You’re not going to like what comes after Pax Americana
For those of us uninitiated, Pax Americana is a term used to refer to the period post World War 2, when the US became the dominant economic and military power which supposedly contributed to relative peace in the western hemisphere. Especially the period post the collapse of the Soviet Union has been termed Long Peace, […]
People not professionals
Over the past decade, several of us in Marcellus have sought counselling from psychologists to deal with the pressures of our job alongside personal upheavals such as losing a loved one to trying to settle down in a new country. However, people like us our fortunate at multiple levels – we have the money to […]
Portfolio Performance and Update on Fundamentals September
Consistent Compounders Portfolio (CCP) Despite volatility in the external economic and geo-political environment, Marcellus’ CCP companies have historically delivered consistency of revenue growth and profit growth. We expect this consistency to sustain in the foreseeable future as well. Additionally, over the last few months, we have seen a rise in competitive intensity through new entrants […]
Large parts of Asia are getting old before they get rich
That the Indian economy is a bright star on the global horizon is consensus thinking. One of the key reasons for the promise that India holds is its large young working age population or what is referred to as the demographic dividend. This piece in the Economist not only shows why that is such a […]
MS Swaminathan, architect of India’s green revolution, 1925-2023
Those of us who are fortunate enough to live in an era which celebrates teenagers who launch vegetable delivery apps looked back with pride at the life of one India’s biggest gamechangers, MS Swaminathan. As John Reed wrote on the FT last week, “MS Swaminathan, who has died aged 98, was a university student in Kerala […]
Claudia Goldin’s Nobel-Winning Research Shows ‘Why Women Won’
We have been featuring a slew of articles related to the rise of the Indian woman and its impact on the Indian economy and society. Amidst this, it was heartening to see this year’s Nobel Prize for Economics being awarded to a woman (the first solo in the field) – Claudia Goldin. Even better, the […]
The unlikely hero who crashed Wall Street and made millions – then vanished
This week saw the release of the movie ‘Dumb Money’, based on the meme stock mania of early 2021. The stimulus cheque induced stock market rally at a time when most people were home locked down sucked in many first-time investors. Social media where such rookie investors could share information and worse, make concerted bets […]
Deogarh dreams of next hockey star. No turf, no shoes but ‘every house has a player & fan’
For several decades now it has been well understood that a country’s sporting success is a lagging indicator of its progress on economic & social indicators. Hence there is a lot to be proud about when we see India raking in 100+ medals at the latest edition of the Asian Games. However, amidst the national […]
The insider: how Michael Lewis got a backstage pass for the fall of Sam Bankman-Fried
For the past three decades, Michael Lewis has been amongst the best non-fiction writers in the world. For the past few years, Samanth Subramanian has been amongst the best young journalists in the world. So, when Samanth Subramanian writes about Michael Lewis, you know that you are bound to get great copy. This long piece […]
Why Fundamentals and Valuations Matter
MeritorQ’s strategy of picking high-quality undervalued companies delivers better risk adjusted returns by taking advantage of mispricing associated with erroneous investor expectation. Such a strategy also delivers positive excess returns (i.e., returns in excess of the benchmark, in this case the BSE 500) around earnings dates further reaffirming the mispricing hypothesis. In fact, a significant […]
Hit the snooze button: it’s good for you
Contrary to what you might have heard about the merits of waking up at 5am, Ms Berwick of the FT says that as per the results arising from new scientific studies, you should take it easy in the morning: “….a new study suggests there are real health benefits to be gained from sleeping in until 7am […]
Why have big bank CEOs gone silent?
Dinesh Unnikrishnan’s brief article is interesting because what is left unsaid in this article is even more interest than the specific contents of this article. Mr Unnikrishnan notes that India’s private sector bank CEOs have chosen discretion over valour when it comes to opening their mouths in the public. Why so? ““It’s better to keep […]
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