He loves squash. Half an hour of the strenuous game every day relaxes the 35-year-old Anand Shah, Canara Robeco Asset Management Company's Head of Equities, and fund manager for Canara Robeco Infrastructure Fund. Ask him if his job as a fund manager is stressful and the answer is a quick "no". "The stocks in my portfolio don't give me sleepless nights," says Shah, who strictly follows a five-day week. A nature lover, his holidays generally take him to the mountains.
"To look up at the mountain from its base is awesome and reaching the top gives a unique sense of achievement," he says. Shah drives down to Lonavala, a hill station 120 km north of Mumbai, at least once a month. A team player, Shah does not hesitate to admit that the success of his fund's superlative performance is because of a team effort.
The general investment focus at Canara Robeco is to get best-in-class businesses run by efficient managements in its portfolio. "We don't spend too much time on volatility in the market," says Shah. Instead, the endeavour is to look at the people who run those businesses, their record of delivering performance and generating returns for their business. As for sectors, he is pretty bullish on the energy (power, oil and gas) sector.
For his personal investments, Shah bets on systematic investment plans (SIPS), which account for 70 per cent of his financial investments. An avid follower of Warren Buffett, he firmly believes that equity must be used to generate wealth and not income. "And the secret is buying best businesses, not stocks," he says.
WINNER: Anand Shah
FUND: Canara Robeco Infrastructure Fund
FUND TYPE: Equity/ Infrastructure
FUND MANAGER SINCE: May 2008
3-YEAR ANNUALISED RETURNS: 11.44%
INVESTING STRATEGY: Identify and buy into well run businesses
INVESTING PHILOSOPHY: Equity must generate wealth, not income
GURU: Warren Buffett
RUNNER-UP 1 : Sadanand Shetty, Taurus Infrastructure
RUNNER-UP 2 : Sankaran Naren & Rajat Chandak, ICICI Prudential Infrastructure
