September 2019 - Trade Brains

What is the Fear of Missing Out and how you can overcome it?

In this article, we will help you to understand the fuel of what triggers your fear of missing out, which is commonly known as FOMO. It has become a popular internet term for teenagers to use these days because according to a recent survey, it has been said that around 6 out of every ten teenagers have been faced with FOMO. It is the feeling of constant depression and anxiety in you that you are being left out from your social groups and even your own family. While others are having an exciting event, you are always being left out or pushed to the corner.

The term may be new to some people, but it surely is not. FOMO has been happening for a long time now, but since science was not so evolved back then, people commonly mistook it as depression. If you have FOMO or you are suffering from it, then you are at a constant understanding that someone out there has it better than you or doing better than you.

Especially the fear triggers in this digital age since we always tend to check on each other’s profile to know how we all are doing. And this, in turn, is creating a void or space in us, which is keeping us away from confronting the constant struggles that we are facing due to this hard-hitting mental disorder.

From where FOMO( Fear Of Missing Out) comes?

FOMO is a common phrase that is used by the millennial these days. They might be able to explain the fact of what is happening to them, but most of them lack the intellect to explain how it happens. So here comes and lies the main question. How is FOMO(fear of missing out) affecting your life?

Well, FOMO mainly occurs because the advent of social media has created dawn on time. With the use of the more extensive function of social media, each and every one of us are comparing our lives to the people who are living online.

Mainly this happens with the top influencers that you see on social media. Sure at the age of eighteen or sixteen, they are making a massive load of cash but what you see on your screen is not what happens in the real stage of life.

Social media is causing a wave of depression in children or millennials. They are trying to live their life as their’ so-called influencers’ but often end up thinking about how insecure they are. This comes with added symptoms like depression, anxiety, inferiority complex, lack of communicational skills, etc.

FOMO creates a distance of you from the outside world, and this is why the teenagers are always locking themselves up in their bedrooms and weeping over countless things. FOMO can trigger a lot of health issues as well, which in turn can cause these people to binge eat or go without food for the whole two days or more.

How to overcome FOMO?

When you first started to learn a car, did you rapidly learn how to shift the gears too? Well, the same thing is done here as well. Surely you are suffering from anxiety and depression, maybe even a lot more than others, but you have to take gradual steps so that you can overcome mental disorders such as FOMO (fear of missing out).

Here are some tips and ideas which you might need to follow if you want to embrace your JOMO (the joy of missing out).

1. Slow down and move at a pace. You need to stop rushing down the things that you do physically and even the items inside your mind. Practice some time out when you are eating, talking, making a pleasant conversation with someone. These days, we are always in a hurry to leave for things, but it inevitably becomes an essential or crucial part of our lives to slow down and enjoy the smallest joys that life has bestowed on us. Set a mental reminder to yourself. You need to feel the things that you are doing every day. Make sure that you are not doing in terms of a chore. Instead, love the things that you are indulging yourself in.

2. Go for the experience and collect the memories in your life. It might feel like a stretch to you, but if you are going for the symbols, then you are wasting the potential years of your experience. If you want to do drugs just because your friends think that it is fresh, learn to say no to them. Instead, pack your bags and ditch your phone and plan a hiking trip with your family or even your best friend. Studies have shown that people who take adventure as a course part of their routine are more likely to rejoice in life.

3. Be willing to say no to things. If you are obsessively stalking your crush’s page on Instagram and finding that he/she is posting pictures with their near-perfect dates, you are going to feel the pangs of depression right inside your heart. This is the prime reason why you have to learn to say no to your mind. Always remember that a sound intention is hard to overcome. Whatever challenge may come to your way, stay determined towards the goal that you have set for yourself. Don’t falter, and you will surely get the results.

4. Do one thing at a time. Yes, you might think that you can overcome the fear of missing out while you are multitasking, but instead, you are putting in a lot of pressure on yourself. You need to focus on one thing at a time to understand the importance of the subject that you are swelling with. Psychologists have said that our mind is like a speeding race car. You might put to any gear, and it will shift the pace. If you want to stop your anxiety due to FOMO, you need to settle down and calm for a bit.

Also read: How to learn faster- The Feynman Technique!

Can mindfulness help with your FOMO?

