Anubhav Mukherjee
Anubhav has more than a decade of investing experience in Indian public equities at India’s leading PE & VC firm SAIF Partners (Elevation Capital), which has more than 4Bn $ assets under management. At SAIF, his last role was a Principal in the investment team and he has extensive experience of the complete investing lifecycle across capital allocation, portfolio construction, position sizing, portfolio management and timing of exits. During his long investing career, he has built deep understanding of diverse sectors like pharma, IT services, consumer, engineering, infra, auto & ancillaries, cement, etc.
At SAIF, Anubhav has led investment in companies like Atul, Persistent Systems, Mindtree, Supreme Industries, Ratnamani Metals & Tube, etc.
He has evaluated more than 300 listed companies and has identified several multi-baggers like Vinati Organics, Ajanta pharma, Eicher motors, TD Power, Birlasoft, FIEM Industries, Granules and Suprajit Engineering.
Prior to pursuing his MBA, he was part of the core technologies team at Adobe Systems. He has a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from IIM Lucknow, where he was awarded the Director’s medal for academic excellence, and a B.E. in Computer Science (Merit Scholar) from NSIT, Delhi.
What I am looking for in a management team?
The most important qualities I look for in a management are high integrity and single minded focus on business. It should not be bothered about short term share price performance and managing investor perception but rather only care about long term business goals. It should prioritize balance sheet health over aggressive growth and be honest in sharing a true picture of the state of business to investors. It should clearly believe that long term value creation will be from outstanding business performance and fair treatment of all stakeholders .
What is the single most important thing for success in investing?
Avoiding biases is most important for investing success. Following an objective checklist driven process at every step of the investment process is key to avoid pitfalls.
How do I make hold vs sell call?
For any investment I am holding, I evaluate what can be the incremental IRR over next 3 years making reasonably conservative assumptions for earnings growth and exit valuation. If it does not meet my threshold IRR expectation then I exit the investment.
One book on investing I will recommend ?
My introduction to the concept of value investing was from reading a simple and easy to understand book called ‘The little book of value investing’. It explains the remarkable concept of value investing in a lucid manner. I strongly recommend the book to anyone new to value investing.
How do I track disruption in a sector?
There are 2 ways in which I try to keep track of potential disruptions that can impact a sector. First is by studying evolution of the industry in different countries, especially in US and China, because these 2 countries are leading the world in technology innovations. Secondly, by keeping track of latest developments in the Indian startup ecosystem. Given my past experience at SAIF Partners, which is a leading Indian VC fund, I have good connects with venture investors, startup founders and professionals to keep myself abreast of new evolving business models.
Does your framework change in a bull or a bear market?
In a bull market, I stick ardently to my quality bar and ensure not to compromise on quality looking for value. As valuations are high and there is dearth of investible opportunities, I am fine to exit investments and maintain a high level of cash. In a bear market, one finds a lot of great quality companies at attractive valuations; companies that we always wanted to invest in but couldn’t because of high valuations. I try to maintain my calm and not be affected by the general gloom in a bear market and invest in well run businesses that have the best long term prospects.