Valentine Santiago Fernando , popularly known as V S Fernando currently plays three key roles. He is the Founder-CEO of Trinity Live Media Services Private Ltd (TLM). Having gained more than three decade experience in the field of equity research, he is the Chief Analyst at India Aarthik Research (IAR), the in-house Data-mine of TLM. With his vast expertise in media industry, he is fittingly the editor of investlive – a Trinity Live Media initiative.

Career Highlights

• One of the very few who could foresee a bright future for Equity Research in as early as 1983.
• One of the ‘veterans’ today who have combined equity research with full-fledged corporate research.
• Has the ‘Integrated knowledge’ of Corporate Data Collection and Data Management, Equity Research, Portfolio Management, Stock Market Operations, Editing Magazines, etc
• Has a proven track record of setting up of profitable databases.
• Well respected by the investing public as well as the promoters for his impartial and in-depth analyses which are spiced with sharp and incisive comments.
• One of the popular corporate analysts in India, commanding premium for column writing.

Nothing Ventured, Nothing Done

  After graduating in Commerce from the prestigious near-century-old Jesuit institution, St. Xavier’s College of Palayamkottai, in southern Tamil Nadu, Fernando obtained a Masters degree from the University of Mumbai. Immediately after his post-graduation, as is the case with most commerce graduates, Fernando also began his career in the accounts department of 20th Century Finance Ltd, a market leader in leasing finance in the 80’s. Around this time, there was a stock market boom, and Fernando was one of the very early ones to foresee a bright future for Equity Research in India. Hence, in 1983, he switched his career and joined India’s premier merchant banker, JM Financial and Investment Consultancy Services (JM) as "Securities Analyst".

Well Begun Is Half Done

  At JM, soon Fernando headed the Corporate Statistics Division and brought out a monthly newsletter called Portfolio, catering to the needs of JM’s very selective and extremely discerning portfolio clients. Simultaneously, Fernando also worked as the Chief Securities Analyst for JM’s Portfolio Management Division, identifying securities for investment.

Association With Capital Market

  In 1986, Fernando was deputed by JM to their group company, Investwel Publishers Private Ltd, to launch Capital Market -- India’s first “scientific investment magazine”. As the Deputy Editor-cum-Chief Corporate Analyst of Capital Market, Fernando introduced many innovations like New Issue Ratings (with numerical points), Corporate Scoreboard, Promise in Prospectus and Performance in-retrospect, etc. -- all for the first time in India.

One's Own: Trinity Live Media

  After leaving Capital Market in 1991, Fernando floated Trinity Live Media Services to syndicate his exclusive columns namely NEW ISSUE SNAPSHOT, PROMISE vs PERFORMANCE, PORTFOLIO CHOICE, PRIME CATCH, NEW ISSUE FLASHBACK, etc. Fernando’s column NEW ISSUE SNAPSHOT, introduced in The Times of India, became such a popular one that even Infosys’ Mentor N R Narayana Murthy admitted in 1995 that he subscribed to The Times of India because of Fernando’s Column!.

  As a freelance Columnist and Corporate Analyst, Fernando had also associated with The Indian Express, Business Standard, Financial Express, Intelligent Investor, Bloomberg TV, moneycontrol.com, etc. During the 90’s Fernando was probably the only analyst who was contributing to both rival national newspapers ToI and IE. Fernando has analyzed and filed reports on more than 2400 IPO's/Stocks/Business Houses in last 26 years.

Pedigree

  Fierce Commitment to uncolored facts and figures is Fernando’s hallmark. Right from the beginning, Fernando has been striving to set new standards in dispassionate and accurate research based on painstaking investigation and professional integrity.

Priceless Collections

  Fernando’s Data-mine is unique in many facets. It is probably the largest Corporate and Capital Market Collection in India created on the basis of organized private initiative. The Data-mine has more than 6800 OFFER DOCUMENTS of Public Issues that have hit the Indian capital markets in the last two and a half decades. The database has all the quarterly Standalone/Consolidated/Segment Results since their introduction in 2003. Results and Shareholding Pattern of more than 4500 companies are being updated every quarter. The Database has 'Historical' Price Data and the 'Adjusted Price' for all traded stocks since 1994.

  During the 90’s, when certain unscrupulous promoters/managements refused to share information with Fernando as an analyst, he meticulously started acquiring minimum lots in equity stocks so as to rightfully demand information as a shareholder. Thus over a period of time he became a proud shareholder of more than 3900 companies (including 80-odd de-listed or unlisted ones). This enabled him to receive corporate Annual/Half-yearly/Quarterly Reports, Statutory Filings, Shareholder Communique, Notices, Board Resolutions, Dividend advices, Bonus, Senior Personnel details and other vital information effortlessly. Fernando has a collection of more than 74000 Annual Reports including that of subsidiaries spanning over a period of two decades.

  Besides the corporate filings (Annual Reports & Notices), Fernando has preserved more than 2.7 million Press Clippings spanning over a period of 26 years meticulously indexed Company-wise, House-wise, Industrial Segment-wise and Macro Economic Indicator-wise. Also, his database contains a vast collection of Loan Default Notices published since 1991.

What Distinguishes Fernando

  Even though the Indian corporate data field is crowded with many players, hardly anyone could match Fernando’s pioneering effort in coding and grouping of Industry Segments and Business Empires. Whereas others simply compare `apple to apple’, Fernando is able to differentiate through a Unique Proprietary Coding, within apples, Kashmir variety from Shimla or Chinese ones.

  Also, as another first in the country, Fernando has attempted an innovative grouping of all the `offshoots’ of established Industrial Empires/Business Families linking them up to Four Generations. Through a meticulous coding Fernando is able to establish the ultimate ownership of all the foreign holdings in Indian companies.

  The reliability of Fernando’s data is enhanced by the assiduousness with which data is collected, processed and maintained. Fernando has put in place appropriate systems to not only ensure easy retrieval of information but also to impart flexibility in its usage.

  Indeed, the reliability and reach of Fernando’s database can be gauged from the fact that in Fernando’s glittering journalistic career spanning over three decades and marked by fearless and sometimes acerbic writing on Indian corporate chieftains, he has not been successfully challenged by the latter on facts even once.

Expertise

  With the backing of a unique one-of-its-kind corporate database, Fernando has developed special skills in the following turfs.

• Corporate Info Service
  • IPO Document vetting
  • Confidential Reporting on Companies/Promoters
  • Market Intelligence Reports
  • Balance Sheet Analysis
  • Corporate Results and Review
  • Quarterly Industry Segment Analysis
  • 2000+ Business Empire Info : History of a group or any of its branch,Strategy of any group/company, Corporate Philosophy and its effect on growth,SWOT Analysis on each group
• Media Content Service
  • Column Syndications
  • Exclusive Columns
  • Graphs and Tables
  • Backgrounders
  • Turnkey Business Page(s)
  • Special Supplements
  • Investor Magazine/Program for Electronic Media
• Consultancy,Intelligence Service and Turnkey Contract
  • Stock Value Enrichment Advisory
  • Setting up of Corporate Database/Research Cell
  • Collating Corporate Data
  • Corporate Investigation, Market Intelligence, etc