Surely mindfulness can help you to overcome FOMO. Rather than chasing what you cannot have in your life, you need to understand that the best things take time. Pursuing the things that you want in your life will create a false sense of happiness. It will be for a short period of time, but eventually, it will fade away.

To overcome your FOMO, you need to be aware of your surroundings and in the right way. Once you have learned to master your mind, you will eventually find a better cure for yourself.

Also read: What are Mental Models? And Why Should You Care?

September 30, 2019 Meghashree Das Investing Psychology No comments yet

Primary Market and Secondary Market – How do they work?

Stock markets are an important component of the financial system. It is a powerful tool that works like an auction for the exchange of capital/credit and has two autonomous and indivisible segments: Primary Market and Secondary Market.

In financial words, Stock Markets can also be defined as a procedure that permits people to trade in stocks and bonds, commodities, etc. which facilitates:

Issue of new shares ( IPO)
Raising of capital ( IPO, Bonds)
Transfer of risk (Derivative market)
Transfer of liquidity (Money markets)
International trade (Currency markets)

In this article, we are going to discuss the primary and secondary market in order to under how stock market exactly works. Let’s get started.

1. Primary Market

The primary market is a market for new issues i.e. Market for fresh capital. It provides a sale for new securities. The primary market provides an opportunity to issuers of securities like government and corporations to raise resources to meet requirements of investment or, discharge some obligation.

The corporate entities mainly issue debt and equity instruments (shares, debentures) while the governments issue debt securities (treasury bills). The issues might be released at face value or, at a discount/ premium which later molds into various forms such as equity, debt, etc. However, these issues can be released in both domestic or, international markets.

The primary market issuance is either done through public issues or, private placement. When an insurance of securities is made to new investors for becoming part of shareholders’ family, it is called a public issue. The public issue can be further classified into:

Public Issue:

— Initial Public Offering (IPO):

IPO takes place when an unlisted company makes either a fresh issue of securities. This flags off an avenue for listing and trading of the securities issued in the stock exchanges.

— Follow-on Public Offering (FPO):

An FPO takes place when an already listed company makes either a fresh issue of securities to the public or an offer for sale to the public, through an offer document.

Also Read: What is Nifty and Sensex? Stock Market Basics (For Beginners).

Private Placement

When an issuer makes an issue of securities to a specific group of persons where the number of members should not be more than 49, it is called a private placement. However, it is neither a rights issue nor a public issue. Private Placement of shares by a listed issuer can be of two types:

— Preferential Allotment

When a listed issuer issues shares or convertible securities, to a selected group of persons in terms of provisions by a regulatory body, it is called a preferential allotment. The issuer is needed to adhere with diversified provisions which include disclosures, pricing, lock-in, etc.

— Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP)

When a listed issuer issues equity shares or, securities convertible into equity shares to Qualified Institutions Buyers only in terms of provisions of the regulatory body, it is known as Qualified Institutions Placement.

2. Secondary Market

The secondary market allows participants who clasp securities to acclimatize their holdings according to the changes in their evaluation of risks and returns. Once the new securities are issued in the primary market, they are traded in the stock ( secondary ) market up and onwards from the listing day. The listing of stock enables liquidity and earning of reputation.

The secondary market operates through two channels and they are Over-The-Counter (OTC) Market and the Exchange-Traded market.

OTC markets are informal in nature where the execution of trades has a negotiable option. Most of the government securities are in the OTC Market. In addition, all the spot trades where securities are traded for immediate delivery and payment also take place in the OTC market.

The other option is to trade using the infrastructure provided by the Stock Exchanges where financial instruments are dealt with in money transactions. The four important participants of the securities market are the investors, issuers, intermediaries, and regulators.

Investors can be broadly classified into retail investors (HNI, minuscule investors) and institutional investors (banks, insurance, mutual funds, FII, etc).
Issuers include governments,corporate,financial institutions, etcetera.
Intermediaries include stock exchanges, stockbrokers, depository, custodians, merchant bankers, FII, mutual fund houses, debenture trustees, etc.
Regulators include Central Banks.

The top two stock exchanges of India are Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange.

Components of the Secondary Market:

The securities market is classified into the following markets and further different types of instruments are traded in these markets.

1. Cash /Equity Markets:

The equity segment allows dealing in shares, debentures, warrants, mutual funds, ETFs.

