Hitesh Jain

VICE PRESIDENT

Hitesh was previously an equity research analyst at ENAM Securities, one of India’s leading domestic brokerages. Prior to ENAM, he was at J.P. Morgan in the investment banking department. He has tracked Indian equities for seven years, covering a range of sectors, including banks, metals, logistics, aviation, consumer goods and textiles.

Hitesh holds an MBA from K.J. Somaiya Institute of Management and a Bachelor’s degree from Mithibai College.

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Hitesh Jain

VICE PRESIDENT

Hitesh Jain has been with India Capital Research more than three years and has eight years of financial markets experience, a field that has fascinated him since he was a child listening to his uncles trade stock tips at family gatherings and going out to buy them Bhav Copy, an evening broadsheet with the day’s share prices.

His first job after graduating from Mumbai University was in his father’s small textile trading business, buying cloth for school uniforms from Ahmedabad and selling it in Mumbai. Purchases were made by hand written order and accounts were kept in large red ledger books. Hitesh bought the company’s first computer to better track orders and inventory. He also observed that the textile trading business was more about financing than cloth: his father paid cash to his suppliers and sold to customers on credit.

Marginally shortening their cash cycle resulted in a big increase in returns. His real world business experience forged an enduring appreciation for good data and a knack for understanding the key drivers of a business.

Hitesh earned his MBA from Mumbai University in 2001 amidst a recession and a terrible hiring environment at Mumbai’s Dalal Street brokerages. He got lots of well-meaning advice to take a job overseas or at least a safe position in marketing at a well respected IT company. Anything but the stock market, which was described succinctly as a risky job that would make him no one’s idea of a desirable son-in-law.

He persevered and found his way to one of India’s first so-called knowledge process outsourcing companies, where he built valuation models in a cramped Mumbai office for clients at a bulge bracket investment bank in New York, working until 2:00am every day so that his hours would overlap with his customer’s.

The financial modelling skills Hitesh learned were priceless, but he was understandably happy when he was hired by JP Morgan in 2003 to work local hours and better yet to support local Indian investment banking transactions. He refined his analytical skills and absorbed the company’s structured, process driven approach to research.

With this research tool kit, he was able to break into the upper tier of the equity market with a job as a research analyst at ENAM, one of India’s top investment banks and by far the leader in IPO underwriting. There he covered banks, consumer products, aviation, shipping, logistics and an industry he knew very well: textiles.

ENAM’s approach to equity research focuses on long-term fundamental analysis and three and a half years there made him a natural fit for India Capital. He stood out for his real world work experience and as a generalist with wide sector exposure in a field dominated by specialists. Having followed the markets since the mid 1990s he also had exposure to several market cycles, giving him a uniquely mature approach to investing in Indian markets, in which 27 is often considered a ripe old age.

He joined India Capital Research in 2007 and his research work has taken him to the bottom of open cast mines in Rajasthan and to high end clothing stores in Mumbai, from large container ports off the coast of Kutch to small-scale housing developments in the interiors of Gujarat. Everywhere he brings an inquisitive mind and deep fundamental research experience. At ICR he is the acknowledged expert on corporate governance and on Mumbai’s best street food.

Hitesh and his wife Bhavana live in Khar, Mumbai with their daughter, Viha.

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Sreeram Viswamani

ASSOCIATE

Sreeram has more than five years of experience in financial and tax advisory in India and overseas. He was previously at Ernst & Young in the audit practice. Prior to E&Y, he was at KPMG in the international tax advisory group, advising clients on tax planning and structuring.

Sreeram is a Chartered Accountant and a CFA degree holder.

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Sreeram Viswamani

ASSOCIATE

Sreeram Viswamani is an Associate at India Capital Research and Advisors (ICR), our research affiliate in Mumbai. He has been with the firm for more than two and a half years and has nearly five years of previous financial analysis experience.

