Rakesh Jhunjhunwala has made his fame and fortune by calling the markets right. How he has gone with a starting capital of Rs 5,000 to a net worth of a few thousand crore rupees is now the stuff of urban legend.
Q: Now is there something about making money, about trading and business that is linked with this survival instinct?
A: You know, trading always keeps you on your feet, it keeps you alert. That's one of the reasons why I like to trade.
Q: What are these attitudes in life that you have got from your profession?
A: First thing I've learnt is that markets work. They are the best mechanism to build societies.
Q: You are philosophical about what you do, isn't it?
A: I am passionate, I don't know whether I am philosophical or not. I am observant surely.
Q: The India shining story, are you the face of that story, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala?
A: Well, that's not for me to say. I entered the market at Index 150. Today, the index is at 12, 000. It's eighty times. And you know, I too could have gone abroad, I am a qualified chartered accountant. I could have practiced. It’s a fact that a person who started in 1985 in India in stock markets, could meet with success. Which speaks for the volume of opportunities available here.
Q: Today, every move you make, every investment you make, every stock you put your money on is tracked, there are people who jump into the bandwagon, whether you like it or not. Does that pressurise you?
A: See Ma'm, I've no clients except my wife because I don't want to be answerable to anybody. But with her, I've no choice.
Q: Does it pressurise you, this performance anxiety? Like if I am a cricketer or a soccer player, and if I start performing well, there's always an expectation that every time I go into the batting field, I'll score a 100. Look at what's happening to Sachin Tendulkar?
A: But Ma’m, whether anyone's watching or not, I'm always paranoid about all my actions. And the likelihood of my actions being successful, say five years ago, or ten years ago or today, is only better to the extent of what better experiences I've had. I am fearless. I am not concerned about what people think. I am only concerned about my deeds.
Q: You are an icon, when it comes to someone who's successful at the stock market. Are there lot of Bunties and Bablis who want to become Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, you think?
A: I do get mail from a lot of people, who say they want to invest in markets, and follow my career path. What did I do, they want to know.
Q: Ordinary investors, retired people. Do you think there's an understanding that they want to be educated or they just want to make a quick buck?
A: See, markets are about money, but markets are also about knowledge. Markets are also about egos; markets are also about the satisfaction of having been proved right. Especially, when that right is from an original thought and not from a guided source or following somebody. So I feel the anxiety, curiosity and the anxiousness to know about the market; it's quite general. But markets being markets, the ability is quite limited in my opinion.
Q: Greed and fear, you said, are the two traits that have to be balanced. How does one balance them? Give us an anecdote, where you had to balance it.
A: Anuradha, it's like this. Suppose I invest in Titan. I bought 'x' number of shares, I was extremely bullish, right? And you know, I would have been greedy if I had put in more than certain percentage of my wealth into Titan. And I didn't do it out of fear that Titan might not do well. I might lose my principal.
Q: What about ACC? You sold ACC at lot less than what it actually went on to be?
A: Ma’m, about markets, they say, either don't come to markets or don't regret what you have done. Right? Naya gilli, naya dao. I think the second quarter 1991 result was the best ACC produced for the next 10 years. And after those results came, I sold the shares. I bought them for 300 and within three months, I'd sold them for 3,500. And the price went to 10, 000. I've no regrets.
Q: You have no regrets, but what principle drove you at that point, fear or greed?
A: I think I was neither being greedy nor being fearful, I was just being rational.
Q: Celebrating three years of the bull run, the BSE Index has gone from 3000 plus to 12,000 plus in just three years. And this investor says, it's going to continue that way.
A: You know, Sensex has gone from 3000 to 12,000 in the last three years. You know people are excited, everybody's making money and that's why markets are making headlines. As they say Teji me sab ka bol bala, mandi me sab ka muh kala.
Q: Every time the markets run up, people get extremely euphoric and they get very very nervous, isn't it? And you are the guy whom they run to defend the Bull Run?
