My Investment Journey & Portfolio updates

Investment Journey
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Hi Everyone

My stock market exposure actually started with options trading in 2002. Wanted to make big with less money​:joy::joy:. It ended in despair as always, lost in F&O till 2006. Understanding was just trade and price, exit the trade if 20-25% returns are there. March 2007 till Dec 2007, made 11X returns on capital. Took out 8X capital in Nov 2007 for my yonger sister’s marriage. By Jan 2008 Market crashed 5000 points in two days and my whole account got wiped out as i was holding BHEL future positions. No worries as I could meet a bigger financial obligation.

Bought my 1st home for consumption in 2007 with 90% loan, still living in the same house. Total Networth was negative at start of 2008.

In 2008, formed a company with my three friends with a product on 3rd party SMS messaging, that product worked very well till whatsapp came into picture hence my focus diverted from stock markets. Product was deployed in Tata, Reliance. By 2014, whatsapp became very popular and we had to wind up operations in 2016 as it was a part time perspective and no one was willing to leave job. My profit from that venture was more than my total Job earning in last 17 years, used that money to pay off my home loan, car loan, one two weeks europe trip and one new flat investment in Noida extention.

I stayed away from markets till 2012. End of 2012, some one recommended me Peter Lynch books on moneycontrol site which changed my whole perspective and educated about all nitty gritty of sectors, PE ratio, Stalwart, fast grower etc.

my initial investments were in Nagarjuna construction, Madhucon projects, Gayatri projects, Meghmani organics, Yes Bank, LT Foods. Suven Pharma, IVRCL, rattan power, used to trade in microcaps, Infra, power, bank. Madhucon was a 8X, Gayatri projects was a 5X, Meghmani 3X, whole idea was to look for heavy bargain, deep distress assets and sell it as soon as it normalize. It was a pure luck as both Madhucon and gayatri projects have crashed badly due to nature if business. Crossed my 1st Cr in investment in 2017, it was a different kind of feeling which gave more confidence about stocks for wealth building however i never left real estate as secondry investment vehicle which is proven in Indian context.

By 2017 I was having two real estate investments apart from loan free home. Nov 2017 i could sense some euphoria in markets hence started diluting my investments, luckily sold Deewan housing at peak, rest is history, took out 40% of capital to clear loan on my 3rd flat investment, rotate one flat investment to buy agricultural land. It was a blessing as remaining investments dropped by 90% in March 2020. So total capital deployed in stocks came down to 10 lks, however i was ok as my real estate investment had given 50-60% returns.

From March 2020 till Jan 25, i multiplied my capital by 52 times in Jan 25 which was my ATH for stock markets,

currently sitting at 3% loss to ATH in equity assets. Real estate portfolio has widened to six investments including flats, Large agri land, One office investment and a vacation home in hills, recently acquired a land parcel in Ahemdabad due to upcoming huge capex cycle in that area.

Winners in last 6 years

Force Motors: 20X, Tata Motors: 12 X, AGI Green 5X, SHIL 5 X, Vodafone Idea 3 X ( bought at 3.5 , sold at 11 in 2020-21). Kalyan Jeweller 7X ( exited around 735 average). Thomas Cook 4X, Apollo Tyre 3X, PCBL 3X, ABCAP 3 X, PG Electroplast 4X, not naming more as markets were roaring without valuation check.

Losers & learnings

  1. Lost heavily in reliance power, Reliance Infra, PC Jeweller, Yes Bank, ABFRL, sold yes bank at 10 rupees in Jan 2020, never bought a bank after that
  2. ABFRL lost heavy chunk after demerger, demerger was supposed to create value however it destroyed wealth, exposure was very large, exited completely. Avoiding depreciation heavy business as market doesn’t give value.
  3. Rpower, PC Jeweller, Yes Bank, DHFL were cheap for a reason, its value trap, low PE is never good
  4. Sold PG Electroplast at 200 levels, it hit 1000 and retraced back, for a rising growth stock, only partial exit should be taken to run the rest move

Current asset holdings. Stocks 40% of Networth, real estate 60% of Networth.

