interview

“I am making night photography better with NoctaCam app” says Vaddadi Kartick

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NoctaCam app for night photography vs iPhone camera app

Were you intrigued by the picture that you just saw above? Well, that is a work of Vaddadi Kartick and he is working on NoctaCam, a camera app for iPhone.

Kartick is based in Bengaluru. He loves photography and understands cameras and apps, much better than many of us. Better than me for sure!

Kartick earned an M.Tech. in Computer Engineering at IIT Bombay. He worked at Google for almost 9 years, on most of the important products, like Google search, Youtube, Gmail, Google Sheets, Google Docs.

I have known Kartick as a very fertile, curious mind with amazing clarity of thought. I believe the same reflects in his work too.

Today, we are going to get Kartick to share about his story and his creation – the NoctaCam iPhone camera app.

All set Kartick!

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Investing – Insights from an equity investor

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equity investor insights - how to pick stocks

To be an equity investor is difficult. For some, it can be downright scary. The fact remains that more people lose money in equity investing than make in it. Why is that so?

You see equity investing is a science. There is a whole lot of financial analysis and valuation methodologies that enable an investor to make decisions. Interestingly, it is an art too as it is subject to ‘views’ of individuals. The simplest example of it being an art is that one company can be valued very differently by two individuals.

The real magic of investing happens at the ‘horizon’ where the ‘art’ and ‘science’ meet.

I have been on the search to find real world investors who practice this amalgamation of ‘art’ and ‘science’.

By pure chance, I came across Balaji Sridharan, an equity investor who also has a full time job as a CXO of an organisation. Balaji has generously shared his approach and thought process on equity investing.

You might be investing in direct equity or via equity mutual funds or just be getting prepared to start your journey as an equity investor, I am sure you will benefit from his ideas. I have benefited for sure.

This is Part 1 of the note. You can read Part 2 here.

So, let’s read what Balaji has to share.

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Know your Fund – Quantum Long Term Equity

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Quantum Long Term Equity Fund

Unovest recently did an interview with Atul Kumar, Fund Manager of Quantum Long Term Equity Fund.

Atul has more than a decade’s experience in equity research and fund management. His strong dedication and simple investment style has won accolades for Quantum Long Term Equity Fund. Atul is also the Fund Manager of Quantum Tax Saving Fund.

In this interview, Atul tells us all that is important about the fund.

Let’s begin.

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Insights from Gautam Sinha Roy of Motilal Oswal MF

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Fund manager interview - Gautam Sinha Roy, Motilal Oswal MF

This fund manager interview post originally appeared on www.unovest.co. Here’s an extract from the interview.

As a part of the Insider’s view series, we bring to you insights shared by Gautam Sinha Roy, Fund Manager of the MOSt Focused Multicap 35 Fund (Equity component) at Motilal Oswal AMC.

Gautam has more than 11 years of rich experience in fund management and research. Previously, he has had stints with Motilal Oswal Securities Limited in the Investments and Market Strategy teams.

He was also with Motilal Oswal Securities Ltd. where he was managing the company’s investments book. In the past, he has worked with IIFL Capital Pvt. Ltd., Mirae Asset Global Investment Pvt. Ltd., Edelweiss Capital Ltd. and Genpact Ltd before joining the Motilal Oswal group.

VK: Welcome Gautam!

Thanks for agreeing to this interview.

Interest in equity investing, direct or through mutual funds, is rising. However, the foundation that is required to benefit from equity investing is still missing.

The purpose of our conversation today is to enable investors to understand how they can make the most of equity investing. I am sure investors will appreciate it coming from a fund manager like yourself.

Should we begin?

Gautam: Yes.

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Investing in Equity Mutual Funds – a perspective from Rajeev Thakkar of PPFAS MF

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Investing In Equity Mutual Funds with Rajeev Thakkar of PPFAS MF

Individuals are keen to invest in mutual funds but there is this rampant confusion still prevailing on what exactly is a mutual fund and how does it work. Should one go for direct stocks or an equity mutual fund? The number of mutual funds out there compounds this confusion further.

That’s where I reached out to Rajeev Thakkar, the CIO and Director of PPFAS Mutual Fund, who was kind enough to share his views and provide answers to some of the “top of the mind” investor queries.

Rajeev Thakkar possesses close to 2 decades of experience in various segments of the Capital Markets such as investment banking, corporate finance, securities broking and managing clients’ investments in equities.

Rajeev has been associated with PPFAS Limited (the Sponsor of the AMC) since 2001. He was appointed the Fund Manager for the erstwhile flagship scheme of the Portfolio Management Service, titled “Cognito” in 2003.

He is a strong believer in the school of “value-investing” and is heavily influenced by Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger’s approach. Apart from his technical ability, what distinguishes him from many others is his ability to stand his ground and remain unflappable during difficult times.

He is a regular contributor to Mint newspaper and has also appeared on business channels such as Bloomberg India TV and ET Now.

He is a man of few words but his low-key demeanor often underplays the fact that he is a good listener, a team player and a razor-sharp thinker.

I was glad to talk to Rajeev and get his expert views on equity mutual funds. 

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