The Most Damaging Myths in Indian Investing
Portfolio construction based on grandmothers’ stories and advice from snake oil salesmen means that the vast majority of affluent Indians have invested most of their wealth in assets which do not and,cannot deliver returns in excess of the rate of inflation. This skewed portfolio allocation means that millions of Indian families are heading into retirement […]
The pandemic has shown that amazon is essential – but vulnerable
This week’s The Economist carries this piece in its Leaders section with a caricature of Jeff Bezos that has a mischievous resemblance to Dr Evil of Austin Powers fame. The article highlights that indeed the pandemic and the lockdown have clearly boosted the prospects of e-commerce, what with a whole of host of consumers who hitherto shied […]
Robert Clive was a vicious asset-stripper. His statue has no place on Whitehall
As Indians attempt to build an “Atmanirbhar Bharat” (self-reliant India), here’s a piece about a man who triggered India’s economic collapse from being the world’s leading manufacturing nation. As the ‘Black Lives Matter’ anti-racism protests have gained ground, protestors and even governments across the world have been pulling down statues of historical figures whose lives have been […]
Terry Smith’s Owners Manual – 14 Filters For Purchasing A Great Investment
Few people in fund management can claim to be as iconoclastic as Terry Smith. For many of us at Marcellus, Terry is an inspiration of sorts given the common beliefs and backgrounds. First, Terry never pulled his punches as a sell-side analyst, most famously as an analyst at Barclays for having written a sell note on […]
How Exactly Do You Catch Covid-19? There Is a Growing Consensus
Two weeks ago, the World Health Organisation issued a statement saying asymptomatic carriers are rare transmitters of Covid, only to retract the statement hours later. For all our faith in mankind’s scientific prowess, this pandemic has brought to fore the unfortunate truth that several months on from the discovery of the virus, our understanding of […]
Marc Andreessen on time management
Marc Andreessen has been an influential thinker and VC for twice as long as Peter Thiel. In this interview with Sriram Krishnan, he focuses on how he manages his time. Based on this interview, we discern five specific strands in Mr Andreessen’s time management philosophy: Have a well-structured routine from Mon-Fri and follow that routine […]
The Gospel According to Peter Thiel
Love him or hate him, you cannot deny that Peter Thiel has been for some time now one of the most prescient thinkers in the world and someone who has the courage to back his convictions with cold hard cash. As Ms Burton says in this superb essay: “With a net worth of approximately $2.3 billion, […]
Inside the Mind Of the Indian Monopolist
All happy companies are different: each one earns a monopoly by solving a unique problem. All failed companies are the same: they failed to escape competition – Peter Thiel in ‘Zero to One ‘, (2014) Peter Thiel in his bestselling book, Zero to One (2014), compared Google with America’s airlines industry. He highlighted that the US airline […]
Playing the Market Has a Whole New Meaning
Every now and then we run into a prospect who at the end of the meeting would ask for a stock tip as a parting gift of sorts. Some of them are self professed punters who fully recognise they are just pandering to their gambling instincts and therefore dabble a bit rather than bet their […]
How to Feed Crowds in a Protest or Pandemic? The Sikhs Know
Amidst the pandemic and riots of 2020 when nothing seems to be going particularly right, the Sikh community in the US is quietly going about feeding thousands of people in need for free, showing the better side of humanity. The article talks about the aspect of selfless service that is an essential part of Sikhism. […]
The ‘Don’t Worry, Make Money’ Strategy Trouncing The Stock Market By 30 Percentage Points
At Marcellus, we embrace the risk minimisation approach to investing which reflects our team’s highly sceptical view of most things in the market. Whilst scepticism does help avoid loss making prospects, it does sometimes lead to passing on potentially money-making opportunities. Here’s a century old investment firm which is taking the opposite approach of positive […]
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