Sreeram grew up in Mumbai on India’s west coast, but his first languages were Tamil and Malayalam, which are spoken in the region of South India from which his family comes. His father had moved to the Persian Gulf in the late 1970s, joining generations of talented Indian emigrants in the era in which education and ambition could take a young person much further overseas than they could possibly hope to go at home in India’s sclerotic economy. Family obligations had eventually drawn him back to Mumbai, at a time in which South Indians were not always welcome in the city.

Sreeram was born into a very different, more welcoming Mumbai and he was a consummate Mumbaikar from an early age, learning English and Hindi, then picking up India’s true national language, cricket, at which he excelled as a fast bowler. He trained at the famed Shivaji Park and was selected to represent Mumbai in nationwide youth tournaments.

Sreeram eventually gave up the heavy demands of top-level cricket to pursue school more seriously and to train as a chartered accountant (CA). The CA remains by far the most selective and prestigious finance credential in India. Only very serious students take the rigorous exams and reportedly fewer than 2% of them passed it at the time Sreeram received his charter. Sreeram’s comfort with numbers was very helpful - he could tabulate balance sheets more quickly in his head than with a calculator or spreadsheet - and he had the support of his family. “People from my region have often studied finance and in fact four of my five paternal cousins are chartered accountants.”

Sreeram joined KPMG’s tax group and retraced his father’s path to work in the Persian Gulf, but with a very different outlook than previous generations’ economic migrants. “It was great to learn the processes and professionalism of a Big Four firm and to work with talented people. But the Omani economy was oil-based, mostly closed and offered structurally low growth. I knew there would be much more opportunity for growth back in India.”

After two years he returned to Mumbai and joined Ernst & Young’s elite financial assurance group. There he audited the financials of some of India’s highest profile companies to the standards of Indian and US GAAP. He also gained an insider’s perspective on how Indian companies assemble financial statements and use a range of accounting policies to reflect - and sometimes to obscure - the quality of their earnings.

This experience, combined with his strength in financial analysis, has benefited him and India Capital Research since he joined the firm in 2007. There he has evaluated companies in a range of sectors, including financial services, real estate, media, retail, cement and agricultural commodities. Sreeram has evaluated the securitised portfolio of an asset-backed lender and performed a detailed “stress test” on a major Indian bank, in addition to conducting more traditional valuation and due diligence exercises. Sreeram has continued to develop his analytical skills and in 2008 he became a CFA charter-holder.

His work has taken him across the country, including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and, not long ago, to meet a company in a small city in South India, where the management team belatedly discovered he was fluent in the local language. “I learned a lot, though I expect they’ll be more careful what they say to each other next time I’m around.”

Sreeram leads the firm’s charitable giving initiatives and serves as a trustee of the SRWS High School. He and his wife Saumya live in Andheri, Mumbai.

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Mihir Shah

ASSOCIATE

Mihir was previously at Goldman Sachs in New York, Tokyo, London and Bangalore in the equities technology group. He interned at India Capital Research in 2008 and 2009.

Mihir holds an MBA with High Honors from the University of Chicago, where he was named a Siebel Scholar. He also holds a Master’s degree in computer science from Columbia University and a Bachelor’s degree in computer technology from VJTI.

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Mihir Shah

ASSOCIATE

Mihir Shah has been an integral part of India Capital Research (ICR) since 2010 and has over three years of prior experience in financial markets across the world, including New York, London,Tokyo and Mumbai.

Mihir grew up with an engineer’s mindset, curious to learn about the mechanics of all kinds of devices, ranging from cars to computers. His family brought home a PC in 1987, a time when most Indians had not even heard of the term. Mihir was fascinated by the machine and spent many hours mastering the few applications available at the time. After school, when it was time to choose an undergraduate major, it was not surprising Mihir decided to pursue a BE in computer technology from VJTI, a renowned engineering school in India. Post-graduation, in 2003, Mihir explored career opportunities in India. Realizing that his job opportunity at Infosys, one of India’s leading IT service providers, offered $450 per month, he decided to take the well travelled path to pursue his masters in the United States.

