Want me to work with you?

I am looking for opportunities on the buy-side. Essentially, doing what I currently do but with added benefit of working with the best minds. If you are looking for someone to work with you please read below.

As an analyst employee, I tend to conform to fund manager's style. I believe a fund manager needs to get all the analysis that makes him or her comfortable about their view. In many cases it means stopping short of my comfort levels. In other cases it means working with specific formats (some fund managers I know respond to font color). 

I may, often, have divergent views than my fund manager. Whether I tell you upfront depends on two things, my relationship with you and how divergent are my views. I will tell you up front without being asked if we have a good equation or if the divergence is too large to be left unflagged. Else, I will wait till you ask for my view. 

I love to meet managements, sell-side analysts, make plant visits etc. If you let me go around a production facility I can tell you how good the management is (are they really doing things they say in MDA). In meetings I want to listen to everything the person has to say (sometimes people ramble on and I don't stop them). I don't check or fidget with my blackberry during meetings. I like to make notes on paper and I discard them later, I file things mentally.

I work with my own projections but I love to unscramble sell-side models. In my assumptions I am more conservative. In a way I deliberate a little more than people like and I doubt every model, every forecast and every assumption. However, I do not change my opinions unless the data changes. 

As an investor, I rely more on management quality than on sell-side projections. I have certain bias against few companies. Some I like to go long whenever opportunity permits (Bharti, L&T etc) and others I love as shorts (ADAG group). In some cases there is logic behind the reasoning (Bharti, L&T etc) while in others (ADAG group) it is more intuitive. 

As an investor, I am terribly risk averse, though the fact that I invest in equities implies some risk-taking. If I smell a rat, I don't want to wait for confirmation about what is wrong with the company. I am happy to close the position. Also, I like positions where there is an easy exit - so I do not invest in small and mid-caps.

I must highlight that I do not understand pharma and insurance. I believe these sectors are more about law-suits and legal skills than about science and finance. But, as I said, I do not understand these sectors.

I love to learn and understand new things. I can listen to new ideas without fatigue for days. These could be in any field from science to religion to cooking - I have varied interests. I follow reasonably advanced mathematics well, so if someone wants to explain calculus, I am game.

I like to go into depth, so I want to know how are oil rigs constructed, how are they anchored, how oil is drilled, why gas is vented off at the rigs, etc in detail. Often I know more about these things than many oil analysts. For metals, the other chemical reactions that can yield the metal and why the current method is preferred over others.

Very many years ago, a fund manager friend highlighted the importance of knowing global history in understanding any industry. What he referred to was the chronology itself. So, oil analyst must know where we struck oil first, how the production centers moved to other countries, how parallel development of technology was critical to such developments. Since then, I read up on general history more than job requires.

People say I am easy to get along with. I don't mind interruptions and am happy to explain things in detail. I am generally patient with people. 

But I know I am quirky person. I like a clean desk. Barring the computer and the phone, there is just a pen and paper on my desk. I hate printouts and like to read on-screen. I prefer iPad. I like to get tea delivered on my desk. I believe admin and HR departments often get tangled up in their own policies. I believe we must fight to retain the best employees.

In sum

I work best with gentle people though I have very high resistance to people who throw tantrums. The best people I know are all very well behaved. I am soft-spoken person. So if you want me to work with you please call me. You can find my CV here. You can reach me at rahuldeodhar [at] gmail [dot] com or call me at +91 -98 20 21 38 13.