Through the series Bookmark, leading voices in the world of finance and business talk about the books that influenced them in their professional journey, and in some cases, also touched them at a personal level.

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In this episode, Nilesh Shah, Group President & Managing Director, Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company lists his top five that helped him become a better investor.

Investment is as much about fundamentals as about human behaviour. I have matured as an investor by reading the following books.

Mahabharata

Nothing epitomises human behaviour as the Mahabharata. My favourite Shloka is where Duryodhan tells Shri Krishna on the eve of the battle that:

“Janami Dharma, Nachme Pravruti, Janami Adharma, Nachme Nivruti”

“I know Dharma, but unable to practice it; I know Adharma but unable to leave it.”

You can avoid many a wrong turn along your investment journey if you are able to recognise and control the Duryodhan living inside you.

Workbooks of J P Morgan Global Financial Management 25 Program

I was lucky to be nominated by my employer ICICI Securities to GFM 25 program at J P Morgan New York. It was a two-month full-day residential program on financial markets with weekly exams. For each topic like swap, options etc., there were worksheets to solve. I failed the mock test as some concepts were unfamiliar to me. I studied hard and diligently scanned the workbooks (there was no Google in those days) as failure was not an option. At the end of GFM 25, I and two of my colleagues actually pulled the class average higher. Those workbooks are still with me to guide me through the basic concepts.

The Scam, by Sucheta Dalal & Debashish Basu

I started my financial market journey in the fixed income segment in the early 90s at a time when experienced market participants were either in jail or retired. We had to learn how to swim by jumping into water without a coach, life jacket or a life guard. The Scam was an eye opener on avoiding traps in debt market.

Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits, by Phillip Fischer

This book taught me that intangible factors like brand, technology etc. can make a material impact on the long term value of the stock. Fischer’s 15-point checklist while investing in stocks still plays out at the back of my mind whenever I think about a company.

Liar’s Poker, by Michael Lewis

It is a fascinating book about the journey of a bond salesman in the 80s. It was my first book on markets. It encouraged me to read more business and finance books.

(As told to Ashish Rukhaiyar)