A newbie messaged me, "Sir, how do I get access to Rakesh Jhunjhunwala's portfolio?"
I asked him why he needs it?
He said, "I will check the companies he has invested in and I will buy some of those stocks."
Now imagine everyone copying Warren Buffett's portfolio and BOOM! There's no poverty on this planet.
But there is poverty.
Why have people not copied the portfolios of successful investors and made their millions yet?
There are 2 broad issues while copying:
1) Usually the investor does not copy properly.
- Mr. Jhunjhunwala investing Rs.200Cr in a company is a big thing but what if this is just 1% of his portfolio? Does it still excite you?
- Follow completely or not at all: every investor has made their mistakes and they continue to do so. Out of 10 stocks, they still lose money in at least 2. Now, if you pick say 5 out of 10 stocks in their portfolio, you will not know whether you have picked the good ones, or the bad ones.
2) Let's say they bought/ sold stock in April, the shareholding report will be out by July end or Aug.
That's when you will get to know the decisions made by them. And it may be too late to copy that. That is, the real-time data is not available.
This reminded me of our decades-old saying “नकल में भी अकल चाहिये”
Thoughts?