Lessons from Market Legends
Lessons from Market Legends
- Right people born at the right time - RK Damani, RK Jhunjhunwala, Nemish Bhai of Enam. They all
came to the market at the same time just went things opened up.
- All 3 had widely successful careers in the markets, but Rakesh became the public face of the
markets and the man who always spoke about the India of tomorrow.
- Markets give you what you want - if you want daily fun, it'll give you that, if you want to be the king
of the markets, it'll make you the king of the market.
- If you see the David Goliath sculpture, it will give you a similar feel as Rakesh Jhunjhunuwala. The
brain power, the readiness to fight - so much so that the PM acknowledgement him on twitter.
- Rakesh Jhunjhunuwala started with Rs 5000 and ended with 30k Crores, that's a CAGR of 68.19%
- There are 3000 billionaires in the world. The only billionaire in the world who made it solely from
the markets is Rakesh Jhunjhunuwala. (Buffet's initial capital came from his equity investment
partnership).
- We feel a 23-24% return is genius, but here's a man who compounded in 68% rupee terms and 50%
dollar terms. This record will still stand for years to come. It can't be easily violated.
- Critics say he was loud mouthed, arrogant, but people used to say about Mohd Ali that he always
proclaimed how cool he was and he was uncouth etc. But he did it his way. Nobody could it better
than him.
- The 30 years that I knew RJ, he was always bullish through India despite multiple barricades. He
always felt India grows not because of its politicians but despite his politicians.
- One of the key moments was 1988 budget, everyone was bearish, lot of rumours but RJ was
bullish. He became a contra player. Later by 92-93 he became a player and become top 5 voices
thanks to contra actions against Harshad Meht.
- He later went through a slump, introspection. He was not successful with technology stocks. But he
was bullish and became a billionaire
- 2013 to 2022 bull market cemented his position at the voice of the capital markets.
- Even during covid he used to say new bull market is starting. We used to stare at him in disbelief
but he was right - he had an uncanny sense of when new bull markets began.
- Rakesh began when sensex was 1027, total PAT of cos was 5000 crores, software exports was
12mln dollars.
- Ramesh Damani: No one was close to RJ in the last 5 years than Madhu Kela.
Secrets of RJ success
1. Bullish on India: One of the founding principles of his wealth was he was inherently bullish on
India and the way to express it was to remain invested.
Madhu Kela: He was my friend, philosopher and guide. I will be honest - i joined in 1991 and met RJ
in 1998 and in between i was a broker making income. I didn't know wealth could be made. I was
enjoying life and making money. In 1998 I met RJ for a deal to sell shares of United Breweries
because perennial was closing and their block of Indian liquor stocks had to be liquidated. Someone
told me the only person who can immediately buy would be RJ. I made a presentation and narrated
the story to him and trust me in 5 mins, he said he will buy it. These were days of hand delivery
where cash was taken first and then shares were given. RJ was an open book, he will abuse us, he
shared enormous wisdom, he was really large hearted and showed to the world that the more you
share, the more you can grow. His portfolio was always open and he felt "mere bolne se thodi kuch
hoga, voh toh lega, rakhega tab kuch hoga". He has made portfolios quietly for 100s of relatives. This
was his real strength. In 2001, he chose 9 of us and gave us an award - my young entrepreneur
friends. He was extremely kind. And he has pledged to give 25% if his wealth to charity.
Saw the big opportunity and Putting money on the table: Ramesh Damani: he used to always put the
money on the table. In 2001-2, his brokers called and said Titan is available at a cheap lot and he
bought. After that he met the management etc. But that's not justice to his style - truth is he already
worked out the Indian middle class, the growth ahead, the Tatas background etc. So when
opportunity came, he used to always be ready.
Madhu Kela: His biggest strength was his broad sense of the market and his direction. He would take
a broad judgement.
During covid, bhel was at 23/-. So i called RJ, explained the thesis for 5 mins and before call ended he
bought 2.5 crore shares.
He would know when to stake, how much to stake. He was not a risk taker. He knew when there's a
margin of safety.
