I had on the eve of Diwali posted about my portfolio and performance and promised an update in 6 months. So here goes - The market has c moved 2.37% in 6 months. Whew that is proof of the discussion I was having with my wife and she was cribbing of how its tough to trade in the markets in the last months with even seasoned traders struggling to get a grip on the movement. My view was that there was sideways movement with random volatility and this is proof of that. Anyways, my personal portfolio has increased by 5.66% while for the first time I think my Mutual fund portfolio has beaten both my portfolio and the market by clocking in a 7.48% return.
I had identified shipping, hotels, agri inputs and some specific stocks as inputs. I have actioned on those. Missed out big time on a specific stock I had identified in consumer side and a pick on the financial services I think I have entered at a wrong time. Else I am fairly happy with my picks and I should see better returns.
I am at a loss for themes and stocks now. Looking at a certain area but haven't managed to research it well. I am still unsure of infra or power and I think the execution risks are still underpriced.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
Training
Gone are the days when people spent decades with a company and moved through ranks and then the company took care to ensure the employee was trained for the next role, invested in getting them up to speed and the HR team probably had a big role alongwith the team in which you worked to ensure this happened. But with shortening spans of employment tenure, people shifting across different organisations and careers I am sure it is a nightmare for an organisational HR to take care of this. The skill sets are different, they are measured and recorded of where you stack up in a different way, the record of how you stacked up in the past place is never available, so IMHO training is being neglected in big manner or is being delivered in a way which is inherently flawed and badly targeted.
In my short career I have been with 2 large organisations and 1 small upcoming business, changed 3 careers and don't remember when I was trained for a specific skill set. My learning has been on the job mostly and on the softer skills - its training by watching your boss- more an apprentice model. So if you got a great boss and you could watch and pick up the skill, you honed yourself well. I was lucky I had some incredible bosses and picked decent selling skills, client management skills and people management skills. I am a reluctant cold caller and hate making a sales call on the phone but put me in front of a client and I will breeze through.
Every year in the offsite, during the appraisal discussion I have fought, pleaded, cribbed, requested for more training in areas where I feel a need - it just doesn't come through. I think its to do with the growth in the market, then business couldn't think of training people -you had to execute and the last 1 year we were surviving. We could have trained and made our people ready but we didn't know if we needed them then, if we could hold them or they would stay when things turned around - so we didn't train.
Now I have decided I have to tackle this myself - depending on the company is stupid. The technical skills are the easiest to capture although India is still way behind on offering specific short term courses which are friendly for working executives at a good time payoff. I am more scared/ worried/ occupied of where I can get those softer skill sets. I need a good feedback to understand shortfalls - a self appraisal should always be backed up by a 3rd eye. Post the identification, I am unsure of how to get them. I have written in the past about getting a mentor but I am unable to put into practice.
This is something I need to crack, I have specific requirements of areas I need to build on for the time I intend to be within the corporate world and then as an entrepreneur. Any ideas are welcome and leads appreciated. Will update once I have a game plan on this.
In my short career I have been with 2 large organisations and 1 small upcoming business, changed 3 careers and don't remember when I was trained for a specific skill set. My learning has been on the job mostly and on the softer skills - its training by watching your boss- more an apprentice model. So if you got a great boss and you could watch and pick up the skill, you honed yourself well. I was lucky I had some incredible bosses and picked decent selling skills, client management skills and people management skills. I am a reluctant cold caller and hate making a sales call on the phone but put me in front of a client and I will breeze through.
Every year in the offsite, during the appraisal discussion I have fought, pleaded, cribbed, requested for more training in areas where I feel a need - it just doesn't come through. I think its to do with the growth in the market, then business couldn't think of training people -you had to execute and the last 1 year we were surviving. We could have trained and made our people ready but we didn't know if we needed them then, if we could hold them or they would stay when things turned around - so we didn't train.
Now I have decided I have to tackle this myself - depending on the company is stupid. The technical skills are the easiest to capture although India is still way behind on offering specific short term courses which are friendly for working executives at a good time payoff. I am more scared/ worried/ occupied of where I can get those softer skill sets. I need a good feedback to understand shortfalls - a self appraisal should always be backed up by a 3rd eye. Post the identification, I am unsure of how to get them. I have written in the past about getting a mentor but I am unable to put into practice.
This is something I need to crack, I have specific requirements of areas I need to build on for the time I intend to be within the corporate world and then as an entrepreneur. Any ideas are welcome and leads appreciated. Will update once I have a game plan on this.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Dubai....
So extending my maniac day trip culture to outside India, I did what counts in my books as a day trip to Dubai last week. First the rants :
1. No, not all people flying to "gulf" are malayalees...so don't assume I speak/ understand the language
2. So you probably got your job as an office in the customs department through reservation, bribing or sheer luck.....so if you don't understand what investment banking is and why I need to spend only a day in various countries after flying for hours together, its not my fault....its an existential question I ask myself too, but that doesn't absolve you of your dumbness
3. No, just because your bag is overloaded and mine isn't, I will not agree to carry your liquor and duty free stuff for you...yes we are all sons of the great mother India, but there ends our brotherhood...
