Market expert Raamdeo Agrawal, Chairman of Motilal Oswal, attributes much of his investing wisdom to books and emphasizes the importance of purposeful reading over quantity. According to reports from The Economic Times, Agrawal stated during a 2022 podcast 'Market Ki Baat' by Groww that a book becomes a part of him, explaining he takes it to his office, keeps it at home, and carries it while travelling until he finishes reading it. When particularly engrossing books are found, he sometimes takes two days off work to finish reading them.
Agrawal recommends One Up On Wall Street by Peter Lynch as a classic guide to spotting investment opportunities from everyday life. As reported by The Economic Times, the 1989 book explains that investment opportunities are everywhere - from the supermarket to the workplace. Lynch's approach focuses on finding companies to invest in before professional analysts discover them, allowing investors to find the 'tenbaggers' - stocks that appreciate tenfold from the initial investment. The book emphasizes that investors should pay attention to the best opportunities and get in early to maximize returns.
Agrawal recommends studying all of Warren Buffett's writings in Berkshire Hathaway's annual reports, where the legendary investor communicated his thinking to shareholders in letters at the end of every year. According to The Economic Times, these much-awaited letters served as lessons in both investing and history. For those not keen on reading voluminous material, The Snowball - Buffett's biography - is recommended as an alternative, detailing his life and investing career that began in 1956 when he gathered $105,000 from relatives and friends to start the Buffett Partnership.
Agrawal advises investors to focus on only two books but study them in depth, emphasizing the importance of absorbing their essence and letting them enhance their knowledge base. As reported by The Economic Times, whether investors agree with the author or not is irrelevant - the focus should be on internalizing key lessons. The Motilal Oswal Chairman stresses that investors should read with a purpose instead of reading 25 books just for the sake of reading, recommending that readers should study books in depth and let them become part of their investment philosophy.