2. Equity Derivatives Market:

The derivatives segment allows trading in derivative instruments. It is a product whose value is derived from the value of one or more basic variables and is called bases ( underlying asset, index). The underlying asset can be equity, forex, commodity or, any other asset. There are two types of derivatives instruments (futures & options).

3. Debt Market:

The debt market consists of bond markets that provide financing through the issuance of bonds.

4. Corporate Bond Market:

Bonds issued by firms are Corporate bonds and are issued to meet needs for expansion, modernization, restructuring operations, mergers, and acquisitions.

5. Forex Market:

The foreign exchange market( currency, forex, or FX) is where currency trading takes place. Currently, the Forex market is one of the largest and most liquid financial markets in the world and includes trading between large banks, central banks, currency, speculators, corporations, governments, and other financial institutions.

6. Commodity Derivatives Market:

Commodity markets enable the exchange of raw or, primary products. Raw commodities are traded on standardized commodities exchange in which they are purchased and sold in well –defined contracts. The trading in gold, silver and agricultural goods are also facilitated under this market.

Bottom line:

By now you must have got the idea of the primary market and secondary market. Let’s conclude what we discussed in this article.

The primary market, also known as New Issue Market (NIM), is the market place where new shares are issued and the public buys shares directly from the company, usually through an IPO or FPO.

On the other hand, the Secondary Market is the place where formerly issued securities are traded. The second market involves indirect purchasing and selling of shares among investors. Brokers are Intermediary and the investors/traders get the amount on the sale of shares.

That’s all for this post. I hope it was useful for you. Happy Investing.

September 28, 2019 Oindrila Chowdhury Investment Basics No comments yet

How to Check Your Credit Score?

In this world of the internet, everything is possible. From paying your gas bills to checking off your loan repayment or even how much credit score you have, everything is near our face and at the palm of our hands. Earlier it was a huge deal to check your credit score because people had to get permission from their respective banks and get the work done. But this is not the case anymore. If you can sit at the comfort of your own home and create an account, you can check your cibil score or credit score if you have a laptop, a desktop and even your mobile phone with an active internet connection.

So why you need to check it?

Lenders are always trying to fish into your credit score. Your credit score matters to you, and even when the time you are obtaining personal or home loan. Your credit score is the primary determinant as to how fast you will get your loan right on time.

Whether you have a credit card or you have opted out for a mortgage, your credit score will follow you everywhere you go. So it becomes practically inevitable for you to escape from the worst which could happen. It is a score that reflects on your credit track record, and the more you make your payments on time, use the better or lesser loan, etc., the better your score will be.

So how can you check your credit score?

If you want to check your credit score, then you have to go through the CIBIL check. You might think that this is yet another complicated term up in your way, well it is not.

CIBIL means Credit Information Bureau India Limited. It is leading credit rating agency which helps to keep track of all your credit transaction and records. It helps to shine a light on your creditworthiness as well.

Due to the presence of CIBIL, the people of India are financially stable now and can check off their credit rates on the online. It has managed to make the financial markets permanent with the knowledge of educating the people to what they want and how they should process their spending. It is because of CIBIL that the financial market is transparent.

And it has sown a structure for the Indian people to rely on so that they can do the best for themselves and make sure that they can manage the risks as well as control their lousy loan from the bank that they are taken their amount in.

Also read: 10 Best Credit Cards in India [With Exploding Benefits]

How do the CIBIL works?

When you want to check your credit score from the online source, then you have to take the help of the CIBIL here. Banks and financial institutions from all around will first get their access through the CIBIL before they grant you any loan.

The CIBIL check which is done is based on the generation of the credit score. It is a three-digit number which works and ranges basically from 300 to 900. If you have a credit score below 300, then it is said that it is inferior. This is when the lenders will often time hesitates before granting you the personal loan. The next thing is if your score is around 900, then it is ideally the best credit score that you can have.

(Source: NerdWallet)

Every month, all the banks and the institutions that grant your credit will check off your CIBIL score to understand how they can give you permission for certain things. This, in turn, helps the bank and the employees to judge your credit rating and choose the right applicants for granting the loan amount.

This way, they can get the repayment right off the bat without having to put a second thought to it. If the banks and the financial institutions are checking your credit score, then you need to make sure that your score should be above 700. If it is below that, then most of them won’t avail you to make usage of their service that they have.