Equity compostion

  1. Wockhardt 25% (1021)
  2. Narayana Hrudayala 10% ( 1820)
  3. Vodafone Idea 9% ( 8.5)
  4. Cohance Life 8% (295)
  5. Ventive Hospitality 8% (586)
  6. Vintage Coffee 7% (151)
  7. LT Foods 7% (375)
  8. Kaynes Tech 9% (3100)
  9. Genesys International 4% (235)
  10. PVRINOX 8% (1010)
  11. Cash 5%

MTF leverage 20% - 30% based on market sentiments

Long MTF positions

  1. Supriya Life (790)
  2. Deep Industries (681)
  3. Ion exchange (431)
  4. Arvind smart spaces ( 671)

Outlook for next two three years, only selective buying, very good market for stock pickers. Rally will rotate to find deep value wherever available as maximum of sector and stocks have run the course which will attract either selling or a long time correction. Current approach is to protect core portfolio and play momentum ultra short to generate trading capital.

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Would love your investment thesis for each your stocks. Thanks.

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What happened to this 2 year holding plan bet?

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what a journey! also you are one of most experienced in markets in this forum as started in 2002! Its great you started your own thread finally :grin:

Does your current 60% allocation to real estate includes the house you stay?

Regarding total asset allocation, after so many years what do you feel is ideal asset allocation to real estate, equity, debt, gold (including portion of occupied house that belongs to one… because that capital although locked but there is always a choice to reallocate it in a lower or even higher value real estate)…

coming to equity portfolio, your current allocation to hospital is 10% can you pls provide your rationale for a big allocation here…i was reading about government possibility of capping certain procedures cost etc… is that a risk? also you have not chosen apollo, max, jupiter etc. here…so whats the overall rationale? lastly is hospitals sector a very long term investment for you, say 10 years or more or you would switch based on momentum? Thanks!

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@Surender ji you caught me red handed​:joy:, It was plan to hold it for two years, i was holding genesys international with 2% exposure, increased exposure in genesys when it dropped below 250 pre right issue and sold brand concepts. My approach and PF was more retail heavy 2 years back, made handsome money in shoppers stop, was holding ABFRL, Arvind Fashion with large exposure, after heavy losses in ABFRL, i exited Arvind Fashions as well, i was a victim of sector bias hence corrected my behaviour, this was also one of the reason to switch and i dont even track retail sector now.

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Hi @Investor_No_1 thanks for kind words. I actually started as a gambler/ spectacular in 2002, ended up as an investor in 2013. :joy:

Reason for buying 10% of PF in hospital sector was to protect capital while remain invested in market as markets are really choppy. Hospital is a contra sector and long term growth with capital protection, low beta investment. NH is cheapest among Hospital sector due to current losses in health insurance. It operates In India, Cayman Island & UK. Forward annualized EBIDTA is 1900-2000 cr with EV/EBIDTA of 20, Consolidated sales 11000 cr, margin 19%. Two years down the line UK operations will be streamlined. Another big factor will be medical tourism as, for example Dental implant cost in US UK is much expensive than a person travels to india, stays in a hotel and get a implant done including flight expenses. Its a ling term secular growth sector to stay invested.

Real estate i am always looking for bargains in other locations and rotate capital, did not include my house in my networth. Accurate Ratio is 65:35 as my agri land has gone 4 times in last 4 years. Investment in nainital has doubled in two years. All PF stocks are special situation stock where either last 5-10 year returns are zero and now some green shoots are emerging or stocks have been slaughtered due to some temporary issue with long term outlook intact. I am scared after seeing Feb-March drawdown in equities where i had sell some stocks due to margin calls loss on total exposure was close to 40% of PF. Keeping low expectation now.

Real estate cycle has run in major pockets across country, Gold had a phenomenal run in last 2 years, Equity run from 2020 till 2024 was like an imagination. Debt is still ok ok.

My personal opinion is equity returns will be muted at index level, its a pure stock picker market. Expecting US interest to firm ahead, after collecting 110 B USD in FCNR deposits, RBI wouldn’t allow rupee to depreciate further, interest rates in India are set to rise. Store value of gold may jump up further as hints from US economic collapse will increase in next 2-3 years.

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@Cshar ji Congratulations on your phenomenal 52× return in just 4 years! :clap: Truly an incredible achievement.

Could you please guide us on how you use leverage (MTF) while investing in stocks? Specifically, I would love to understand:

  1. At what stage or timing do you use MTF?

  2. How do you decide the quantity/allocation?

  3. Do you build positions gradually through staggered buying, or enter in one shot?

  4. How do you manage risk and decide when to reduce or exit an MTF position?

I ask because I have personally burned my fingers using leverage. For the first time in my 10-year stock-market journey, I ended 2025 with a small loss largely because of leverage.

I started investing in the stock market in 2015, when I was just 22, using my small savings. Over the years, I have learned that protecting capital is just as important as generating returns.

Your experience and guidance on using MTF responsibly would be extremely valuable and could help many of us avoid repeating costly mistakes.