7. Trader / Investor
He would have lost crores in trading bets but for him "Raat gai baat hai". He was able to take losses.
His magic formula was he able to get trading income and invest them.
Akasa Air (logic was biz isn't as capital intensive as before, pricing is better and compared to China
india is under penetrated). This investment was the most hyped up and people were concerned. But
his downside was limited because he was just investor not a promoter. Lease scheme also helped.
He gave 40-45% sweat equity to the business builders who were going to run it. He closed the Akasa
deal in 48 hours.
Wabag: why was June 9 2019 was important in chennai? Chennai ran out of water. He invested in a
Chennai based co that does water recycling - va tech wabag.
- Today the heart grieves over what it has lost but the spirit rejoices over what it has left.
- RJ's biggest quality was his contrarian view and absolute bullishness on India. Once you are clear on
this picture of India, then short term blips can be easy to handle.
- What is the common thing about the world's best 20 investors ? None of them have a single rupee
invested in India. But world over, there are only 2 markets worth investing in - US and India. China,
Russia have their own problems.
- China - has a huge real estate problem going on. The most successful person in china has just
vanished (Alibaba founder).
So India is today a market which has the right potential. the amount of money which will come into
India will surprise even the most bullish people. Last 1 week nifty is up 5% and S&P is down 5%. So in
a way markets are telling us something.
- Lot of reforms in the last few years, privatisation, clean up of PSUs etc and we will see these getting
to life.
- We need to do research on possibilities of India in the next few years. See how beautifully we
tackled covid. It's not a small feat. See what UK did - they took a loan and distributed to people.
People bought pizza and beer and the money vanished. But UK has a permanent debt on its balance
sheet. What did we do? of course we helped poorest of the poor but we opened up supply side
efforts.
- 2 sectors
Biggest thing for me is headwind and tailwind. If you find a tailwind and invest in mediocre co you
will still make money.
If you have headwinds and bought the best RE cos, you didn't make money.
So what I look for is - are we able to identify tailwinds ? I believe Indian financial sector has amazing
tailwinds.
- 17L crores of provision is being made, which is more than 20% of financial sector lending. We have
never seen this kind of clean up. If this happened anywhere else.. i couldn't find any other similar
example.
I think financials are the most leveraged play on the economy. Look at Jan Dhan, bankruptcy code,
new technologies.
At this scale as will have recoveries and PBT might be higher than PPOP. If we truly believe all these
provisions are being made, then some of it will be written back. Valuations are attractive, ROE is
improving, consolidation has happened and pricing power is back.
- Not more than 10 banks have ability to give more than 1000 cr loans
Another sector - EPC. If trillion dollars are to be invested in India then these cos will be in action, not
Nykaa.
Market cap of Nykaa is double of all EPC cos put together (ex L&T).
So competition has reduced. Someone was saying it's so difficult to even get a bank guarantee today
that he is ready to pay 4% for just bank guarantee. So that gives an edge to larger cos. Significant de-
leveraging has happened.
Many cos are just trading at just 2-4x ebitda and they will do 20% rice if you take a 3 year view.
- so look for tailwind in a sector and buy a mediocre co, you will still make money.
- I invested in a Hyd co called goldstone technologies. They were getting into EV. Management was
not trusted. People said i have got stuck and no exit. But i said i have a different vision.
- Similarly if you invested in RE cos in 2008-13 you didn't make any money.
One of the prominent things i learnt from Rakesh Ji - "remember the only rule is there are no rules.
In investing if you go by the rule book, your mind will be closed. And you will lose out on
opportunities".
RJ could easily buy a SAIL and a Titan. But he knew how long to keep a SAIL and how long to keep a
Titan.
Q&A
Question: Given RJ's future bets, Where do you see insurance as a future sector?
Ramesh Damani & Madhu Kela: RJ high conviction bet was Star Health. And today it has captured a
significant market share. People said he is buying expensive, but he knew what we was doing.
Through covid it has gone up 5x.
