Raamdeo Agrawal, Ramesh Damani and Sunil Mahtani on the power of compounding and their biggest 'investment misses'

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At the launch of the MOSL Wealth Creation Study, market veterans Ramesh Damani, Sunil Mahatani, and Raamdeo Agrawal spoke about the opportunities they missed, trades they wish they had held on to, and the lessons those experiences taught them about conviction, patience, and compounding.

Ramesh Damani admitted he had missed out on Bajaj Finance despite being familiar with the company and admiring its leadership. “My circle of confidence was in my backyard, and yet for some reason, I missed out when Bajaj Finance got listed,” he said, adding that “it was extraordinarily stupid of me… I know the hurt of missing a stock like that".

He also shared the story of Apollo Hospitals, a stock he had bought at Rs 20 in 1993. Over 25 years, it had grown 100x, but he sold during the COVID downturn at Rs 2,000. “I sold because I had made too much money, not because the fundamentals had changed,” he said. Damani added, “If you want to be Warren Buffett, you cannot make mistakes like that. Those are unacceptable mistakes.”

Sunil Mahatani, Owner and CIO at US-based Kingfisher Investors, recounted a similar experience in the US markets with Apple Inc. After Steve Jobs returned and launched the iPod in 2001, Mahatani recognised that the company was making a shift from a high-tech to a consumer-focused business. He sold after the stock doubled, missing out on gains that would eventually take Apple from a $4 billion market cap to over $4 trillion. “The opportunity got away simply because I thought there were cheaper opportunities elsewhere,” he said.

Mahatani’s "stock he missed" was not about a tech player but it was HDFC in 1989, a company he discovered while visiting India from the US.

“One that I didn’t buy, even though it looked absurdly cheap, was HDFC,” he said. “It was at around Rs 190, earning Rs 65 a share and paying an Rs 18 dividend. You were getting nearly 10%. And it had been compounding at 25% a year with a 25% ROE.” Mahantani did not have capital in India at the time, but he urged his father to buy. “I told him, ‘Buy some of this, it’s going to be good.’ He didn’t. A year later I was still telling him to buy. He still didn’t,” Mahatani said. “(At that time) Instead of spending money on a plane ticket, I should have just bought the stock,” he quipped.

Motilal Oswal co-founder Raamdeo Agrawal shared his own early experience with HDFC Bank, buying shares in 1995 at Rs 40 because he believed private banks would outperform PSUs. “I saw the HSBC building in Hong Kong, and I thought, our HSBC is going to be HDFC,” he said. However, shortly after buying, he heard news about one of HDFC’s partner banks and sold at Rs 52.50, never seeing the stock drop below that price again.  “The lesson was simple: you have to stay with your conviction,” he said.

Agrawal also reflected on Bharti Airtel, which he bought in 2003 at Rs 25 per share despite skepticism from peers. Within a week, the price jumped to Rs 33–35, and he sold part of his holding. Yet he held on as the stock climbed to Rs 1,180, only selling when the 2G telecom scandal caused a temporary fall. Today, Bharti is one of India’s largest wealth creators. “When a business gains momentum and tailwinds, it can become a wealth-generating machine if you stay invested,” he said.

Highlighting genuine compounders, Agrawal noted that in the Motilal Oswal Wealth Creation Report, “Of the starting list of top 500 companies in 2008, only 35—just 7%—ended up as compounders. Their average price CAGR over 2008–2025 is a handsome 23%. The rare winners combine sustained growth, consistent outperformance, and strong leadership.”