LC Ideas: Views & Insights
Lighthouse Canton’s people strategy sharpens for a steep growth decade
Lighthouse Canton is positioning its people strategy as a central engine for its next phase of global expansion, building a sharper employer value proposition and investing in AI-led capability uplift. Managing Director and Chief Human Resources Officer Charu Kunwar said the aim is to construct a talent architecture that can scale faster than the market.
The asset and wealth manager is preparing for what it calls “steep growth years ahead,” and Charu Kunwar said the starting point is simple: people are the company’s defining asset.
Kunwar was speaking to LC IDEAs : Views & Insights as the company celebrated its 10th year anniversary in 2025 and secured USD 40 million in strategic funding led by Peak XV Partners to power its next phase of growth.
As a financial services business, she added, “our people are the organisation’s core resource,” making talent strategy inseparable from business strategy. Over the past two years, the company has expanded revenue lines, diversified its portfolio and entered new markets — and now the question is how to scale the workforce that can fuel the next five.
The centrepiece is a renewed employee value proposition.
After a rigorous discovery process involving current employees, alumni, prospective hires, consultants and clients, the company arrived has arrived at core pillars that will shape the employee brand for Lighthouse Canton.
For senior hires, Kunwar said the defining draw is the organisation’s ability to offer “entrepreneurship with an institutional safety net.” The concept, she explained, resonates strongly with leaders who have performed at the top of global financial institutions yet seek the autonomy to build practices without the risks of starting alone. The company’s recent influx of experienced talent from global banks has reinforced the model’s effectiveness.
Also read: Lighthouse Canton Strengthens Key Clients and Institutions' Business with Senior Appointments in Singapore
For younger talent, Lighthouse Canton is leaning into global mobility and broad exposure. Kunwar noted that in markets such as India, candidates often see limited international pathways within domestic financial companies. “A high-potential analyst in India can realistically build a track to Singapore over a decade,” she said, reflecting the company’s ambition to create cross-market career routes. The company is targeting tier-one campuses in both geographies, focusing on roles that offer immediate proximity to business heads — a contrast to the siloed structures typical at large global banks.
The early results in Singapore have been strong, with conversion rates rising through extended internships from NUS, SMU and NTU. Kunwar said the company prefers hiring from these pipelines because six-month credit-bearing internships allow managers to identify contributors who can scale early, reducing recruitment friction as the business expands.
BUILDING AI CAPABILITY FOR A FUTURE-READY WORKFORCE
A second strand of the growth strategy is building what Kunwar calls the organisation’s “AI quotient.” With global asset managers deploying automation across research, distribution and reporting, Lighthouse Canton wants to embed AI literacy across the workforce rather than confining it to specialist teams.
The company will launch structured learning paths by 2026, complete with milestones and certifications.
For Kunwar, the aim is to “provide the knowledge and hands-on capability employees need to apply AI in their day-to-day work.” Business leaders will identify where AI can be embedded in production processes, while HR builds the capability foundation to support that execution.
This move aligns with global trends: according to the World Economic Forum, 44% of workers’ core skills are expected to change by 2028, and financial services ranks among the top industries accelerating AI adoption.
Lighthouse Canton wants its workforce to stay ahead of that curve as product complexity, regulatory reporting requirements and client expectations rise.
ADDRESSING TALENT SCARCITY WITH A BUILD-FROM-WITHIN MODEL
The scarcity of investment and private banking talent across Singapore, Dubai and India remains “a very real constraint,” Kunwar said. Banks offer brand advantage, established client books and compensation structures that not many in the financial industry can replicate. Meanwhile, family offices and independent asset managers are scaling aggressively, intensifying the competition.
To build a longer-term solution, the company is working on a structured development programme aimed at grooming high-potential talent into future bankers and portfolio managers. Kunwar described the idea as a one-year rotational experience with aligned mentors and exposure across business lines. As she put it, “developing talent internally is the only sustainable way to reduce market dependence.”
However, despite the talent shortage Kunwar emphasised that the company has “become far more deliberate in hiring,” with multi-stage interviews, market checks and values alignment filters. Several candidates have been declined despite strong résumés because they were unlikely to thrive in a high-accountability, entrepreneurial environment.
The people strategy Kunwar outlines is not tactical but structural — a blueprint designed to sustain growth across geographies and market cycles.