After completing his masters at Columbia University, Mihir joined Goldman Sachs in their equities technology group in New York.For the next three years, he had the opportunity to work in the major financial markets of the world at New York, London, Tokyo as well as India. "It was a terrific learning experience and an amazing training ground. The most satisfying moment was to watch my trading system being used on the NYSE floor." While developing his interest in finance at Goldman, he completed all three levels of the CFA to help him formalize his understanding of the financial markets. "That was when I realized that I wanted to pursue a career in investing." To help with the career transition, he decided to apply to the full-time MBA program at The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, a school well-known for its faculty strength in finance and economics.

It was while working in Goldman’s Bangalore office that Mihir spent substantial time in India after a gap of five years. He remembers, "Something was different, different in a very positive way. It suddenly struck me that there was an irresistible undercurrent of excitement and opportunities seemed galore,unlike when I majored in 2003" Things had changed - there was something for everyone. More and more talented Indians were returning home, finding opportunities to benefit from the challenges of a growing country. During the summer of 2008,after leaving Goldman and before the start of classes at Booth,Mihir interned with ICR in Mumbai. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to him -investing in India as part of a small team with real responsibilities.

Mihir’s analytical skills and logical thinking helped him excel at business school. He graduated as a Siebel scholar, an award reserved for the top 5 students in a class of over 550. His concentrations in economics, finance and entrepreneurship prepared him well for a career in fundamental investing. His experiences, both in and outside the classroom played a significant role in widening his horizon and drawing him further towards investing. Mihir says, "While the credit crisis was unfolding, I learned about the financial markets on a near real-time basis from some of the foremost experts in the field." Through school, he also interacted with some of the most successful investors as they spoke about their journey and investing career. "My experience and interactions at Booth made me certain about my decision to pursue a career in public investing." While at business school, Mihir further developed his love for travelling as he made a number of trips to Central and South America and to Asia. He continues to find time from the demands of his job to head out on short weekend trips around Mumbai.

Forgoing attractive opportunities in the US, Mihir chose to intern again with ICR in 2009 between his first and second years at business school. Mihir’s strong academic and professional background would have made it possible for him to work in any part of the world. But he chose to return to India to be part of the unfolding success story of the country and to stay closer to family.

"With strong ties to India, I was particularly interested in returning to India post-business school. The chance to be a part of a firm like India Capital Research aligned perfectly with my interests.The opportunities as a fundamental investor in the inefficient Indian markets are immense. After two exciting summers at India Capital Research, it was an easy decision to join the team post graduation.I didn�t even look at any other opportunity". The team welcomed back Mihir as a full-time Associate in June 2010.

At ICR, Mihir has analyzed companies across multiple sectors,including financial services, automotive, media, natural resources and capital goods. As part of his research work, Mihir has travelled to the interiors of Kerala and posed as a customer to test the unique advantages offered to customers by a leading national gold lending company. In another instance, he observed and interviewed hawkers who distribute regional newspapers in Ranchi (a city in the eastern state of Jharkhand) at 4 AM. "I like to understand how businesses actually function on the ground and to that end, primary research is invaluable." Mihir’s analytical skills, passion for deep fundamental research and financial markets have made him a great addition to the diverse team at ICR.

Mihir, leveraging his experience in developing trading platforms at Goldman Sachs, oversees ICR’s effort in developing its in-house,proprietary research database called Compass.

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Rizi Mohanty

ASSOCIATE

Rizi was previously at McKinsey & Company in the Delhi and Mumbai offices, where he consulted in a number of sectors including chemicals, consumer products, autos and IT services.

He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor’s degree with honours in computer science and engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, where he was named the Institute Silver Medalist.

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Rizi Mohanty

ASSOCIATE

Rizi Mohanty is an Associate at India Capital Research (ICR) in Mumbai.