Question: couple of infra cos I'm looking at - I've observed that order book is increasing faster than
sales. So sector facing execution challenges post covid? + Inflation and RM price increase will not this
be a challenge? Especially bidding in govt sector - how will this pan out or will they get into vicious
circle?
Madhu Kela: Order book is a strength not challenge. It shows sustainability. You spoke about margin
headwinds - most of it is behind us, commodity prices have gone down and most cases it's a pass
through.
Question (from Aarati Krishnan): Portfolio construction - after RJ death his positions have come out
in public. RJ was tightly concentrated or they became big because winners ran?
Madhu Kela: Specifically Titan - he let it run, it was never such a big position.. he had the conviction
to hold. Even during the correction during demonetization. Not handling others money also helps. It
is better to be wrong on own conviction than being right on borrowed conviction.
Question: it's a consensus that India is bullish, we will go from 3 to 10 or 15 trillion etc. So what
could go wrong?
Madhu Kela: Consensus need not be bad. HDFC was a consensus for 20 years but you still made
money right? Also, for the average Indian there is still no consensus. One thing is being bullish and
second thing is putting money to work.
Madhu Kela: Im bullish selectively. In pharma it's tough to calculate profits compared to cement or
steel. It's very complex, which molecules will work, how much money you will make. So if you get a
pharma co right, you will make disproportionate reward because it's not easy to analyse a pharma
co. Compared to China india's size is very small and we have potential to double turnover in 3-4
years. You will see serious investment in this sector but you will have to get a co that is going to be a
winner and not the entire sector. Success rate is not 20-30%. Most are doing medicre job,
exceptional job is being done by very less companies.
Question: with respect to pharma and chemical sectors, india is dependent on China for RM. If china
invades Taiwan, will it impact ?
Madhu Kela: I don't worry about things I cannot control. When they actually invades we will see.
Madhu Kela: There is no formula. Only comes with experience and understanding of broader
markets. You get enough signs, there is euphoria, valuations become challenging. Management
starts doing WIP etc. You see signs like in the past. We did a infra fund in reliance and got 7k crores
and 20L investors, so obviously you understand when there's euphoria. But for EPC these are early
days
Madhu Kela: I size only on the downside. You want to buy as cheap as possible. You look at someone
and say 30% of portfolio is in one co, but can you emotionally handle it? Can you handle a 50%
drawdown. So you construct what you can emotionally handle.
Question: How are we supposed to balance small and mid with large caps? Big cos will become
giants or small cos will grow and disrupt.
Madhu Kela: Look at smaller cos because you will get earnings and valuation upside.
Question: RJ as a trader and his successful bets and trading to become wealth?
Ramesh Damani: it would require another seminar. But he was one the extraordinary investors who
could do both trading and investing.
1. Raghuram Rajan said on MNREGA - If you take profits away from corporate sector to labour,
labour will spend and it will create demand in the economy. it tripled wages.
This was a bad idea because india had surplus labour. Tripling wages overnight caused inflation.
- Then to tackle inflation, Raghuram Rajan said lift rates to +ve rates. India essentially passed a law to
mandate the central bank to target inflation. Earlier RBI would do anything the government wants it
to. Now parliament would fix the CPI, tolerance etc.
2. In 2019 September, the government said it's time to reverse. We can't depend on labour to create
growth. They went back to Vajpayee's formula to feed the corporate sector to invest, to create jobs,
growth etc. They reduced corporate tax rates.
- Foreigners think india is expensive but - india doesn't trade 20times earnings, it trades at 7times 4
year forward rates. India is in a major profit boom. So stocks are relatively quite inexpensive.
- India has been largely dependent on foreign portfolio flows to fund the current account deficit.
Foreign funds are sensitive to global events, so Indian markets also became sensitive to global
events.
Classic example is 2008, Indian banks weren't concerned with us banks but Indian stocks fell in 2008.
- Things are changing now - FDI policy of Modi. Foreign portfolio kept selling last 1 year, but Indian
markets kept going up.
So between 2004-2008, total FPI was 52bn dollars and FDI was 40bn dollars. In the last 8 years, FPI
was 45 bn dollars and FDI was 550 bn dollars.
