If you are looking for a model portfolio where stocks are picked as
per a specific process, you have to check the portfolios of PIPE
(Private Investment in Public Equity) Funds.
Some leading PIPE funds in India are Pulak Chandra Prasad’s Nalanda
Capital, Sumir Chadha’s Westbridge Capital/ Jwalamukhi Holdings, Brahmal
Vasudevan’s Creador Capital/ Idria, Renuka Ramnath’s Multiples Equity
etc.
The portfolios of each of these PIPE funds is constructed after
complete due diligence and after paying proper attention to all aspects
of fundamentals, management quality, size of opportunity, valuations etc
of the stock.
No wonder that these funds have given their lucky investors humongous returns over the years.
In the latest issue of Outlook Business, Sumir Chadha of Westbridge
Capital/ Jwalamukhi has given important pointers of the fund’s
investment technique. He has also discussed the Fund’s favourite
holdings at length.
India offers a massive opportunity to find stocks:
India has a huge number of listed companies – over 4,000 – which
means there is a massive opportunity to find good stocks. In other
countries you don’t find this – in Brazil, there may be 500 listed
companies, in Indonesia, it’s a couple of hundred. In India, for
historical reasons, it is easy to get listed and we don’t have
Sarbanes-Oxley and all that stuff that inhibits promoters from coming to
the public market, like in the US.
Indian entrepreneurs are among the best globally:
Indian entrepreneurs are among the best globally because the truth is
that it is so difficult to build a company in India. Being an Indian
entrepreneur is like being an Ethiopian runner. The Ethiopian runners
are really fast as their countries are very high above sea level, so
there is very low oxygen. They are used to running on very low oxygen.
That is one of the reasons Ethiopians are one of the world’s best
runners. When they come to sea level and they are running they are
killing every-one else because suddenly for them it is like running
down. It is easy. In the same way, Indian entrepreneurs are used to such
tough conditions in running a business. Every distributor is trying to
squeeze you, everyone is negotiating with you. They all make it through
that. I would say the good ones stay grounded, though there are the
stereotypical flashy entrepreneurs as well. But we like entrepreneurs
who are down-to-earth, stable and uphold middle class values. That is,
sort of, what we find works in the long term.
The volatility in Indian markets is a big advantage because stocks can be bought very cheap and sold very high:
The Indian market is highly volatile. If you are a patient long-term
investor, it actually works to your advantage. Because when things get
depressed, they get so depressed that there arises a great opportunity
to buy. And when they get euphoric, they get so euphoric and that is a
good time to sell.
We look at volatility as our friend. Say tomorrow there is a sharp
market downturn, we would love it. We have a lot of uncalled capital and
cash. We would just start buying in our own names. When things get too
hot we start exiting, if things get cold we use that as an opportunity
to buy a lot. That is how we manage our own risk.
High-Quality mid-caps that are not actively traded make the best investments:
We like to focus on high quality mid-caps and there are a lot of them in India.
We love stocks that are not actively traded as they tend to be
mispriced. We usually buy a chunk, typically 5-25%, in a listed entity
with a long-term view of the promoter and the company.
For example, four years back, we had bought shares of Astral Poly
Technik. When we bought a 12% stake in the company it had a Rs. 300
crore market cap and was hardly traded. Today, it has a 15,000 crore
market cap. We sold half of our stake last year with a fantastic gain.
Hold stocks for the long-term and, if possible, for forever:
Long term can be very long or short depending upon the situation.
But, generally, we take a five-to 10-year view. The way our current fund
works is that, unlike a private equity fund, it is an ever growing
fund. So, in many cases, we may end up hold something for 20 or 30
years. Some of our companies we may never sell. So, our fund is designed
to be a little bit more like the wealthy families in India, where if
you are investing your own money, just leave it there, you don’t have to
sell. But some-times, we may sell very quickly if a stock runs up a lot
in a very short period. We sell because in a public market there is
always the opportunity to buy it cheaper. Hence, unlike a PE fund, we
enjoy a lot more flexibility and that is a huge advantage.
What to look for in companies -overarching theme in the portfolio:
We look for high quality franchisee businesses that can generate
superior return on capital over the long term. For us, that means
companies with unfair advantages. Typically, we look for a very strong
brand with a great reputation, a very strong distribution network, the
type of things that make it very hard for a competitor to come in and
eat their lunch.
The overarching theme is to invest in companies with long-term
competitive and unfair advantages that arc very hard to replicate. That
is a basic theme and cuts across industries. So we look for some edge.
Have a concentrated portfolio. Be very selective in your investment:
We have a very concentrated portfolio, a really small number of high
quality companies. Our top 12 companies account for about 75% of our
asset value. So, we don’t hold a huge number of investments. We are not
afraid to put a lot of money into these companies because we believe in
them. Or, if we don’t believe in them we don’t invest. We are not like a
mutual fund in India that will typically own 80 stocks in the
portfolio. We find that a riskier approach. We don’t want 80. We want
the top 10 or 15, so we are really choosy. In India, over the past 16
years we have invested in 200 companies. We invested in many of the
companies when they were small and we were on the board. Now they are
listed. We know either the promoters or the board members pretty well
from many years. Also, before investing, we do the usual things: a
background check, send an investigative firm to check on various things,
and our own calls or references. We spend a lot of time with them, and
we either get comfortable or we don’t. Any whiff of promoter risk and we
walk away.
Have an exit strategy in place:
If prices turn too steep, we cash out. We sold quite a lot of stuff,
million dollars worth of stocks, in the past three quarters. So, we have
exited quite a bit. If things keep going up we will keep exiting. In
mid-caps, in a bear market there are no buyers and that is good because
we are the buyers who get these stocks at a discount. In a bull market,
there are plenty of takers. You should see how many calls we get for
many of our companies saying, “Please, can you give me a block stake!”
For a typical structure, take Mayur as an example. The company’s
promoter owns over 70% of the company and we own 10%. We have the
largest non-promoter holding and then there all these small retail
shareholders. The promoter is never going to sell, so anyone who wants
to own something substantial will come to us. Half the time we are
saying ‘no, but in the past three quarters, we sold quite a lot. But
then, we sell only in a good market. If it is a bad market, we will not
sell. So, when the market was really bad in 2011, 2012 and 2013 we
invested heavily and we sold nothing. Then last year the market became
good and we started selling, but very selectively.
Avoid investments in technology stocks if you cannot understand them:
The technology sector is rapidly changing. It makes it hard to invest
in the sector. Our current fund has very little tech for that reason.
It is the reason a lot of public investors shy away from technology
because they say, “Look, there is a lot of money to be made but it is
also very risky.” A company can suddenly lose its edge very fast. But
plumbers will not forget the Astral brand very easily. Success can be
quite short-lived in technology. But when it creates value it is
incredible.
http://rakesh-jhunjhunwala.in/sumir-chadha-of-westbridge-capital-jwalamukhi-explains-technique-for-finding-multi-bagger-stocks-also-discusses-fav-stocks/ 
