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India's Warren Buffett - Rakesh Jhunjhunwala

Rakesh Jhunjhunwala is an Indian Chartered Accountant by qualification but an investor / trader by profession. In 2010, Forbes rated him India's 51st and the world's #1062 richest man with wealth of $1.0 billion. He is a famous equity investor in India and manages his own portfolio as a partner in his asset management firm, Rare Enterprises. Jhunjhunwala was described in a magazine as the "pin-up boy of the current bull run" and by another as "Pied Piper of Indian bourses". He is tagged by the media as "India's Warren Buffett".

Son of an income tax officer, he started dabbling in stocks while in Sydenham College and plunged into investing as a full time profession soon after completing his education. He started his career with $100 in 1985 when the BSE Sensex was at 150. He made his first big profit of Rs 0.5 million in 1986 when he sold 5,000 shares of Tata Tea at a price of Rs 143 which he had purchased for Rs 43 a share just 3 months prior. Between 1986 and 1989 he earned Rs 20-25 lakhs. His first major successful bet was iron ore mining company Sesa Goa. He bought 4 lakh shares of Sesa Goa in forward trading, worth Rs 1 crore and sold about 2-2.5 lakh shares at Rs 60-65 and another 1 lakh at Rs 150-175. The prices then went up to Rs 2200 and he sold some shares.

A good time to sell a stock, according to Jhunjhunwala, is not based on any 'price' targets, but when the 'earnings' expectations have peaked or the business model has peaked or the valuations appear ridiculously unreasonable. His stock picking strategy is influenced by the lessons from Mr George Soros's trading strategies and Dr Marc Faber's analysis of economic history. He endorses the thumb rule of 'trend is my best friend'.

His Portfolio

His Share Holdings listed in moneycontrol.com

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