Silmat Chisti

CEO of Race Portfolio and Issue Management (RPIML)

“I think I was always destined to be an investment banker,” says a smiling Silmat Chisti. “I visited the floor of the New York Stock Exchange when I was 12 and I immediately fell in love with the energy and the buzz around me.”

As fate would have it, Silmat not only ended up realising her dream, but during her decade and a half long career in banking, worked at some of the world's largest investment banks like Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse First Boston. Her longest stint, however, was at the Citigroup Global Markets, better known in Bangladesh as Citibank NA.

Silmat joined the US Investment Bank Salomon Brothers after graduating from Mount Holyoke College and rejoined the company after completing her MBA from Yale University. By then, Salomon Brothers had become part of the global financial services giant, Citigroup. “I was the only Bangladeshi female in Citi's investment bank for many years.”

Her stint on Wall Street was rich in experience and learning and gave her exposure to some of the most high profile capital market transactions and some of the most interesting corporate personalities in the world.

“While Wall Street was my training ground, I always felt that emerging markets was where I could have a real impact”. She left New York and moved with Citi to Hong Kong and ultimately to Bangladesh to head Citi's investment banking business in the country. She worked on several landmark transactions of the country while at Citi, including the largest M&A for sale of Aktel stake to NTT DoComo, the largest IPO for Grameenphone, and the first Tier2 bond deal under BASEL II for Prime Bank, among others.

She left Citi in 2010 and currently heads a next-generation local investment bank in Bangladesh called Race Portfolio and Issue Management (RPIML), part of the financial conglomerate Race Group. “The ability to build a business from scratch is enormously gratifying. I finally have the platform to create a global standard investment bank in Bangladesh.” RPIML completed a major bond deal for Trust Bank last year. “We have grand plans for the business.”

Silmat now wants to focus more of her time on matters such as training of next generation finance professionals per global standards and in increasing the participation of women in the sector. “For a variety of reasons, the financial services sector lags behind other professions like law or medicine in attracting a fair share of female talent and we must address the problems at the root to right the balance”

“I strongly believe that each of us must have a hobby outside of work, to lead a balanced life.”

In her spare time, she takes singing lessons and experiments with Asian-fusion cooking.

Compiled by Star Correspondent

Arzina Akter Khushi

The Wig Woman

Around 40 women living below the poverty line from Mostalipur village of Chatmohar Upazila, in Pabna, have found respite from unemployment, through collecting discarded human hair, sorting them and ultimately weaving them into wigs for bald people. The woman behind it all is Arzina Akter Khushi.

The interesting story behind this housewife's business started in 2010. While visiting her husband's workplace, a wig factory in Gazipur, Dhaka, Khushi was inspired to learn how to make hair caps. She says, “I was fortunate enough to have met many women at my husband's factory who were adept and well trained at making wigs. I immediately thought of learning the trade myself to put it to good use. I dreamt of coming back to my village and training the many women living there in extreme poverty. I had started off with only eight employees -- trained by me -- as many of them were skeptical and didn't give the job a second thought. But as time passed, it gained popularity, and now I have as many as 40 women working for me trying to improve their living standards.”

The pioneer of the trade in her area started with a small factory under a tin-shed in her backyard, earning Tk. 1,800 to Tk. 2,000 monthly. She now draws a monthly profit of at least Tk. 20,000 every month, while the average income of each employee stands at Tk. 2,000. This may not sound like much, but this amount is an additional income for the families of the women working for Khushi.

Khushi's factory is very simple, yet efficient. She constructed the house on her own initiative. It contains a total of one dozen knitting tables; up to four hand knitters can work at a time on each table. Her factory produces between 100 and 150 hair caps every month. Khushi is hopeful that her business will grow further in the future.

By Ahmed Humayun Kabir Topu

Rizwana Tasneem

Founder of Silver Lining

Being someone who believes in the simple joys of life, Rizwana Tasneem brings sinful pleasures to the taste buds of food aficionados with her gourmet dishes and delectable desserts. Tasneem's brainchild, Silver Lining, is rapidly becoming the most talked-about name in town as the supplier of quality food and novelty cakes.

After graduating from North South University, Tasneem had a brief stint at Grameenphone, where she met her husband, Shahriar Amin. “I think every experience in life counts. Those two years in Grameenphone made me realise that I am more suited to doing my own thing than working for a company,” Tasneem reflected.

Silver Lining was born in an inspired moment. Her family of four sisters and a brother were very passionate about food and used to cook and bake at every occasion and enjoyed lively “addas” around the dining table. “As most baked goods and desserts available in the market were unwholesome and mediocre, we made ours from the best ingredients. Then one day it struck me as a promising business prospect,” Tasneem explained.

Starting from a “shoe-string budget” Silver Lining's journey began at a small office in Uttara, initially catering for small programmes of friends and family. However, the response was so overwhelming, that there was no turning back. “Our products resonated with what people were looking for. Now, we are overbooked most of the time,” she said with a smile.

Tasneem differentiates herself from competition by providing choice to her customers.

“Most organisations claim that they know their customers and whatever products they come up with will be loved by them. In reality, customers are forced to love it because they simply don't have a choice,” she said. Talking about future plans, Tasneem thinks big. In the next five years she not only aims to establish Silver Lining as the leading baking and catering company in the country but also intends to go global.

“A lot of people spend their lives trying to figure out what their passion is. It's about knowing what you want to do and then acting on it,” she said. The slogan of Silver Lining is "Everyday should have a silver lining". “I want to live up to the slogan and light up someone's day everyday by a chocolate fudge brownie or a delicious spring roll,” Tasneem said.

by Afsana Tazreen