MUMBAI: India’s largest wealth management firm, IIFL Investment Managers Sunday announced the launch of the second season of EKA, the company’s CSR initiative dedicated to the development of junior sport in the country. It has previously been endorsed by the likes of Vishwanathan Anand and Mahesh Bhupathi.
Post the successful launch of the EKA property in December 2017, IIFL Investment Managers continues with Season 2 to build independent Asian and global ranking junior properties across chess and golf. In Season 1 of the property, the EKA platform identified junior golf talent that represented India at the Asia qualifiers of the Faldo Series and partnered with The Indian Chess School, to build the richest U-13 global ranking tournament in the sport, an event whose U-13 winner, D Gukesh, is now the world champion in the U-12 age group and is also on the way to become country’s newest Grandmaster.
Commenting on the initiative, IIFL Investment Managers chief client experiences officer Ronak Sheth said: “In Season 1 of EKA we saw the benefits of creating strong properties for junior talent in the country, having discovered exceptional talent such as D Gukesh who has been a remarkable sensation on the Global Chess circuit in his category. It is with that encouragement of being a platform that elevates Indian talent on the global scale, we continue to look forward to working with our partners towards building the best globally comparable junior sports properties in India to allow and encourage the growth of Indian Junior and Sub-Junior Talent.
“Our leadership body has always understood the need for competitive sport in personal and professional development. We have always believed that sport induced values in our development years, have strongly influenced our management and leadership styles.”
IIFL will also host a golf coaching camp with the chairman of the Nick Faldo Foundation, Mathew Faldo in Greater Noida in mid-January. EKA will aim at continuing to build these junior properties and identifying strong talent who have the potential and shall support them to improve their skills through participation in international tournaments, advanced training, and other requirements.
