The Trinity of Higher ROCE, High Reinvestment and High Growth
In our February 2020 newsletter we had highlighted the 22% rally in the BSE Smallcap index from August 2019-end to early February 2020. Since then the BSE Smallcap Index is down 10%. As in February 2020 when investors seemed to be turning euphoric and today when they are turning bearish, we advocate buying clean & dominant franchises […]
The Tesla Experiment
When it comes to investors’ irrational exuberance in the markets, it does seem like it is no different from a child’s excitement about things that deliver instant gratification. Except unlike kids, we tend to rationalise what is entirely an act of emotion. Here’s a heartwarming story of a father taking his adolescent son on a […]
The Gap Between Large and Small Companies Is Growing. Why?
Popular belief amongst investors is that large companies tend to grow slower, especially given that the size tends to have drag on their agility when it comes to innovation. We often are asked if we aren’t worried about our Consistent Compounders portfolio companies which are already well known market leaders in their respective sectors. In […]
Scientists reveal the number of times you are conscious each minute
We agonise over how smartphones and social media have reduced our attention span and made us distractible in general. Turns out we human beings are naturally wired to be distractible in the first place. Indeed, new research shows that the human mind oscillates in and out of focus four times every second according to scientists […]
The Coronavirus Is No 1918 Pandemic
As the number of countries reporting incidences of patients with Coronavirus symptoms rises, fear and panic has gripped the world even harder, with suggestions that it could be the worst pandemic the world has seen. So, what has the been the worst the world has seen historically and how does it compare to what we […]
Kids Don’t Need to Stay ‘On Track’ to Succeed
Whilst most of us at Marcellus have self-selected ourselves to get off the beaten track, many of us are as worried as any other parent as to what our kids will do when they grow up and how will they stay happy and become “successful”. In this piece, Madeline Levine, a psychologist from California tells […]
Why so many of the world’s oldest companies are in Japan
Given that we like investing in outstanding franchises which produce stellar free cashflows for decades on end, we are particularly interested in understanding why Japan – more than any other country – houses some of the oldest companies in the world. As per this article from the BBC, “The country has 33,000 businesses at least […]
CCP’s performance in FY20 fully supported by earnings growth
The performance of Marcellus’ CCP portfolio over the past 12 months has been fully supported by fundamentals. The CCP stocks have seen more than 30% YoY growth in profits during 3QFY20 and 9MFY20 vs 28% portfolio performance since 1st April 2019. In fact, CCP stocks have seen more than 20% annualized growth in profits over […]
Can religion fight climate change?
At a time when newsflow associated with religion has been rather acerbic, here is a refreshing piece about how religion as a means to fight one of the gravest problems facing humanity – climate change. The Parliament of World Religions (PoWR), a global forum for inter-faith interactions, is driving discourse around climate change and committing […]
Spies often use businesses as cover
The fascinating world of espionage has inspired many authors and film makers alike over the years and continue to enthral us with works of fiction. But the real world stories of spies have an added layer of thrill to it. This piece in the Economist talks about the instances where spies have infiltrated regular business […]
Fund managers are not like sports stars (but don’t tell them)
Fund managers often attain star status after a period of strong outperformance. Indeed, it helps the asset management company’s cause to support that status as it helps its fund-raising campaigns. Given much of the asset management business is now mostly an asset gathering exercise, this is understandable. However, this article focuses on the sustainability of […]
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