Thank you, and congratulations once again on the phenomenal journey! :folded_hands:

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Thanks for sharing your investing journey and congratulations on your exceptional performance! I am a working professional with 10 years of investing experience with decent performance.

Could you please share some light on your current profession? What is your exposure to debt? Are you a full time investor? If yes, Could you please guide on how you drawdown money for your annual expenses. I am asking this question to understand as I am planning to leave the job to work full time in investing and any insights would be helpful.

Thank you.

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Hi @kumarpalj

Could you please share some light on your current profession? ( I am Retired from active Job since Sept 24, Had a 27 years long corporate career)

What is your exposure to debt? Zero

Are you a full time investor? If yes, Could you please guide on how you drawdown money for your annual expenses. Have some rental income from two residential properties, covering 25% of annual expense, 75% of expenses are covered by intraday, swing trade, zero F&O.

I am asking this question to understand as I am planning to leave the job to work full time in investing and any insights would be helpful.

Leaving Job for full time investing is a tough call to make, in my case, I am debt free, one son is studying in 3rd year B. Tech. I had idea of retiring once my networth crossed 10 cr. You need to workout on all asset class holding, liability in upcoming 5-10 years, also taking into account muted returns from equity PF. Frankly i was not a career passionate, just earned my living, did not work hard politically for promotions. Job is always a personal perspective, don’t leave just for the sake of leaving untill u have strong reasons and firm plan in place. At my age, there is no point looking at Job in India hence its a forced retirement as well. :joy::joy:

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Hi @Kishor48

Thanks for kind words, coming to your queries in MTF. Major issue with MTF is you have unlimited capital hence whenever markets are euphoric, your leverage increases, operators play stocks accordingly, in today’s market due to curb on F&O, maximum trades are happening in MTF hence staggered buying approach with price discovery over a period of time and one shot exit is working well as if you don’t sell than others will sell.

At what stage or timing do you use MTF?

I am constantly updating my list of stocks as per latest changes happening.

  1. How do you decide the quantity/allocation?

For momentum 1% of PF ultrashort trade, it may be 10 min, 1 hr, max 2 days. Close it whatever you make, purpose is to make MTF interest portion

  1. Do you build positions gradually through staggered buying, or enter in one shot?

In case stock is good and sold for some temporary issues, i can even for 5% and increase gradually as safety of margin increase as stock goes down. Kaynes was accumulated in MTF around 3100 average and moved to core PF during PF churning.

  1. How do you manage risk and decide when to reduce or exit an MTF position?

At any point of time max leverage 20% of PF, in crash like situation 30%.

Exit is your call, i took a large trade in EMIL at 150 levels, results news flashed on TV screen, Q1 27 profit was more than FY26. I was already holding 1% of position, made it 7% in one shot, exited at 190 average levels with a 2% PF gains in 8-9 trading sessions.

Feb-March 27 was worst as markets were sliding one way down, booked 7% of PF losses. But overall 6 years my experience is amazing as without leverage it was not possible.

Only advise is to decide what percentage of leverage u keep, not recommending more than 20% at any point of time, on decided, stick to it.

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How do you find these extreme short term trades? Any process that you follow?

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Hit new portfolio ATH today after Jan 25, good rally in wockhardt contributed most apart from genesys, Idea, LT Foods, vintage coffee. Reduced 5% exposure in wockhardt, increased weightage in Kaynes Tech.

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Thanks for sharing your incredible investment journey. Making 52x is super crazy! I think i know you from mmb forum.

Arvind smartspace is expanding into mumbai mmr market which is more competitive and expensive. A few poorly executed projects could destroy lot of value. How do you see the company at current valuation?

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Hi Mahul

Thanks for kind words, i was an active member on MMB until shift to screener, below is a broad level management plan for arvind smart spaces, used screener AI, current market cap is 2800 cr, its 50% of planned operating cash flow. Also Ahemdabad will see good traction + Bangalore due to GCC boom and upcoming MNC’s. MMR i agree might pose a risk however current valuation is a compelling buy as per my personal opinion, its a testing bet for me as of now.

  1. Execution of large pipeline:
    • As of Mar‑26:
      • Ongoing projects: 57.9 msf, GDV ~Rs 7,572 Cr.
      • Planned projects: 29.9 msf, GDV ~Rs 9,825 Cr.
    • Management expects most of the current portfolio’s operating cashflow (~Rs 4,970 Cr) to be realised over 4–5 years, i.e., largely within the next 3–4 years.
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