The Love Of Assets

Over the first two and a half years of my career, as part of the Asset Finance Group, I have had the unique opportunity to embark on field visits where assets we have financed are deployed and in operation.

Having been to huge shipyards and innocuous on-shore oilfields in Gujarat, on board Anchor Handling Tug Supply Vessels in anchorage at Mumbai and Paradip Ports, taken a tour of the tarmac and the ground handling equipment at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, visited stone quarries and crusher sites in the outskirts of Pune, studied Ladder Bucket and Backhoe Dredgers at close quarters at Belapur, and having observed the assembly of a 300 ton Crawler Crane from 26 different parts at a yard outside Panvel; just the sight of a simple excavator digging away on a roadside project is enough to make me stop the car and stare in wonder for a couple of minutes, overawed by the complexity of man's creation and capabilities.

A 30-ton Work-over Rig during inter-locution, at a GSPC Oilfield near Vadodara, Gujarat

A 40 Ton Bollard Pull Offshore Supply Vessel at JNPT Anchorage, Mumbai

At the time of joining my organization in the Construction Equipment Finance vertical (CEF), a lot of the terms mentioned above were a bouncer for me too. Types of machines, names of different manufacturers, make and model numbers, names of large dealers and contractors were supposed to be on the back of my hand, and it took me a while to find my feet. As a credit analyst, it was paramount to know the machines we were financing, how they worked, opportunities for their deployment, and the health of related industries.

While researching all these assets the hard way, i felt the distinct absence of a consolidated database of information related to Construction Equipment for a layman joining the industry. Thus, this part of the blog, Act V, is my attempt to try to hand down the little bit of knowledge i have gained over the last two and a half years, about standard and non standard assets, and maybe, just maybe, generate the same amount of interest, curiosity, love and respect for these assets that my ex-boss has and is renowned for, which he has passed down to me. I hope this section of my blog will eventually serve as a ready-reckoner location for tutorial for any and all types of construction equipment and as an induction to the industry. 

We are going to start off next week with the classification of construction equipment into different categories and segments depending on their application and usage. Stay tuned for more, some exciting times and interesting machines lie ahead. Cheers!

Alma Mater - Part II

Foreword: This is a post i had written a while back (August 2013), and is a follow up to Act V, Scene I - Alma Mater - Part I. In pursuit of continuity, you can read Part I before scrolling downward.

As a student, i always hated the late - night Alumni talks, when corporate honchos who had graduated from college a long time ago, dropped in on campus only to be pampered by the Placement Committee, demanded an interaction with the students, intruded on your post-dinner-relaxation time / hanging-out-with-friends time / late-night-badminton time / fifa-counter-strike time, to impart tit bits of knowledge which din't really affect or better your chances of getting placed in a company and profile of your choice with a higher than average package (every MBA aspirants goal)

And so, after a long day of clambering up an down ladders on an Anchor handling Tug at Paradip port, with a broken finger and plaster to boot, covered in coal dust from head to toe, when most people would have staggered into a hot shower and straight to bed, i found myself in the familiar environs of CR-6 (now called CR16) at 10 p.m., a perfect embodiment of all that i hated when i was a student.

What an amazing experience it was. Just to be able to present in that class again, with rows upon rows of students rising before you like a giant Roman amphitheater, and actually paying attention (as opposed to chatting among themselves in a fairly noisy classroom during college presentations); with the usual late comers knocking on the door every two minutes; with those same old curtains on your right (hopefully washed at least once a year); with the podium right next to you and the presentation on the screen behind; as usual not making any sense whatsoever, and quite like college times seeing it for the very first time right then. Complete nostalgia.

PS: Thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and hope to be able to visit the college whenever possible. Also felt great to meet some friends old and new. Finally met @Tom_Babu in person. This guy is an absolute twitter celebrity for me. His posts and links about finance related news and happenings from around the world is absolutely amazing and anyone who is remotely associated with the wonderful world of finance should follow his twitter handle. College photo courtesy Bibhav Behera Photography