Why a chemical engineer’s simple investment mantra attracts thousands of followers

The 53-year-old, a chemical engineer at a Gujarat-based fertiliser company, aims to maintain 50% allocation each in equity and debt.

“I am a firm believer of ‘keep it simple, stupid’ (KISS). I am not in the race of generating alpha. I should have enough corpus that when I need it I have it,” he says.

Jauhri does not believe in tracking the performance of the portfolio frequently. On request, he shared that his Nifty50 index fund portfolio has generated more than 20% return over the past five years.

Interestingly, Jauhri does not invest in any government-backed small savings schemes, be it the public provident fund, the Kisan Vikas Patra, or the National Savings Certificate.

“EPF is mandatory due to being in the job so I cannot help it, but otherwise I don’t want my funds to get locked in for a long period. Government-sponsored schemes also have a maximum investment limit. When I cannot invest my desired amount, I better take exposure in instruments where I have control over inflows and outflows,” he says.

The original ‘finfluencer’

Born in Badaun, a small town in Uttar Pradesh, Jauhri does not have a finance degree. A chemical engineer by profession, he picked up on investing by reading and practising.

Jauhri says he owes his knowledge on investing to newspapers and magazines.

“I was in the 9th class when the Harshad Mehta scam happened. It was all over the newspaper. I’d diligently read everything about it on the front and business page. But I was always more inclined towards personal finance topics rather than the stock market,” he says.

“Gradually I started reading readers’ queries answered by experts in the paper. In 2005, I signed up on a message board of a business website. I would discuss financial matters. People started appreciating my views. Then I moved to the Jago Investor website. I was so passionate about answering questions that the data showed 25% answers were by me on every other question thread.”

In 2011, Jauhri created a Facebook community that now boasts of more than 133,000 members. More than 20-30 queries are asked on his Facebook pageevery day. Jauhri says he also speaks with about 10 people everyday over the phone to help them in their financial matters.

“From day one I was clear that the Facebook group will not be aimed at marketing of products. I made it a private group when it had 2,000 members so that privacy is protected,” Jauhri says.

Even today, he does not save the contact details of the people who get on a private call with him.

Proponent of fixed-fee advisory

Jauhri has also co-founded the Fee Only India website, an association of investment advisers, along with M. Pattabiraman, associate professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras.

The advisers on the platform are all registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India and do not sell any products or earn commissions. Instead, they charge a flat fee for full-fledged financial planning.

Did Jauhri ever consider becoming a registered investment adviser, or RIA?

When RIA regulations came in 2013, Jauhri did want to give it a try. “I wanted to get the licence, but when I discovered that one needs 5 years of experience working in the financial services industry, it deterred me. It was funny that I would have had to work as a mutual fund distributor, insurance agent or in other client-facing roles to be eligible to apply for the licence. I couldn’t have done it,” he says.

Jauhri does not charge for the knowledge he imparts to others. “I do it out of passion,” he says.

Early brush in investing

Jauhri did make all sorts of mistakes during his early days of investing. In his early twenties, he bought a savings-linked insurance policy that neither offered enough insurance cover nor an attractive yield. He also invested in individual stocks based on tips shared by friends and colleagues.

“Needless to say I made losses. I lost 95% of my capital in Reliance Communications, but thankfully the investment was in thousands and not lakhs.”

By this time, he realised that for him mutual funds were the way to make money.

“I invested in the Quantum Long Term Value fund and the HDFC Top 200 in 2011. I continued with the first one, but switched out from HDFC Top 200 to HDFC Balanced after a couple of years. In 2019, I started on the Nifty50 and Nifty Next 50 (funds) and sold the other two,” he says.

“After I achieved my desired 50:50 equity:debt allocation in 2022, I sold Nifty Next 50 and bought a Long Term Gilt fund so that I can control my debt allocation. My debt exposure had only been in EPF apart from the emergency fund in fixed deposits.”

Jauhri has a term life cover of ₹1 crore. He pays 3.5x higher premium than others for the same. “Being a chemical engineer working at a factory, the threat to my life is higher. I am glad I could get the term plan. I don’t mind paying a high premium,” he says.

He also has a family floater health insurance policy of ₹10 lakh coverage along with a super top-up cover of ₹1 crore.

Jauhri is unperturbed by the charm and fan-following so-called finfluencers enjoy. It is not his aim. “My day job is enough for the bread and butter of my family. Helping others in money matters gives me inner peace. It is my way of giving back to society. I do not want to earn money out of it,” he says.

He makes sure that he answers almost every query asked on his Facebook group. But lately some people have been complaining about generic queries on education, car models and gadgets that have also started pouring in.

“Personal finance is not just about investment. It involves expenses,” says Jauhri. “If people seek advice on issues that involve big expenses, it clearly gels with the spirit of the group.”