Indian-Australian Peeyush Gupta has been appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the Australia Day Honours List this year for significant service to business, and to the community, through governance and philanthropic roles.
“I am humbled and feel appreciated for all the hard work I have put in for decades,” the 59-year-old told SBS Hindi.
Gupta migrated to Australia as a child in 1975 when his father served in the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and today lives with his wife and two children in Sydney.
“My father was a diplomat, so I lived around the world as a child, giving me a nuanced appreciation of different cultures. I was in high school when we moved here. I stayed back in Australia for completing my studies and later started a business here,” he shares.
At the age of twenty-four, Mr Gupta co-founded and was the inaugural CEO of IPAC Securities, a wealth management firm spanning financial advice and institutional portfolio management, which was acquired by AXA, twenty years later.
“The firm grew from a start-up to a substantial business. In 20 years, we were worth over $200 million, had 400 staff across the country and were managing about $15 billion worth investments,” he proudly shares.
After leaving AXA, Mr Gupta has dedicated his time and expertise being on different boards across Australia.
He, currently, serves as a non-executive director at the NAB, Insurance & Care NSW (iCare), Special Broadcasting Service Corporation (SBS), Quintessence Labs, Bank of New Zealand Life Insurance, Link Market Services and Charter Hall Direct Property Management Limited as a Chairman.
“Indian migrants are very resilient”
Mr Gupta says Indian migrants in Australia are a resilient group.
“They are very resilient people. They cope, they adapt, they embrace the new place, culture and challenges.
“My message to them would be to give back to the community, to the country which has given you a lot,” he says.
