http://atyantcapital.com Expertise in Emerging Market Investments Tue, 15 May 2012 08:34:07 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 http://atyantcapital.com/india/occasional-monsoon-failures-are-necessary/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/occasional-monsoon-failures-are-necessary/#comments Tue, 15 May 2012 08:34:07 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3780 http://atyantcapital.com/india/occasional-monsoon-failures-are-necessary/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/tracking-rahul/rahul-saragoi-on-the-manual-of-ideas/ http://atyantcapital.com/tracking-rahul/rahul-saragoi-on-the-manual-of-ideas/#comments Wed, 02 May 2012 20:09:51 +0000 Pratik Sharma http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3754 The Manual of Ideas, Rahul talks about his approach to investing and how it applies to Indian Markets. A world class publication The Manual of Ideas is used by the who’s who of the international investment community. ]]> http://atyantcapital.com/tracking-rahul/rahul-saragoi-on-the-manual-of-ideas/feed/ 1 http://atyantcapital.com/india/live-tweeting-from-omaha/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/live-tweeting-from-omaha/#comments Tue, 01 May 2012 13:59:14 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3751 http://twitter.com/#!/RahulSaraogi If you are going to be in Omaha and want to connect, reach out to me.]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/live-tweeting-from-omaha/feed/ 2 http://atyantcapital.com/asset-management-industry/building-on-the-lessons-of-poker-great-amarillo-slim/ http://atyantcapital.com/asset-management-industry/building-on-the-lessons-of-poker-great-amarillo-slim/#comments Tue, 24 Apr 2012 15:10:31 +0000 vedant http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3736 http://atyantcapital.com/asset-management-industry/building-on-the-lessons-of-poker-great-amarillo-slim/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/ivanhoes-rights-offering-is-a-role-model/ http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/ivanhoes-rights-offering-is-a-role-model/#comments Sun, 22 Apr 2012 18:10:41 +0000 vedant http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3731 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/ivanhoes-rights-offering-is-a-role-model/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/india/making-time-your-enemy/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/making-time-your-enemy/#comments Fri, 20 Apr 2012 08:49:35 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3728 DE Shaw's plan to downsize its India operation (http://tinyurl.com/6un48or) is only one of many such that I've read in recent times. The other end of the spectrum are allocators who believe that India is not a significant opportunity and don't provide any dedicated resources to India.  They execute their India exposure using teams sitting in New York, London or Singapore and make it part of their Asia ex-Japan pools.  While there is no time horizon mismatch there, I think that is a terrible way to invest in India. So what is the right approach?  In my opinion, it is essential to have a team with ears and feet on the ground in India to invest successfully in India.  It is imperative that the key decision maker be based in India.  There is no way that someone who lives outside India for 182 days in a year can successfully invest based on "research" generated by their India investment teams.  However, it is also essential that the team in India be kept very simple and rudimentary. To make time a friend, it is essential that the capital allocator be willing to hang around in India doing nothing for several years and not feel the pressure to make something happen. This probably sounds like I am talking my book.  I am.  However, it is important to keep in mind that we've structured our operations the way we have because we believe in what I've highlighted above and not the other way around.]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/making-time-your-enemy/feed/ 1 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/best-returnrisk-profiles-in-project-finance/ http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/best-returnrisk-profiles-in-project-finance/#comments Sun, 15 Apr 2012 18:16:43 +0000 vedant http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3705 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/best-returnrisk-profiles-in-project-finance/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/india/transformational-impact-of-the-us-energy-boom/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/transformational-impact-of-the-us-energy-boom/#comments Fri, 13 Apr 2012 18:09:27 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3702 The 9 billion people question (http://www.economist.com/node/18200618). The two things that are needed for the planet to sustain 9 billion people and to offer them increasingly higher standards of living are food and fresh water.  If we have sufficient and affordable energy, these two problems are solved. While the world has become concerned about its carbon footprint and there has been a previously unimagined level of government focus on green energy and subsidies to encourage it, I believe that commercially affordable and ubiquitous green energy is at least 50 years away.  However, the discovery of affordable shale gas and shale oil gives us the window required to sustain higher standards of living for a world population headed to 9 billion even as we work on perfecting the economics and utilization of green energy. I believe that the world is on the precipice of a gas and oil boom with the US at the forefront.  The next big thing is still going to come from the US.  No, it will not be web 4.0, it will be conventional energy.]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/transformational-impact-of-the-us-energy-boom/feed/ 1 http://atyantcapital.com/india/it-is-all-about-the-soft-infrastructure/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/it-is-all-about-the-soft-infrastructure/#comments Fri, 13 Apr 2012 17:45:57 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3696 article from Business Today magazine (http://tinyurl.com/7ghm76f). My biggest takeaway from this article is that wealth is always created by human beings and not by hard assets, raw materials and factors of production.  Wealth is created by the know-how, ingenuity and execution ability of humans.  The embodiment of the above attributes are the institutions (companies, regulators, courts, universities etc. etc.) or the soft infrastructure of an economy.  That is why I believe that equities have been and will continue to remain the most powerful engines of wealth creation. The world is smitten by physical infrastructure and the power and might they project.  I contend that in the absence (or during breakdown) of soft infrastructure, physical infrastructure is absolutely useless.  History has demonstrated this repeatedly. The starkest display of this was right after the collapse of the Soviet Union.  This was visually depicted in the Nicolas Cage movie Lord Of War, in which arms dealer Yuri Orlov smuggled arms out of leaderless warehouses full of state of the art weapons after the collapse of the Soviet Union. When Argentina's government defaulted on its external debt in 2001 and the banking system seized up, things came to a complete standstill. We recently saw things completely come to a standstill in Egypt.  It is anyone's guess how and when things will even return just to the state that existed before the Arab Spring revolution. If anyone has visited a state of the art factory or office building that has been mothballed because its owner filed for bankruptcy and could not fund it, he or she knows what I am talking about. This is the biggest reason why I am bullish about the US economy and why I believe that the 21st century will be the American century.  As much as Americans complain about the breakdown in the economy and the problems the economy faces because of the country's fractured politics and its indebtedness, the US has some the biggest, best and strongest (relatively) institutions in the world. The US has the best soft infrastructure in the world and there is no country that it is even remotely in competition with the US. ]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/it-is-all-about-the-soft-infrastructure/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com Expertise in Emerging Market Investments Tue, 15 May 2012 08:34:07 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 http://atyantcapital.com Expertise in Emerging Market Investments Tue, 15 May 2012 08:34:07 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 http://atyantcapital.com/india/occasional-monsoon-failures-are-necessary/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/occasional-monsoon-failures-are-necessary/#comments Tue, 15 May 2012 08:34:07 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3780 http://atyantcapital.com/india/occasional-monsoon-failures-are-necessary/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/tracking-rahul/rahul-saragoi-on-the-manual-of-ideas/ http://atyantcapital.com/tracking-rahul/rahul-saragoi-on-the-manual-of-ideas/#comments Wed, 02 May 2012 20:09:51 +0000 Pratik Sharma http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3754 The Manual of Ideas, Rahul talks about his approach to investing and how it applies to Indian Markets. A world class publication The Manual of Ideas is used by the who’s who of the international investment community. ]]> http://atyantcapital.com/tracking-rahul/rahul-saragoi-on-the-manual-of-ideas/feed/ 1 http://atyantcapital.com/india/live-tweeting-from-omaha/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/live-tweeting-from-omaha/#comments Tue, 01 May 2012 13:59:14 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3751 http://twitter.com/#!/RahulSaraogi If you are going to be in Omaha and want to connect, reach out to me.]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/live-tweeting-from-omaha/feed/ 2 http://atyantcapital.com/asset-management-industry/building-on-the-lessons-of-poker-great-amarillo-slim/ http://atyantcapital.com/asset-management-industry/building-on-the-lessons-of-poker-great-amarillo-slim/#comments Tue, 24 Apr 2012 15:10:31 +0000 vedant http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3736 http://atyantcapital.com/asset-management-industry/building-on-the-lessons-of-poker-great-amarillo-slim/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/ivanhoes-rights-offering-is-a-role-model/ http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/ivanhoes-rights-offering-is-a-role-model/#comments Sun, 22 Apr 2012 18:10:41 +0000 vedant http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3731 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/ivanhoes-rights-offering-is-a-role-model/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/india/making-time-your-enemy/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/making-time-your-enemy/#comments Fri, 20 Apr 2012 08:49:35 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3728 DE Shaw's plan to downsize its India operation (http://tinyurl.com/6un48or) is only one of many such that I've read in recent times. The other end of the spectrum are allocators who believe that India is not a significant opportunity and don't provide any dedicated resources to India.  They execute their India exposure using teams sitting in New York, London or Singapore and make it part of their Asia ex-Japan pools.  While there is no time horizon mismatch there, I think that is a terrible way to invest in India. So what is the right approach?  In my opinion, it is essential to have a team with ears and feet on the ground in India to invest successfully in India.  It is imperative that the key decision maker be based in India.  There is no way that someone who lives outside India for 182 days in a year can successfully invest based on "research" generated by their India investment teams.  However, it is also essential that the team in India be kept very simple and rudimentary. To make time a friend, it is essential that the capital allocator be willing to hang around in India doing nothing for several years and not feel the pressure to make something happen. This probably sounds like I am talking my book.  I am.  However, it is important to keep in mind that we've structured our operations the way we have because we believe in what I've highlighted above and not the other way around.]