Renowned value investor Parag Parikh, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of PPFAS Mutual Fund died in a car accident in USA on Sunday.
“It is with deep regret that I announce the demise of our founder and mentor in a road crash,” tweeted Rajeev Thakkar, Chief Investment Officer at PPFAS Mutual Fund.
According to media reports from the US, the passenger side was hit by a pickup truck at an intersection. Parikh was travelling with his wife Geeta Parikh and colleagues, Rajeev Thakkar and Raunak Onkar, who were there to attend Berkshire Hathway annual investor conference.
Parag Parikh had set up the mutual fund business in 2013 after winding up his successful PMS.
He was known for his bold and forthright views about the asset management industry. He often stressed the need for having skin in the game. “We firmly believe that the interests of the promoters and employees associated with the running of the fund should be aligned with those of the investors of the scheme. Our senior management team including myself would be co-investors with the outside investors in the scheme,” reads his message posted on PPFAS AMC website.
“He was very level headed and down to earth and had a clear vision about this business. He had good understanding about the market and the mutual fund business. It’s a loss to the mutual fund industry. He was very candid and I enjoyed his company,” said G Pradeep Kumar, Chief Exeucitve Officer, Union KBC Mutual Fund.
He didn’t believe in launching too many funds to grow his business. He had launched only one fund PPFAS Long Term Value Fund in which he, his family and the key employees at PPFAS MF have invested their personal money. “We will only manage one fund as we don’t want to confuse investors. AMCs launch funds like a fad. We don’t want to be grocery shop. There’s only one right way of investing. You can’t have 20 ways of investing,” said Parag Parikh in an earlier interview with Cafemutual.
Parag Parikh stared his career as a stock broker in 1979 and later launched his wealth management business. He was known for his stock picking abilities and long term outlook.
He had a keen interest in the concept of behavioral finance and had authored two books - Stocks to Riches – Insights on Investor Behavior and Value Investing and Behavioral Finance: Insights in to Indian Stock Market Realities.
Parag Parikh’s demise is a great loss to the mutual fund industry.
