Equirus organized a panel discussion on ‘State of Equities Market’ on 20th Nov 07 at The Taj Mahal Palace and Tower, Mumbai. The panel comprised of stalwarts in the Indian investing community viz. Mr. Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, Mr. J M Trivedi of Actis, Mr. Madhu Kela of Reliance Mutual Funds and Mr. N Jayakumar of Prime Securities. The discussion was moderated by Mr. Ramesh Damani, a well known name among investors and a member of BSE.

The key takeaways were cautious optimism in light of

a) a high probability that Indian companies may fail to deliver revenue and profit growth on a sustained basis and

b) the poor global economic indicators.

Just before we began to trudge the road, all the founder-members of Equirus Capital got together in Lonavala on the 21st, 22nd and 23rd of September, at the Laguna Resorts, to chart out the vision and values for the firm.

Team Equirus combined the brainstorming with having fun viz.  a fun filled game of improvised cricket, playing cards till the wee hours of the morning, and cheering for India in the India-Australia World Cup 20-20 semi-finals.

The best outcome of the get-together was the enthusiasm and optimism that the team had with regards to the future of Equirus Capital.

The  Founder-Members of  Team Equirus are :

Equirus celebrated its first anniversary of incorporation on 24th Jul 08 at Trident, (formerly The Hilton), Mumbai with a panel discussion on “Absolute Return Strategies”. The panel comprised of stalwarts in the global investing community viz. Mr. Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, a well known investor, Mr. Aakash Prakash of Amansa Capital, Singapore and Mr. Robert Hsu of Absolute Return Capital Advisors, USA. The discussion was moderated by Mr. Ramesh Damani, a well known name among investors and a prominent member of BSE.

Mr. Hsu explained the concept of Absolute Returns in evaluating an investment approach and contrasted it with the more familiar Relative Returns concept. The relevance of the Absolute Returns concept for a global investment strategy is that an opportunity to invest always exists in one market or the other, irrespective of the overall global economic circumstances.

The panel members provided discerning pointers in their own investment philosophies for identifying and investing in market opportunities. Mr. Prakash elucidated the significance of evaluating price and management team quality in any investment decision. Mr. Jhunjhunwala opined that out-of-the-box thinking, continuous learning, risk taking ability and quick thinking and actions,   as the key traits necessary for any good investment strategy.

The discussion also entailed insightful perspectives from the panel members on the Indian and Chinese markets. Mr. Hsu illustrated the reasons for the Hong Kong market outperforming the Shanghai market. Mr. Prakash and Mr. Jhunjhunwala were both cautious about the performance of Indian markets in the near term. The panel also provided different perspectives on the expected future trend in the oil prices and its effect on the global economy.

The panel discussion was concluded with witty rapid fire questions by Mr. Damani, in his signature style, and a few audience questions. The event was witnessed by a packed audience with distinguished personalities from the Indian corporate and financial world gracing it with their presence.

Equirus is grateful to all the guests for attending the event and bestowing Equirus with their precious wishes. A special thanks to all the panel members for taking part in the discussion and updating us with their valuable views on the global and Indian markets. A special thanks to Mr. Damani for moderating the discussion and making it more insightful as well as interesting.