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/making-time-your-enemy/feed/ 1 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/best-returnrisk-profiles-in-project-finance/ http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/best-returnrisk-profiles-in-project-finance/#comments Sun, 15 Apr 2012 18:16:43 +0000 vedant http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3705 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/best-returnrisk-profiles-in-project-finance/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/india/transformational-impact-of-the-us-energy-boom/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/transformational-impact-of-the-us-energy-boom/#comments Fri, 13 Apr 2012 18:09:27 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3702 The 9 billion people question (http://www.economist.com/node/18200618). The two things that are needed for the planet to sustain 9 billion people and to offer them increasingly higher standards of living are food and fresh water.  If we have sufficient and affordable energy, these two problems are solved. While the world has become concerned about its carbon footprint and there has been a previously unimagined level of government focus on green energy and subsidies to encourage it, I believe that commercially affordable and ubiquitous green energy is at least 50 years away.  However, the discovery of affordable shale gas and shale oil gives us the window required to sustain higher standards of living for a world population headed to 9 billion even as we work on perfecting the economics and utilization of green energy. I believe that the world is on the precipice of a gas and oil boom with the US at the forefront.  The next big thing is still going to come from the US.  No, it will not be web 4.0, it will be conventional energy.]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/transformational-impact-of-the-us-energy-boom/feed/ 1 http://atyantcapital.com/india/it-is-all-about-the-soft-infrastructure/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/it-is-all-about-the-soft-infrastructure/#comments Fri, 13 Apr 2012 17:45:57 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3696 article from Business Today magazine (http://tinyurl.com/7ghm76f). My biggest takeaway from this article is that wealth is always created by human beings and not by hard assets, raw materials and factors of production.  Wealth is created by the know-how, ingenuity and execution ability of humans.  The embodiment of the above attributes are the institutions (companies, regulators, courts, universities etc. etc.) or the soft infrastructure of an economy.  That is why I believe that equities have been and will continue to remain the most powerful engines of wealth creation. The world is smitten by physical infrastructure and the power and might they project.  I contend that in the absence (or during breakdown) of soft infrastructure, physical infrastructure is absolutely useless.  History has demonstrated this repeatedly. The starkest display of this was right after the collapse of the Soviet Union.  This was visually depicted in the Nicolas Cage movie Lord Of War, in which arms dealer Yuri Orlov smuggled arms out of leaderless warehouses full of state of the art weapons after the collapse of the Soviet Union. When Argentina's government defaulted on its external debt in 2001 and the banking system seized up, things came to a complete standstill. We recently saw things completely come to a standstill in Egypt.  It is anyone's guess how and when things will even return just to the state that existed before the Arab Spring revolution. If anyone has visited a state of the art factory or office building that has been mothballed because its owner filed for bankruptcy and could not fund it, he or she knows what I am talking about. This is the biggest reason why I am bullish about the US economy and why I believe that the 21st century will be the American century.  As much as Americans complain about the breakdown in the economy and the problems the economy faces because of the country's fractured politics and its indebtedness, the US has some the biggest, best and strongest (relatively) institutions in the world. The US has the best soft infrastructure in the world and there is no country that it is even remotely in competition with the US. ]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/it-is-all-about-the-soft-infrastructure/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/india/occasional-monsoon-failures-are-necessary/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/occasional-monsoon-failures-are-necessary/#comments Tue, 15 May 2012 08:34:07 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3780 http://atyantcapital.com/india/occasional-monsoon-failures-are-necessary/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com Expertise in Emerging Market Investments Tue, 15 May 2012 08:34:07 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 http://atyantcapital.com/india/occasional-monsoon-failures-are-necessary/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/occasional-monsoon-failures-are-necessary/#comments Tue, 15 May 2012 08:34:07 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3780 http://atyantcapital.com/india/occasional-monsoon-failures-are-necessary/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/tracking-rahul/rahul-saragoi-on-the-manual-of-ideas/ http://atyantcapital.com/tracking-rahul/rahul-saragoi-on-the-manual-of-ideas/#comments Wed, 02 May 2012 20:09:51 +0000 Pratik Sharma http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3754 The Manual of Ideas, Rahul talks about his approach to investing and how it applies to Indian Markets. A world class publication The Manual of Ideas is used by the who’s who of the international investment community. ]]> http://atyantcapital.com/tracking-rahul/rahul-saragoi-on-the-manual-of-ideas/feed/ 1 http://atyantcapital.com/india/live-tweeting-from-omaha/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/live-tweeting-from-omaha/#comments Tue, 01 May 2012 13:59:14 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3751 http://twitter.com/#!/RahulSaraogi If you are going to be in Omaha and want to connect, reach out to me.]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/live-tweeting-from-omaha/feed/ 2 http://atyantcapital.com/asset-management-industry/building-on-the-lessons-of-poker-great-amarillo-slim/ http://atyantcapital.com/asset-management-industry/building-on-the-lessons-of-poker-great-amarillo-slim/#comments Tue, 24 Apr 2012 15:10:31 +0000 vedant http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3736 http://atyantcapital.com/asset-management-industry/building-on-the-lessons-of-poker-great-amarillo-slim/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/ivanhoes-rights-offering-is-a-role-model/ http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/ivanhoes-rights-offering-is-a-role-model/#comments Sun, 22 Apr 2012 18:10:41 +0000 vedant http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3731 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/ivanhoes-rights-offering-is-a-role-model/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/india/making-time-your-enemy/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/making-time-your-enemy/#comments Fri, 20 Apr 2012 08:49:35 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3728 DE Shaw's plan to downsize its India operation (http://tinyurl.com/6un48or) is only one of many such that I've read in recent times. The other end of the spectrum are allocators who believe that India is not a significant opportunity and don't provide any dedicated resources to India.  They execute their India exposure using teams sitting in New York, London or Singapore and make it part of their Asia ex-Japan pools.  While there is no time horizon mismatch there, I think that is a terrible way to invest in India. So what is the right approach?  In my opinion, it is essential to have a team with ears and feet on the ground in India to invest successfully in India.  It is imperative that the key decision maker be based in India.  There is no way that someone who lives outside India for 182 days in a year can successfully invest based on "research" generated by their India investment teams.  However, it is also essential that the team in India be kept very simple and rudimentary. To make time a friend, it is essential that the capital allocator be willing to hang around in India doing nothing for several years and not feel the pressure to make something happen. This probably sounds like I am talking my book.  I am.  However, it is important to keep in mind that we've structured our operations the way we have because we believe in what I've highlighted above and not the other way around.]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/making-time-your-enemy/feed/ 1 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/best-returnrisk-profiles-in-project-finance/ http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/best-returnrisk-profiles-in-project-finance/#comments Sun, 15 Apr 2012 18:16:43 +0000 vedant http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3705 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/best-returnrisk-profiles-in-project-finance/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/india/transformational-impact-of-the-us-energy-boom/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/transformational-impact-of-the-us-energy-boom/#comments Fri, 13 Apr 2012 18:09:27 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3702 The 9 billion people question (http://www.economist.com/node/18200618). The two things that are needed for the planet to sustain 9 billion people and to offer them increasingly higher standards of living are food and fresh water.  If we have sufficient and affordable energy, these two problems are solved. While the world has become concerned about its carbon footprint and there has been a previously unimagined level of government focus on green energy and subsidies to encourage it, I believe that commercially affordable and ubiquitous green energy is at least 50 years away.  However, the discovery of affordable shale gas and shale oil gives us the window required to sustain higher standards of living for a world population headed to 9 billion even as we work on perfecting the economics and utilization of green energy. I believe that the world is on the precipice of a gas and oil boom with the US at the forefront.  The next big thing is still going to come from the US.  No, it will not be web 4.0, it will be conventional energy.]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/transformational-impact-of-the-us-energy-boom/feed/ 1 http://atyantcapital.com/india/it-is-all-about-the-soft-infrastructure/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/it-is-all-about-the-soft-infrastructure/#comments Fri, 13 Apr 2012 17:45:57 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3696 article from Business Today magazine (http://tinyurl.com/7ghm76f). My biggest takeaway from this article is that wealth is always created by human beings and not by hard assets, raw materials and factors of production.  Wealth is created by the know-how, ingenuity and execution ability of humans.  The embodiment of the above attributes are the institutions (companies, regulators, courts, universities etc. etc.) or the soft infrastructure of an economy.  That is why I believe that equities have been and will continue to remain the most powerful engines of wealth creation. The world is smitten by physical infrastructure and the power and might they project.  I contend that in the absence (or during breakdown) of soft infrastructure, physical infrastructure is absolutely useless.  History has demonstrated this repeatedly. The starkest display of this was right after the collapse of the Soviet Union.  This was visually depicted in the Nicolas Cage movie Lord Of War, in which arms dealer Yuri Orlov smuggled arms out of leaderless warehouses full of state of the art weapons after the collapse of the Soviet Union. When Argentina's government defaulted on its external debt in 2001 and the banking system seized up, things came to a complete standstill. We recently saw things completely come to a standstill in Egypt.  It is anyone's guess how and when things will even return just to the state that existed before the Arab Spring revolution. If anyone has visited a state of the art factory or office building that has been mothballed because its owner filed for bankruptcy and could not fund it, he or she knows what I am talking about. This is the biggest reason why I am bullish about the US economy and why I believe that the 21st century will be the American century.  