Meet The Author
Everything about me is “Unconventional”
My upbringing, career and investment approach can all be described in one word – “Unconventional”.
Unlike most kids, who grow up hearing fairy tales, I grew up on stock stories. My dad owned a stockbroking business and I heard him talk to his clients from home. I was enthralled with markets and couldn’t wait to get started. By the age of 16, I had mastered accounting and straight out of high school, I took any finance job I could lay my hands on – from the foreign exchange desk at Citibank to the corporate finance and leasing department of a merchant bank. By the time I was 24, I had edited prospectuses, calculated residual values on leasing portfolios and learned how to read balance sheets. I know that’s hardly scintillating stuff – but I was drinking from a fire hose and it felt exhilarating at the time.
Unlike most overprotective parents, mine gave me the space and freedom to make my own decisions and think for myself. It must have been hard for them to do the opposite of what every other parent was doing at the time. But thanks to their enlightened upbringing, I find it very easy to not seek or need approval and take ownership of my decisions and actions. My parents did not shield me from the rough and tumble of the real world – they made me face it. Little did they know how well it would prepare me for my tough profession where one’s caliber and character are constantly battle tested through the myriad market ups and downs. Amen to such unconventional parenting.
My tryst with challenging conventional wisdom started in college. I noticed students chose the path of least resistance and went job-hunting instead of considering entrepreneurship as a path to success. So to make them think about this non-consensus alternative, I launched a competition called “Mind Your Own Business” where students presented their business plan to corporate CEOs.
Eschewing the easy route of joining my family business in India, I dared to immigrate to America – the financial heartbeat of the world – where I could practice money management as a profession. I knew that if I could generate better returns for a person’s pension or a university’s endowment, I could make a difference, not just a living! Few vocations get more fulfilling and rewarding than that.
My professional career trajectory has also defied convention. Unlike most long – only managers, my money management career began on the long-short side, at the hedge fund, Soros. This unusual formative experience, taught me how to think about both – the long side of the trade and the short side of the trade. This has since become the signature element of my upside-down investment approach – one which focuses on what can go wrong, not just what can go right.
But perhaps the most uncommon aspect of my career is that I succeeded in a competitive, male dominated profession. Fewer than 10% of professional money managers are women. I am living proof that the glass ceiling can be broken. It is why I wrote this book – to show you how you can accomplish what I have – and to salute what my brother once told me (as only siblings can!): if you can do it, anybody can do it. (I think he meant to say the opposite: “if anybody can do it, you can do it” – but I like the way it came out..!)
You might think that my life has been one linear ride up – it has been anything but.
When I switched gears to managing money as opposed to broking stocks, I had to take a 50% pay cut while my husband was studying and not collecting a paycheck. It wasn’t easy to walk away from the big bucks, but I knew it was the right move. It has been among my best decisions ever.
When I switched gears to managing money as opposed to broking stocks, I had to take a 50% pay cut while my husband was studying and not collecting a paycheck. It wasn’t easy to walk away from the big bucks, but I knew it was the right move. It has been among my best decisions ever.
I have risked getting fired multiple times by my employers or my clients (and sometimes both!) for not owning the flavor of the year and underperforming my peers. What I have learned is that when you care about your work more than your job, life has a way of working out. Over the years, I have found employers and clients who celebrate the way I manage money instead of denigrating it.
They say there is nothing worse than being poor. I disagree. The worst thing is being poor after you have been rich. Growing up was a roller coaster ride on the money train – as many wrecks as riches. This is why I pay so much attention to not losing money, instead of simply making it. Capital preservation and capital appreciation get equal attention from me – this is what makes me a very different money manager and frankly, is the biggest secret to my success.
Acclaim
“Global Equities Leader of the Year” Award
Bonhill Group, 2022
“Top 100 Women in US Finance”
Barron’s 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023
“North American Industry Leadership" Award
100 Women in Finance, 2019
“Legendary Contrarian”
CNBC, 2021
“Unconventional Thinker”
Wealth Track, 2017
“Global Guru”
Forbes, 2009
Conventional Biography
Rupal Bhansali served as the chief investment officer & portfolio manager of Ariel’s multi-billion dollar international & global equity portfolios. She is a rare woman of color to have broken through the glass ceiling on Wall Street and was among the 2% of female portfolio managers to solely manage a mutual fund in the US*. She is a passionate stock picker and author of the book “Non-Consensus Investing” which describes her unconventional approach to investing.
Prior to working at Ariel for 12 years, she spent 10 years at MacKay Shields & 5 years at Oppenheimer Capital in senior leadership & portfolio management roles. She started out on the buy-side as a research analyst at Soros. In 2020, 2021 and 2022, she was featured on Barron’s “100 Most Influential Women in US Finance” list. She received the “Global Equities’ Leader of the Year” Award from the Bonhill Group in 2022 and the “North American Industry Leadership” Award from 100 Women in Finance in 2019.
From 2019-2023, Rupal served as a member of the prestigious Barron’s Investment Round-table, which features “10 of Wall Street’s smartest investors”. In 2021 CNBC called her a “Legendary Contrarian”, in 2017, PBS’s Wealth Track described her as an “Unconventional Thinker”, in 2015, Barron’s recognized her as a “Global Contrarian,” and in 2009, Forbes International Investment Report named her a “Global Guru,”. She is a frequent guest on Bloomberg, CNBC, Yahoo Finance & Fox Business News, & a sought after speaker at conferences hosted by the CFA Institute, Morningstar & Schwab.
Rupal also serves on the Advisory Board of the Ira Millstein Center for Corporate Governance and 100Women in Finance as well as on the Investment Committee of the World War 2 Museum Endowment.
Having grown up, lived, studied and worked in multiple geographies spanning the East and West, and fluent in several languages, Rupal has a keen understanding of the socio-economic environments and cultural attributes of various countries in the world & is a strong supporter of diversity in all forms. She is a role model and mentor to the next generation, especially students, minorities, and young women. As an ESG-integrated investor, Rupal is FSA Level 1 and 2 credentialed by the SASB.
Rupal earned a Bachelor of Commerce in accounting and finance, as well as a Master of Commerce in international finance and banking from the University of Mumbai. She later earned an MBA in finance from the University of Rochester, where she was a Rotary Foundation Scholar.
* Citywire’s 2020 Alpha Female report