Sharand Maharaj

co-Managing Partner (MML Keystone)

Sharand Maharaj is Co-Managing Partner at MML Keystone and sits on the Investment Committee. He co-founded the strategy: Keystone I closed oversubscribed at €935m (US$1.1bn) at final close in December 2025 and, based on Preqin data, ranks among the largest on record for a new European strategy. He spent 13 years at Macquarie as a founding member and later Managing Director in its principal investing group, which invested over US$50bn during his tenure. He traded equities at Deutsche Bank, was fast-tracked at McKinsey to become its youngest Engagement Manager worldwide at the time.

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In conversation

What did you set out to build with MML Keystone?

We built MML Keystone to back essential, asset-backed businesses that keep everyday life running, but often sit in a blind spot: too operational for classic infrastructure and too asset-heavy for conventional private equity. We specialise where resilience is tangible and value creation is earned.

How do you make decisions, and what do you do after you invest?

I look for decisions that still make sense when conditions tighten. I began trading shares at 13 and learned early that conviction is cheap; risk discipline is not. Trading equities at Deutsche Bank in Singapore and Hong Kong made that lesson permanent. Markets do not forgive untested assumptions.

Oxford sharpened how I think. As a Rhodes Scholar (MSc in Financial Economics), I learned to separate what must be true from what might be true, and to name what cannot be known in advance. I was also selected for Goldman Sachs’ Global Leaders Program (one of 50 globally). McKinsey then trained strategic thinking, and I was fast-tracked to become its youngest Engagement Manager worldwide at the time. The longest chapter was Macquarie: 13 years as a founding member and later Managing Director in its principal investing group. Ownership changes you, because you live with decisions long after the deal is done.

Before we commit, I insist on a proper red-team: someone has to argue the bear case fully, not politely. After we invest, the work begins. We move quickly from thesis to execution: a clear operating cadence, a small set of leading indicators, and unambiguous accountability for delivery. We grow through repeatable capital allocation: invest behind the highest-return opportunities, and stop quickly when the data says ‘no’. Good governance is not bureaucracy; it is speed with control. We’re in the business of making things better, in ways you can measure.

What keeps you grounded outside the deal room?

I train hard because it is honest. I read because it stretches the time horizon: cycles repeat; judgement does not. Most of all, I protect time with my two boys. It keeps ambition in proportion, and decisions clear.

Relationships

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