Also read: Everything You Need to Know About Your Credit Score.

Steps to check off your credit score

Here are the steps you need to follow if you want to check off your credit score with the help of the CIBIL records.

You need to initiate the whole process by filing for a form which is present onto the official site of the cibil website. If you have filled up the way, then it will be right for you and easy for you to check off your credit score too.
Now you need to enter your personal details. This is your name, your phone number, your address, etc.
If you want to opt-out for the CIBIL Transunion score or which is also known as the CIR, you have to pay a nominal fee for the same.
Once you have submitted your form, and with the nominal fees, your credit or your CIBIL score will be mailed to you.

For those who have not yet found to work out through the internet life, you can check your credit score with the help of the offline function too. You need to fill in the form of application and then bring in your documents to the official CIBIL office which is located in Mumbai, and your work will be done. It will help you to understand your credit score better.

Now here is some trick you need to know before you apply in for your credit score check through CIBIL.

Checking CIBIL score is FREE. You will be firstly offered a lot of paid options if you are trying to check off your score. If you want to check your score of once then you can click onto the No thanks option which is located at the bottom.
If you don’t have your account, then you have to make one but If you do have then you can log in using your password and username. For those who are creating their account for the first time, they will be prompted to open an account with a pseudo password. Once you have opened the same, you will be mailed to change your password ASAP.

Note: If you are yet to get a credit card, here is a quick link to check your eligibility and apply for credit cards online.

Check your credit score for good

If you ask me, it is not advised to check your credit score only once because it can fluctuate over time. Check your credit score every quarter or six months. So if you wish to keep an eye on your score, then there is a plan which you can select which is present onto the website. This way, you can save a check on them and help to maintain a good credit score with an overall well impact.

September 24, 2019 Meghashree Das Credit Cards No comments yet

List of 10 Richest Person in India cover picture

Top 10 Richest Person in India in 2019

Top 10 Richest Person in India (Updated: Sept 2019):

India is widely known for its culture and diversity. With a population of around 1.33 Billion, India has set a high standard for itself in the world with its rising economy and annual growth rate. The fields of imports and exports have let India maintain stability in the market over the years.

Stemming from such fruitful opportunities, India is home to many millionaires as well as some billionaires who have put India on the world map as a fast-paced and rapidly progressing nation. These people have not only created a wide window for profitability but they have also helped the nation raise the bar for total GDP growth. They are in the list of richest person in India as well as in the world.

Here, we take a look at the top 10 richest person in India:

1. Mukesh Ambani:

This name needs no introduction in India. Known by everyone, Mukesh Ambani is India’s largest business tycoon with a penchant for constant improvement. Mukesh Ambani stands 1st on the list of Richest person in India. He is the son of Dhirubhai Ambani and Kokilaben Ambani. He is also the Chairman and Managing Director of the Reliance Industries Limited which is one of the Fortune 500 companies in the world.

Mukesh Ambani’s net worth for the year 2019 was estimated around US $50 Billion and has been ranked number 13th on the Forbes World’s Billionaire list. His innovative ideas with regards to the Indian Telecommunications Sector (Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited) along with his other business prospects such as Reliance Industries Limited (Oil and Gas) have helped him attain the highest spot in our list.

2. Azim Premji:

Second on the list of the Richest Person in India is Azim Premji. He is known as one of the most generous philanthropists in India. He is the founder of Wipro (Western India Products Limited) which is one of the major outsourcing companies in India.

As of 2019, Azim Premji’s net worth is estimated to be around US $22.6 Billion. With the most recent development in their business with Alight Solutions of Illinois whose deal is worth US $1.6 Billion, Wipro has quickly improved its number and credibility over the years.

3. Shiv Nadar:

Shiv Nadar comes from a humble background from Tamil Nadu but he has a made a big name for himself being the founder of HCL Technologies.

His net worth for the year 2019 has amounted US $16.4 Billion. HCL Technologies is the 4th largest software provider company in India and thus, it has created a credible name for India in the world market. His education endeavors such as Shiv Nadar University which provides quality education, are his ways to improve the Indian education system.

Also read: Top 10 Companies in India by Market Capitalization.

