IIMA (Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad) 

began its cohort-based
summer placement process for the first year PGP students from 12 November 2010.
IIMA decided to adopt cohort system for its summer placement process as well after
using it for final placements last year. Under the cohort system companies will be
divided in clusters according to the sectors, locations and salaries.
 
Cluster 1 comprised of three cohorts – international investment banks, global strategy
consulting and private equity, venture capital and investment management firms.
 
25 recruiters, who visited the campus in Cluster 1, include regular partners like
McKinsey & Co, BCG, Bain & Company, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley and
Nomura.
 
T. Rowe Price, a global investment management firm visited IIM Ahmedabad for the
first time for the placement process. However, IIMA did not disclose the name of any
private equity firm, which participated in summer’s placement process at IIMA.

Royal Bank of Scotland made the highest number of offers to IIMA by once again
reinforcing its faith in the pool of talent at IIMA.
 
Students were satisfied with the diverse options provided to them in the placement
process. Nevertheless, on the first day itself, four students have opted out of the
placement process to join non-profits firms.

The next Cluster is scheduled for November 15, and top corporates are expected to
land up at the campus. The mood around placements this time is upbeat, and students
are looking forward to continuation of this trend in the coming clusters.
Trend: Buoyant B-School Summers signals upbeat Final
Placements

The Indian economy seems to be emerging out of the global recession downturn it has
been facing for over a period of time. With world powers approaching India for some
strategic partnerships, Indian b-schools too saw an excellent summer placement 2010.
 
The summer internship process at IIM Ahmedabad, which was divided into four
clusters, saw participation from 102 recruiters who made offers to a batch of 378
students. A total of 1.10 offers were made per student at IIM Lucknow to a batch of
414 students. The highest stipend offered at IIM Kozhikode this year was over Rs.1.5
Lakh and the average stipend saw an increase of over 80 per cent from the previous
year. IIM Calcutta boasted of highest number of slot zero offers made across all IIMs
with 215 students placed in slot zero.
 
The summer placement scene was nonetheless different at the non-IIM B-Schools. A
total of 307 offers were made to a batch of 240 students at XLRI. The highest domestic
stipend touched to a height of Rs.1.5 lakhs at JBIMS and MDI. The 235 students at FMS
Delhi were placed by 91 companies when a record 145 visited the campus.
 
The summer placement process at IIMs and non-IIM b-schools was split within clusters
and slots this year. This ensured that no student lost out of any opportunity to
participate in either of the slots/clusters due to overlapping schedules.
 
Private Equity and Venture Capital majors Milestone Capital, Multiples, Seed Fund,
Samara Capital, Walden International recruited in good numbers at IIM Lucknow. T.
Rowe Price, a global investment management firm visited IIM Ahmedabad for the first
time. However, IIMA did not disclose the name of any private equity firm, who
participated in the summer placement process.
 
A $6 billion hedge fund company (name undisclosed) visited IIM Calcutta campus for
second time. According to a press release by IIM Calcutta, it was the only campus in
the country to host hedge funds during placements.
The Carlyle Group - the largest private equity player in the world, recruited from XLRI
exclusively again this year. Boutique investment banks Elara Capital, Equirus Capital
and Private Equity firms Jacob Ballas Capital, Multiples PE, M-Cap Fund Advisers,
Clearwater Capital and Walden International also hired from the campus on the first
day, offering a variety of finance roles. Houlihan Smith, a specialized investment bank,
recruited exclusively from IIM Calcutta. Only 11 per cent of the total batch at FMS Delhi
were offered role in investment banking, private equity and venture capital.
 
Banks and consults were the largest among recruiters at the recently concluded
summer placements at IIM Ahmedabad. The Royal Bank of Scotland made a record 22
offers on cluster 1. Standard Chartered, Nomura and Morgan Stanley made thirteen,
nine and eight offers respectively for investment banking and market roles. Consulting
majors like Accenture and Ernst & Young made 10 offers each while McKinsey and
Boston Consulting Group made 6 offers each. The Banking, Financial Services and
Insurance sector emerged as a front-runner in terms of number of students recruited
and was closely followed by the FMCG sector at JBIMS.
 
At IIM Kozhikode, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan Chase, HSBC, Citi, Standard Chartered
Bank, American Express, Elara Capital, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Singhi Advisors, UTI
Mutual Funds, Birla Sun Life, Pears Capital etc. provided the students a plethora of
opportunities to intern in the Finance sector, particularly asset management and
investment banking. Banking and financial services were another major recruiter at IIM
Lucknow, with 27 per cent of the total batch offered roles in this sector.
 
Unlike IIM Ahmedabad, 29 per cent of the batch was offered sales and marketing roles
at IIM Lucknow.
IIM Calcutta, popularly known as finance campus of the country, 37 per cent of the
batch opted for finance roles, while 28 per cent opted for marketing. RBS and UBS
recruited in large numbers with 15 and 12 offers made respectively. Barclays Capital,
Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Nomura, BoA Merril Lynch, Morgan Stanley, JPMC, HSBC
(Global), Citigroup and French investment bank BNP Paribas were among other major
recruiters.
 
Apart from the regular recruiters, new recruiters demonstrated a keen interest in the
summer placement process across campuses around India. New recruiters like Juniper
Capital, Daimler, Religare Group, L&T Group, Idea, Aditya Birla Fashion & Lifestyle,
Keane, etc chose to participate in the Summer Placement Process at MDI. The average
stipend saw a 50 per cent increase over the last year reaching Rs.60,000.
 
The placement scenario was nevertheless different at FMS Delhi with 22 per cent batch
opting for finance, 21 per cent for FMCG, 20 per cent for marketing and rest were
offered roles in Investment Banking, Venture Capital and Private Equity, Consulting,
General Management and IT. Citibank made highest number of offers, closely followed
by consulting and FMCG giants like Accenture Business Consulting, Tata Administrative
Services, Hindustan Unilever, Procter & Gamble and Mahindra & Mahindra.
 
The bullish trend in the summer placement process 2010 is a clear indicative of the
economy not only recovering from the downturn but moving on the growth path.