So as a country we don't care about what FPI is doing anymore. RBI is raising rates slower than the
us fed for the first time.
If you look at last 4 US bear markets, india did equally poorly but i think now if there's a recession in
the US, india will still do.
3, 4 and 5. Technicals
- You must realise that in a growing economy, retirement funds grow in size.
- economy is 3.5tn dollars, household savings is 20% - 700bn dollars. Even if 20% of this goes to
equities.. There's this persistent bid on stocks that's going to continue.
4. Technical - India will get into global bond indices (Russia will go out). So that's 30bn inflow and
recurring 15bn $ into markets.
- So indian banks will no longer need to fund government bonds / deficit. That will open up capital
for Indian banks.
5. We have 3.5% share of global market shares. Foreign investors own 0.6% of global market cap into
India. They ought to own more and India's share of global GDP and mcap will rise.
Problem for foreign investors is low free float. In 2023, One quarter of global GDP growth will come
from India. If you aren't weighted towards India you will be under invested.
6. Major de-leveraging of balance sheets has happened. Corporate India is the most under levered
compared to US and India. Growth outlook is strong and invariably they are going to borrow. So a big
loan boom is going to happen.
7. Consumption - think about India. Per capita income is extremely low. Bulk of income is spent in
basic stuff. Saving culture is good though. Nominal GDP Will grow by 10% and real GDP will be 7% so
on a real basis we will add 300$ to per capita income. So this excess growth due to 10% growth will
bring 40% increase in discretionary spending.
8. Pandemic was a problem for all of us - but something happened which was hugely beneficial to
india. Typical ceo realised that there's not much difference between work from home and office. So
not much difference from work from office and work from India. India's share of global services is
growing.
We didn't gain share of global trade in last 7 years but now there is extreme focus on gaining global
trade share.
9. Go back 7-8 years, center of global consumption was us and production was china. It was a bipolar
world. Now it's a multi polar world - production gets more distributed.
India is unique because it can attract production and consumption. Samsung phones and iPhones are
going to be made into India.
MNCs are in India's favour. All boards are discussing how much and where to invest in this country.
10. Pent up consumption - last 12 months we sold as many cars as sold 12 years ago. So a pent up
demand that we are underestimating is coming that is going to be very large.
So in summary, covid related services exports, bipolar world, corporate balance sheets that are
going to lever, pent up demand - all relate to various sectors.
Hopefully I've convinced you that you need to buy more stocks.
However some risks: China-Taiwan, 2024 is a risk factor (vajpayee lost and market tanked 17%),
there is a US recession, etc.
Ideally we don't want a current account deficit because that means lower investment vis a vis
savings. However if terms of trade (price of exports/imports - earlier was driven by oil) become
favorable, then it's good for the economy.
Our terms of trade will improve dramatically in the next few years without going into current
account surplus.
- Going back into history, consciously, taking John Kenny's advice (associate of Shannon) - which is
lever up if your winning probability is higher. Buffett, Munger, Damanis, etc have all used this
formula to size up their bets.
Ridham Desai: Oil will lose share as a % of intensity and it also lost share in the last 8 years, so this
will create disruption. In the short run, I don't worry much about oil, i worry about ammonia. India
imports fertilizers from Europe and with ammonia plants shut down in Europe due to gas bill, our
import bill of ammonia will shoot up. Risk is fertilizer import risk will be bigger than oil.
- Buffett says secret of happiness is having low expectations. So have low expectations from this
presentation.
- Another picture with something in the foreground. People thought it's dhfl, but it's nothing - just a
random picture. Idea is not to draw references from the past.
3. If you're unable to teach the child, you should go back and revise
- So i asked her to find out companies of things we use on a daily to day basis. Peter Lynch way. She
made a list of stocks and it outperformed.
- But people lose money - it's because of Dunning Kruger effect - i.e the less competent you are, the
more confident you are. So only once u gain competence, you realise you didn't know much.
- People IQs are becoming better but investing horizons are becoming shorter. Could also be
because machines are now trading and they have short horizons.
- So india may have a bull market to carry but do you have the legs to carry the bull run?
