Making her mark in financial market

Chatting up Janhavi Jain, a young and driven equity research analyst, who stands out with her clear, research-backed perspective on investing. Best known for her YouTube channel Janhavi Unfiltered Finance, she simplifies complex financial insights into practical lessons for everyday investors.

“Although there are relatively few women in this field, there is a strong sense of equality. You are judged purely on your knowledge and the quality of your work, not on gender. The merit-based environment is what I truly value about equity research. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case across other areas of finance, as some of my peers have experienced inequalities, which makes this aspect of equity research even more meaningful to me.”

What drew you towards equity research and investing?
Coming from a Marwadi business family, the CNBC channel was always watched in our home. I was drawn to numbers very early on, and the energy and presentation of market news channels pulled me toward finance. Research has always been my core strength. I’ve enjoyed deep-diving into topics and understanding them since I was a child.

Did your family also play a role in shaping your interest in finance? 
My father has been investing in the markets for more than two decades. When I was around 18, he wanted one of his children to pursue this field. That turned out to be me, largely because of my genuine interest in research, numbers and understanding how money works.

How does a typical day of a research analyst look like? 
My day typically begins with reading The Economic Times. Once I reach the office, I go through emails and sector-specific updates, track developments in my coverage universe and check Screener for any updates on my watchlist. The rest of the day involves attending meetings, building and refining financial models and deep-diving into company-specific reports.

How do you normally evaluate a company? Do you follow any research framework? 
In today’s AI-driven environment, I use AI prompts to conduct an initial analysis and build a rough model to assess whether a company has meaningful potential for deeper research. Once that threshold is met, I study the latest annual report, review conference call transcripts from the last four quarters, and go through relevant broker reports and initiate coverage reports, if any. This is complemented by meeting management at conferences, conducting on-ground research, extensive financial modelling and number crunching to arrive at a well-reasoned fair value.

What matters more to you—numbers or management quality? And why? 
If you ask this question to any analyst, the instinctive answer would be, both. However, in my view, management quality ultimately matters more. Numbers and guidance are meaningful only when they come from a credible and ethical management. Any concerns around corporate governance raise serious questions about the sustainability of the business and, consequently, investor returns. Strong management, therefore, is often the foundation for consistent performance and long-term value creation.

What are some of the red flags that make you drop a stock from your watchlist? 
Some major red flags are that of management diverting incremental profits through other expenses, questionable related-party transactions, or channeling funds via inflated employee costs or ESOPs. Additionally, consistently declining promoter stake and a repeated failure to deliver on quarter-by-quarter guidance are strong warning signs. Together, these factors raise serious concerns around governance, transparency and long-term value creation.

Why did you start your YouTube channel Janhavi Unfiltered Finance? What gap did you want to fill? 
I started my YouTube journey to create lifestyle, beauty and fun content. At one point, I posted a day in my life as an equity research analyst without any expectation. It unexpectedly gained close to 30,000 views. The audience response pushed me toward creating more responsible and finance-related content, even though finance was never my original content genre.

To keep both spaces distinct, I decided to create a separate channel, Janhavi Jain, for lifestyle content. The motivation behind my finance content comes from a clear gap I noticed — there is very little honest, practical information available online. Most content is either half-baked or overly sensational, and half-baked knowledge can often be more harmful than no knowledge at all. My intent is to share genuine insights, and help this space mature with more credible and meaningful content

How do you ensure your content stays responsible, especially when many beginners follow without deep research? 
I’m not here to give tips on which stocks to buy or sell. My objective is to educate people on how to research, how to identify a company, understand the right metrics, and think independently as investors. I’m committed to staying true to this philosophy and ensuring the content remains responsible, unbiased and focused on long-term learning rather than short-term noise.

What skills should students focus on if they want a career in equity research? 
The top three skills, in my view, are:

1. Reading with intent: Equity research involves going through multiple documents and being able to analyse, interpret and arrive at a clear conclusion.
2. Financial statement analysis: The ability to decode balance sheets, identify red flags and assess growth trends.
3. Financial modelling: It is critical for translating assumptions and insights into valuations and informed investment decisions.

Young investors often chase quick returns. How does one stay patient in a fast-moving market? 
I’ve experienced this first-hand. I actively traded for about two years in pursuit of faster returns, but by the end of that period, my net returns were barely equivalent to fixed deposit rates. This happens because while trading can generate attractive gains on individual trades, the losses on unfavourable days often offset them. Additionally, frequent trading involves significant costs such as brokerage, STT, GST, and other charges. All of this disproportionately impacts returns, especially at lower volumes. Trading also demands quick, often impulsive decision-making, which can go wrong.
Investing, on the other hand, instills patience and discipline. It encourages calmer, more rational decision-making based on quarterly and long-term fundamentals, and over time, that patience tends to compound into superior returns.

If you could have coffee with any legendary investor, who would it be and what would you ask?
I would love to have coffee with Vallabh Bhansali, Manish Chokhani and Nimesh Shah. They are all legendary investors in the Indian markets and have been closely associated with the ENAM Group for many years.
I would love to understand how they built wealth through patience and long-term conviction, how they hold onto ideas across cycles and how their analytical frameworks help them identify enduring trends and standout businesses.
Another aspect that deeply interests me is that all three are spiritually inclined. I’d like to understand how that influences their psychology, temperament and decision-making as investors. I would find it incredibly meaningful to host a podcast with them.
I also truly admire Mukesh Ambani. I’m fascinated by his business vision and the psychology behind entering and scaling entirely new sectors. Even a five-minute conversation with him would be invaluable to understand how he thinks about risk, timing and long-term value creation.