When is corruption good for growth?
Corruption is often attributed as one of the key impediments to development and growth. However, Shrabani Saha and Kunal Sen of the United Nations University in a working paper (see here) show that there is indeed a positive correlation between corruption and growth drawing from the experiences of East Asian economies who demonstrated long periods of […]
All-Time Highs Are Both Scary & Normal
A common question from clients these days is “How comfortable are you investing now given the markets (and your portfolio stocks) are at all-time highs?”. Our simple answer is that our portfolio earnings are also at all-time highs. Indeed, for the fiscal year to date, our portfolio is up a little over 20% whilst its weighted […]
Doctors are turning to YouTube to learn how to do surgical procedures, but there’s no quality control
Social media and the rise of user-generated content has certainly bridged a lot of information gaps but also raised questions around authenticity leading to issues highlighted elsewhere in this piece, especially around fake news driven political propaganda. The issues become somewhat more serious if it were to be in the field of health and medicine. […]
Hippie Inc: how the counterculture went corporate
We will shift focus from Silicon Valley’s darker side to its mellower side. The Hippie counterculture from the 1960s now finds itself at the heart of capitalism. How did that happen? Well, as with most things these days, Silicon Valley played a big role: “Google, Apple, Facebook, Nike, Procter & Gamble and General Motors all offer […]
ADL International Leadership Award Presented to Sacha Baron Cohen at Never Is Now 2019
For the first time we are kicking-off of ‘Three Longs & Three Shorts’ with a video because for the first time we have found a video which is worth more than a week of newspaper reading. Those of us who have watched Sacha Baron Cohen’s comedy over the past 25 years had no idea that […]
Are consistent compounders too big to grow?
Marcellus’ Consistent Compounders Portfolio consists of companies which have already delivered consistently healthy growth in their fundamentals over the past decade or longer, and where we expect the firms to deliver consistent compounding over the next decade as well. However, given the long and consistent historical track record of these companies, some investors are concerned […]
We demand an absurd level of certainty from our politicians – and this makes them stupid
It is said that intelligence is not static. Whilst we all are born with a certain IQ, it is possible that with curiosity to learn by reading, listenening and reflecting, one can improve her intelligence or indeed the lack there of could drive one the other way round. Whilst this is applicable to professionals in […]
The Joy of Finding Out
Equity analysts are not exactly rocket scientists but most analysts would agree equity research is quite a fulfilling profession. It is a job where you learn something new every single day. But even the gruelling aspect of endless readings and numerous interviews with people knowledgeable about a company or an industry just to find an […]
Rituals and Routines
We are a big fan of routines and wrote a note on it six months ago: https://marcellus.in/blogs/marcellus-the-working-habits-of-great-minds/. In this piece Ben Carlson, from the superb Ritholz stable in NYC, writes about elite baseball players use a relatively straightforward routine which allows them to maintain strength and fitness over a long and demanding career: “Dana Cavalea became the […]
How Jaipur became an economic crimes hub
India’s Q2 GDP growth was reported to be 4.5%, the lowest in six years. Much of the country’s slowdown woes can be ascribed to the liquidity squeeze caused by the financial system’s asset quality strain, which in turn has been caused by, amongst other things, the challenges in the real estate sector. Turns out, the […]
The Feud that Created America’s Greatest Race Car
Around the time that cable TV came to India in the early nineties, Michael Schumacher, the legendary Formula 1 driver was racing in a Ford and ended up winning his first two titles in that car before switching to Ferrari in which he won 5 more titles. That Ford vs Ferrari saga was reignited by […]
The Long-Forgotten Flight That Sent Boeing Off Course
Plenty has been written about how the “financialisation” of Wall Street and the City of London over the last 40 years has created in these places – and hence by extension in Dalal Street – a toxic culture of greed is good, a culture that values short term share price gain over long term franchise […]
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