Indian Investment Gurus - Rakesh Jhunjhunwala & Radha Kishan Damani

Rakesh Jhunjhunwala started with a meagre Rs 10,000 somewhere in 1985 and with some trading profit was on a leverage capital of Rs 10 lacs in a few months now if you compound that Rs 10 lacs at 57% for 22 years, You do get to the figure of Rs 2250 crores. Rakesh Jhunjhunwala is one example of compounding.

Basically he came out unhurt both in 1992 (Harshad Mehta) and in 2000 (ketan pareikh). Now avoiding the biggest mistakes is one of the ingredients to creating this ocean of wealth. But he had bet very aggressively in 1989 or thereabouts he was the only person long on the markets and I think Madhu Dandvate was to present the budget and the whole market was short and Rakesh Jhunjhunwala the only lone long standing bull! he minted. I heard that In 1992 he was among the few who could time Harshad Mehta's bubble to perfection.

The other being Radha Kishan Damani - of Bright Star investment. So while the whole nation bled and lost these two investors minted. Radha Kishanji lost a fair percentage of his portfolio in BPCL and HPCL and then he diverted into D-mart and became an investor.

The striking thing about thes etwo investors is that unlike a Jesse Livermore (he stands out far above anyone in trading) these two changed their style after making some decent money. He himslef admitted during my meeting with him that he started out with a small capital and huge leverage but remember for every Rakesh Jhunjhunwala that is born, we have hundreds of martyrs like him. But that did not prevent Rakesh Jhunjhunwala from thinking big maybe had he gone into that bank fixed deposit approach after making Rs 10 crores.

Warren Buffet - interesting aspects of his life

Warren Buffet, the second richest man who has donated $31 billion to charity Here are some very interesting aspects of his life:

1. He bought his first share at age 11 and he now regrets that he started too late!
2. He bought a small farm at age 14 with savings from delivering newspapers.
3. He still lives in the same small 3-bedroom house in mid-town Omaha , that he bought after he got married 50 years ago. He says that he has everything he needs in that house. His house does not have a wall or a fence.
4. He drives his own car everywhere and does not have a driver or security people around him.
5. He never travels by private jet, although he owns the world's largest private jet company.
6. His company, Berkshire Hathaway, owns 63 companies. He writes only one letter each year to the CEOs of these companies, giving them goals for the year.


He never holds meetings or calls them on a regular basis. He has given his CEO's only two rules.

Rule number 1: do not lose any of your share holder's money.
Rule number 2: Do not forget rule number 1.

7. He does not socialize with the high society crowd. His past time after he gets home is to make himself some pop corn and watch Television.
8. Bill Gates, the world's richest man met him for the first time only 5 years ago. Bill Gates did not think he had anything in common with Warren Buffet. So he had scheduled his meeting only for half hour. But when Gates met him, the meeting lasted for ten hours and Bill Gates became a devotee of Warren Buffet.
9. Warren Buffet does not carry a cell phone, nor has a computer on his desk.

His advice to young people :


"Stay away from credit cards and invest in yourself and Remember:

• A. Money doesn't create man but it is the man who created money.
  
• B. Live your life as simple as you are.
  
• C. Don't do what others say, just listen them, but do what you feel good.
  
• D. Don't go on brand name; just wear those things in which u feel comfortable.
  
• E. Don't waste your money on unnecessary things; just spend on them who really in need rather.
  
• F. After all it's your life then why give chance to others to rule our life."

Great investors in present world

Warren Buffett

Employer: Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Most Known For: A $10,000 investment into Berkshire Hathaway when Buffett took control in 1965 would be worth over $50 million today. By comparison, $10,000 in the S&P 500 would have grown to only $500,000.

Peter Lynch Employer: Vice-chairman of Fidelity Most Famous For: When he started managing the Fidelity Magellan Fund in 1978, it had assets of $20 million. When he retired in 1990, it had assets of $14 billion.

John (Jack) Bogle: Employer: Founder and Chairman of The Vanguard Group Most Famous For: Often referred to as the father of index fund investing, he’s the creator of the first S&P 500 index fund.

George Soros Employer: Founder of Soros Fund Management Most Famous For: A highly respected currency speculator, he once shorted the British Pound for a one day gain in excess of $1 billion.

John Templeton Employer: Founder of the Templeton Group Most Famous For: Created some of the world’s largest and most successful global investment funds using his independent investment strategy.

Julian Robertson Employer: Founder/Chairman, Tiger Management Corp. Most Famous For: A titan of hedge fund investing, his funds today require a minimum investment of $5 million per person. He turned $8 million in 1980 into over $8 billion in the late 1990s.

Michael Steinhardt Employer: Founder, Steinhardt Partners Most Famous For: $1 invested with Steinhardt when he founded his firm in 1967 would be worth $462 today.