A: There's no question of defending the bull run. See, we forget what markets are. Markets reflect economic truth and fundamentals. And I think India is going into a lot of unprecedented economic growth, I think the markets are only recognising that.
A: You know, trading always keeps you on your feet, it keeps you alert. That's one of the reasons why I like to trade.
Q: What are these attitudes in life that you have got from your profession?
A: First thing I've learnt is that markets work. They are the best mechanism to build societies.
Q: You are philosophical about what you do, isn't it?
A: I am passionate, I don't know whether I am philosophical or not. I am observant surely.
Q: The India shining story, are you the face of that story, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala?
A: Well, that's not for me to say. I entered the market at Index 150. Today, the index is at 12, 000. It's eighty times. And you know, I too could have gone abroad, I am a qualified chartered accountant. I could have practiced. It’s a fact that a person who started in 1985 in India in stock markets, could meet with success. Which speaks for the volume of opportunities available here.
Q: Today, every move you make, every investment you make, every stock you put your money on is tracked, there are people who jump into the bandwagon, whether you like it or not. Does that pressurise you?
A: See Ma'm, I've no clients except my wife because I don't want to be answerable to anybody. But with her, I've no choice.
Q: Does it pressurise you, this performance anxiety? Like if I am a cricketer or a soccer player, and if I start performing well, there's always an expectation that every time I go into the batting field, I'll score a 100. Look at what's happening to Sachin Tendulkar?
A: But Ma’m, whether anyone's watching or not, I'm always paranoid about all my actions. And the likelihood of my actions being successful, say five years ago, or ten years ago or today, is only better to the extent of what better experiences I've had. I am fearless. I am not concerned about what people think. I am only concerned about my deeds.
Q: You are an icon, when it comes to someone who's successful at the stock market. Are there lot of Bunties and Bablis who want to become Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, you think?
A: I do get mail from a lot of people, who say they want to invest in markets, and follow my career path. What did I do, they want to know.
Q: Ordinary investors, retired people. Do you think there's an understanding that they want to be educated or they just want to make a quick buck?
A: See, markets are about money, but markets are also about knowledge. Markets are also about egos; markets are also about the satisfaction of having been proved right. Especially, when that right is from an original thought and not from a guided source or following somebody. So I feel the anxiety, curiosity and the anxiousness to know about the market; it's quite general. But markets being markets, the ability is quite limited in my opinion.
Q: Greed and fear, you said, are the two traits that have to be balanced. How does one balance them? Give us an anecdote, where you had to balance it.
A: Anuradha, it's like this. Suppose I invest in Titan. I bought 'x' number of shares, I was extremely bullish, right? And you know, I would have been greedy if I had put in more than certain percentage of my wealth into Titan. And I didn't do it out of fear that Titan might not do well. I might lose my principal.
Q: What about ACC? You sold ACC at lot less than what it actually went on to be?
A: Ma’m, about markets, they say, either don't come to markets or don't regret what you have done. Right? Naya gilli, naya dao. I think the second quarter 1991 result was the best ACC produced for the next 10 years. And after those results came, I sold the shares. I bought them for 300 and within three months, I'd sold them for 3,500. And the price went to 10, 000. I've no regrets.
Q: You have no regrets, but what principle drove you at that point, fear or greed?
A: I think I was neither being greedy nor being fearful, I was just being rational.
Q: Celebrating three years of the bull run, the BSE Index has gone from 3000 plus to 12,000 plus in just three years. And this investor says, it's going to continue that way.
A: You know, Sensex has gone from 3000 to 12,000 in the last three years. You know people are excited, everybody's making money and that's why markets are making headlines. As they say Teji me sab ka bol bala, mandi me sab ka muh kala.
Q: Every time the markets run up, people get extremely euphoric and they get very very nervous, isn't it? And you are the guy whom they run to defend the Bull Run?
A: There's no question of defending the bull run. See, we forget what markets are. Markets reflect economic truth and fundamentals. And I think India is going into a lot of unprecedented economic growth, I think the markets are only recognising that.
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