4. Lakshmi Mittal:

One of the most well-renowned names in the steel industry is the name and fame of Lakshmi Mittal.

With net worth amounting US $13.6 Billion, Lakshmi Mittal has catapulted his company Mittal Steels to the top of the trade along with a profitable merger with Arcelor (France) in the year 2006. Now, ArcelorMittal has now started acquiring businesses that have failed or been bankrupted, in order to improve business prospects for themselves and other companies as well.

5. Uday Kotak:

Another prominent name in the richest Indians list includes the name of Uday Kotak. He is the Managing Director of one of the largest customer banks in India – Kotak Mahindra Bank.

His net worth is valued at US $11.8 Billion with constant mergers for improved profitability. His acquisition of ING Bank’s Indian operations in the year 2014 opened newer horizons for profit-making for the bank and for Uday Kotak himself.

6. Kumar Mangalam Birla and Radhakrishna Damani:

Although into separate business lines, these two have taken the Indian business world by storm through their profitable mergers and acquisitions over the years.

K M Birla has been with the Aditya Birla group for a while now and his unparalleled business sense has valued his net worth at a whopping US $ 11.1 Billion.

Radhakrishna Damani, the founder of D-Mart stores, has been an active investor in numerous ventures such as VST Industries (tobacco relevant), United Breweries (beer relevant) amongst many others with the same net worth as K M Birla at US $11.1 Billion.

Also Read: D-Mart Founder- RK Damani Success Story [Bio, Facts, Net worth & More]

7. Cyrus Poonawala:

One of the most environment friendly philanthropists in India and his company Serum Institute of India is one of the largest creators of vaccines in the world.

His net worth is valued at US $ 9.5 Billion and he ranks No. 7 in our list. His company is known to produce around 1.5 Billion vaccines doses for a number of diseases. His son’s CSR venture, Adar Poonawala Clean City Initiative in Pune, has won a ton of appreciation from various business leaders.

8. Gautam Adani:

Being the chairman of Adani Group, he holds a rightful spot in our richest Indians list.

Gautam Adani has a net worth of US $ 8.7 Billion and his vast empire includes absolute control of one of India’s most vital ports, the Mundra Port along with investments in other fields such as power generation, real estate, the commodities market, etc.

Also Read: 3 Insanely Successful Stock Market Investors in India that you need to Know.

9. Dilip Shangvi:

The pharmaceuticals industry is one of the most profitable in India. Therefore, Dilip Shangvi, founder of Sun Pharmas, deserves a mention in our list. His net worth is US $ 7.6 Billion which contributes to the ownership of India’s most reliable pharmaceutical companies.

10. Nusli Wadia:

Lastly, the name Nusli Wadia is infamous in India. With him being the Chairman of Wadia Group, his net worth has been estimated to be around US $ 6.4 Billion. His company includes powerful and highly profitable names such as Britannia Industries (FMCG), GoAir (Airlines), amongst others.

Bonus: Infographic on top 10 richest person in India

Feel free to share/embed the above infographic. Just give the credits to Trade Brains. Cheers!!

September 24, 2019 Fiza Inamdar Personal Finance No comments yet

The 80/20 Rule or the Pareto Principle- How it can change your life?

Have you ever wondered something? That some of your mates or even your business partners do a little and get a lot in return. Well, is that black magic? It might not be because a scientific method which is known as the Pareto’s principle or 80/20 Rule is here to explain the whole deal to you.

Understanding the knowledge of the 80/20 principle

The 80/20 is sometimes known as the Pareto principle. This was originally an observation made by Vilfredo Pareto that around 80 percent of the world’s wealth is only owned by 20 percent of the population. We are not here to discuss economics right. We are here to decipher the whole trick and help you to prepare for your life scores in the best possible way needed.

There are some simple tricks that you need to apply to your Life because mugging up won’t do you any good. Living smart is the option right now, and with that comes the need for your presence of mind. Successful people who know how to advance their Lives already have learned the 80/20 rule. It always helps them to prepare life exams and to ace the results later.

While it does not seem like it is the precisely 80/20 rule which works here, these imbalances are seen in your Life and often in other cases as well.