4. And please someone tell me how can I break the jinx of sitting very close to a baby which feels like bawling every time I am desperate for sleep on a airplane? I love kids, and all that but please please please....
Ok now back to what I wanted to say....
It amazes me how the city has changed, I was there 2 years ago and boy it looks different. Billions ( trillions? don't think) of dollars have been invested and it shows. As my local contact said, Dubai offers western lifestyle, Indian culture, Arab belief in some things and proximity to India...better to stay there than in India...Has the downturn affected it, yes it has, you can feel it, but I am a believer in the sense that capital gets reallocated and infrastructure gets used - let others have access to it...and I think Dubai will go that way too....it will be back to its path to glory sooner than all of us scenario builders see it...
But the shock of completely illiterate/ low educated Indians going there in hope, the anticipation of redemption from a life of no hope in India to a better future, the knowledge that it might be back breaking work but visit home is just 2-3 years away and the scene back home will show the results of the hard work keep people going. Those last phone calls from the aero bridge, plane seat,the looks at the immigration stamp, the looks given to that boarding pass...I didn't realise what was a 4 hour trip for was a life changer to a lot of people...make it lot more back home who were related to those people....
On the return leg - the emotions were different - frantic buying at duty free, stuff for everyone without burning too much of the cash which can buy more back home, the 2 weeks/ months planned at home...it was a melee of emotions..
I found it very interesting, the range of human emotions, a cacophony of languages - the underlying thoughts seemed same. I was a snob in bits, the rants emerge from there, but as a person who has seen middle class life, I could not help but identify with some of those emotions. Have we failed as a country to educate this mass, create options to earn a decent living while living with loved ones, the quality of life .... but then those are questions I don't/cant/ want to answer...I am running my own race...
Narayan murthy, the Infosys founder, once said that it takes the sacrifice of a generation to uplift a family's standard of living, I would also add education and luck to that mix but I think what I saw was a plane load full of people who had sacrificed the happiness that proximity to family brings, the joy of being with people like you, walking the same streets with your kid as the ones you did with your parent to ensure the quality of life goes up for everyone....It was hope that one day you will return to what you love and this is a means to that end. Maybe not all felt that way, I am sure a few did...
1. No, not all people flying to "gulf" are malayalees...so don't assume I speak/ understand the language
2. So you probably got your job as an office in the customs department through reservation, bribing or sheer luck.....so if you don't understand what investment banking is and why I need to spend only a day in various countries after flying for hours together, its not my fault....its an existential question I ask myself too, but that doesn't absolve you of your dumbness
3. No, just because your bag is overloaded and mine isn't, I will not agree to carry your liquor and duty free stuff for you...yes we are all sons of the great mother India, but there ends our brotherhood...
4. And please someone tell me how can I break the jinx of sitting very close to a baby which feels like bawling every time I am desperate for sleep on a airplane? I love kids, and all that but please please please....
Ok now back to what I wanted to say....
It amazes me how the city has changed, I was there 2 years ago and boy it looks different. Billions ( trillions? don't think) of dollars have been invested and it shows. As my local contact said, Dubai offers western lifestyle, Indian culture, Arab belief in some things and proximity to India...better to stay there than in India...Has the downturn affected it, yes it has, you can feel it, but I am a believer in the sense that capital gets reallocated and infrastructure gets used - let others have access to it...and I think Dubai will go that way too....it will be back to its path to glory sooner than all of us scenario builders see it...
But the shock of completely illiterate/ low educated Indians going there in hope, the anticipation of redemption from a life of no hope in India to a better future, the knowledge that it might be back breaking work but visit home is just 2-3 years away and the scene back home will show the results of the hard work keep people going. Those last phone calls from the aero bridge, plane seat,the looks at the immigration stamp, the looks given to that boarding pass...I didn't realise what was a 4 hour trip for was a life changer to a lot of people...make it lot more back home who were related to those people....
On the return leg - the emotions were different - frantic buying at duty free, stuff for everyone without burning too much of the cash which can buy more back home, the 2 weeks/ months planned at home...it was a melee of emotions..
I found it very interesting, the range of human emotions, a cacophony of languages - the underlying thoughts seemed same. I was a snob in bits, the rants emerge from there, but as a person who has seen middle class life, I could not help but identify with some of those emotions. Have we failed as a country to educate this mass, create options to earn a decent living while living with loved ones, the quality of life .... but then those are questions I don't/cant/ want to answer...I am running my own race...
Narayan murthy, the Infosys founder, once said that it takes the sacrifice of a generation to uplift a family's standard of living, I would also add education and luck to that mix but I think what I saw was a plane load full of people who had sacrificed the happiness that proximity to family brings, the joy of being with people like you, walking the same streets with your kid as the ones you did with your parent to ensure the quality of life goes up for everyone....It was hope that one day you will return to what you love and this is a means to that end. Maybe not all felt that way, I am sure a few did...
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