Interview with Mr Anurag Surana- a domain expert on Specialty Chemicals for his decadal views on the industry

Mr Manish Gupta was delighted to speak with a mentor of Solidarity, Mr Anurag Surana who is a deep domain expert in Specialty Chemicals. With over 35 years experience and a part of the core team that built PI Industries.  He is also the Chairman of 2 Specialty Chemical companies in India.

The conversation with him covered many topics

  1. How Indian Specialty Chemicals companies have evolved over the last 20 years and expected trajectory
  2. Why most Indian companies should not be severely impacted by US tariffs
  3. Variables to look out for and questions to ask management teams when gauging whether companies are becoming better Assets
  4. Mistakes made by long term investors when they obsess over metrics like ROCE without making adjustments for the long gestation investments management teams are making. 

Watch the full interview  here

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Moving forward with strategy, not with emotion – our view on investing in Small and Mid Caps at present

Last week, S Naren, CIO of ICICI Pru MF and a market veteran we respect immensely, warned investors about exuberance in Small and Mid-Caps. His statement “we think it is a clear time to take out lock, stock, and barrel from small and midcap” created quite a stir on social media.  “With great power comes great responsibility” and we endorse the general warning that Naren is dispensing to the price agnostic retail investor. 

However, our views on investing in Small and Mid-Caps today are more nuanced, and we share our specific stance on this subject below.

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Stillness, backing a mission oriented promoter and the rewards of good Karma – Rakesh Jhunjhunwala’s incredible 340x returns in Inventurus

Inventurus Knowledge Solutions, a company promoted by Sachin Gupta and the late Rakesh Jhunjhunwala in 2006, is expected to list in the next 2 weeks.  The grape vine has the IPO valuation of the company pegged at between 20000-25000 Cr. If we take the mid-point of that range, the original investment has compounded ~ 340x for the Jhunjhunwala family in the last 17 years, an IRR of 41%. This adds to the long list of 100 bagger returns generated by him. 

Why can’t more of us be like him? Other than the ability to see the future with more clarity, what attitude is needed to earn such returns?

Stillness by deliberate choice. Read More