The Korean Invasion – Can Cultural Exports Give South Korea a Geopolitical Boost?
The Korean TV series, Squid Game is already the world’s most popular TV series with Netflix making almost a billion dollars from the series that’s topping the charts in over a 100 countries. The gripping drama about the negative influence of growing consumer credit in Korean society, is yet another instance of Korean pop culture […]
The Art of (Not) Selling
Whilst there are many privileges to being a Marcellus employee, one of the most tragic aspects of our job is watching hard working Indian families indulge in an illness called “profit taking”. As per this misguided school of investing, if your investments have done very well recently, you should “take some profits off the table”. […]
‘The Custodian of Trust: A Banker’s Memoir’
The former Chairman of SBI, Rajnish Kumar, has written an interesting book recounting the highlights from his stint at the top of India’s largest bank (if measured by the size of the balance sheet). Particularly interesting to read is the drama and chaos around the rescue of Yes Bank in March 2020. This chaos is […]
Is ESG investing in India practically feasible?
ESG assets under management in India have increased by four times in the last two years to touch Rs11,800 crore. Although a noble mission, practicing it is not easy. There are unique challenges in assessing compliance of the same by companies as well as in balancing the conflicts that routinely arise amongst the three aspects […]
Air India and the Maharajah Man
The sale of Air India (back) to the Tatas is likely to go down as an epic moment in India’s political economic history, partly because of the political will for the divestment of an asset as state entrenched as this one, but also the history of the airline itself, having been nationalised from the Tatas […]
time millionaires: meet the people pursuing the pleasure of leisure
The eternal debate of work vs leisure has attained greater proportions during the pandemic. The 3L&3S has featured enough debates around the optimal way to balance WFH with in-person attendance at work. At the one extreme are people who have found WFH too hectic given the blurring of lines between work and life. At the […]
Bill Miller 3Q 2021 Market Letter
As it is, the first question in a client pitch is our thoughts on how the market is likely to pan out in the near future. With the markets threatening to correct somewhat, it has occupied an even greater part of the conversation. In what is his last quarterly market commentary, Bill Miller helps us […]
Intel slipped—and its future now depends on making everyone else’s chips
The semiconductor industry, which touches every aspect of our lives now – from cars to electronic gadgets to our social media and Netflix afflictions, is at an inflection point like never before. As this article puts it “the leading edge of semiconductor manufacturing, one of the world’s most profitable, challenging, and cutthroat businesses.” A few weeks […]
Review of ‘The Brains and Brawn Company: How Leading Organizations Blend the Best of Digital and Physical’ by Robert Siegel
As more consumer internet IPOs head for the Indian stockmarket, we are asked by Marcellus’ clients whether our investee firms are going to be disrupted by VC funded digital cash guzzlers. At the other end of the world, Robert Siegel has written an outstanding book on the same subject – the only difference is that […]
Secret of Dhoni’s success: Simplicity and clarity
As one of our heroes, Rahul Dravid, heads towards high office in Indian cricket, we highlight this superb piece from Sandeep Dwiwedi of the Indian Express who pays fulsome tribute to one of the smartest cricketers to have played for India, MS Dhoni. Beyond paying tribute to Dhoni, this article highlights – without intending to […]
How Can the Stock market be Taken to the Masses?
The two most of common ways of accessing the stock market – mutual funds and brokerage accounts – are relatively expensive for ordinary Indians. If the Indian stock market is to be taken to the masses, the highly successful National Pension Scheme construct looks to be the most likely vehicle which can serve this purpose. […]
Learning from global financials – Part-1: Progressive Corp.
As discussed in our Mar, 2021 newsletter on ICICI Lombard (click here to read), the unique business model of raising cash upfront (at possibly no cost) and earning income on it for extended periods of time makes a well-run general insurer an attractive business to own. In this newsletter we discuss Progressive Corp., an American auto insurer established […]
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