- Investing isn't a 160 iq beating 130 iq guy. It's knowing yourself, your temperament.
1. Patience isn't waiting but it's how do you act while you're waiting. Stocks almost always recover
well from recessions, wars, catastrophes. Why value investing works is because people don't have
long term horizons.
MSFT did nothing from 1999 to 2016. 0% price return. People who held onto such a stock didn't
make any money. So what's the relevance of buy and hold?
MSFT at 1996 at 7$, with 17 years of 0 return still gave a 16% return over a 26 year period. In the 17
year period, MSFT lost the plot. Now reason for owning MSFT Has changed. So only if you have a
sound process for investing will you make money.
Buy and hold isn't same as buy and forget. Focus on sticking to the right process.
2. Humility
It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. What we have control over is risk, cost, time and
behaviour. But what we try to control is return.
- Diversification is a protection against ignorance. It makes little sense for those who know what they
are doing.
- Your behaviour has to be such that you can survive the worst of days.
- It's not the game of perfection. Prasanth Jain said 69% were winners, 25% were losses, and 1%
were big losses and 5% were big winners. What helped him was big losses were just 1% of his
portfolio and 1 winner in the big winner took care of the rest and he got an impeccable track record.
3. Rationality
Have a rational or reason for stock picking. Look at biz in circle of competence, then look for financial
stability, look for features and then check for price. Simple framework.
Have a process.
Average lifespan of a business has shrunk globally. Businesses don't survive beyond 15-16 years now.
So look at Return on capital over long run.
Follow the owner (business) and not the dog (markets). Dogs will move around while walking but
their speed over the journey and direction will be the owners.
- I look at stocks only for financial independence and making my soul grow.
Speaker 5 *Pankaj Tibrewal* (Kotak MF)
- I firmly believe that if you can catch right tailwinds and right sectors with right stocks, your journey
is done
- There's a small place called morbi in Gujarat. It has become world's 2nd biggest cluster of tile
manufacturing in the world. Cheaper than China, better than Italy. 700 factories, no TCS, no sun
Pharma - dominated by Gujjus. 5000cr export opportunity. Last year they did 1200cr, this year they
may do 1800 crores.
- Real opportunity is being senses across from an export oriented manufacturing perspective. Real
opportunity not from China but from euro+1.
- any stocks discussed are just for explanation, not to be considered as a recommendation.
- Speak to auto cos in Chennai. They used to go to OEMs and wait for 2-3 years for approval. Now
OEMs are going to these cos and asking - can you make this for us in 6 months.
- Aside China, no other country can produce engineers and workers for shop floor overnight
- Worth visiting Sri City near Chennai. They are saying 200 cos are applying to setup at Sri City. When
Foxconn pegatron etc make in chennai, nearby factories have to come to support it.
- A Portfolio Co does contract manufacturing that has tied up with 6 brands. They earlier only used
to manufacture in Brazil and China. Now they are looking at India.
- If we can position ourselves well especially on the skilled manpower side, this is an inflexion point.
- You can wait for the final approval in investing, gotta begin early when the probability is in your
favour.
- 2nd field is the IT stack that India has initiated. If in 2019 i said that India will vaccinate 140cr
people in 9 months, nobody would've believed. But India has executed.
- 3rd trend is India real estate residential revival. Finally when construction wakes up, it ignites 200
industries around it.
When someone asks "Market kya lagta hai" - I say it doesn't matter. For more than 16 years, no time
like now.
- Managing money is not easy. It looks easy from outside but it's something that is an art and science
along with some luck. So today I want to take you through my learnings, what has worked for me
over a period of time managing active funds:
- Invert bullet proof investing - What is not bullet proof investing. Invert, always invert. There should
not be frequent drawdowns, permanent loss of capital, significant decline of entire portfolios during
drawdowns.
- In India before business, management evaluation is extremely important. If I see a company, i first
call up CA of that city and get an idea of the management of that company.
1. Trust
2. Culture
4. Scalability
- Choose the business wisely. Our of 5000 cos, we only track is 435 cos. Rest don't fit our criteria.