As much as Americans complain about the breakdown in the economy and the problems the economy faces because of the country's fractured politics and its indebtedness, the US has some the biggest, best and strongest (relatively) institutions in the world. The US has the best soft infrastructure in the world and there is no country that it is even remotely in competition with the US. ]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/it-is-all-about-the-soft-infrastructure/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/tracking-rahul/rahul-saragoi-on-the-manual-of-ideas/ http://atyantcapital.com/tracking-rahul/rahul-saragoi-on-the-manual-of-ideas/#comments Wed, 02 May 2012 20:09:51 +0000 Pratik Sharma http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3754 The Manual of Ideas, Rahul talks about his approach to investing and how it applies to Indian Markets. A world class publication The Manual of Ideas is used by the who’s who of the international investment community. ]]> http://atyantcapital.com/tracking-rahul/rahul-saragoi-on-the-manual-of-ideas/feed/ 1 http://atyantcapital.com Expertise in Emerging Market Investments Tue, 15 May 2012 08:34:07 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 http://atyantcapital.com/india/occasional-monsoon-failures-are-necessary/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/occasional-monsoon-failures-are-necessary/#comments Tue, 15 May 2012 08:34:07 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3780 http://atyantcapital.com/india/occasional-monsoon-failures-are-necessary/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/tracking-rahul/rahul-saragoi-on-the-manual-of-ideas/ http://atyantcapital.com/tracking-rahul/rahul-saragoi-on-the-manual-of-ideas/#comments Wed, 02 May 2012 20:09:51 +0000 Pratik Sharma http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3754 The Manual of Ideas, Rahul talks about his approach to investing and how it applies to Indian Markets. A world class publication The Manual of Ideas is used by the who’s who of the international investment community. ]]> http://atyantcapital.com/tracking-rahul/rahul-saragoi-on-the-manual-of-ideas/feed/ 1 http://atyantcapital.com/india/live-tweeting-from-omaha/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/live-tweeting-from-omaha/#comments Tue, 01 May 2012 13:59:14 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3751 http://twitter.com/#!/RahulSaraogi If you are going to be in Omaha and want to connect, reach out to me.]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/live-tweeting-from-omaha/feed/ 2 http://atyantcapital.com/asset-management-industry/building-on-the-lessons-of-poker-great-amarillo-slim/ http://atyantcapital.com/asset-management-industry/building-on-the-lessons-of-poker-great-amarillo-slim/#comments Tue, 24 Apr 2012 15:10:31 +0000 vedant http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3736 http://atyantcapital.com/asset-management-industry/building-on-the-lessons-of-poker-great-amarillo-slim/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/ivanhoes-rights-offering-is-a-role-model/ http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/ivanhoes-rights-offering-is-a-role-model/#comments Sun, 22 Apr 2012 18:10:41 +0000 vedant http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3731 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/ivanhoes-rights-offering-is-a-role-model/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/india/making-time-your-enemy/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/making-time-your-enemy/#comments Fri, 20 Apr 2012 08:49:35 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3728 DE Shaw's plan to downsize its India operation (http://tinyurl.com/6un48or) is only one of many such that I've read in recent times. The other end of the spectrum are allocators who believe that India is not a significant opportunity and don't provide any dedicated resources to India.  They execute their India exposure using teams sitting in New York, London or Singapore and make it part of their Asia ex-Japan pools.  While there is no time horizon mismatch there, I think that is a terrible way to invest in India. So what is the right approach?  In my opinion, it is essential to have a team with ears and feet on the ground in India to invest successfully in India.  It is imperative that the key decision maker be based in India.  There is no way that someone who lives outside India for 182 days in a year can successfully invest based on "research" generated by their India investment teams.  However, it is also essential that the team in India be kept very simple and rudimentary. To make time a friend, it is essential that the capital allocator be willing to hang around in India doing nothing for several years and not feel the pressure to make something happen. This probably sounds like I am talking my book.  I am.  However, it is important to keep in mind that we've structured our operations the way we have because we believe in what I've highlighted above and not the other way around.]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/making-time-your-enemy/feed/ 1 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/best-returnrisk-profiles-in-project-finance/ http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/best-returnrisk-profiles-in-project-finance/#comments Sun, 15 Apr 2012 18:16:43 +0000 vedant http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3705 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/best-returnrisk-profiles-in-project-finance/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/india/transformational-impact-of-the-us-energy-boom/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/transformational-impact-of-the-us-energy-boom/#comments Fri, 13 Apr 2012 18:09:27 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3702 The 9 billion people question (http://www.economist.com/node/18200618). The two things that are needed for the planet to sustain 9 billion people and to offer them increasingly higher standards of living are food and fresh water.  If we have sufficient and affordable energy, these two problems are solved. While the world has become concerned about its carbon footprint and there has been a previously unimagined level of government focus on green energy and subsidies to encourage it, I believe that commercially affordable and ubiquitous green energy is at least 50 years away.  However, the discovery of affordable shale gas and shale oil gives us the window required to sustain higher standards of living for a world population headed to 9 billion even as we work on perfecting the economics and utilization of green energy. I believe that the world is on the precipice of a gas and oil boom with the US at the forefront.  The next big thing is still going to come from the US.  No, it will not be web 4.0, it will be conventional energy.]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/transformational-impact-of-the-us-energy-boom/feed/ 1 http://atyantcapital.com/india/it-is-all-about-the-soft-infrastructure/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/it-is-all-about-the-soft-infrastructure/#comments Fri, 13 Apr 2012 17:45:57 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3696 article from Business Today magazine (http://tinyurl.com/7ghm76f). My biggest takeaway from this article is that wealth is always created by human beings and not by hard assets, raw materials and factors of production.  Wealth is created by the know-how, ingenuity and execution ability of humans.  The embodiment of the above attributes are the institutions (companies, regulators, courts, universities etc. etc.) or the soft infrastructure of an economy.  That is why I believe that equities have been and will continue to remain the most powerful engines of wealth creation. The world is smitten by physical infrastructure and the power and might they project.  I contend that in the absence (or during breakdown) of soft infrastructure, physical infrastructure is absolutely useless.  History has demonstrated this repeatedly. The starkest display of this was right after the collapse of the Soviet Union.  This was visually depicted in the Nicolas Cage movie Lord Of War, in which arms dealer Yuri Orlov smuggled arms out of leaderless warehouses full of state of the art weapons after the collapse of the Soviet Union. When Argentina's government defaulted on its external debt in 2001 and the banking system seized up, things came to a complete standstill. We recently saw things completely come to a standstill in Egypt.  It is anyone's guess how and when things will even return just to the state that existed before the Arab Spring revolution. If anyone has visited a state of the art factory or office building that has been mothballed because its owner filed for bankruptcy and could not fund it, he or she knows what I am talking about. This is the biggest reason why I am bullish about the US economy and why I believe that the 21st century will be the American century.  As much as Americans complain about the breakdown in the economy and the problems the economy faces because of the country's fractured politics and its indebtedness, the US has some the biggest, best and strongest (relatively) institutions in the world. The US has the best soft infrastructure in the world and there is no country that it is even remotely in competition with the US. ]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/it-is-all-about-the-soft-infrastructure/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/india/live-tweeting-from-omaha/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/live-tweeting-from-omaha/#comments Tue, 01 May 2012 13:59:14 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3751 http://twitter.com/#!/RahulSaraogi If you are going to be in Omaha and want to connect, reach out to me.]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/live-tweeting-from-omaha/feed/ 2 http://atyantcapital.com Expertise in Emerging Market Investments Tue, 15 May 2012 08:34:07 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 http://atyantcapital.com/india/occasional-monsoon-failures-are-necessary/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/occasional-monsoon-failures-are-necessary/#comments Tue, 15 May 2012 08:34:07 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3780 http://atyantcapital.com/india/occasional-monsoon-failures-are-necessary/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/tracking-rahul/rahul-saragoi-on-the-manual-of-ideas/ http://atyantcapital.com/tracking-rahul/rahul-saragoi-on-the-manual-of-ideas/#comments Wed, 02 May 2012 20:09:51 +0000 Pratik Sharma http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3754 The Manual of Ideas, Rahul talks about his approach to investing and how it applies to Indian Markets. A world class publication The Manual of Ideas is used by the who’s who of the international investment community. ]]> http://atyantcapital.com/tracking-rahul/rahul-saragoi-on-the-manual-of-ideas/feed/ 1 http://atyantcapital.com/india/live-tweeting-from-omaha/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/live-tweeting-from-omaha/#comments Tue, 01 May 2012 13:59:14 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3751 http://twitter.com/#!/RahulSaraogi If you are going to be in Omaha and want to connect, reach out to me.]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/live-tweeting-from-omaha/feed/ 2 http://atyantcapital.com/asset-management-industry/building-on-the-lessons-of-poker-great-amarillo-slim/ http://atyantcapital.com/asset-management-industry/building-on-the-lessons-of-poker-great-amarillo-slim/#comments Tue, 24 Apr 2012 15:10:31 +0000 vedant http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3736 http://atyantcapital.com/asset-management-industry/building-on-the-lessons-of-poker-great-amarillo-slim/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/ivanhoes-rights-offering-is-a-role-model/ http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/ivanhoes-rights-offering-is-a-role-model/#comments Sun, 22 Apr 2012 18:10:41 +0000 vedant http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3731 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/ivanhoes-rights-offering-is-a-role-model/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/india/making-time-your-enemy/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/making-time-your-enemy/#comments Fri, 20 Apr 2012 08:49:35 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3728 DE Shaw's plan to downsize its India operation (http://tinyurl.com/6un48or) is only one of many such that I've read in recent times. The other end of the spectrum are allocators who believe that India is not a significant opportunity and don't provide any dedicated resources to India.  They execute their India exposure using teams sitting in New York, London or Singapore and make it part of their Asia ex-Japan pools.  While there is no time horizon mismatch there, I think that is a terrible way to invest in India. So what is the right approach?  In my opinion, it is essential to have a team with ears and feet on the ground in India to invest successfully in India.  It is imperative that the key decision maker be based in India.  There is no way that someone who lives outside India for 182 days in a year can successfully invest based on "research" generated by their India investment teams.  