Here are the most clicked on items this week on Alpha Ideas :
What I learnt from Raamdeo Agrawal (AI)
Portfolio of Kanchan Sunil Singhania (AI)
Shout Out: Indian Investing Conclave (AI)
A tale of two P/E ratios (AI)
Warren Buffett is underperforming for last 10 years (Raamdeo Agrawal)
Two sectors that will make money (Motilal Oswal)
Dinner & Just Dessers (AI)
Why are so many houses vacant? (Ajay Shah)
Model Portfolio of 10 stocks using CANSLIM formula (RJ)
Indian Steel: Industry Analysis (AI)
The title of this book is a misnomer, it should have actually been named as Bringing the Rainbow-The R K Somany story as this book is autobiographical in nature.
The Somany family controls over 55% of India’s sanitary market and the circumstances which led to this makes for fascinating reading.
R K Somany describes his Marwari roots and how the family migrated from Rajasthan to Calcutta.There the family made its fortunes in trading jute and the stock markets.
Subsequently,like other prominent Marwari families, they moved to manufacturing and through sheer hard work made their enterprises a roaring success.
R K Somany writes very honestly about his childhood,personal life and family tussles which is not only unexpected but very illuminating.
The book is full of anecdotes and brings to life the changes that occurred in India’s landscape from Independence.
One anecdote which stands out is during the infamous Calcutta riots of 1946, Amiya Nath Bose,nephew of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, came to their home and collected 2000 rounds of ammunition.
“You look after the Marwaris,I’ll look after the Bengalis”, he told the Somanys
Another interesting aspect of the book is Mr.Somany’s thoughts on succession planning in family enterprises.While the older generation would dearly want their legatees to take over operational control, they seem to have accepted the idea of having professionals at the helm of affairs.
One big takeaway personally for me from this book:
“In the tradition of all the great Marwari businessmen I admire, I believe that cash is king,Every transaction, every move, every decision we take has to be cash positive”
Do buy this book if interested in Indian family run businesses
Some off beat reads for the weekend:
Moving a home in India 1500 miles to save it (NYTimes)
Enter Ruchir Modi (Outlook)
Power Struggle in Saudi Arabia (Zero Hedge)
Modi’s Israel visit (ORF Online)
“Being Bad” is key to take on Pakistan (Jaggi)
The accidental getaway driver (GQ)
“Anti-selling” the Tesla Model 3 (Bloomberg)
Hiking Mt. Rinjani, Indonesia (TeamBHP)
The 97 year old yoga teacher from Coimbatore (YS)
What happens after death, according to Hinduism? (Devdutt)
ISRO’s solar electric car (BI)
Why are labradors the most abandoned dog breed in India? (HP)
The “Niagara Falls of India” (Nat Geo)
Humanity has only 100 years left on Earth (Stephen Hawking)
Pranav Saboo,Founder of Ethos Watch, on his favorite watches (Forbes)
Hat Tip: Dhaval Shah
In 2006:
On a warm Delhi evening in 2006, star fund manager Madhusudan Kela and his trusted lieutenant Sunil Singhania were at a dinner with the promoter of food processing company REI Agro. The firebrand duo from Reliance Mutual Fund was considering an investment in the up and coming firm. The company had also arranged their visit to the factory the following morning. But as the dinner progressed and the chat kept coming back to REI Agro’s future plans, Kela became more and more excited. He asked the promoter if they could visit the plant immediately after dinner instead of the next day. Taken aback, the entrepreneur nevertheless said yes. So it was around midnight that Reliance Mutual Fund decided to make one of its most daring bets. –from Forbes
In 2017:
The CBI today arrested the chairman of REI Agro along with a promoter of the company in connection with an alleged bank loan fraud of Rs 3,871 crore.
It was alleged that the company had defrauded the banks to the extent of Rs 3,871 crore since 2013 through conspiracy, cheating and forgery, the spokesperson said.
It is alleged that the company cheated the banks using 150 shell companies, on the basis of fixed commission, through a group of brokers by creating false invoice, documents of money transfers for non-existent transactions, CBI sources said.-from Money Control
Source: Climateer
