About The Book
In my debut book “Non-Consensus Investing”, I share my learnings from managing multi-billion dollar global equity portfolios over my 25-year long career.
I believe one should make performance, not fashion statements in one’s investment portfolio, by eschewing the crowded trade in favor of the lonely one. In my opinion, a little-known aspect about investing is that what is popular, is rarely profitable and what is out of favor, is often rewarding.
The core message of my book is that in order to achieve differentiated investment results from peers and passive indices, one must think and act differently (and correctly). The book shows you how to do this by providing real-world case studies. I lay the groundwork in the early chapters by addressing elementary but essential questions – How is investing different from speculation? Why is it necessary to be a contrarian? Why should one pay more attention to risk than to returns? Why do markets reward the Intrinsic Value framework? Why has “Active Investing” failed and how can it succeed? How does “Intrinsic Value Investing” stand apart from other “Value” disciplines?
The book also address other questions that are not on everyone’s mind but should be – how is risk different from volatility? How can volatility be an opportunity instead of a threat and how can you make it your ally instead of your enemy? Last but not the least, it answers the question that everyone should ask but does not: How should one think about the risks and rewards of investing in equities versus bonds? The answers will surprise you…!
The book pays homage to both equities and active management – if used correctly, both can play a critical role in enhancing returns while reducing risks versus fixed income and passive forms of investing. Of late, equities as an asset class and active as an investment approach, have become vilified while bonds and passive have been glorified. I believe it is premature to think of active investing as dead man walking due to poor recent past performance – the proverbial mistake of driving looking at the rear view mirror, instead of the road ahead. Pendulums swing and there are periods when active outperforms passive and vice versa. Also bonds may prove more risky and equities can offer lower risk, than conventional wisdom would suggest.
The book reminds investors there are two sides to everything and that equities should be celebrated as a source of value creation, not just denigrated as a source of volatility. It goes a step further and shows how “Non-Consensus Investing” takes advantage of both these attributes – value creation and volatility to access the higher returns of the equity asset class while mitigating the higher risk associated with them.
The majority of the book is devoted to explaining, how to apply not just know, the core tenets underpinning non-consensus investing. These are written to have timeless and universal appeal as they are conveyed not as formulaic rules, but as profound principles to be interpreted and applied, with judgment and fortitude, at different times and in varying circumstances.
As with any investment approach or asset class, there are risks and uncertainties and potential for losses. There are no guarantees that what worked in the past would work in the future. However some investment concepts are classic, universal and timeless. The book focuses on such core tenets. Think of them as a north star, pointing you in the right direction.
Why I wrote this book
Throughout my life, I have been enlightened by other people’s wisdom or inspired by their points of view – often by reading their books. Books have been among my finest teachers – my passport to transcend time and space and to learn from the best of the best.
By only reading but not writing, I feel I have taken but not given. Society and I owe a great debt to authors. If I can repay in some small measure to all those before me, I will feel my burden lightened. This is why I am writing a book on the power and payoff on “Non Consensus Investing”, in which I reveal my secrets to investment success.
A book changed my life. I hope this changes yours.
The need for higher returns and lower risk has never been greater, yet few asset classes or investment strategies offer either let alone both. The solution is not to give up on these goals, but to change the means of achieving them. This book talks about those means – a game changing investment discipline that I have honed over a career spanning twenty-five years, managing multi-billion dollar global equity portfolios for sophisticated investors ranging from pension plans to university endowments. This discipline has produced investment results that would make anyone proud. However, applying this discipline is neither easy nor intuitive, but this book will show you how it is rewarding and right.
Reading this book will help you make the transition from consensus to non-consensus thinking and from conventional to unconventional money management, to achieve the holy grail of higher returns and lower risk. As my clients and colleagues will attest to, this mental pivot is worth the monetary payoff.