Investment mantra: The best ideas in investments are always the sim plest.
Past positions: UTI Mutual Fund, Deutsche Asset Management and Tata Mutual Fund.
Best calls: MNC engineering com paniesbought in 2004, which have appreciated four to five times in the past two years.
Worst calls: Auto ancillary stocks, purchased as value buys in 2004, have hardly moved in line with the market.
Top picks right now: Banking, software, engineering and construction com panies.
Advice to small investors: The tim e of maximum pessimism is the best time to buy and the time of maximum optim ism is the
best tim e to sell.
Worst mistake they make: Not investing systematically, both in good times and bad times.
One thing they must never forget: The power of com pounding that investment in equities offers. —PUJA MEHRA
(Vinay R. Kulkarni is a Senior fund manager with HDFC Mutual Fund
These are Kulkarni’s personal views and not of HDFC AMC.)