However, it is also essential that the team in India be kept very simple and rudimentary. To make time a friend, it is essential that the capital allocator be willing to hang around in India doing nothing for several years and not feel the pressure to make something happen. This probably sounds like I am talking my book.  I am.  However, it is important to keep in mind that we've structured our operations the way we have because we believe in what I've highlighted above and not the other way around.]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/making-time-your-enemy/feed/ 1 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/best-returnrisk-profiles-in-project-finance/ http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/best-returnrisk-profiles-in-project-finance/#comments Sun, 15 Apr 2012 18:16:43 +0000 vedant http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3705 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/best-returnrisk-profiles-in-project-finance/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/india/transformational-impact-of-the-us-energy-boom/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/transformational-impact-of-the-us-energy-boom/#comments Fri, 13 Apr 2012 18:09:27 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3702 The 9 billion people question (http://www.economist.com/node/18200618). The two things that are needed for the planet to sustain 9 billion people and to offer them increasingly higher standards of living are food and fresh water.  If we have sufficient and affordable energy, these two problems are solved. While the world has become concerned about its carbon footprint and there has been a previously unimagined level of government focus on green energy and subsidies to encourage it, I believe that commercially affordable and ubiquitous green energy is at least 50 years away.  However, the discovery of affordable shale gas and shale oil gives us the window required to sustain higher standards of living for a world population headed to 9 billion even as we work on perfecting the economics and utilization of green energy. I believe that the world is on the precipice of a gas and oil boom with the US at the forefront.  The next big thing is still going to come from the US.  No, it will not be web 4.0, it will be conventional energy.]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/transformational-impact-of-the-us-energy-boom/feed/ 1 http://atyantcapital.com/india/it-is-all-about-the-soft-infrastructure/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/it-is-all-about-the-soft-infrastructure/#comments Fri, 13 Apr 2012 17:45:57 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3696 article from Business Today magazine (http://tinyurl.com/7ghm76f). My biggest takeaway from this article is that wealth is always created by human beings and not by hard assets, raw materials and factors of production.  Wealth is created by the know-how, ingenuity and execution ability of humans.  The embodiment of the above attributes are the institutions (companies, regulators, courts, universities etc. etc.) or the soft infrastructure of an economy.  That is why I believe that equities have been and will continue to remain the most powerful engines of wealth creation. The world is smitten by physical infrastructure and the power and might they project.  I contend that in the absence (or during breakdown) of soft infrastructure, physical infrastructure is absolutely useless.  History has demonstrated this repeatedly. The starkest display of this was right after the collapse of the Soviet Union.  This was visually depicted in the Nicolas Cage movie Lord Of War, in which arms dealer Yuri Orlov smuggled arms out of leaderless warehouses full of state of the art weapons after the collapse of the Soviet Union. When Argentina's government defaulted on its external debt in 2001 and the banking system seized up, things came to a complete standstill. We recently saw things completely come to a standstill in Egypt.  It is anyone's guess how and when things will even return just to the state that existed before the Arab Spring revolution. If anyone has visited a state of the art factory or office building that has been mothballed because its owner filed for bankruptcy and could not fund it, he or she knows what I am talking about. This is the biggest reason why I am bullish about the US economy and why I believe that the 21st century will be the American century.  As much as Americans complain about the breakdown in the economy and the problems the economy faces because of the country's fractured politics and its indebtedness, the US has some the biggest, best and strongest (relatively) institutions in the world. The US has the best soft infrastructure in the world and there is no country that it is even remotely in competition with the US. ]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/it-is-all-about-the-soft-infrastructure/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/asset-management-industry/building-on-the-lessons-of-poker-great-amarillo-slim/ http://atyantcapital.com/asset-management-industry/building-on-the-lessons-of-poker-great-amarillo-slim/#comments Tue, 24 Apr 2012 15:10:31 +0000 vedant http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3736 http://atyantcapital.com/asset-management-industry/building-on-the-lessons-of-poker-great-amarillo-slim/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com Expertise in Emerging Market Investments Tue, 15 May 2012 08:34:07 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 http://atyantcapital.com/india/occasional-monsoon-failures-are-necessary/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/occasional-monsoon-failures-are-necessary/#comments Tue, 15 May 2012 08:34:07 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3780 http://atyantcapital.com/india/occasional-monsoon-failures-are-necessary/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/tracking-rahul/rahul-saragoi-on-the-manual-of-ideas/ http://atyantcapital.com/tracking-rahul/rahul-saragoi-on-the-manual-of-ideas/#comments Wed, 02 May 2012 20:09:51 +0000 Pratik Sharma http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3754 The Manual of Ideas, Rahul talks about his approach to investing and how it applies to Indian Markets. A world class publication The Manual of Ideas is used by the who’s who of the international investment community. ]]> http://atyantcapital.com/tracking-rahul/rahul-saragoi-on-the-manual-of-ideas/feed/ 1 http://atyantcapital.com/india/live-tweeting-from-omaha/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/live-tweeting-from-omaha/#comments Tue, 01 May 2012 13:59:14 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3751 http://twitter.com/#!/RahulSaraogi If you are going to be in Omaha and want to connect, reach out to me.]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/live-tweeting-from-omaha/feed/ 2 http://atyantcapital.com/asset-management-industry/building-on-the-lessons-of-poker-great-amarillo-slim/ http://atyantcapital.com/asset-management-industry/building-on-the-lessons-of-poker-great-amarillo-slim/#comments Tue, 24 Apr 2012 15:10:31 +0000 vedant http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3736 http://atyantcapital.com/asset-management-industry/building-on-the-lessons-of-poker-great-amarillo-slim/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/ivanhoes-rights-offering-is-a-role-model/ http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/ivanhoes-rights-offering-is-a-role-model/#comments Sun, 22 Apr 2012 18:10:41 +0000 vedant http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3731 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/ivanhoes-rights-offering-is-a-role-model/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/india/making-time-your-enemy/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/making-time-your-enemy/#comments Fri, 20 Apr 2012 08:49:35 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3728 DE Shaw's plan to downsize its India operation (http://tinyurl.com/6un48or) is only one of many such that I've read in recent times. The other end of the spectrum are allocators who believe that India is not a significant opportunity and don't provide any dedicated resources to India.  They execute their India exposure using teams sitting in New York, London or Singapore and make it part of their Asia ex-Japan pools.  While there is no time horizon mismatch there, I think that is a terrible way to invest in India. So what is the right approach?  In my opinion, it is essential to have a team with ears and feet on the ground in India to invest successfully in India.  It is imperative that the key decision maker be based in India.  There is no way that someone who lives outside India for 182 days in a year can successfully invest based on "research" generated by their India investment teams.  However, it is also essential that the team in India be kept very simple and rudimentary. To make time a friend, it is essential that the capital allocator be willing to hang around in India doing nothing for several years and not feel the pressure to make something happen. This probably sounds like I am talking my book.  I am.  However, it is important to keep in mind that we've structured our operations the way we have because we believe in what I've highlighted above and not the other way around.]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/making-time-your-enemy/feed/ 1 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/best-returnrisk-profiles-in-project-finance/ http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/best-returnrisk-profiles-in-project-finance/#comments Sun, 15 Apr 2012 18:16:43 +0000 vedant http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3705 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/best-returnrisk-profiles-in-project-finance/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/india/transformational-impact-of-the-us-energy-boom/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/transformational-impact-of-the-us-energy-boom/#comments Fri, 13 Apr 2012 18:09:27 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3702 The 9 billion people question (http://www.economist.com/node/18200618). The two things that are needed for the planet to sustain 9 billion people and to offer them increasingly higher standards of living are food and fresh water.  If we have sufficient and affordable energy, these two problems are solved. While the world has become concerned about its carbon footprint and there has been a previously unimagined level of government focus on green energy and subsidies to encourage it, I believe that commercially affordable and ubiquitous green energy is at least 50 years away.  However, the discovery of affordable shale gas and shale oil gives us the window required to sustain higher standards of living for a world population headed to 9 billion even as we work on perfecting the economics and utilization of green energy. I believe that the world is on the precipice of a gas and oil boom with the US at the forefront.  The next big thing is still going to come from the US.  No, it will not be web 4.0, it will be conventional energy.]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/transformational-impact-of-the-us-energy-boom/feed/ 1 http://atyantcapital.com/india/it-is-all-about-the-soft-infrastructure/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/it-is-all-about-the-soft-infrastructure/#comments Fri, 13 Apr 2012 17:45:57 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3696 article from Business Today magazine (http://tinyurl.com/7ghm76f). My biggest takeaway from this article is that wealth is always created by human beings and not by hard assets, raw materials and factors of production.  Wealth is created by the know-how, ingenuity and execution ability of humans.  The embodiment of the above attributes are the institutions (companies, regulators, courts, universities etc. etc.) or the soft infrastructure of an economy.  That is why I believe that equities have been and will continue to remain the most powerful engines of wealth creation. The world is smitten by physical infrastructure and the power and might they project.  I contend that in the absence (or during breakdown) of soft infrastructure, physical infrastructure is absolutely useless.  History has demonstrated this repeatedly. The starkest display of this was right after the collapse of the Soviet Union.  This was visually depicted in the Nicolas Cage movie Lord Of War, in which arms dealer Yuri Orlov smuggled arms out of leaderless warehouses full of state of the art weapons after the collapse of the Soviet Union. When Argentina's government defaulted on its external debt in 2001 and the banking system seized up, things came to a complete standstill. We recently saw things completely come to a standstill in Egypt.  