FigureAsia 35 Under 35 · Finance
Vahin Khosla
Age 33 · Secured lending · India
A lender who replaced a distressed unsecured model with a more controlled secured-credit operation.
- Age at the edition eligibility date
- 33
- Field
- Finance
- Country or region
- India
- FigureAsia U35 Assessment
- 71.0 / 100
Profile
Career and documented record
Vahin Khosla's record is a turnaround rather than a growth story detached from risk. Capital Trust moved away from unsecured microfinance and rebuilt itself around secured lending to smaller businesses. Its FY26 presentation described that transformation as complete, reporting gross non-performing assets of 2.8%, net NPA of zero, capital adequacy above 30%, a ₹23.8 crore rights issue subscribed 1.33 times, a ₹69 crore reduction in borrowings and a return to positive profit before tax in the fourth quarter.
The attribution is unusually direct for a listed lender. In an exchange filing, Capital Trust said that under Khosla's leadership it shifted its product base, rebuilt its senior team and strengthened credit and collection operations. He serves as joint managing director, not as an outside director. The institution remains small beside national banks and large fintech lenders, but the completed repair of a credit model is consequential precisely because lending failures can otherwise transfer costs to borrowers, creditors and shareholders.
FigureAsia selection
Why Vahin Khosla is on the list
FigureAsia selected Khosla for completing an identifiable change in how a lender originates, secures and collects credit. The evidence connects him to the operating redesign rather than merely to its financial results. The rights issue, debt reduction, asset-quality measures and return to quarterly profit supply observable tests of execution.
The selection does not convert a single improved quarter into a permanent recovery. Capital Trust's scale and reach are predominantly domestic, and secured lending creates its own collateral and conduct risks. Khosla is recognised for a completed institutional reset with clear personal accountability; durable profitability and responsible treatment of borrowers remain to be demonstrated over a longer period.
Verified work
The 2025–26 record
Documented the operating reset
An exchange-filed company letter attributed the move from micro-loans to MSME-focused secured credit, the senior-team rebuild and stronger credit and collections to Khosla's leadership.
Reported a completed balance-sheet transformation
Capital Trust reported lower borrowings, a completed rights issue, zero net NPA and a return to positive quarterly PBT after the secured-lending transition.
Field context
The work in its field
A lending turnaround is not achieved by changing product labels. It requires new underwriting rules, collection practices, funding relationships, staff capabilities and controls, while legacy credit losses continue to work through the balance sheet.
Secured lending can reduce loss severity but does not remove conduct risk. The quality of the work depends on conservative collateral values, transparent pricing and fair enforcement as much as on reported arrears or quarterly earnings.
FigureAsia U35 Assessment
Assessment breakdown
71.0out of 100
Completed financial consequence
21 / 30
Documented the operating reset is treated as a delivered financial outcome. The score is confined to the completed result described in the record and excludes projections or paper valuation.
Individual agency and execution
18 / 25
The documented role—Joint Managing Director—and the attributed actions in the profile establish accountable execution. Institution-wide results are not assigned to the person alone.
Verified reach and significance
14 / 20
A lending turnaround is not achieved by changing product labels. It requires new underwriting rules, collection practices, funding relationships, staff capabilities and controls, while legacy credit losses continue to work through the balance sheet.
Innovation and field influence
10 / 15
The record combines secured lending with the completed work described in Reported a completed balance-sheet transformation. Credit reflects demonstrated practice, not a claim of novelty by itself.
Stewardship, access and Asian relevance
8 / 10
The Asian connection is explicit: An Indian lending executive leading the transformation of a listed non-bank finance company serving smaller businesses and households in India. Stewardship credit is limited to the regulatory, governance, access or stakeholder evidence described in the profile.