Having been featured in The Winner’s Circle 2: How 10 Stockbrokers became the Best in the Business and being honored as a member of the Chairman's Council for both Smith Barney and Gruntal & Company, Anil Jethmal has often been asked what it was that sparked his interest to get into the equities business.He explains, for those patient enough to listen, that it all went back to the change on his father’s dresser.
Anil Jethmal’s father was a businessman with a worldwide business.As such, he would travel a great deal, often shuttling between New York, London, Germany, Dubai, Bombay, Hong Kong, Singapore and other exotic business destinations.Whenever his father was due back home, Anil awaited his father’s return with eager anticipation.Often very jetlagged, his father would arrive late at night and would be asleep when Anil woke up in the morning.
Anil recalls rummaging through the coins that his father brought home from his trips.The coins were often strewn about on his dresser.It was through those coins that Anil was able to ascertain exactly what countries his father had most recently visited.
When his father did wake up, Anil would ritualistically ask his father about the value of the coins and what they were worth in terms of US Dollars.His father would do the conversion for his young son.Anil Jethmal, however, noticed that on subsequent trips, the conversion ratio between currencies was different.He pointed this out to his father and asked why this was.Anil’s father, a brilliant and patient man, began to explain to his wide eyed son the reasons why the value of currencies in relation to other currencies changes.Thus began Anil Jethmal’s foray into world economic markets.
Furthermore, Anil Jethmal’s father would seize upon current political events and quiz his son as to what effect each particular event might have on the coins that his father had given him.Over time, the conversations expanded to macro and micro economic pursuits, and eventually to individual companies and their stocks.
To this day, when Anil Jethmal makes profitable stock trades for clients, he feels tremendous satisfaction.First and foremost, that satisfaction is derived from achieving his clients’ goals.But, every now and then, Anil would recall his father’s unending stream of questions and derive great joy from the remembrance of the training his father had given him. Because, it was that training that laid the groundwork for the success Anil has been able to achieve in a complex and fast paced world of high finance.