It is anyone's guess how and when things will even return just to the state that existed before the Arab Spring revolution. If anyone has visited a state of the art factory or office building that has been mothballed because its owner filed for bankruptcy and could not fund it, he or she knows what I am talking about. This is the biggest reason why I am bullish about the US economy and why I believe that the 21st century will be the American century.  As much as Americans complain about the breakdown in the economy and the problems the economy faces because of the country's fractured politics and its indebtedness, the US has some the biggest, best and strongest (relatively) institutions in the world. The US has the best soft infrastructure in the world and there is no country that it is even remotely in competition with the US. ]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/it-is-all-about-the-soft-infrastructure/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/ivanhoes-rights-offering-is-a-role-model/ http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/ivanhoes-rights-offering-is-a-role-model/#comments Sun, 22 Apr 2012 18:10:41 +0000 vedant http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3731 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/ivanhoes-rights-offering-is-a-role-model/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com Expertise in Emerging Market Investments Tue, 15 May 2012 08:34:07 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 http://atyantcapital.com/india/occasional-monsoon-failures-are-necessary/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/occasional-monsoon-failures-are-necessary/#comments Tue, 15 May 2012 08:34:07 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3780 http://atyantcapital.com/india/occasional-monsoon-failures-are-necessary/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/tracking-rahul/rahul-saragoi-on-the-manual-of-ideas/ http://atyantcapital.com/tracking-rahul/rahul-saragoi-on-the-manual-of-ideas/#comments Wed, 02 May 2012 20:09:51 +0000 Pratik Sharma http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3754 The Manual of Ideas, Rahul talks about his approach to investing and how it applies to Indian Markets. A world class publication The Manual of Ideas is used by the who’s who of the international investment community. ]]> http://atyantcapital.com/tracking-rahul/rahul-saragoi-on-the-manual-of-ideas/feed/ 1 http://atyantcapital.com/india/live-tweeting-from-omaha/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/live-tweeting-from-omaha/#comments Tue, 01 May 2012 13:59:14 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3751 http://twitter.com/#!/RahulSaraogi If you are going to be in Omaha and want to connect, reach out to me.]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/live-tweeting-from-omaha/feed/ 2 http://atyantcapital.com/asset-management-industry/building-on-the-lessons-of-poker-great-amarillo-slim/ http://atyantcapital.com/asset-management-industry/building-on-the-lessons-of-poker-great-amarillo-slim/#comments Tue, 24 Apr 2012 15:10:31 +0000 vedant http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3736 http://atyantcapital.com/asset-management-industry/building-on-the-lessons-of-poker-great-amarillo-slim/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/ivanhoes-rights-offering-is-a-role-model/ http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/ivanhoes-rights-offering-is-a-role-model/#comments Sun, 22 Apr 2012 18:10:41 +0000 vedant http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3731 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/ivanhoes-rights-offering-is-a-role-model/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/india/making-time-your-enemy/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/making-time-your-enemy/#comments Fri, 20 Apr 2012 08:49:35 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3728 DE Shaw's plan to downsize its India operation (http://tinyurl.com/6un48or) is only one of many such that I've read in recent times. The other end of the spectrum are allocators who believe that India is not a significant opportunity and don't provide any dedicated resources to India.  They execute their India exposure using teams sitting in New York, London or Singapore and make it part of their Asia ex-Japan pools.  While there is no time horizon mismatch there, I think that is a terrible way to invest in India. So what is the right approach?  In my opinion, it is essential to have a team with ears and feet on the ground in India to invest successfully in India.  It is imperative that the key decision maker be based in India.  There is no way that someone who lives outside India for 182 days in a year can successfully invest based on "research" generated by their India investment teams.  However, it is also essential that the team in India be kept very simple and rudimentary. To make time a friend, it is essential that the capital allocator be willing to hang around in India doing nothing for several years and not feel the pressure to make something happen. This probably sounds like I am talking my book.  I am.  However, it is important to keep in mind that we've structured our operations the way we have because we believe in what I've highlighted above and not the other way around.]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/making-time-your-enemy/feed/ 1 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/best-returnrisk-profiles-in-project-finance/ http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/best-returnrisk-profiles-in-project-finance/#comments Sun, 15 Apr 2012 18:16:43 +0000 vedant http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3705 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/best-returnrisk-profiles-in-project-finance/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/india/transformational-impact-of-the-us-energy-boom/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/transformational-impact-of-the-us-energy-boom/#comments Fri, 13 Apr 2012 18:09:27 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3702 The 9 billion people question (http://www.economist.com/node/18200618). The two things that are needed for the planet to sustain 9 billion people and to offer them increasingly higher standards of living are food and fresh water.  If we have sufficient and affordable energy, these two problems are solved. While the world has become concerned about its carbon footprint and there has been a previously unimagined level of government focus on green energy and subsidies to encourage it, I believe that commercially affordable and ubiquitous green energy is at least 50 years away.  However, the discovery of affordable shale gas and shale oil gives us the window required to sustain higher standards of living for a world population headed to 9 billion even as we work on perfecting the economics and utilization of green energy. I believe that the world is on the precipice of a gas and oil boom with the US at the forefront.  The next big thing is still going to come from the US.  No, it will not be web 4.0, it will be conventional energy.]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/transformational-impact-of-the-us-energy-boom/feed/ 1 http://atyantcapital.com/india/it-is-all-about-the-soft-infrastructure/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/it-is-all-about-the-soft-infrastructure/#comments Fri, 13 Apr 2012 17:45:57 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3696 article from Business Today magazine (http://tinyurl.com/7ghm76f). My biggest takeaway from this article is that wealth is always created by human beings and not by hard assets, raw materials and factors of production.  Wealth is created by the know-how, ingenuity and execution ability of humans.  The embodiment of the above attributes are the institutions (companies, regulators, courts, universities etc. etc.) or the soft infrastructure of an economy.  That is why I believe that equities have been and will continue to remain the most powerful engines of wealth creation. The world is smitten by physical infrastructure and the power and might they project.  I contend that in the absence (or during breakdown) of soft infrastructure, physical infrastructure is absolutely useless.  History has demonstrated this repeatedly. The starkest display of this was right after the collapse of the Soviet Union.  This was visually depicted in the Nicolas Cage movie Lord Of War, in which arms dealer Yuri Orlov smuggled arms out of leaderless warehouses full of state of the art weapons after the collapse of the Soviet Union. When Argentina's government defaulted on its external debt in 2001 and the banking system seized up, things came to a complete standstill. We recently saw things completely come to a standstill in Egypt.  It is anyone's guess how and when things will even return just to the state that existed before the Arab Spring revolution. If anyone has visited a state of the art factory or office building that has been mothballed because its owner filed for bankruptcy and could not fund it, he or she knows what I am talking about. This is the biggest reason why I am bullish about the US economy and why I believe that the 21st century will be the American century.  As much as Americans complain about the breakdown in the economy and the problems the economy faces because of the country's fractured politics and its indebtedness, the US has some the biggest, best and strongest (relatively) institutions in the world. The US has the best soft infrastructure in the world and there is no country that it is even remotely in competition with the US. ]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/it-is-all-about-the-soft-infrastructure/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/india/making-time-your-enemy/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/making-time-your-enemy/#comments Fri, 20 Apr 2012 08:49:35 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3728 DE Shaw's plan to downsize its India operation (http://tinyurl.com/6un48or) is only one of many such that I've read in recent times. The other end of the spectrum are allocators who believe that India is not a significant opportunity and don't provide any dedicated resources to India.  They execute their India exposure using teams sitting in New York, London or Singapore and make it part of their Asia ex-Japan pools.  While there is no time horizon mismatch there, I think that is a terrible way to invest in India. So what is the right approach?  In my opinion, it is essential to have a team with ears and feet on the ground in India to invest successfully in India.  It is imperative that the key decision maker be based in India.  There is no way that someone who lives outside India for 182 days in a year can successfully invest based on "research" generated by their India investment teams.  However, it is also essential that the team in India be kept very simple and rudimentary. To make time a friend, it is essential that the capital allocator be willing to hang around in India doing nothing for several years and not feel the pressure to make something happen. This probably sounds like I am talking my book.  I am.  However, it is important to keep in mind that we've structured our operations the way we have because we believe in what I've highlighted above and not the other way around.]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/making-time-your-enemy/feed/ 1 http://atyantcapital.com Expertise in Emerging Market Investments Tue, 15 May 2012 08:34:07 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 http://atyantcapital.com/india/occasional-monsoon-failures-are-necessary/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/occasional-monsoon-failures-are-necessary/#comments Tue, 15 May 2012 08:34:07 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3780 http://atyantcapital.com/india/occasional-monsoon-failures-are-necessary/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/tracking-rahul/rahul-saragoi-on-the-manual-of-ideas/ http://atyantcapital.com/tracking-rahul/rahul-saragoi-on-the-manual-of-ideas/#comments Wed, 02 May 2012 20:09:51 +0000 Pratik Sharma http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3754 The Manual of Ideas, Rahul talks about his approach to investing and how it applies to Indian Markets. A world class publication The Manual of Ideas is used by the who’s who of the international investment community. ]]> http://atyantcapital.com/tracking-rahul/rahul-saragoi-on-the-manual-of-ideas/feed/ 1 http://atyantcapital.com/india/live-tweeting-from-omaha/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/live-tweeting-from-omaha/#comments Tue, 01 May 2012 13:59:14 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3751 http://twitter.com/#!/RahulSaraogi If you are going to be in Omaha and want to connect, reach out to me.]