One tip for successful investing is to start early. This is what well known Indian investor, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala of Mumbai has done. Right after graduating from university, Rakesh started a professional career in trading with a Tea company and later an iron ore company, Sesa Goya. That helped Rakesh learned when to buy at a good time and the right time to sell.
He invests in Indian equities, and emphasises the fact that trading must be done at the right time. A good time is after a scam or crisis period. He did exactly this when he shorted stocks during the Harshad Mehta scam of 1992. Another piece of advice that Rakesh gives is to trade your own income and you must be well informed of your companies and more importantly be active. The best time to sell your stock, he advises, is when company earnings have peaked and valuations have appeared unreasonable.
Rakesh is currently his own portfolio manager working at an Asset Management Firm called Rare Enterprises. He has been trading since 1985 and his investments are currently worth over 50 billion dollars. Although he is not the richest man in the world, he does rank on Forbe's list as one of the richest. Rakesh is compared to famous American investor Warren Buffet. They started their careers in investment and share similar investment styles.
Rakesh has financial ownership in many companies. He is currently chairman and on the board of directors of companies like Aptech Limited. This means he takes part in important decisions.
Most recently, Rakesh announced he will be investing a quarter of his earnings to charity. He believes charity should be treated like children, in that he divides his wealth equally among them. This is not the first time successful Indian investors have done this, the first being Azim Prenji. He is choosing to invest in GiveIndia, and by 2020 in hopes that this will be an even bigger investment in the enrichment and growth of his country.