SINGAPORE – Finance executive Caesar Sengupta plans to donate most of his family’s wealth during his lifetime, a process that is already in motion.
His investments underpin several commitments to non-profits in Singapore and overseas that will be in place for a number of years.
Mr Sengupta, 48, says: “For my wife and I, in addition to ensuring we give our kids the best educational opportunities and taking care of our loved ones, it is really important that we contribute to society meaningfully.”
That philanthropic mission has shaped his investing strategy. He generally avoids investing in individual stocks, favouring a more passive and systematic approach. Conservative investments make up 30 per cent to 40 per cent of his portfolio, with the remainder focused on high-growth strategies.
Over 90 per cent of Mr Sengupta’s financial assets are managed by the digital wealth platform Arta Finance, of which he is chief executive and co-founder.
The company launched the platform globally in Singapore on Oct 11, a year after its US debut. In September, it announced an undisclosed investment from the Economic Development Board’s strategic investment arm.
Arta’s platform allows accredited investors to access alternative assets such as private equity and get a line of credit against their assets, among other solutions, without the sales pressure and high fees seen at some other institutions.
The company, dual-headquartered in the United States and Singapore, is also partnering banks to enhance lenders’ wealth management offerings.
Mr Sengupta started Arta in 2021 after 15 years at Google, where he worked on the Chrome operating system with Mr Sundar Pichai, now chief executive, and several colleagues who would later co-found Arta.
Along the way, he discovered what he described as his lifelong passion – using technology to break down barriers.
“Our mission was simple yet ambitious: How could we make computers easier to use, more affordable and faster, particularly for students?” said Mr Sengupta, who also led Google’s efforts in payments and building products for the next generation of internet users.
“Today, 15 years later, Chromebooks have become the leading device used in schools worldwide, playing a key role in making technology more accessible and education more inclusive.”
Mr Sengupta, who was born in India, has a master’s degree in computer science from Stanford University, where he met his wife, a Singaporean who was studying international policy on a government scholarship. They have a daughter, 17, and son, 14.
After Stanford, Mr Sengupta stayed in the US to work at HP Labs. He moved to Singapore for the first time in 2002, got married and joined local start-up Encentuate, which IBM later acquired.
Soon came a spell in London, when his diplomat wife was posted to the Singapore High Commission there. Mr Sengupta decided to pursue an MBA at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, before joining Google as one of its first product managers in Europe.
Then he moved to the firm’s Silicon Valley headquarters and began working for Mr Pichai before relocating to Singapore in 2014 to helm Google’s project focusing on the next billion internet users.