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/live-tweeting-from-omaha/feed/ 2 http://atyantcapital.com/asset-management-industry/building-on-the-lessons-of-poker-great-amarillo-slim/ http://atyantcapital.com/asset-management-industry/building-on-the-lessons-of-poker-great-amarillo-slim/#comments Tue, 24 Apr 2012 15:10:31 +0000 vedant http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3736 http://atyantcapital.com/asset-management-industry/building-on-the-lessons-of-poker-great-amarillo-slim/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/ivanhoes-rights-offering-is-a-role-model/ http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/ivanhoes-rights-offering-is-a-role-model/#comments Sun, 22 Apr 2012 18:10:41 +0000 vedant http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3731 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/ivanhoes-rights-offering-is-a-role-model/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/india/making-time-your-enemy/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/making-time-your-enemy/#comments Fri, 20 Apr 2012 08:49:35 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3728 DE Shaw's plan to downsize its India operation (http://tinyurl.com/6un48or) is only one of many such that I've read in recent times. The other end of the spectrum are allocators who believe that India is not a significant opportunity and don't provide any dedicated resources to India.  They execute their India exposure using teams sitting in New York, London or Singapore and make it part of their Asia ex-Japan pools.  While there is no time horizon mismatch there, I think that is a terrible way to invest in India. So what is the right approach?  In my opinion, it is essential to have a team with ears and feet on the ground in India to invest successfully in India.  It is imperative that the key decision maker be based in India.  There is no way that someone who lives outside India for 182 days in a year can successfully invest based on "research" generated by their India investment teams.  However, it is also essential that the team in India be kept very simple and rudimentary. To make time a friend, it is essential that the capital allocator be willing to hang around in India doing nothing for several years and not feel the pressure to make something happen. This probably sounds like I am talking my book.  I am.  However, it is important to keep in mind that we've structured our operations the way we have because we believe in what I've highlighted above and not the other way around.]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/making-time-your-enemy/feed/ 1 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/best-returnrisk-profiles-in-project-finance/ http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/best-returnrisk-profiles-in-project-finance/#comments Sun, 15 Apr 2012 18:16:43 +0000 vedant http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3705 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/best-returnrisk-profiles-in-project-finance/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/india/transformational-impact-of-the-us-energy-boom/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/transformational-impact-of-the-us-energy-boom/#comments Fri, 13 Apr 2012 18:09:27 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3702 The 9 billion people question (http://www.economist.com/node/18200618). The two things that are needed for the planet to sustain 9 billion people and to offer them increasingly higher standards of living are food and fresh water.  If we have sufficient and affordable energy, these two problems are solved. While the world has become concerned about its carbon footprint and there has been a previously unimagined level of government focus on green energy and subsidies to encourage it, I believe that commercially affordable and ubiquitous green energy is at least 50 years away.  However, the discovery of affordable shale gas and shale oil gives us the window required to sustain higher standards of living for a world population headed to 9 billion even as we work on perfecting the economics and utilization of green energy. I believe that the world is on the precipice of a gas and oil boom with the US at the forefront.  The next big thing is still going to come from the US.  No, it will not be web 4.0, it will be conventional energy.]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/transformational-impact-of-the-us-energy-boom/feed/ 1 http://atyantcapital.com/india/it-is-all-about-the-soft-infrastructure/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/it-is-all-about-the-soft-infrastructure/#comments Fri, 13 Apr 2012 17:45:57 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3696 article from Business Today magazine (http://tinyurl.com/7ghm76f). My biggest takeaway from this article is that wealth is always created by human beings and not by hard assets, raw materials and factors of production.  Wealth is created by the know-how, ingenuity and execution ability of humans.  The embodiment of the above attributes are the institutions (companies, regulators, courts, universities etc. etc.) or the soft infrastructure of an economy.  That is why I believe that equities have been and will continue to remain the most powerful engines of wealth creation. The world is smitten by physical infrastructure and the power and might they project.  I contend that in the absence (or during breakdown) of soft infrastructure, physical infrastructure is absolutely useless.  History has demonstrated this repeatedly. The starkest display of this was right after the collapse of the Soviet Union.  This was visually depicted in the Nicolas Cage movie Lord Of War, in which arms dealer Yuri Orlov smuggled arms out of leaderless warehouses full of state of the art weapons after the collapse of the Soviet Union. When Argentina's government defaulted on its external debt in 2001 and the banking system seized up, things came to a complete standstill. We recently saw things completely come to a standstill in Egypt.  It is anyone's guess how and when things will even return just to the state that existed before the Arab Spring revolution. If anyone has visited a state of the art factory or office building that has been mothballed because its owner filed for bankruptcy and could not fund it, he or she knows what I am talking about. This is the biggest reason why I am bullish about the US economy and why I believe that the 21st century will be the American century.  As much as Americans complain about the breakdown in the economy and the problems the economy faces because of the country's fractured politics and its indebtedness, the US has some the biggest, best and strongest (relatively) institutions in the world. The US has the best soft infrastructure in the world and there is no country that it is even remotely in competition with the US. ]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/it-is-all-about-the-soft-infrastructure/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/best-returnrisk-profiles-in-project-finance/ http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/best-returnrisk-profiles-in-project-finance/#comments Sun, 15 Apr 2012 18:16:43 +0000 vedant http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3705 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/best-returnrisk-profiles-in-project-finance/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com Expertise in Emerging Market Investments Tue, 15 May 2012 08:34:07 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 http://atyantcapital.com/india/occasional-monsoon-failures-are-necessary/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/occasional-monsoon-failures-are-necessary/#comments Tue, 15 May 2012 08:34:07 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3780 http://atyantcapital.com/india/occasional-monsoon-failures-are-necessary/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/tracking-rahul/rahul-saragoi-on-the-manual-of-ideas/ http://atyantcapital.com/tracking-rahul/rahul-saragoi-on-the-manual-of-ideas/#comments Wed, 02 May 2012 20:09:51 +0000 Pratik Sharma http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3754 The Manual of Ideas, Rahul talks about his approach to investing and how it applies to Indian Markets. A world class publication The Manual of Ideas is used by the who’s who of the international investment community. ]]> http://atyantcapital.com/tracking-rahul/rahul-saragoi-on-the-manual-of-ideas/feed/ 1 http://atyantcapital.com/india/live-tweeting-from-omaha/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/live-tweeting-from-omaha/#comments Tue, 01 May 2012 13:59:14 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3751 http://twitter.com/#!/RahulSaraogi If you are going to be in Omaha and want to connect, reach out to me.]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/live-tweeting-from-omaha/feed/ 2 http://atyantcapital.com/asset-management-industry/building-on-the-lessons-of-poker-great-amarillo-slim/ http://atyantcapital.com/asset-management-industry/building-on-the-lessons-of-poker-great-amarillo-slim/#comments Tue, 24 Apr 2012 15:10:31 +0000 vedant http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3736 http://atyantcapital.com/asset-management-industry/building-on-the-lessons-of-poker-great-amarillo-slim/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/ivanhoes-rights-offering-is-a-role-model/ http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/ivanhoes-rights-offering-is-a-role-model/#comments Sun, 22 Apr 2012 18:10:41 +0000 vedant http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3731 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/ivanhoes-rights-offering-is-a-role-model/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/india/making-time-your-enemy/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/making-time-your-enemy/#comments Fri, 20 Apr 2012 08:49:35 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3728 DE Shaw's plan to downsize its India operation (http://tinyurl.com/6un48or) is only one of many such that I've read in recent times. The other end of the spectrum are allocators who believe that India is not a significant opportunity and don't provide any dedicated resources to India.  They execute their India exposure using teams sitting in New York, London or Singapore and make it part of their Asia ex-Japan pools.  While there is no time horizon mismatch there, I think that is a terrible way to invest in India. So what is the right approach?  In my opinion, it is essential to have a team with ears and feet on the ground in India to invest successfully in India.  It is imperative that the key decision maker be based in India.  There is no way that someone who lives outside India for 182 days in a year can successfully invest based on "research" generated by their India investment teams.  However, it is also essential that the team in India be kept very simple and rudimentary. To make time a friend, it is essential that the capital allocator be willing to hang around in India doing nothing for several years and not feel the pressure to make something happen. This probably sounds like I am talking my book.  I am.  However, it is important to keep in mind that we've structured our operations the way we have because we believe in what I've highlighted above and not the other way around.]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/making-time-your-enemy/feed/ 1 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/best-returnrisk-profiles-in-project-finance/ http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/best-returnrisk-profiles-in-project-finance/#comments Sun, 15 Apr 2012 18:16:43 +0000 vedant http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3705 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/best-returnrisk-profiles-in-project-finance/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/india/transformational-impact-of-the-us-energy-boom/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/transformational-impact-of-the-us-energy-boom/#comments Fri, 13 Apr 2012 18:09:27 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3702 The 9 billion people question (http://www.economist.com/node/18200618). The two things that are needed for the planet to sustain 9 billion people and to offer them increasingly higher standards of living are food and fresh water.  If we have sufficient and affordable energy, these two problems are solved. While the world has become concerned about its carbon footprint and there has been a previously unimagined level of government focus on green energy and subsidies to encourage it, I believe that commercially affordable and ubiquitous green energy is at least 50 years away.  