Newsletter March 2023
MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD
The Rapidly Changing Times
Society Updates
Abhishek Loonker, CFA
Time just flies. Looks like we just welcomed 2023 and we are already done with the first quarter. So much has happened in the last three months...
COVER STORY 1
Climate-Tech Investments in India- Big Opportunity, Bigger Returns
ESG
Labanya P. Jena, CFA & Prasad A. Thakur
Reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from all sectors of the global economy is crucial to prevent hazardous climate change. Current estimates indicate that almost half...
COVER STORY 2
Indian Equities through the Lens of ESG
ESG
Mihir Shirgaonkar, CFA
As of the end of the calendar year 2022, total assets managed globally under ESG funds were around USD 2.5 trillion. This value was 12% higher than the value of ESG funds...
EXPRESS
Mind the Gender gap – Analysis of Women’s Participation, Pay, & Other...
Gender Equality
By Jolly, Meera & Siva
Recent data indicate that women who want to pursue financial careers in India face significant barriers, including lack of advancement and lagging compensation...
Winning Entries of Essay Writing Competition - Winner
Behavioural finance
Aditi Vaswani
Behavioural finance is the study of finance keeping in mind that investors are human beings who are not always rational. They have pre-conceived notions...
Winning Entries of Essay Writing Competition - 1st Runner up
ESG
Roohi Sharma
Climate change is becoming one of the most significantglobal challenges facing humanity. It refersto the long-term shift in the earth's climate pattern...
Winning Entries of Essay Writing Competition - 2nd Runner up
Behavioural Finance
Surbhi Singhal
Did you know that 65%1 of Americans believe they are smarter than most other
people? It sounds a bit ridiculous, right? But this belief is more common...
IN CONVERSATION WITH
Aarati Krishnan
Writing
Interviewed by Jolly Balva, CFA
A well-written piece should keep the reader riveted. It should compel her to read the article in one go, from start to finish. It should convey either a single idea or...
Vibhuti Garg
ESG
Interviewed by Labanya Prakash Jena, CFA
India’s quest to decarbonize and grow the economy simultaneously needs structural and institutional changes in the economy and financial system. Recently, there has...
SELECTED READINGS BY MANISH GVALANI, CFA
BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC
Warren Buffet’s Annual letters are a treasure trove and have been my go-to source for investing wisdom and for building mental frameworks. I have read every single one of them i.e. from 1965 to 2021. The 2022 Annual letter was released recently and it is a MUST READ, especially the last two pages where he shares the wisdom from Charlie Munger, Vice-Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway. It’s only 10 pages long, but every page is worth it’s weight in gold.
Psychological Paths of Least Resistance
📚Not reading or writing is a path of least resistance i.e. default mode for most. And it’s just one example of where you may be choosing to avoid the good stuff, only because it’s inconvenient or requires a heavy lift, given the habitual absence of these from your daily routine. If you can relate to this, then I highly encourage you to read Morgan Housel’s post on ‘Path of Least Resistance’. It’s a beautiful read and packed with loads of wisdom, as always.
Why Write?
✏️Shane Parish published a post on the Farnam Street blog wherein he shares reasons for indulging in writing. Reading is relatively easy, but retaining what you read becomes a herculean task as we all are bombarded by truckloads of data on a daily basis, with each new piece of information overwriting what you read just some time back. That’s where writing becomes a medium to be able to absorb the material that you read and that’s important/relevant to you.
The Levers That Money Can’t Pull
Lawrence Yeo is a writer who covers important topics in the most thought-provoking manner, using cartoons, humor, and very easy prose. He writes about money, relationships, ambition, success, failure, and many subjects which may seem mundane but are not. These need to be thought about until it gets built into our mental frameworks, making us wiser in our decision-making. His last piece on the levers that money can’t pull is a beautiful read and a very important one, and soulful too
Fighting Entropy
Jack Raines wrote a piece on ‘Fighting Entropy’ and it was a very unique perspective on dealing with aging, procrastination, difficult conversations, and doing great work. This piece will perk you up to fight your battles harder, and to come out stronger every single time. I loved it
BOOK REVIEWS
Pre-Suasion: Opening the Door to Persuasion
Everyone would like to be able to communicate effectively, express freely, or impact/influence people through their words alone, but they keep falling short and wonder why. Marketeers aspire to pull off successful campaigns, advertisers would want their ads to stir our souls, sales professionals would like to close deals, leaders aspire to lead their teams to the peaks of their industry, and the list goes on. There is a way to making this happen, and surprisingly it may have nothing to do with the message itself. The secret lies in the seconds before the message is delivered - the set up, the environment, the background, the context, the intro, the music - there are so many elements to discover in this book. It would make you think about everything that you have missed out completely. Fantastic Read 👌 Especially, if success in personal and professional life matters to you !!
Algorithms to Live By
There are many questions that perplex us in our endeavors e.g. how much time to invest in exploring vs exploiting, giving up or going all in, adding to your life or subtracting to keep things simple, optimizing or satisficing? These are questions that keep coming up in ivesting, in our professions, in our personal lives, and our pursuits of wisdom and happiness. How about letting Computer Science and its all time greats show us the way. You will be amazed. In addition, if you would like to be intellectually challenged, while building mental frameworks for decision making - then this is a delightful read.
What I Learnt about Investing from Darwin
This is a remarkable book about investing wherein the author takes us hundreds of years back during the time of Darwin, and explores many evolutionary theories and wonders of nature since then. The style in which these natural phenomena are laced with the world of investing is truly insightful. What is value investing? What is quality vs momentum? What is long term vs short term? How do you analyze a company? - What if you got the most effective answers to these questions, making your investing journey highly lucrative and joyful? What if dinosaurs, ants and dung beetles taught you these concepts, and in a manner that stays with you forever? That's the magic of this book. Stop reading further, go online and buy the book. 5 Stars from me 🌟
Soul in the Game The Art of a Meaningful Life
Vitaliy’s quirky sense of humour makes reading a real pleasure. And his honesty to share his struggles in the journey gives you a glimpse of where some of this focus comes from as well as how much is achievable if we put the time and effort. For instance, the story of his writing career – from being hopeless at it in school (debunking the widely held belief that writing is an innate skill that you are born with) to being a widely translated author – is eye opening. His sections on writing are priceless and much recommended for anyone who is eager to become one or give it a big boost. The book helps you see the value of this and how to translate this into what you can achieve through simple steps. It has lots of such powerful life hacks to help create enduring habits.
INSIGHTS FROM SOCIETY EVENTS
Celebrating the #WOWomen – A Women in Finance Initiative
Contributed by
Swetha Rakhecha, CFA
Preparing the Indian economy for Amrit Kaal amidst Global uncertainties
Contributed by
Sushruth Sunder, CFA