- Growth is good but not at any cost. Excessive leverage can impact the best of plans. Look at Sintex.
- Valuations also matter, price is important. If you don't buy at right price, long time correction
awaits you if not for capital erosion. Growth is the horse and valuation is the cart. Till the co drives
out growth valuations will sustain.
- The most important quality for an investor is temperament, not impact. Behaviour is important.
Not KYC, KYS know your self is important. In March 2008, 2020 were you strong or were you puzzled
?
- at no point comprise your integrity and principles. Rome was not built in a day, but Hiroshima was
destroyed in a day.
- Spiritual Anchoring - practice Vipassana or meditation atleast once. Good times will also pass, bad
times will also pass. You will not be exuberant, you will not be drained out. This is the greatest part
of success.
Question: Last 2-3 years banks have started giving gold loans affecting NBFCs. Many NBFCs went to
microfinancing. Whats your view ?
Pankaj Tibrewal: it's still a great business to be in from a long term perspective.
Question: Fund managers are supposed to invest for the long run but you are evaluated every
month - so are you really investing for the long run?
Pankaj: the 2 funds i manage have the lowest churn ratio in the industry. Provided you manage risk
and portfolio construction well, it will help you over a period.
Question: You started off with manufacturing as a Sector to look at going forward. Specific question
regarding PLI scheme on textiles - what do you think will textiles benefit?
Pankaj Tibrewal: PLI is just an incentive. My first principle is selecting the right business. So if you
want a textile business that is growing without compromising on Return on capital. If you find a
jewel in that industry, go for it. PLI is just an added advantage.
Question: Climate change and other issues are heating up and ESG is taking off - there is also an
upcoming social stock exchange and carbon markets - your views?
Pankaj Tibrewal: ESG is the biggest theme world has been. As investors we have been already
evaluating on Social and Governance. In environment we have to progress. We need to incorporate
all 3 in stock selection process, but priority could be different at different points.
Question: We do see trends in auto, EV, etc - do you see a shift in the manufacturing space? For
example Truck makers like Ashok Leyland are not talking about trucks but offering solutions.
Pankaj Tibrewal: Absolutely. Intel was the leader in RAM with 86% market share. Disruption
happened, it became a commodity. Over this period Intel transformed to chips. People questioned
them but rest is history. So another important thing in biz is to see disruption and see if you are
transforming yourself.
We are seeing this shift in automobiles, in automation. I think it's a great one to be in.
- Work from Home should open large opportunities for India. In the not too distant future lot of
R&D, accounting, back office etc jobs will come to India. Wage inflation in white collar is happening
after 20 years. No other country offers as much skilled workforce for services. Fast transition
towards wfh will work to our advantage. Large global cos are setting up captive here or outsourcing
to India.
- 2nd is the manufacturing opportunity. India did not grab the opportunity when it was in our reach,
but we are getting second chance to grab that. Manufacturing wages in china adjusted to higher
productivity, india is still cheaper by 20%. For the first time Indian cos are not complaining about
inability to compete with China.
What has changed is due to fast inflation in China, our cost competitiveness has improved.
From where we are (low base) we should be able to incrementally improve. Geopolitically also we
are positioned. In China, large infra came from MNCs while china gave them low cost. It's imperative
that the same will happen in India. Indian govt is quite supportive. By and large India's
manufacturing should improve on a low base. Observe what is happening in Europe - Europe still
made high end products. But with this massive energy inflation, it will render large parts of European
manufacturing uncompetitive. It should shift not just from China but from Europe also. countries like
Vietnam Thailand will also get the benefit but cake is large.
- Most emerging markets have moved to mid or high income through his exports. So twin
opportunity of higher exports from services and manufacturing should set the base of faster
economic growth.
- The EOBR rankings - from 160 to 60, the direction is extremely good. GST has stabilized. Focus is on
reducing logistics cost.
- If you look around the world the way countries are being governed, if you look at middle East,
Ukraine etc, i think we are in a far better situation in terms of governance.
