Positive Developments in Absentia

February 3, 2022 Leave a comment


As Covid ,lockdowns and disruptions, took its toll on friends, acquaintances and neighbors, lives were lost, forever changed, businesses folded and careers affected, it seemed so insensitive and inappropriate to continue blogging about, all things, wealth…..

And the first wave, was followed by a second and then a third, and its apparently too soon to believe it the last….and I was missing blogging. Badly.

But the blogosphere kept me cheered-up by periodically sending me positive feedback.

It was great receiving communication like the one above from readers. More so, when they chose not to remain anonymous or just their online avatar, despite their identity.

Secondly, I received not one, but 2 separate offers to purchase wealthymatters. Fairly serious money, with even the option to continue as an employee . Not that I was ever planning to sell, or was keen to be employed in what I myself built from scratch, But, I got to know on what basis they did their valuations and it was instructive. And its always nice to know that others also value what’s yours, and that you actually do have an exit option, should you ever want it.

And lastly, the previous year came to a close with the news that I’d made it to yet another list of Top Financial Bloggers. And, most importantly, the feat was achieved relying solely on pillar articles and the evergreen nature of content I like to create.

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Happy New Year -2022

January 1, 2022 Leave a comment


Fireworks always have the effect of making me happy. Love them. Hoping its the same for you too.

This year as we brought in another New Year, with Covid Curfews & restrictions, I was so glad for the internet & all the people from round the world, who coordinated to livestream firework events from their home-towns.

And then there were the countries who telecast their New Year Concerts.

With a spot of celebratory cooking at home and again the internet to connect with family and friends, I managed most of what I’d do in a normal year. So what, if travel was not in the cards ? People and places came to us!

Let’s hope that Covid ceases to trouble us this year or at the very least, metaverse develops fast enough for us to make virtual celebrations even more lifelike. Vietnam 360 has done such a great job of advertising, I just want to pop over and take a look for myself. Ditto Australia 8D.Reminded me once again what grand natural beauty that continent houses. Alternatively, a virtual party set in those locales, with ofcourse fireworks, and some great music ,would serve for next year.

So many good things happen when people join hands and make them happen. Let’s hope we can co-operate to put Covid behind us. Meanwhile, let’s make life for each other better, digitally.

Happy New Year, All !

Mask-up, Sanitize, Avoid Crowds and Unnecessary In-person Meetings, Commutes and All Optional Travel. Be Safe, Keep others Safe.

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Dithering Over Diamonds

January 7, 2020 2 Comments


Honestly, I love diamonds. And love coloured diamonds more.

And I have had a bit of good luck with them. In 2008,in the midst of the financial crisis, I bought a few yellows from a person with a cutting and polishing factory, who had little use for them in a market with a decided preference for the white variety. Last week I was pleasantly surprised to see just how much yellows had since then become quite the fashion ! And better yet, have the appraiser inform me that one of them was not yellow but green actually!Way rarer and pricier !

So beginners luck should be encouraging me to gamble once again…..But I find myself conflicted. Seriously conflicted. Read more of this post

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Bishoping The Horse – PMS Style

November 14, 2019 Leave a comment


wealthymatters

If you have a few lakhs lying round,then be certain that the PMS guys will definitely seek you out.Most of them are simply not worth your time or money.But that’s not to say that sifting through them you might not find the occasional gem.

So really,its all about being aware of the common ways in which the portfolio management services (PMS) provided are made to look way better value than they are, akin to bishoping horses bound for sale.

So here’s the list of stratagems commonly resorted to. Fairly long,but by no means comprehensive.Please feel free to use the comments section to add to this list:

1.Simplest of all ,gross portfolio returns are reported, with nary a word about fees and expenses and the GST. This might show the investment managers to be investment geniuses.But might leave you with underwhelming net results.Much ado about nothing really and you might have done better simply sticking to less sexy financial products.

2.Because just so often,things look so much greater in theory than in actual practice,you find Jacks talking up model portfolio returns even as they remain rather quiet about actual portfolio returns.

3.Just as diamantaires send their diamonds to the labs likely to give them the best grades,PMS literature speaks of returns in terms of IRR, TWRR, simple average, etc.Whatever looks like the better figure.And as there is no standardized method for calculating returns,you need to do your own calculations to compare various PMS offers.

4. Another nifty trick is to inflate returns by actualizing partial periods.

5.Then there is the trick of omitting the cash component in computing returns thereby erasing the drag that cash exerts on returns.

6.Then there are portfolio managers who include in their firm’s performance, the performance which was achieved either before receipt of PMS licence or the performance of their proprietary account/ portfolio.

7.Then there are chaps selectively disclosing their portfolio, getting the same audited and showing that as the returns of the firm.

8.Additionally there is the dodge of ignoring withdrawn portfolios and thus reporting a return which suffers from ‘survivorship bias’.Obviously those clients experiencing stellar returns were not exclusively the the first to leave.

9.Then there is the little trick of not bringing up benchmarks that are inconvenient or simply changing them to the more convenient ones.

10.Another trick is not expensing out upfront fees and set-up costs but reducing them from your capital contribution.

11. Then performance fees are calculated after taking only realized gains into consideration and deliberately omitting unrealized losses

12.Some fail to widely publicize important factors such as a change in the identity of the fund manager and change in the investment strategy .

13.And many don’t provide the standard deviation figure of their portfolio when reporting performance. That is for you to calculate and figure out if you are cool with such divergence from the returns being touted to sign you up.

PMS products are supposedly for the savvier investor than the general mutual fund investor.So best you be savvy and do your own math and due diligence.

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