Best Buys Worst Picks-2017

Bharat Shah

Bharat Shah successfully vetted Bajaj Finance, but overvalued and misjudged Visualsoft

Soumik Kar

To ask for one’s best investment is like asking one to name the best book that they have read, and there are rarely any one if they have read enough. Over a period of time, I have come across several worthy managements and quality businesses that have produced highly satisfying long-term outstanding outcomes. So, at one point if it was Infosys and Wipro, then in more recent  times, Bajaj Finance, Motherson Sumi, Eicher Motors, Page Industries, PI Industries and Gruh Finance have been very rewarding. Even some of the pharma companies like Sun Pharma, Ajanta or Lupin, despite suffering over the past couple of years, have been very fruitful investments overall. Hence, to pick one out of a dozen or more fine investments over a long period of time would be a bit unfair for the many other names that are there. But since the construct of the article demands picking just one, I will pick Bajaj Finance with the clear proviso that many others are almost equal contenders for the title. Bajaj Finance is an interesting instance of a reasonable business that has turned out to be an extraordinary one. It is a company where the quality of the management materially exceeds the quality of the business.