- Also look at startups have evolved over the last few years. India is at the forefront of digital
adoption in the world. Large flow of capital to entrepreneurs and a very large number of budding
entrepreneurs are being created.
- Risks?
We are exposed to oil. If oil goes to 120-150$ it could put pressure. Shift towards esg has caused
under investment in oil and gas and reason for high oil prices is under investment. As india shifts to
electric vehicles, we should overcome this..
- 2nd risk is enablement of digital framework. It is becoming easy to transfer to beneficiaries and we
are seeing populist measures come into place like free electricity. Fortunately a debate has been
triggered and people are talking about this..
- This was my take on economy. Coming to corporate profitability, it is back at average rates now.
Commodity prices have been higher than average but bank profits are back at average and capex has
also been on track.
One risk is metal prices. If china has an impact on prices it could impact aggregate growth, but
thankfully weight of commodity companies is lower in India.
- India's market cap to GDP and similar ratios is slightly higher than long term averages. There is
some stress in consumption space. I have some concerns in consumption space and i still feel it's
expensive. I feel underlying growth doesn't justify the multiples.
- The fact that FIIs sold yet DIIs absorbed all the selling is a cause of celebration. Equities have
become a growing asset class and this is a very important shift and this should reduce the volatility
Indian markets have experienced in the past.
US is grappling with much higher structural inflation, China has its own problems, our
neighbourhood is in trouble but India in a relative sense is extremely well placed. If foreign flows are
to come back, that could sustain this momentum. Long term markets look good and if you see longer
run, you should be okay paying a higher price.
- In 1992 markets were at 40 PE. If you invested in markets then, then growth over the years diluted
the impact of higher PE..
Prashant: 35% of index is banks, inflation is supporting credit growth, capex is supporting credit
growth. So things look good there.
Question: IT?
Prashant: IT is still trading at a 40-50% premium to pre covid levels. I am not convinced that shift to
digital will give growth ahead. Also base in IT is very large. So over time if growth rates revert to pre
covid, then the multiples are high. Dividend yields are decent so maybe if you hold long enough
some returns are possible.
Prashant: I think high quality office space is consolidating very fast across 3-4 entities. So even
though there's wfh, i think it's a good asset class. At current prices one can expect high single digit
returns over longer periods.
Question: US rates and impact on India?
Prashant: Unemployment in US are extremely low, wage inflation is strong so wage inflation should
be sticky. And fed has clearly said they are looking at inflation, so yields should go higher there. But
it is becoming less relevant from an equities perspective.
Prashant: It's a tough call to take. All experts are working on this day and day out. But i don't have a
clear answer. High oil is a risk but what we have seen is that when an industry is going out of favour,
then investments in that industry drop faster than demand. Or supply will reduce faster than
demand.
Question: What are the key advices for retail investor building a LT portfolio? What are the myths?
Prashant: I think people pay a lot more attention to timing the stock market than security selection.
Sensex itself compounded at 14% but what % of our portfolio was in sensex or equities ? If you get
allocation right to equities, even if your pf earns lesser than someone else, you will still be better off.
Asset allocation is less talked about.
Myths - people used to say stock markets are manipulative, but it's no more relevant. Markets are
better regulated today.. Majority opinion in equities are more often wrong than right and that's the
difference between democracy and equities. Big gains in equities are invariably from pain.
- If i should select a stock, it will take me 10 minutes. But if I should speak in English it will take me 3-
4 days.
- Prashant sir is the only one who has been congratulated so much despite being unemployed.
- Like other speakers i don't have as much data. So what am I doing here? What I am doing in the
market?
I listen to all these speakers, connect the dots, find a stock, invest for long term with whatever
amount I have, and then I don't listen to them or anyone.
- I can buy whatever Vishal Ji tells me but if he tells me to sell i will not sell.
- Hence grace of God i have many stocks giving me 100x but as mutual funds say past performance is
not to be seen..
- One observation I'm going to share - there has been some structural shift in India. And what is
that? Bull markets in India are becoming longer and bear markets are becoming shorter. Before
2003 no bull market lasted beyond 9 months and bear markets lasted 2-3 years. In 2003, first time
bull markets lasted 4 years and inspite of Lehman Brothers crisis, bear market lasted only 9 months.