To this day, the 80/20 rule applies in real Lifelike:

Most of the time, you will see that only 20 percent of the people have the riches of the world, and 80 percent have half of it. This might seem unfair but it is how it is.
In your exam time, you can see that students who only study about as little as they want, they will get 80 percent of the marks. The rest of them will attain lower grades.
In your business analytics, the managers or the workers who only spent less time of their work into the business then they are obtaining 80 percent of the incentives. The 20 percent is attained for the lower part of your motivation.

The 80/20 Rule to advance your Life

You might be wondering what the 80/20 rule is so here we will cover it for you. For instance, living with a limited amount of resources for a day can be hard for you. Under final observation, it is seen that different people have a distinct style of coping, and that is how the whole factor is determined.

Studies have seen that people who have only put 20 percent of their effort have scored above 80 percent of the results toward’s their achieved goals.

You might be thinking that how it really happens but well, there is a trick to it. Don’t apply if you don’t know the entire rule. The beauty of the 80/20 rule is that it works for you, and it is quite simple to understand as well. Even you can turn around your life in just a single way if you are using this strategy. If your friend is struggling and always finding it hard to cope better with their Life, then you can recommend this to him/her as well.

How does it work?

(Image credits- Buffer)

One of the best mental models that you can get around for yourself is the 80/20 or the Pareto principle. You can basically apply it in your daily life, and it helps you with a lot of things that you want to improve in. Like if you wish to have better learning skills, use this principle to do better. This can also be used by people who want to analyze better ideas for their business and else.

Well, the 80/20 rule is used to improve everything in a well-systematized way.

If you are a typical analyst of Life, then what do you do? You spend half of the time into sulking the fact that why you are not getting your dream job or doing productive work in a single day. Your version of living Life is wasted onto the thoughts that you put inside it. Pareto’s principle is the mental model you can use.

You need to understand where your focus lies and make sure that it sticks to it. You need to have a core and basic understanding of your surroundings. Here, you cannot dive into the growth of the process. You have to get the pieces together, and only then you can dive into the success of Life. By putting the right type of focus on the work that you do, you will be changing your Life for the best. It will help you to get a charge on your Life.

Using the 80/20 rule for your benefit

Well, according to the Pareto principle, you need to devote a few hours of your time and focus on the thing that you want in your life.

The rest of the time which you waste should be accounted for a minimum part. It is only for a smaller potent. This does not usually happen to the majority of the people out there. They will take their time to understand and then focus on their Life. Here is something you can look out for.

Make sure that you only spend 20 percent of the time in understanding your goal. Understand that the 80 percent is meant for you to persuade it.
When you are wasting your time, waste only for 20 percent, rest, use it for your source.
Eighty percent of your time is spent on the mindless hunting of better apps and fiddling with your phone.
Use the 80 percent of your time into collecting the information you need to change your Life. The best hack lies here.

Prepare for the best

These preparation strategies are here to improve the potency of your Life and advance the options. Using Pareto’s principle will help you to find the best meaning to Life. Always understand that keeping the priorities ahead of you will help you to land somewhere in Life.

September 23, 2019 Meghashree Das Investing Psychology No comments yet

Billionaire Carl Icahn: Investment Strategy, Philosophy, Quotes & More

If you’ve been involved in the stock market for quite some time, you must have heard of Carl Icahn. He is a famous American investor and founder and controlling shareholder of Icahn Enterprises. In case you haven’t, don’t worry. In this article, we shall discuss his investing philosophy. So, if you are a newbie in the world of investing, you are surely going to learn something new and informative today.

Apart from being a seasoned investor, Carl Icahn is also an established businessman and a philanthropist. He is the Chairman of Federal-Mogul which is an American developer, supplier, and manufacturer of vehicle safety products and power train components.

During the year 2017, Icahn provided his service to the present US President Donald Trump as a special economic adviser on financial regulation.

He founded his famous Asset Management Company in 1987 named Icahn Enterprises L.P. It is a conglomerate, headquartered at New York, USA. He is having the ultimate controlling power of his company where he owns a 95% stake in the same. The company has invested in diverse industries which include energy, auto parts, metals, casinos, rail cars, real estate, food packaging, and home fashion.

Carl Icahn Investing Philosophy

Let us now understand the investment philosophy of Carl Icahn

As per Mr. Icahn, he is a contrarian investor. He said, “My investment philosophy, generally, with exceptions, is to buy something when no one wants it.”