Rizi grew up in Cuttack on India's East coast and his upbringing was typical of a middle class family in a small Indian city. He reminisces, "I had a very simple childhood, far from the action and luxuries of cities like Mumbai or Delhi." He saw his first Hollywood movie when he was fifteen years old and even that was dubbed in Hindi. Travel was a rare luxury - Rizi had only once been more than 200 miles from Cuttack until he got on an airplane for the first time at the age of 20. "Things have changed now. Cuttack has over a dozen schools with English as the medium of instruction!" Rizi's background helps him understand the vast majority of India that exists beyond the largest cities.

Inspired by his father, who moved from his village to the city to pursue higher education, Rizi focused on academics from an early age. He often studied late into the night so that he could solve a problem and then also derive the formula used to do so. His efforts paid off when he scored the best marks among nearly 50,000 12th grade science students in his state and was accepted by IIT Kharagpur, one of India's top universities, as one of 1.5% of applicants admitted in that year. He majored in Computer Science and Engineering, which appealed to him because of the opportunity to do globally cutting edge research. For Rizi's undergraduate project, sponsored by a computer hardware company, he developed a cost-effective system to verify hardware circuit designs and his work was presented at an international conference. Rizi considers his experience at IIT life changing. "It will always be a special place. The four years that I spent there exposed me to a whole new world of inquiry and to the thrill of being part of a group of people similarly passionate about learning." Rizi excelled academically and was awarded the silver medal for graduating second in his class.

After graduating, Rizi turned down a number of PhD fellowships in the US to join McKinsey & Company in its Delhi office. "It was a difficult choice to pick consulting over academia, but it wasn't a tough decision to stay in India," he says. "Earlier generations of graduates went overseas for what they expected to be their whole careers because there was much more opportunity there than here. Students a few years older than me have gone abroad for a few years intent on jump-starting their careers once they return to India through experience in the West with internationally known employers and global best practices. My peers are probably the first to feel like we can get all of those things here in India. Of the 50 or so students in the IIT Kharagpur computer science program, as recently as eight years ago about 25 went overseas immediately. In my year, all but six stayed in India"

At McKinsey, Rizi worked with leading companies in the automotive, chemicals, IT services and consumer goods sectors. The projects gave him exposure to a range of management teams, their decision making processes and their industries. For one project he worked with a client to improve throughput of a heat treatment plant by over 50%. "It was a tremendous learning experience to spend four months on the shop floor. Visiting many plants helped me differentiate between great, good and poor operations." For another project he advised the owners of a medium sized family business on strategic, financial and organizational issues.

After three years at McKinsey, Rizi moved to Boston to study for an MBA at Harvard Business School. "The HBS experience widened my horizons and cemented my desire to work in investment research. It combines the intellectual challenge of primary research, which I've always loved, with the opportunity to distill everything you learn into a specific recommendation. And you can determine through investment performance if your recommendation is right!" At Harvard Rizi also met his wife Nupur, making it a doubly special place for them both.

Rizi's analytical abilities, passion for research and earlier work experience are a great addition to the ICR team. At ICR, he has studied companies in multiple sectors, including automotive, plastics, IT distribution, retail, engineering and capital goods. The research process typically includes meetings with management, suppliers, competitors and regulators along, very often, with site visits. As part of one recent project, Rizi visited a large new 'big box' store in Cuttack - another first for his hometown. "Modern chain retailing has been popular in Mumbai for a while, but it was amazing to see its acceptance in a smaller town where until recently nearly all shopping had been done at outdoor markets and small stores. The aisles were thronged and sales were brisk; even my mother was impressed, which said a lot to me about the potential for retailers to expand beyond the major cities." Rizi is a fan of Formula 1 racing and is excited about the first-ever F1 race on Indian soil, something that may not be so far off if recent news reports are true. He is an enthusiastic driver and he and Nupur often spend weekends motoring through the nearby Western Ghats mountain range.