However, the discovery of affordable shale gas and shale oil gives us the window required to sustain higher standards of living for a world population headed to 9 billion even as we work on perfecting the economics and utilization of green energy. I believe that the world is on the precipice of a gas and oil boom with the US at the forefront.  The next big thing is still going to come from the US.  No, it will not be web 4.0, it will be conventional energy.]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/transformational-impact-of-the-us-energy-boom/feed/ 1 http://atyantcapital.com/india/it-is-all-about-the-soft-infrastructure/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/it-is-all-about-the-soft-infrastructure/#comments Fri, 13 Apr 2012 17:45:57 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3696 article from Business Today magazine (http://tinyurl.com/7ghm76f). My biggest takeaway from this article is that wealth is always created by human beings and not by hard assets, raw materials and factors of production.  Wealth is created by the know-how, ingenuity and execution ability of humans.  The embodiment of the above attributes are the institutions (companies, regulators, courts, universities etc. etc.) or the soft infrastructure of an economy.  That is why I believe that equities have been and will continue to remain the most powerful engines of wealth creation. The world is smitten by physical infrastructure and the power and might they project.  I contend that in the absence (or during breakdown) of soft infrastructure, physical infrastructure is absolutely useless.  History has demonstrated this repeatedly. The starkest display of this was right after the collapse of the Soviet Union.  This was visually depicted in the Nicolas Cage movie Lord Of War, in which arms dealer Yuri Orlov smuggled arms out of leaderless warehouses full of state of the art weapons after the collapse of the Soviet Union. When Argentina's government defaulted on its external debt in 2001 and the banking system seized up, things came to a complete standstill. We recently saw things completely come to a standstill in Egypt.  It is anyone's guess how and when things will even return just to the state that existed before the Arab Spring revolution. If anyone has visited a state of the art factory or office building that has been mothballed because its owner filed for bankruptcy and could not fund it, he or she knows what I am talking about. This is the biggest reason why I am bullish about the US economy and why I believe that the 21st century will be the American century.  As much as Americans complain about the breakdown in the economy and the problems the economy faces because of the country's fractured politics and its indebtedness, the US has some the biggest, best and strongest (relatively) institutions in the world. The US has the best soft infrastructure in the world and there is no country that it is even remotely in competition with the US. ]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/it-is-all-about-the-soft-infrastructure/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/india/transformational-impact-of-the-us-energy-boom/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/transformational-impact-of-the-us-energy-boom/#comments Fri, 13 Apr 2012 18:09:27 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3702 The 9 billion people question (http://www.economist.com/node/18200618). The two things that are needed for the planet to sustain 9 billion people and to offer them increasingly higher standards of living are food and fresh water.  If we have sufficient and affordable energy, these two problems are solved. While the world has become concerned about its carbon footprint and there has been a previously unimagined level of government focus on green energy and subsidies to encourage it, I believe that commercially affordable and ubiquitous green energy is at least 50 years away.  However, the discovery of affordable shale gas and shale oil gives us the window required to sustain higher standards of living for a world population headed to 9 billion even as we work on perfecting the economics and utilization of green energy. I believe that the world is on the precipice of a gas and oil boom with the US at the forefront.  The next big thing is still going to come from the US.  No, it will not be web 4.0, it will be conventional energy.]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/transformational-impact-of-the-us-energy-boom/feed/ 1 http://atyantcapital.com Expertise in Emerging Market Investments Tue, 15 May 2012 08:34:07 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 http://atyantcapital.com/india/occasional-monsoon-failures-are-necessary/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/occasional-monsoon-failures-are-necessary/#comments Tue, 15 May 2012 08:34:07 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3780 http://atyantcapital.com/india/occasional-monsoon-failures-are-necessary/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/tracking-rahul/rahul-saragoi-on-the-manual-of-ideas/ http://atyantcapital.com/tracking-rahul/rahul-saragoi-on-the-manual-of-ideas/#comments Wed, 02 May 2012 20:09:51 +0000 Pratik Sharma http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3754 The Manual of Ideas, Rahul talks about his approach to investing and how it applies to Indian Markets. A world class publication The Manual of Ideas is used by the who’s who of the international investment community. ]]> http://atyantcapital.com/tracking-rahul/rahul-saragoi-on-the-manual-of-ideas/feed/ 1 http://atyantcapital.com/india/live-tweeting-from-omaha/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/live-tweeting-from-omaha/#comments Tue, 01 May 2012 13:59:14 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3751 http://twitter.com/#!/RahulSaraogi If you are going to be in Omaha and want to connect, reach out to me.]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/live-tweeting-from-omaha/feed/ 2 http://atyantcapital.com/asset-management-industry/building-on-the-lessons-of-poker-great-amarillo-slim/ http://atyantcapital.com/asset-management-industry/building-on-the-lessons-of-poker-great-amarillo-slim/#comments Tue, 24 Apr 2012 15:10:31 +0000 vedant http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3736 http://atyantcapital.com/asset-management-industry/building-on-the-lessons-of-poker-great-amarillo-slim/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/ivanhoes-rights-offering-is-a-role-model/ http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/ivanhoes-rights-offering-is-a-role-model/#comments Sun, 22 Apr 2012 18:10:41 +0000 vedant http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3731 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/ivanhoes-rights-offering-is-a-role-model/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/india/making-time-your-enemy/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/making-time-your-enemy/#comments Fri, 20 Apr 2012 08:49:35 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3728 DE Shaw's plan to downsize its India operation (http://tinyurl.com/6un48or) is only one of many such that I've read in recent times. The other end of the spectrum are allocators who believe that India is not a significant opportunity and don't provide any dedicated resources to India.  They execute their India exposure using teams sitting in New York, London or Singapore and make it part of their Asia ex-Japan pools.  While there is no time horizon mismatch there, I think that is a terrible way to invest in India. So what is the right approach?  In my opinion, it is essential to have a team with ears and feet on the ground in India to invest successfully in India.  It is imperative that the key decision maker be based in India.  There is no way that someone who lives outside India for 182 days in a year can successfully invest based on "research" generated by their India investment teams.  However, it is also essential that the team in India be kept very simple and rudimentary. To make time a friend, it is essential that the capital allocator be willing to hang around in India doing nothing for several years and not feel the pressure to make something happen. This probably sounds like I am talking my book.  I am.  However, it is important to keep in mind that we've structured our operations the way we have because we believe in what I've highlighted above and not the other way around.]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/making-time-your-enemy/feed/ 1 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/best-returnrisk-profiles-in-project-finance/ http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/best-returnrisk-profiles-in-project-finance/#comments Sun, 15 Apr 2012 18:16:43 +0000 vedant http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3705 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/best-returnrisk-profiles-in-project-finance/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/india/transformational-impact-of-the-us-energy-boom/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/transformational-impact-of-the-us-energy-boom/#comments Fri, 13 Apr 2012 18:09:27 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3702 The 9 billion people question (http://www.economist.com/node/18200618). The two things that are needed for the planet to sustain 9 billion people and to offer them increasingly higher standards of living are food and fresh water.  If we have sufficient and affordable energy, these two problems are solved. While the world has become concerned about its carbon footprint and there has been a previously unimagined level of government focus on green energy and subsidies to encourage it, I believe that commercially affordable and ubiquitous green energy is at least 50 years away.  However, the discovery of affordable shale gas and shale oil gives us the window required to sustain higher standards of living for a world population headed to 9 billion even as we work on perfecting the economics and utilization of green energy. I believe that the world is on the precipice of a gas and oil boom with the US at the forefront.  The next big thing is still going to come from the US.  No, it will not be web 4.0, it will be conventional energy.]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/transformational-impact-of-the-us-energy-boom/feed/ 1 http://atyantcapital.com/india/it-is-all-about-the-soft-infrastructure/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/it-is-all-about-the-soft-infrastructure/#comments Fri, 13 Apr 2012 17:45:57 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3696 article from Business Today magazine (http://tinyurl.com/7ghm76f). My biggest takeaway from this article is that wealth is always created by human beings and not by hard assets, raw materials and factors of production.  Wealth is created by the know-how, ingenuity and execution ability of humans.  The embodiment of the above attributes are the institutions (companies, regulators, courts, universities etc. etc.) or the soft infrastructure of an economy.  That is why I believe that equities have been and will continue to remain the most powerful engines of wealth creation. The world is smitten by physical infrastructure and the power and might they project.  I contend that in the absence (or during breakdown) of soft infrastructure, physical infrastructure is absolutely useless.  History has demonstrated this repeatedly. The starkest display of this was right after the collapse of the Soviet Union.  This was visually depicted in the Nicolas Cage movie Lord Of War, in which arms dealer Yuri Orlov smuggled arms out of leaderless warehouses full of state of the art weapons after the collapse of the Soviet Union. When Argentina's government defaulted on its external debt in 2001 and the banking system seized up, things came to a complete standstill. We recently saw things completely come to a standstill in Egypt.  It is anyone's guess how and when things will even return just to the state that existed before the Arab Spring revolution. If anyone has visited a state of the art factory or office building that has been mothballed because its owner filed for bankruptcy and could not fund it, he or she knows what I am talking about. This is the biggest reason why I am bullish about the US economy and why I believe that the 21st century will be the American century.  As much as Americans complain about the breakdown in the economy and the problems the economy faces because of the country's fractured politics and its indebtedness, the US has some the biggest, best and strongest (relatively) institutions in the world. The US has the best soft infrastructure in the world and there is no country that it is even remotely in competition with the US. ]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/it-is-all-about-the-soft-infrastructure/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/india/it-is-all-about-the-soft-infrastructure/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/it-is-all-about-the-soft-infrastructure/#comments Fri, 13 Apr 2012 17:45:57 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3696 article from Business Today magazine (http://tinyurl.com/7ghm76f). My biggest takeaway from this article is that wealth is always created by human beings and not by hard assets, raw materials and factors of production.  