As we at Accelt Asset Management, a SEBI registered PMS, embark on managing and accelerating wealth creation for its clients, I would love to discuss about my investment journey.
Born and brought up in a middle-class Marwari business family in Kolkata, there was always an entrepreneurial drive to start a business. I remember listening to my father discussing about business matters at the dinner table when I was a child. We had a manufacturing plant in West Bengal where we used to manufacture rice bran oil. There were three partners in the business and there was always a tussle going amongst them. Although the industry was doing well, we were struggling due to internal conflict and imprudent business decisions. By the time I was in college I had realized that I had to make my own way in life.
As a young boy in school, I was always fascinated by mathematics and was good with numbers. I also had a keen interest in business, so I chose the commerce stream. I was among the top performers in my school and managed to get into the prestigious St. Xavier’s College in Kolkata.
Like many of my peers in college, I enrolled for Chartered Accountancy. However, the only thing that I was interested in during my college days was ‘share market’. This was around the 2006-07 period when equity markets were on a melt up. I used to see my batchmates trade in stocks and was mesmerized by the ease and simplicity of them making money just by sitting in front of a computer.
During that period, watching stock prices move up and down was the only hobby I had. With Rs 1 Lakh borrowed capital from my father I started trading in stocks. It is said “Don’t confuse brains with a bull market”. I was able to turn that 1 lakh into 4 lacs in a year without much effort. It was pure momentum trading. I had completely ignored my studies as I thought that making money was easy.
As Warren Buffett used to say, only when the tide goes down you discover who is swimming naked. In 2008 suddenly life came to a standstill. The global financial crisis had hit and big banks like Lehman went bankrupt overnight. It was a traumatic experience as I lost all the money I had made. Along with the money my confidence in markets also vanished!
Having lost money in equity markets and no future in a declining family business, I realized that I needed to focus on my education. From 2008 till 2011, I worked hard and managed to complete my CA. Along with that I was able to complete various other professional degrees like Company Secretary and Masters in Finance. In hindsight I think 2008 GFC was a blessing in disguise for me as I was able to focus on my education.
After completing my CA in 2011, I got a job in Mumbai. Although I was not trading anymore, I used to closely read the financial newspapers and watch business news channels. I started wondering how great investors like Buffett and Munger made such huge wealth through investing.
In general, both in investing and in life, one has to be curious to succeed. In 2011, I must have read more than 50 books on investing in less than six months. I realized that the holy grail of investing was to invest in great businesses and let the magic of compounding create wealth over long periods of time. This had such a profound impact on my life that I started investing all my savings in equity markets.
Over the last 13 years I have had a very simple and frugal approach towards life. For me delayed gratification was very important so that I could maximize my savings and invest in stocks. From travelling in local trains in Mumbai and avoiding private transport, to avoiding unnecessary spend on branded clothes, I did it all to save as much money as I could. Also, I was always on the lookout for increasing my income. I used to spend my weekends by being an examiner for professional bodies or earning money by teaching mathematics to young children.
Over the last decade, I switched jobs from a manufacturing company to financial services and investment research. It made sense for me to be in the domain of investment research as my heart and soul was deeply entrenched in it. I also became a CFA (US) charter holder which has helped me improve on my research and analytical skills. In my last job I worked as Head of Research at Basant Maheshwari Wealth Advisers for about six years.
During the course of my career, my investment philosophy has evolved and become more refined. I have tried to condense my learnings into the GMCV model, on which I have based the portfolio for Accelt.
The journey of investing through its peak and troughs has been a rewarding experience for me. I have been lucky to identify and hold on to several great businesses which have been big multi-baggers. Investing in companies like Raymond (10X), LT Foods (7X), Time Technoplast (6X), Dixon Technologies (5x), HAL (5X) etc. ensured that by the age of 35 I was able to become financially free. Taking concentrated positions in high conviction ideas and letting great businesses compound my money over long periods has helped me.
It is said that a ship is always safe at shore. But that is not what it is built for. Sometimes it becomes important to get out of your comfort zone in order to achieve what you want in life. As I leave the safety of a salaried profession and wear the entrepreneur hat at Accelt, there is tremendous optimism and belief in our ability to help our clients to accelerate their wealth creation.
We aim to use our learnings, experiences and knowledge with cumulative team experience of more than 2 decades to create a robust research and fund management team at Accelt. For us integrity, sincerity and honesty are core values which are non-negotiable. Our fiduciary responsibility towards our clients remains paramount and we will leave no stone unturned in pursuit of accelerating wealth creation for our clients.
Vaibhav Agarwal
Founder & CIO
Accelt Asset Management LLP