5 pieces of money advice I would give my 22 year old self (who just started earning)… 1. Start early but not just because of compounding. When you start your career you are often so neck deep into work and proving yourself that hard earned money can just sit in a bank account despite being a finance professional. I waited for 2 years of working to start.

Some takeaways from rebalancing my own mutual fund portfolio… Preface: I do a once in 5 year major relook at the funds and asset allocation in my portfolio. This is the time when I make big structural changes. Why 5 years? Goals, circumstances, needs change over this period. It also gives me enough time to fairly evaluate managers.

Five thoughts about money, that I want my child to learn first. 1. Money does have a real purpose. It enables you to fulfil your dreams, it makes the little and big things in life easier. It adds comfort, it enables moments of joy, for you and people who care for you. So earning money and saving money is important.

Some thoughts on active vs passive in this thread, as the OG lover of passive debt funds!

https://twitter.com/KirtanShahCFP/status/1634381446428147712

Firstly, @KirtanShahCFP does a fabulous job explaining fixed income in a simple way including highlighting different risks clearly. He is also one of the few who while having a view - in this case preferring active - lays out facts in a very unbiased way for both sides.

The curious case of short term funds and why we need a simple place to park our money… Everyone needs a place to park “short term money”. Not liquid fund money that you need in a few days or weeks, but that pool of 1-3 year money that you may or may not need. The time horizon is ambitious which is why target maturity funds are not the best fit.

A thread about the *continued* pain of a homebuyer and some questions about what resort we have under RERA. My issues with my first home purchase with Kalpatru Avana (under construction) are not new. This despite being in a so called luxury project with one of the so called better builders in the business. They were covered here also.

moneycontrol.com/news/business/…

Some new, some old, and some gold.

What I learned about personal finance in 2021. A thread. 1. New companies and old comparisons
The IPO market challenged our minds. New companies and new business models listed, and challenged our minds that were used to "consistent compounder frameworks." The easiest thing to do was making comparisons about how one food delivery...

The goldfish investor…

A little 🧵 🐠 Goldfish are funny animals. They swim peacefully in their bowl. They don’t bark or howl at night, they don’t ruffle their feathers. They just keep taking circles of the bowl, in the same boring almost idiotic way.

The 3 best investments I have made. A thread. 1. Choosing to get an Ivy League education
2. Moving back to India and investing in Forefront
3. Moving from AIF-PMS to MF

Investment lessons to learn from your mother-in-law. A thread 🧵 My mother-in-law is an educated woman, but by no means a finance expert and definitely not a stock picker. She won’t be able to tell you the current value of the NIFTY or even the right vicinity.

A brief take on the new age tech listings coming to public markets… I don’t know whether these businesses will or will not do well in the public markets. But we need a need paradigm to value them as public market investors brought up on a diet of consistent compounders.

The big BAF thread. Why asset allocation funds are relevant... Retail investors never make money. I have heard that a lot. They come in at the wrong time, stop SIPs at the bottom, don’t hold long enough, overdo small caps, etc. We can choose who to blame, but this happens.

“There are no more than 10,000 people in a decade, 100 people in 100 different areas, that define a field, that change the course of society. Are you one of the 10000 who choose to make a difference?”

That’s some motivation from @vkhosla at @ET40underforty

https://twitter.com/ET40underforty/status/1410936228640223234

“If one can abandon the bane of what is possible, one can invent the future we want.” @vkhosla

Ten honest questions to ask yourself before you are investing in any financial product.... especially in this bull market... 1. Am I buying this product because everyone else is buying it? Fundamentally, remember, you don't create alpha by buying what everyone else is buying at a price similar or higher than them.

When you invest in a global fund, and compare expenses across funds:

1. Compare 🍎 to 🍎: Total cost includes offshore fund cost plus what local AMC charges.

2. Get this data from the AMC website. Many 3rd party websites don’t include underlying fund costs.

1/3 3. Note the underlying fund costs are not what you see when you Google the fund. Funds have different share classes.

4. Know that given how all global funds are priced, there will not be a vast price difference in funds.

2/3

The circular on skin in the game, while a good idea in spirit, is going to be extremely problematic in implementation. This circular applies to not just senior employees but junior research staff, dealers, and support function heads. These people don’t earn the kind of money CEOs and CIOs do.

A thread on how I evaluate passive funds... Why I am writing this: A new narrative is emerging that all passive funds are good and all active is bad, because passive is cheap and fund managers don’t generate alpha. While I don’t want to debate that, I only want to say, passive funds need to be evaluated too.

Ten MF mistakes I recommend you avoid... 1. Too much love

A fund does well. You fall in love with the fund house. You have a large mid and small cap scheme from them. They all tank together! Diversify. And remember being good at one thing doesn’t make you good at the other.

A thread with thoughts on building a career in finance / asset management in India... This thread is written to answer many questions from young folks on how to approach a career in money management. There are no right or wrong answers, only point of views ... but I hope it can be helpful.

What it took to raise money at 24... A thread written on popular request! Raising money is never easy, and it’s not just about competence. It’s about convincing people to trust you - which is hard, and much harder when you are 24, and have never lived in India.

A tribute to my first client... Back in 2009, I had moved back to India to start Forefront. When we got our PMS license in Sep 2009, we started going around raising money. Obviously no one paid much attention to a bunch of 24 years old.