Wealth is created by the know-how, ingenuity and execution ability of humans.  The embodiment of the above attributes are the institutions (companies, regulators, courts, universities etc. etc.) or the soft infrastructure of an economy.  That is why I believe that equities have been and will continue to remain the most powerful engines of wealth creation. The world is smitten by physical infrastructure and the power and might they project.  I contend that in the absence (or during breakdown) of soft infrastructure, physical infrastructure is absolutely useless.  History has demonstrated this repeatedly. The starkest display of this was right after the collapse of the Soviet Union.  This was visually depicted in the Nicolas Cage movie Lord Of War, in which arms dealer Yuri Orlov smuggled arms out of leaderless warehouses full of state of the art weapons after the collapse of the Soviet Union. When Argentina's government defaulted on its external debt in 2001 and the banking system seized up, things came to a complete standstill. We recently saw things completely come to a standstill in Egypt.  It is anyone's guess how and when things will even return just to the state that existed before the Arab Spring revolution. If anyone has visited a state of the art factory or office building that has been mothballed because its owner filed for bankruptcy and could not fund it, he or she knows what I am talking about. This is the biggest reason why I am bullish about the US economy and why I believe that the 21st century will be the American century.  As much as Americans complain about the breakdown in the economy and the problems the economy faces because of the country's fractured politics and its indebtedness, the US has some the biggest, best and strongest (relatively) institutions in the world. The US has the best soft infrastructure in the world and there is no country that it is even remotely in competition with the US. ]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/it-is-all-about-the-soft-infrastructure/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com Expertise in Emerging Market Investments Tue, 15 May 2012 08:34:07 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 http://atyantcapital.com/india/occasional-monsoon-failures-are-necessary/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/occasional-monsoon-failures-are-necessary/#comments Tue, 15 May 2012 08:34:07 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3780 http://atyantcapital.com/india/occasional-monsoon-failures-are-necessary/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/tracking-rahul/rahul-saragoi-on-the-manual-of-ideas/ http://atyantcapital.com/tracking-rahul/rahul-saragoi-on-the-manual-of-ideas/#comments Wed, 02 May 2012 20:09:51 +0000 Pratik Sharma http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3754 The Manual of Ideas, Rahul talks about his approach to investing and how it applies to Indian Markets. A world class publication The Manual of Ideas is used by the who’s who of the international investment community. ]]> http://atyantcapital.com/tracking-rahul/rahul-saragoi-on-the-manual-of-ideas/feed/ 1 http://atyantcapital.com/india/live-tweeting-from-omaha/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/live-tweeting-from-omaha/#comments Tue, 01 May 2012 13:59:14 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3751 http://twitter.com/#!/RahulSaraogi If you are going to be in Omaha and want to connect, reach out to me.]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/live-tweeting-from-omaha/feed/ 2 http://atyantcapital.com/asset-management-industry/building-on-the-lessons-of-poker-great-amarillo-slim/ http://atyantcapital.com/asset-management-industry/building-on-the-lessons-of-poker-great-amarillo-slim/#comments Tue, 24 Apr 2012 15:10:31 +0000 vedant http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3736 http://atyantcapital.com/asset-management-industry/building-on-the-lessons-of-poker-great-amarillo-slim/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/ivanhoes-rights-offering-is-a-role-model/ http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/ivanhoes-rights-offering-is-a-role-model/#comments Sun, 22 Apr 2012 18:10:41 +0000 vedant http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3731 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/ivanhoes-rights-offering-is-a-role-model/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/india/making-time-your-enemy/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/making-time-your-enemy/#comments Fri, 20 Apr 2012 08:49:35 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3728 DE Shaw's plan to downsize its India operation (http://tinyurl.com/6un48or) is only one of many such that I've read in recent times. The other end of the spectrum are allocators who believe that India is not a significant opportunity and don't provide any dedicated resources to India.  They execute their India exposure using teams sitting in New York, London or Singapore and make it part of their Asia ex-Japan pools.  While there is no time horizon mismatch there, I think that is a terrible way to invest in India. So what is the right approach?  In my opinion, it is essential to have a team with ears and feet on the ground in India to invest successfully in India.  It is imperative that the key decision maker be based in India.  There is no way that someone who lives outside India for 182 days in a year can successfully invest based on "research" generated by their India investment teams.  However, it is also essential that the team in India be kept very simple and rudimentary. To make time a friend, it is essential that the capital allocator be willing to hang around in India doing nothing for several years and not feel the pressure to make something happen. This probably sounds like I am talking my book.  I am.  However, it is important to keep in mind that we've structured our operations the way we have because we believe in what I've highlighted above and not the other way around.]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/making-time-your-enemy/feed/ 1 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/best-returnrisk-profiles-in-project-finance/ http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/best-returnrisk-profiles-in-project-finance/#comments Sun, 15 Apr 2012 18:16:43 +0000 vedant http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3705 http://atyantcapital.com/precious-metals/best-returnrisk-profiles-in-project-finance/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/india/transformational-impact-of-the-us-energy-boom/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/transformational-impact-of-the-us-energy-boom/#comments Fri, 13 Apr 2012 18:09:27 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3702 The 9 billion people question (http://www.economist.com/node/18200618). The two things that are needed for the planet to sustain 9 billion people and to offer them increasingly higher standards of living are food and fresh water.  If we have sufficient and affordable energy, these two problems are solved. While the world has become concerned about its carbon footprint and there has been a previously unimagined level of government focus on green energy and subsidies to encourage it, I believe that commercially affordable and ubiquitous green energy is at least 50 years away.  However, the discovery of affordable shale gas and shale oil gives us the window required to sustain higher standards of living for a world population headed to 9 billion even as we work on perfecting the economics and utilization of green energy. I believe that the world is on the precipice of a gas and oil boom with the US at the forefront.  The next big thing is still going to come from the US.  No, it will not be web 4.0, it will be conventional energy.]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/transformational-impact-of-the-us-energy-boom/feed/ 1 http://atyantcapital.com/india/it-is-all-about-the-soft-infrastructure/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/it-is-all-about-the-soft-infrastructure/#comments Fri, 13 Apr 2012 17:45:57 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3696 article from Business Today magazine (http://tinyurl.com/7ghm76f). My biggest takeaway from this article is that wealth is always created by human beings and not by hard assets, raw materials and factors of production.  Wealth is created by the know-how, ingenuity and execution ability of humans.  The embodiment of the above attributes are the institutions (companies, regulators, courts, universities etc. etc.) or the soft infrastructure of an economy.  That is why I believe that equities have been and will continue to remain the most powerful engines of wealth creation. The world is smitten by physical infrastructure and the power and might they project.  I contend that in the absence (or during breakdown) of soft infrastructure, physical infrastructure is absolutely useless.  History has demonstrated this repeatedly. The starkest display of this was right after the collapse of the Soviet Union.  This was visually depicted in the Nicolas Cage movie Lord Of War, in which arms dealer Yuri Orlov smuggled arms out of leaderless warehouses full of state of the art weapons after the collapse of the Soviet Union. When Argentina's government defaulted on its external debt in 2001 and the banking system seized up, things came to a complete standstill. We recently saw things completely come to a standstill in Egypt.  It is anyone's guess how and when things will even return just to the state that existed before the Arab Spring revolution. If anyone has visited a state of the art factory or office building that has been mothballed because its owner filed for bankruptcy and could not fund it, he or she knows what I am talking about. This is the biggest reason why I am bullish about the US economy and why I believe that the 21st century will be the American century.  As much as Americans complain about the breakdown in the economy and the problems the economy faces because of the country's fractured politics and its indebtedness, the US has some the biggest, best and strongest (relatively) institutions in the world. The US has the best soft infrastructure in the world and there is no country that it is even remotely in competition with the US. ]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/it-is-all-about-the-soft-infrastructure/feed/ 0 http://atyantcapital.com/india/it-does-not-have-to-be-exciting/ http://atyantcapital.com/india/it-does-not-have-to-be-exciting/#comments Mon, 26 Mar 2012 12:16:00 +0000 rahul http://atyantcapital.com/?p=3663 theme, or story or mania that can make equity investors rich overnight.  All the old themes and stories appear to be fizzling out.  Even Web 3.0 and Apple have become so big that there is not much left on the table for investors. Is investing dead?  Is there no hope for someone who wants to grow his or her purchasing power through passive investing? Since I am writing this post, you already know that I don't believe that is true. Investing is about laying out money today to get back more money at a future date.  As long as the nominal amount of money received at the future date buys more (or substantially more) than the amount of laid out today, investing can be considered successful. My corollary to the above is that, it doesn't matter what you invest in.  As long as you can buy it at a reasonable price and it compounds at a reasonable rate over a reasonable period of time, you will make out fine. There are hundreds of mundane and boring businesses that are run by mundane and boring people with mundane and boring moats (example entrenched distribution and customer reach in a sub region) available at (thankfully) mundane and boring prices that make excellent investments. If a boring business is bought at a boring price (3 or 4 times earnings? 1 or 1.5 times book?) and compounds at a 20% plus rate, it makes for a very attractive investment.  One never needs the business to get discovered or rerated to make an attractive return (of course further de-rating would hurt). While a macro economy that is roaring ahead rapidly creates wealth, one that is treading water does not necessarily have to be the opposite. Investing is about turning as many stones as one can.  He who turns the most stones wins. No one embodied this better than Walter Schloss (http://www.economist.com/node/21550274) who recently passed away.]]> http://atyantcapital.com/india/it-does-not-have-to-be-exciting/feed/ 1