Two years ago, when the epidemic struck and movie studios in Mumbai shut their doors permanently, 23-year-old filmmaker Shivam Khatri resolved to teach himself a skill he had never learned in school or college: managing money.
He rummaged through books and tutorials, but quickly realised that the YouTubers who spoke his language were young financial content providers.
“Their videos are straightforward to comprehend. And they cover a range of subjects “Mr. Khatri explains.
One of the creators he followed avidly was Rachana Ranade, whose impish, breezy style of breaking down complex financial jargon into easily digestible content has earned her 3.5 million YouTube subscribers – evidence of a growing appetite for simple financial content among India’s young, tech-savvy investors.
In her sleek new office in the western city of Pune, Ms. Ranade displayed a wall-to-wall diagram of her YouTube career. In less than five months after posting her first video in February 2019, she acquired 100,000 members. Since then, her development has been nothing short of phenomenal.
Ms. Ranade is frequently besieged for signatures and selfies, a form of adoration typically reserved for Bollywood stars and cricket legends.
One wall of her workplace contains movie lines from the films of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan. She employs these quotations to clarify difficult financial concepts. There is a line from the popular film Kal Ho Na Ho, which translates to “whether tomorrow comes or not,” that emphasizes the need to purchase life insurance.
According to Ms. Ranade, it all boils down to one phrase: “simple finance.”
This is precisely what India’s youthful investors seek. Using online investing services, millions of people created trading accounts during the pandemic to participate in the market bull run.
However, just three out of ten Indians are financially literate, according to official polls. And they are eager to learn how to make a quick profit on the stock market or the fundamentals of entrepreneurship amid a unicorn boom that has created millionaires overnight.
This sweet spot has made financial information one of the most rapidly expanding web categories.
“YouTube is now a university for Generation Z and millennials in India,” says Ankur Warikoo, an entrepreneur-turned-“fin-influencer” whose videos focus on personal finance, entrepreneurship, and production techniques.
Last year, his immense popularity earned him a publishing contract, and his first book, Do Epic Sh*t, became an instant best-seller.
Mr. Warikoo’s career as a content creator began about a decade ago, contrary to the widespread belief that he got famous suddenly. However, the epidemic proved to be a turning point.
“There was an abrupt increase in the number of creators providing high-quality content. There was an audience with time and money at hand, and a tremendously supportive market,” Mr. Warikoo explains. If this were a bear run, you would have difficulty communicating your point.
Mr. Warikoo explains that this achievement was the result of a “potent mix” of enabling variables, including inexpensive data, increased internet penetration, and the transition among India’s Gen-Z and millennial populations from TV and print to digital video.
He says that the issue – money – is particularly connected with young Indians: “It’s something that we all want to understand but have had very little opportunities to [learn].”
India has had multiple business channels providing real-time financial market news for many years. However, they appeal mostly to traders and institutional investors, not first-time investors.
This is a market need that several YouTubers have been able to successfully fill.
And because of their success, advertisers and brand managers are now offering them large sums of money. Forbes magazine reports that top influencers can earn up to $20,000 for a single sponsored video.
Experts applaud the increased accessibility of financial education but suggest caution.
While corporate news networks are carefully governed, the majority of digital content makers operate inside a grey area. Ms. Ranade and Mr. Warikoo do not promote specific equities, although many others do, frequently without the required competence or credentials.
“Regarding the more nuanced aspects of long-term investing, I would put my faith in individuals who have experienced multiple market cycles. Currently, as this digital phenomenon has taken over, everything has increased “Govindraj Ethiraj, a former editor for a business channel who now operates a website for fact-checking, states:
After a two-year bull run, Indian equity markets are witnessing significant volatility due to the outflow of billions of dollars of foreign capital.
According to Mr. Ethiraj, the next several years will be the first test of whether the success of India’s new money influencers is durable or fleeting.
