Raj grew up in Poona (now Pune), a cosmopolitan city once known as a pensioner’s paradise and Oxford of the East. Born into a middle-class mercantile family, he and his three siblings were raised in a multi-generational joint family. He credits his grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins for a strong foundation of values around sharing and caring.
At a young age, Chunilal Kothari, Raj’s grandfather, migrated from Rajasthan to Madras (now Chennai) to pursue entrepreneurial initiatives. He subsequently relocated to Pune where he started his own general merchant shop. With hard work and the support of Raj’s father, Khupchand, he was able to build the business and grow in social status. Amid his success, he never shirked from supporting his community; and leading by example, he was able to entrench the idea of ‘giving back’ as a cornerstone of family values.
The father-son duo was passionate about ensuring that their children were well educated. Raj did his schooling from St. Vincent’s High School and completed his bachelor of commerce at Pune University with merit. His youth was full of idealism and he used his debating and elocution skills at various forums to passionately propagate his ideas, winning national competitions at Banaras Hindu University and Patna University.
“My parents were ambitious and nurturing, but my father passed away when I was 14. My mother, at only 35, was left to raise me and my siblings. I felt the changing dynamics in the joint family and challenged every decision that my grandfather and uncles proposed in relation to my late father’s estate. This made me determined to be independent of the family.”
Raj’s focus shifted from travel, debates and dramas to a more serious thing: financial security! While he had initially been drawn to the Indian Foreign Services or a career as a barrister in England, he chose to become a chartered accountant as it was the quickest route to financial independence.
After qualifying as a CA in London, the British firm he worked with unconventionally offered to support him through an executive MBA at the City University Business School (CASS), London. Raj then had the opportunity to be one of the first partners of Indian descent in his sponsoring English firm. However, as he was in the UK on a study/ work permit, immigration rules prevented this. Although that door closed, many other opportunities in Australia, Middle East, Canada and the USA opened up.
He chose Canada and landed in September 1988 with his young family. Despite his education and years of training in England, he had to restart to establish himself as a credible professional in Canada – losing six years of his career. This setback did not stifle his determination and he was admitted to partnership at Coopers and Lybrand (C&L) in 1995, which merged with Price Waterhouse in 1998 to become PwC. He was the first partner of Indian descent at PwC, Canada. During his tenure there, Raj led the asset and wealth management (AWM) practice in Canada. He was also named PwC’s global assurance leader for AWM.
He was admitted into the fellowship of the CPAs in 2003. Raj was recognised as a leader in the AWM industry in Canada and served on various CPA and Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) committees for investment funds. For his contributions to the profession and the investment management and fund industry, he was awarded the Queens Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012.
In 2012, Raj became the managing partner for PwC, Greater Toronto Area, with over 200 partners and 3000 staff. He was named as Vice-Chair of PwC Canada in 2017. Alongside his stellar leadership of the AWM practice, he was instrumental in driving change at PwC in Toronto as a giving and sharing organisation.
He also maintained his passion for learning and has pursued ongoing education both formally and informally. He completed the Advanced Management Programme (AMP) at Harvard Business School (HBS) and is currently in the process of completing the directors’ certification programme at HBS. He has maintained his interest in comparative religious and political philosophies. His uncle, Vasant, a barrister in England, who was a great influence in his life, further whetted his appetite through an introduction to the School of Economic Science and Philosophy guided by His Holiness the Shankaracharya. “I rediscovered India and appreciation of its culture, arts and philosophies while in the UK.”
Raj never lost his idealism or connection to India. He was responsible for the ideation and creation of PwC’s service delivery centre in India, focused on providing professional services and supporting the professional staff in Australia, America, Canada and the UK. Today, it is operating from Calcutta and Bangalore with over 5000 professional staff.
Raj was one of the earliest promoters in Canada of ‘Doing Business in India’. He has spoken of the opportunities since 1995 at the various forums including University of Toronto, University of Waterloo, Ivey School of Business and to his cohorts at the AMP programme at HBS. He assisted many organisations and financial institutions in Canada to obtain their Foreign Institutional Investor (FII) registrations or get their Foreign Investor Promotion Board (FIPB) approvals.
The deeply ingrained sense of responsibility towards the community established by his grandfather never faltered in Raj. He reflects, “I didn’t want my success measured only by money but by lives I touched and impact I made on my family, friends and broader community”. To this end, he has served on a variety of boards including Bayview Community Services, as President of Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce, Stratford Festival of Canada, SoulPepper Theatre, Pearson College, Student’s in Free Enterprise, Duke of Edinburgh Awards, Ontario Arts Foundation, President’s/Dean’s Advisory Council for Ontario College of Art and Design and Schulich School of Business, among others. Raj has chaired significant fundraising campaigns including Canadian Museum of Civilisation’s exhibit, India: The Living Arts; SoulPepper Theatre; Stratford Festival; and the UHN Foundation.
For his stalwart services, in 2013 he received the Empire Club of Canada Community Service award and Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce’s Male Professional of the Year award and in 2017, Transformation Award for Professional Excellence.
In June 2019, Raj stepped down from his role as Vice-Chair at PwC, which he refers to as his ‘rewirement’. He now serves on the board of the Aga Khan Museum, University Health Network, as chair of UHN Foundation and mentors many young professionals. He also serves as a board member of the Investment Management Corporation of Ontario (IMCO), Jarislowsky Fraser, an asset management subsidiary of Scotiabank, and as advisor to Ultra High Net Worth families.
The family: Inspiration, backbone, legacy
Raj has shared the importance of education, hard work and giving back with his immediate family. He met his wife, Shaila, while studying in the UK. Originally from an academic and political family in Bangalore, she completed a degree in psychology at Women’s Christian College in Madras and subsequently qualified as a Montessori teacher. After moving to Canada, she has dedicated herself to supporting Raj and raising their daughters, Shraddha, Akshara and Shruti.
Shaila, like Raj, is engaged in giving back to the community and has participated on various charitable committees and boards.
Shraddha is a business advisor with a focus on change management and operational strategy. She is married to Adrian Walker, a financial advisor, and they have two children, Sophie and James. She has served on various not-for-profit boards, including the Old Girls Association at the Bishop Strachan School, the Necessary Angel Theatre Company, the Koffler Centre of the Arts and is active on the UHN Impact Collective.
Akshara is a strategy consultant with Strategy & in the UK. She is married to Karun Chandhok, a former F1 driver and current motorsports commentator and journalist; and they have a son, Kushant. She served on the Board of Alliance Francaise and actively supported the arts and theatre community through pro-bono consulting services in Toronto. In the UK, she is an active mentor and champion of diversity and inclusion in corporate environments. Karun and she also run an annual event to raise funds to educate underprivileged children in India.
Shruti is an actor with three seasons in Stratford and many other productions to her credit including lead roles in Rent and Million Dollar Quartet. Nominated twice, she has won a Dora Award for excellence in her craft. She worked at Aseema, teaching underprivileged children in India and has led various programmes for school children and students of English as a second language. She is engaged to Tommy Gushue, a screenwriter.
Through his career, volunteer service, family life, the underlying values of education, culture, financial independence, sharing, ambition and idealism have been the unifying threads that have shaped who Raj is and how he, in turn, has shaped the world around him.