Value & Special SituationsIndia
Rajeev Thakkar
Value investing with global diversification from India, and behavioural discipline.
Rajeev Thakkar is a respected Indian value fund manager, long associated with a PPFAS-style approach. He is known for classic value investing - buying a share as a slice of a real business only when its price sits below its worth. He is also known in India for holding some good businesses from around the world alongside Indian ones, spreading risk instead of keeping everything in one home basket. Above all he stresses behaviour and process: controlling your own emotions and following a steady plan. He teaches reading businesses carefully, not chasing tips.
The method
Work out roughly what a business is worth from the real cash it earns, then buy only when the price is comfortably below that worth, keeping a safety cushion. Read past the headline profit to the owner earnings an owner could truly take home, and ask what durable wall (moat) protects those earnings - for Indian and foreign businesses alike. Spread money across many businesses and across more than one country, so no single accident can cause ruin. Then stay calm: decide the rules in advance, hold through storms, and never let fear or excitement grab the handle.
The record
A respected, long-serving fund manager known in Indian markets for a disciplined value approach and for adding global businesses alongside Indian ones. His standing comes from a steady, process-driven style followed over many years. Past results are history, never a promise - what is worth studying is the method, not any number.
Where they were wrong
Value investing can be out of fashion for years, so a patient investor may look wrong for a long time before being proven right. Adding global businesses spreads risk but brings currency swings, extra costs, and the difficulty of checking a company far away. Diversification that protects you from ruin also caps your biggest possible win. And behavioural discipline is genuinely hard to keep: knowing the rules is easy, staying calm through real storms and long boredom is the lifelong struggle. None of it can time the market or remove uncertainty.
Studies
5- Study 01Value investing: a share is a slice of a businessWork out what the slice is worth in a calm moment, then buy only when the noisy price falls well below it.Read this study →
- Study 02Diversifying beyond India: eggs in many basketsIndia is a good home basket, but not the whole shelf - spread your eggs across businesses and places, and understand every basket you use.Read this study →
- Study 03Home bias: when familiar only feels safeFamiliar is a feeling, not a fact - before you trust something because you know its name, ask whether you have actually checked it.Read this study →
- Study 04Owner earnings and moats: real cash behind a wallRead a business as real cash inside a wall - find the money an owner could truly take home, then name exactly what keeps rivals from taking it.Read this study →
- Study 05Behavioural discipline: steady process beats emotionThe biggest edge is a calmer hand, not a cleverer pick - decide your rules in calm, and dont let the storms mood grab your handle.Read this study →
Primary sources
full register →Read Rajeev Thakkar in their own words. We reproduce none of it - these are the real things to go to.
PPFAS / Parag Parikh letters & webinarsletters
Investor communications and webinars from an India-focused AMC that reasons out loud about how it reads businesses - useful as a worked example of disciplined public-market thinking in the Indian context. - Official PPFAS AMC site at amc.ppfas.com (unit-holder letters, factsheets, and recorded webinars); could not be machine-verified here (server returned 403).