Covid bear market was also 9 months.
- Stock market is like an ocean. Some go there just to get their feet wet. Some go for amusement,
some go for exploration of minerals. The deeper you go the higher is your risk and reward.
- Life is rude if you try to figure out trend of inflation, recession and crude. Nobody knows inflation,
recession, etc.
- If you smoke you may die in 20 years but If you are trading F&O you will die next day. Success rate
in trading is only 1%.
Educated people fail more than uneducated in trading. A top class investor could be a flop trader.
Trading is a full time profession.
2. Senses
Know your senses KYS is more important than kyc. Handling depression, fear, anger, disappointment
is key in trading. Run today to come tomorrow to fight. Accepting defeat is important, ego is fatal.
3. Courage - it's a double edged sword. Courage is important but strategy is key. Know when to be
courageous.
4. Retention - retaining money is key. Inactivity is also an activity. Know when to hit and when to
defend.
5. Fundamentals - there are no fundamentals in trading. It has its own fundamentals. Reading
fluctuations is the only fundamental. Biggest failures happens when you apply fundamentals in F&O.
Investing is about reading the company, economy and trading is reading the market / participants.
6. Partners - F&O has some element of gambling. Remember the rule - the house always wins.
Choose your trading partner wisely (brokerage etc).
7. Stop loss - no stop loss in investment but stop loss in trading is a must.
8. Quantity - is very important. Same quantity of trading is important until you master the art. If you
are successful with 1000 nifty, next trade should also be 1000 nifty not 2000 nifty.
9. Luck - don't try your luck often in trading. Luck may save you once or twice. I am a foolish person
but even if i am little successful, i had 150% luck in life. Luck when it saves should give lesson. Next
time those lessons should save you (luck won't come again)
10. Logic - logic doesn't work in trading. Like in life, logic will come later.
Bull markets creates stupid investors (incl me). Stupid investors creates bear markets. Bear markets
creates smart investors. Smart investors create bull markets. Bull markets create stupid investors...
With Europe, China etc going the way they are, we are in a better place. + The WIP of financialization
of business in the country. So we can't predict if this is the right time, but this is the right place to
invest. We only have to see how we can scale up our investments, and that we are not caught out of
the market when the flight takes off. In that sense trying to find right investments is better than
finding the right time. We also got inputs from Ridham and other speakers.
The small investor - there's always 4 things what we should focus upon. What are you investing for ?
Some invest for a financial goal, some for leaving employment, some want to reach a milestone. But
it's very important to have a purpose, there need not be one purpose but there needs to be an initial
purpose when we begin which can change when we grow. Some investors find a greater purpose.
For some it's giving, for some it's investing in enterprises to grow them (Akasa for RJ, Atul for Vijay
Kedia). This is a secondary purpose. I have tried my hand at private companies.
Then you have someone like RK Damani who started his own company.
But this greater purpose requires thinking. You shouldn't just embark on it. Lot of people go into
fomo and invest in cryptos.
What we think of an investor and what the investor is doing are very different things. So whether
you're investing in stocks, PE, IPO, your own biz etc - you must know your own purpose and it
shouldn't necessarily tally with your neighbour.
So purpose is most important. Second is personality - stick to businesses you understand. Only invest
in line with your own personality. Your personality will shine in your investments. Third point is very
important - very critical - the process you use to make your investment. Have own process to
identify opportunities. Failures in investing is mostly because processes are bad. And as you grow
your process must grow with you. Many people think they can have a process once they cross a
large size. No - you should have a process from day 1, learning from it and improving the next day.
Last point - everything that you want to do, requires patience. Whether it's for your child's
education, it's for retirement, or whatever goals - it all requires diligence investment management
and patience.
- Today i see a lot of people wanting to just speculate. There's a problem in India's investment
culture because options are major source of income for exchanges. Lot of youngsters are doing
speculation even if their personalities are not suited for it. Effectively such things can leave you very
bitter.