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Sonia Lalwani

INFORMATION ANALYST

Sonia was previously a research analyst at Tata Strategic Management Group, a management consulting firm affiliated with one of India’s largest conglomerates, where she worked in the infrastructure division.

Sonia holds a Bachelor’s degree in Management Studies from Mumbai University.

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Sonia Lalwani

INFORMATION ANALYST

Sonia Lalwani is an Information Analyst at India Capital Research (ICR) in Mumbai and has over four years of experience in financial data analysis.

Sonia’s family hails from Karachi, Sindh. Her grandparents had a successful cutlery company and were pillars of the local business community, but were forced to flee to Mumbai during the tumult of India-Pakistan partition in 1947. Sonia remembers her grandparent’s stories of living in refugee camps and working to restart their business and their lives in Mumbai from nothing. "The city took them in with open arms. Even then resources and infrastructure were strained, but this is a city that believes there’s always room for one more." Sonia’s grandparents persevered and rebuilt their business. "I hear many stories like theirs," she says, "and sometimes think one of the secrets of Indian companies’s success is a heritage of learning how to grow businesses with very little capital."

Sonia studied at Mumbai University and traces her interest in research and data analysis to college days. "Most schools in India focus on rote memorization, as had mine in earlier years. But at Mumbai University our curriculum focused intensively on research projects. It forced me to step outside my comfort zone to interview experts, conduct surveys and crunch numbers, but I realized over time that I was learning more and was having much more fun." For one such project, Sonia studied the reasons for the success of Mumbai’s dabbawalas. Dabbawalas, literally lunch-bringers, deliver more than 175,000 lunch boxes every day to working professionals from their home to their office. A lunch box changes hands several times as it is carried across the city via train, bicycle and hand-cart without computers and sometimes being sorted by dabbawalas who are not literate , but it reaches its destination with six sigma accuracy and total punctuality. Sonia shadowed two dabbawalas for a week and came to understand how the systems’s success depends on clear allocation of responsibilities, well understood rules and precise communication.

After graduating with a degree in management studies, Sonia joined Tata Strategic Management Group (TSMG), a consulting firm affiliated with the Tata Group, one of India’s most highly regarded conglomerates. As part of the infrastructure group, Sonia conducted independent research and handled large data sets for a variety of projects. In a project for a private equity firm, Sonia evaluated investment opportunities across the water cycle, starting from desalination of sea water to final treatment of used water. Sonia was not convinced that the data provided by outside vendors was complete, a frequent concern in India, so she cold called engineers working for the government and in the private sector to get practitioner’s perspective on the various technologies and the supply-demand balance in each segment.

Sonia joined India Capital Research in 2008. "I knew right from the interview process, which was very demanding but a lot of fun, that it was the right place for me", she says. "There is an intense focus here on gathering primary data, finding original ways to interpret it and understanding how it strengthens or refutes an investment thesis. The work is serious, but no one takes themselves too seriously." At ICR, Sonia supports the analysis of investment ideas, which includes working with proprietary data sets of several million discrete fields, as well as more qualitative projects. In one such project, Sonia interviewed teenagers in a number of midsize cities to test the commonly assumed good brand standing of a domestic apparel manufacturer. Her interviews and store visits undermined the market assumption and identified an increasing preference among affluent students for global brands.

Outside of work, Sonia enjoys reading and on weekends she tutors a group of children who live on the streets of her neighborhood. "It isn’t easy since the students start with few academic skills and few good places to study, but it’s fulfilling to see their strong desire to learn and the progress they make."

Sonia lives in Andheri, Mumbai.

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Arun Lazur

ADMINISTRATION MANAGER

Arun was previously a process trainer at eFunds International. Prior to eFunds, he was a marketing officer at Charagh Din.

Arun holds an MA in Public Administration from Madurai Kamraj University.