Carl Icahn looks to invest in those companies with share prices reflecting poor price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios. He hunts for those corporations with stocks having book values exceeding their current market values.

After that, he aggressively invests in the significant portion of equities of those corporations. Consequently, he becomes the largest shareholder of those companies.

Eventually, he calls general meetings to hold elections to form a new Board of Directors or passing the resolution for initiating divestiture of assets to deliver greater value to the shareholders.

Icahn focuses highly on the managerial remuneration. He believes that many top managerial people are highly overpaid and their compensation has little correlation with the equity performance.

You can study Carl Icahn’s portfolio here. From the portfolio of Icahn, we can learn three things about his investing approach.

1. Carl Icahn is more into trading than investing:

An analysis of his portfolio reveals that most of his stocks were bought in the last two years. It is his habit of not keeping stocks in his portfolio for more than one and a half years.

When he invests in a company, he invests to the extent that he becomes the largest stakeholder of the same. So, he gets the authority to call general meetings. He pressurizes such company for using cash or raising a loan to buyback stocks. This results in increasing the stock price in the short run.

Icahn is more concerned with making short term profits and little does he care for the long term viability of the company.

2. He invests in securities with high conviction:

When Icahn invests in a stock, it is highly likely that he has a strong conviction behind the investment. He invests in the equity of a company where he has a gut feeling to earn huge returns.

Icahn purchases stocks of those companies which are poorly managed and not performing profitably. He invests in such companies with the intention to force changes to occur in their operations and management.

He even makes the companies declare big dividend payout to the shareholders if he thinks it will lead to his increase in returns in the long run.

3. Icahn is an activist investor:

He is a frequent stock trader. He majorly invests in equities of the companies with the objective of making changes in those companies. It is an effort he makes to push the price of the stocks.

The management of a company can easily ignore an activist holding a small number of shares in the same. But, if a billionaire investor holds a high percentage of the company, he/she can’t be easily ignored by the company.

Icahn’s investing strategy is simply beyond the reach of individual retail investors. Every investor, whether big or small, should not blindly follow any investor to take any position in a company. But, still, Icahn’s quarterly filing of shareholdings to SEC is certainly worth paying a glance for a few minutes.

Also read: Howard Marks’ Investing Strategies & Lessons

Famous Quotes By Charle Ichan

— Charles Icahn on his investment strategy:

“I look at companies as businesses, while Wall Street analysts look for quarterly earnings performance. I buy assets and potential productivity. Wall Street buys earnings, so they miss a lot of things that I see in certain situations.”

— This is what Icahn has to say on takeovers:

“In takeovers, the metaphor is war. The secret is reserves. You must have reserves stretched way out ahead. You have to know that you could buy the company and not be stretched.”

— Charles Icahn thoughts on ethics:

“I’m happy stockholders benefited. But I’m no Robin Hood. I enjoy making money.”

— Finally, two other remarkable quotes of Charles Icahn:

“I make money. Nothing wrong with that. That’s what I want to do. That’s what I’m here to do. And that’s what I enjoy.”

“CEOs are paid for doing a terrible job. If the system wasn’t so messed up, guys like me wouldn’t make this kind of money.”

(Image Credits: Azquotes)

Also read: 31 Hand-Picked Best Quotes on Investing: Buffett, Munger, Graham & More.

Closing Thoughts

In order to be a successful financial investor, an individual needs to be a finance enthusiast first of all. Secondly, he/she needs to study financial markets from various books and also follow the macroeconomic events and global stock markets. Lastly, it is important to study the investment approaches of renowned investors to understand their investing psychology.

Financial Market practitioners majorly advocate value investing to be a successful investor. Of course, it is one of the most successful ways to make wealth but there exist other methods to make money as well.

Carl Icahn is a different type of a stock market investor as compared to the old school value investors like Benjamin Graham and Warren Buffet. Unlike these two gentlemen, Mr. Icahn is more into trading than investing. Carl Icahn also focuses on Corporate Governance of the company whose share he buys. His philosophy is more based on short term profiteering rather than long term value investing.

He is an investor who has let us taste a different flavor of investing. There is no doubt in saying that one can definitely learn a lot as a fresher from the veteran investor.

September 12, 2019 Rajarshi Bose AceInvestors No comments yet