Investment maestro Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, whose portfolio value tops a staggering Rs 13,000 crore as on date started out with a meagre Rs 60 as stipend. In a recent interview to CNBC TV18, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala said, in response to how much stipend he got in the beginning, “I got Rs 60 in the first year, Rs 80 next and then Rs 90.” What sets the man apart from other investors in the stock market? In his own words–ability to take risk. “One thing which keeps me apart is that I have got guts. I may have Rs 1,000 in my bank but if I think the deal is worth a crore – I will do it. I have guts and setbacks don’t put me off. I feel them for 10 minutes but then I am ready to fight back,” Rakesh Jhunjhunwala told the channel.

Interestingly, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala started investing in the markets when the Sensex was at a mere 150! The 30-share barometer is trading at 33,300 levels today. “My father was also interested in stocks. When I was a young child, he and his friends would drink in the evening and discuss about the stock market. I would listen to them and one day I asked him why do these prices fluctuate. He told me to check if there is a news item on Gwalior Rayon in the newspaper, and if there was Gwalior Rayon’s price would fluctuate the next day,” Rakesh Jhunjhunwala said responding to how he started investing in the stock market.

Apart from the ability to take risk, another striking trait of Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, as gauged from his portfolio is that he has held onto certain “pet stocks” for a very long time. One of the greatest investment gurus of all-time, Peter Lynch writes in his book, ‘One Up on Wall Street’– “Selling your winners and holding your losers is like cutting the flowers and watering the weeds.” This according to Peter Lynch, is the “greatest mistake” in his life.

“My biggest mistake was that I always sold stocks way too early,” Peter Lynch often recalls. Rakesh Jhunjhnunwala’s favourite stock Titan Company Ltd is a case in point.  In October this year, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala had revealed in an interview to ET Now that Titan is his favourite stock. Interestingly, he bought 6 crore shares of  Titan in 2002-03 at an average price of around Rs 3, according to media reports. Titan Ltd shares are currently trading at Rs 830 on NSE. The ace investor holds more than 8.02% or 715,86,220 shares translating to Rs 5,941 crore as on date, assuming no change in holdings since September end. 

Recounting Peter Lynch’s biggest regret, the stock market veteran, Raamdeo Agrawal of Motilal Oswal advises investors to hold on to compounders to create long-term wealth. “Peter Lynch was asked what is your biggest learning of your investing career, and he said one of the biggest mistake he committed was that he sold all his stocks too soon. He bought Home Depot when they were four stores and he sold it the moment it tripled. After that it went almost 100 times more,” Raamdeo Agrawal pointed out in a recent interview to CNBC TV18.