India's Warren Buffett
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- While U.S. investors digested midterm election results and the Fed's announcement regarding their next steps in assisting the nation towards economic recovery, many likely ignored or overlooked the positive news hailing from India.
Considered by many to be one of the most promising of the emerging market nations, India has seen impressive strength recently, indicated by this week's optimistic PMI manufacturing numbers and the National Bank of India's decision to raise interest rates.
The breakneck rate of speed at which India's economy has expanded has been highly profitable for some members of the nation's massive population. In late September,
Forbes
magazine compiled a list which highlighted India's richest individuals. According to the report, the nation now boasts a total of 69 billionaires. Seventeen of those included in the list were added in 2010 alone.
Individuals topping this year's list include Asia's richest man, Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries whose net worth is valued at $27 billion, and Lakshmi Mittal, chairman of steel giant
ArcelorMittal
(MT) - Get Report
. Mittal's fortune is only slightly less than Ambani's, valued at $26 billion.
Ranking as the 51st richest person in India and 937th richest individual in the world, with a fortune valued at $1 billion, is Rakesh Jhunjhunwala. A famous and well respected equities investor, Forbes has dubbed Jhunjhunwala, "India's Warren Buffett."
As a fan of notable financial gurus such as George Soros, Marc Faber, and Buffett himself, Jhunjhunwala was given this recognizable nickname due to his ability to successfully mimic the Oracle of Omaha's famous long term, buy-and-hold investing strategy.
Like the
Berkshire Hathaway
(BRK.A) - Get Report
chairman, when Jhunjhunwala seeks out possible investing opportunities, he hones in on a company's business model.
An attractive investment is one which will promise growth and strength over an extended period of time. In addition to earning his notable nickname, his successful ability to navigate the Indian marketplace has helped him generate an impressive following.
According to
BusinessWeek
, Jhunjhunwala was accurately able to predict the 2008 drop in the Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index. Since then, however, he has maintained an optimistic outlook on the Indian economy. In an interview later on in the same year, he forecasted that the nation's markets were in for "the mother of all bull runs in the next four or five years."
Aside from his investing prowess, Jhunjhunwala shares other similarities with the Nebraska native such as his interest in philanthropy. This week, in Buffett-like fashion, Jhunjhunwala auctioned off the chance to share a meal on
eBay
(EBAY) - Get Report
. The event managed to raise 1.4 million rupees which will be donated to Children's Movement for Civic Awareness.
In my Wednesday feature,
"ETFs Venture into India,"
I highlighted a number of tools investors can utilize in order to gain adequate exposure to this fast-moving nation.
India, like China and other emerging markets, appears to be on path to long term economic expansion. By gaining exposure to the nation's markets using
WisdomTree India Earnings ETF
(EPI) - Get Report
investors can mimic Jhunjhunwala's long term approach to investing in the nation and take advantage of his optimistic forecast.
Written by Don Dion in Williamstown, Mass.
At the time of publication, Dion Money Management did own any of the equities mentioned.
Don Dion is president and founder of
, a fee-based investment advisory firm to affluent individuals, families and nonprofit organizations, where he is responsible for setting investment policy, creating custom portfolios and overseeing the performance of client accounts. Founded in 1996 and based in Williamstown, Mass., Dion Money Management manages assets for clients in 49 states and 11 countries. Dion is a licensed attorney in Massachusetts and Maine and has more than 25 years' experience working in the financial markets, having founded and run two publicly traded companies before establishing Dion Money Management.
Dion also is publisher of the Fidelity Independent Adviser family of newsletters, which provides to a broad range of investors his commentary on the financial markets, with a specific emphasis on mutual funds and exchange-traded funds. With more than 100,000 subscribers in the U.S. and 29 other countries, Fidelity Independent Adviser publishes six monthly newsletters and three weekly newsletters. Its flagship publication, Fidelity Independent Adviser, has been published monthly for 11 years and reaches 40,000 subscribers.
