Objective thinking, good judgment and emotional stability are key qualities for a successful career in investments, believes ICICI MF Fund Manager Prashant Kothari. Although his first investment did not turn out well, he has over the years built up a formidable track record. His funds, ICICI Pru Focused Bluechip Equity Fund and ICICI Pru Infrastructure Fund have been consistent performers by beating their benchmarks since their inception. In an interview with Ravi Samalad, he shares with us more of such interesting tit bits and his personal experience in fund management
What is the most exciting thing about your job?
The biggest drive is learning about several businesses everyday and working with a very intelligent team with a humble mindset.
Tell us what it feels to be responsible for managing other people’s money.
It is the people’s savings of a lifetime. People invest with lots of expectations, so we have to take utmost care dealing with it. It is a fiduciary responsibility which we manage with lot of prudence and dedication.
Did you always want to manage money? If not a fund manager, you would have been
I wanted to do something related to numbers for sure. Managing money was just one of those ways. I could have been an insurance actuary trying to figure out probabilities for unknown events, similar to what Ajit Jain does for Warren Buffett.
Tell us about your first investment - What was it? How did it turn out? Any lessons you learned from that experience? When and how did your interest in stocks begin?
I am not one of those who started investing ever since they were in high school. I picked up my skills only on the job. My first personal investment was a disaster. It went from 100 to 300 within a year and then crashed to 50 without me ever booking profit! What I learnt from this mistake was not to be unnecessarily greedy and this is something which I follow at work as well.
What role does luck play in investing?
Maybe 70% for short term profits but only 30% in the long term.
What are the qualities that you feel a good Fund Manager should have?
Objective thinking, good judgment and emotional stability are key qualities that help in all jobs including investments.
Share with us the best advice you have ever received.
"Not everything that counts can be counted and not everything that can be counted counts!" It’s actually a quote by Einstein but very relevant in this unpredictable world of investments.
If you were allowed to spend a day with someone (from the world of investments/business) of your choice who would give you wisdom and perspective, who would it be? Why?
I would pick Charlie Munger. All that could be known about Buffett is already written anyway.
Your favorite book
Animal Farm by George Orwell. I read it once in every 2 years and get new insights on how people use politics in their personal and professional lives.
How do you unwind?
I am a voracious reader of all kinds of books: investing, fiction, non-fiction. I like trekking also, though that is rare these days.
Over the next 10 years, the most exciting country to invest in would be
The most exciting country to invest in over the next 10 years has to be some country in Africa as that is the next frontier for growth. However, can not pinpoint which one country it would be.
Advice for budding Fund Managers
You will improve the quality of decisions if you work on the behavioural part of investing and not just on business knowledge of companies.
