mysore spent over 21 years with MetLife. He immigrated to the U.S.A. in 1985 and joined MetLife as a sales representative. Since then, he held several positions of increasing responsibility within MetLife.

Mr. Mysore was the Chairman of The American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) – Bangalore Chapter for the year 2002 – 2003. Several new members were inducted during his tenure. The AMCHAM invitational Golf Tournament was one of the many well-appreciated events rolled-out under his leadership. Other noteworthy contributions included arranging interactive sessions with key industry leaders and academicians as well as community and social drives. He was also a member of the Executive Committee of AMCHAM Bangalore. He is currently a member of the Young Presidents Organisation – Mumbai Chapter.