Rakesh Jhunjhunwala's Largest Cheque And His Nerves Of Steel

The biggest cheque Rakesh Jhunjhunwala wrote was for Star Health And Allied Insurance Co., according to Rare Enterprises Pvt.'s Utpal Sheth.

Rare Enterprises, an investment management firm founded by Jhunjhunwala, wrote a cheque of Rs 1,500 crore to the company. However, it wasn't even 10% of the portfolio, Sheth, chief executive officer at Rare Enterprises, told to BQ Prime's Niraj Shah. "Successful people won’t bet 40-50% of their portfolio on one stock."

It's been a year since the passing of billionaire Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, considered 'Warren Buffett of India'. Still, the outpouring of love for the revered Dalal Street investor continues. Market veterans tell and retell the stories his investing wisdom.

"Buying and selling are not acts of intellect but wisdom as put by Rakesh Jhunjhunwala,” Ramesh Damani, a member of Bombay Stock Exchange, said.

Jhunjhunwala had the more courage and conviction than others, he said. "In 1989, he told me that India's time has come and it'll become the third largest economy in the world, the taxes from 90% will go down to 30% and the trading systems would evolve. He was sure of this megatrend even in the 1990s."

He continued to remain bullish on India even when the markets fell, Damani said.

But how did Jhunjhunwala identify opportunities in times of despair?

Sheth said that Jhunjhunwala bought some of the "best picks" in 2002-2003 when the global stock markets witnessed a sharp downturn. "Those were the times when he bought Bharat Electronics, Bharat Earth Movers, Titan and United Spirits."

Even at the beginning of the Covid pandemic when Nifty crashed to near 7,000 levels, the flood gates of liquidity was bound to open as the U.S. Federal Reserve announced the quantitative easing. "Only Rakesh ji could see that and I couldn't," Sheth said. "He was so steadfast in his conviction."

Damani said Jhunjhunwala made those investment decisions during Covid while he was in the hospital. "I wish I had ‘nerves of steel’ like Rakesh Jhunjhunwala did."

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