Women’s day special | Journey of three women trader that are breaking barriers in financial markets

Capital markets have traditionally witnessed a dominance of male participants, but as we celebrate International Women’s Day today, on March 8, we turn our attention to the remarkable journeys of women traders who have carved successful careers in the financial markets. Their journeys are deep dive into the narratives of resilience and achievement that highlight the evolving landscape of gender diversity within the capital markets realm:

Jyoti Budhia – Derivatives Trader since 1986

Jyoti Budhia was among the first five women to enter the BSE trading ring in 1986. Budhia is a third-generation trader from both her father’s and her mother’s sides. “This is all we talked about at home, and I used to go to the BSE ring with my father as a kid on rare occasions. I had the craze of going into the ring as soon as I would become official,” she recalls.

“The BSE ring at that time was male-dominated, but in my head, there was nothing like male, female, or something. I just wanted to be in the ring.” Her primary trading strategy revolves around studying technicals and charting, driven by data, open interest data of futures as well as options, and then taking cash/option spread positions.

As her key mantra to trading, she says, “Profits are secondary, but placing stop loss is first. Because if I don’t place stop loss to my trading, my trading will be stopped forever. Place a stop loss and think whether you can afford that stop loss compared to the profit you are getting. Unless and until I get the risk-reward ratio in my favor, I don’t plan a trade. Secondly, in profits, I start booking part profits so that even if I come back to stop loss and the stop loss gets hit, I do not have much loss.”

Her key learning from the time she made losses was to not let excitement drive the trade order placement and to look back, understand, and learn from mistakes.

According to her, “Being a successful trader is a sum of 50 percent knowledge and 50 percent discipline.” She sees women inherently as having better financial and money management skills. For women in the trading community, she says, “I feel if they are in the market, they know the risk, they know how to manage the money. They are very careful when it comes to risk. They have a strong mindset and are making a strong prospective trading community.”

Garima Bajaj – Derivatives Trader since 2004

Garima has been a full-time trader for the last two decades and is the Director of Avyaan Capital Private Limited. She is a mother of two daughters and started her trading journey as a means to support her family.

Starting out as an intraday trader, she now manages an Asset under management of Rs 60 plus crores along with her business partner and brother, Amit Saraf, and a team of 15 people.

Garima has a track record of being profitable for all of her 20 years of trading. She began as a trend trader, and now focuses on futures and options, as well as delta neutral strategies. “I feel every market condition has an opportunity, and we must keep our eyes and ears open to exploit those opportunities,” says Garima.

Trading Highs and Lows

Her trading journey, she recalls, has seen many great trades, trading through various upper circuits and lower circuits in markets, managing the 2008 crashes, or trading through the COVID crisis. “At a personal level, while trading full time, I became a mom for the second time in 2014 and raised her. The time that stands out for me is the time when I started out; that was the most challenging and memorable part.”

A bad trade that was a learning experience for her was an options trade based on quarterly results (results play) which went against her. “I made all the mistakes that one can possibly make and ended up taking 10 times more loss than what I had planned for. The lesson: Don’t overtrade, cut your losses short. Hence, a trading mantra that she lives by, “Never let your losses get too big. However big your positions may be, when you are caught on the wrong foot, cut your losses and get out of the trade. Live another day.”

Advice to Women Traders Aspiring to a Career in Financial Markets

“For women who want to get into trading full time, remember that it will be a lot more challenging, as most of us have to play the role of a mother and homemaker. Trading as a career has its advantages, as one can trade from the comfort of her home and choose her trading style as per her limitations. Be ready to work hard, be ready to learn constantly. Trading can be a financially rewarding and fulfilling journey,” says Garima.

Priti Tiwari – Derivative Trader since 2019

Priti Tiwari is a discretionary trader who specializes in leveraging momentum-driven strategies, particularly focusing on intraday trading. Her expertise lies in executing breakout strategies and utilizing VWAP (Volume Weighted Average Price) bands to identify and capitalize on short-term price movements.

Priti is an MBA in Finance with prior experience in banking conglomerates like ICICI and HDFC. She moved away from corporate security bliss after the dissolution of her marriage and sought solace and excitement in trading. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, it catalyzed her transformation into a full-time trader.

“In trading, gender holds no significance. What is important here is ‘Commitment’ – As the financial markets continuously evolve, it’s crucial to commit to lifelong learning and adaptation. There will be challenges, and this will require perseverance in the face of setbacks and obstacles.”

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