A.S. Thiyagarajan
Managing Director & Founder · Aquarius Investment Advisors Pte Ltd
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- Full Name
- A.S. Thiyagarajan (also known as Thyagu)
- Title
- Managing Director & Founder
- Firm
- Aquarius Investment Advisors Pte Ltd
- Firm Type
- Investment Management / Private Equity / Angel Investor
- Investment Stage
- Seed Round, Early Stage, Private Equity
- Investment Focus
- India-focused investments across financial services, food, technology, energy, and manufacturing sectors
- Location
- Singapore
- Firm Founded
- 1995
- Firm Size
- ~4 employees (as of 2024)
- Regulatory Status
- Licensed investment manager in Singapore, holding a Capital Markets Services Licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)
Background
A.S. Thiyagarajan is a seasoned banker and investor with nearly four decades of experience spanning treasury, fund management, investment banking, and risk management. He began his banking career as Treasurer at Canara Bank, one of India's leading public sector banks, in the early 1970s. He subsequently joined Citibank, where he rose to become Treasurer and Investment Bank Head for the Indian sub-continent, and later served as Global Finance Area Executive for South Asia. During his tenure at Citibank, he also held the role of Senior Vice President at the bank's New York headquarters. He played a notable role in leading early GDR (Global Depository Receipt) issuances for Indian corporations, contributing to the internationalization of Indian capital markets.
Thiyagarajan holds a postgraduate degree in Science from the University of Madras and completed the Program for Management Development at Harvard Business School. His deep knowledge of India's financial markets, combined with strong corporate relationships developed over decades of investment banking, became the foundation for his transition into investment management.
In 1995, he founded Aquarius Investment Advisors in Singapore, where he continues to serve as Managing Director. The firm is exclusively India-focused and has built a successful track record across all phases of the public equity and private equity investment cycle, including deal sourcing, evaluation, due diligence, financial structuring, and monetization. Thiyagarajan also serves as Vice Chairman of Napier Healthcare Solutions, a Singapore-based healthcare IT company that is part of the Aquarius portfolio.
Investment Thesis & Focus
Aquarius Investment Advisors is singularly focused on India as an investment destination. The firm operates across both private equity and public equities, with sector interests spanning financial services, food & consumer products, technology, energy, and manufacturing. Thiyagarajan's investment approach leverages his extensive banking and capital markets background, emphasizing deep due diligence, strong corporate relationships, and disciplined entry and exit strategies. The firm targets opportunities where its India expertise and network can create significant value for investors, and has experience navigating multiple market cycles over its nearly three decades of operation.
Notable Investments
- Napier Healthcare Solutions -- Enterprise healthcare IT systems provider (Singapore/India); Thiyagarajan serves as Vice Chairman on the board
- Laminaar Aviation Infotech -- Aviation, cargo, and defense application software (Singapore/India); Aquarius is an investor, with Aquarius Group co-founder R. Jayachandran also serving on Laminaar's board
- MTR Foods -- Indian food products company; successfully exited (February 2013)
- Pencils Protocol -- Financial software / DeFi protocol; most recent investment (September 2024)
- Additional undisclosed portfolio companies across financial services, technology, energy, and manufacturing sectors (approximately 15 total investments tracked by PitchBook, with 11 exits)
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