Art of Investing Workshop: Thank You Bangalore, Chennai!

Safal Niveshak conducted its first ever Art of Investing Workshop in Bangalore on 14th April 2012, and then the second one in Chennai on 15th April 2012.

14th April, 2012 | Bangalore
As I laid down the reference material before the Workshop started in Bangalore, I was worried if people would really come to listen to money and investing related ideas on a Saturday morning. So, I was nervous…and the emptiness of the room added to my anxiety.

But just as the clock struck 9.30, in came Mr. Dipak Chakraborty. Since I had never seen him earlier, I was happy to see a 70+ year old gentleman, travelling all the way for 2 hours, to come an attend the Workshop.

As I was talking to him about his long journey as an investor, other attendees started coming in. And by 10 am, almost everyone I had expected to come, was there…waiting to listen to what I had to share.

As I spoke and as I listened to their questions and contradictions, it was clear that I was speaking to a group of highly smart people who are willing to take control of their financial lives in their own hands.

The interesting part was that the age group of the attendees ranged from around 25 to 75…suggesting that your age does not matter when it comes to your hunger for learning, and your willingness to become an intelligent and independent stock market investor.

The Workshop went on for almost six hours, two hours more than the stipulated time…thanks largely to the in-depth discussions we had around money, investing, (and happiness :-)).

Anyways, here is what some Safal Niveshak tribesmen who attended the Workshop had to say about their experiences…

Let me start by saying I wish this Workshop happened few years back that would have saved me from a lot of investing blunders I was committing. Everybody talks about Mutual Funds, PPF, Bonds etc. including the Financial Planners but when it comes to Stocks, there is free advice that is as dangerous as fee-based advice.

This workshop was all about investing sensibly. If you are looking for tips on which stock to buy, you will be disappointed. But if you are serious about making your money work for you through stocks and related instruments, this workshop will empower you towards achieving your goal in a sensible way through value investing, the time tested method.

It was a great experience to meet Vishal and a lot of like-minded people aged between 24 to 65, share their views, learning, mistakes and ideas about money, life and investing. But the most important learning of all was getting our fundamentals about investing clear.

Everyone should participate in Safal Niveshak workshop for one very simple reason – Vishal’s Integrity and Clarity. He will make every effort to make you understand about investing and he will not give you so-called tips even if you pay him. It’s difficult to find people who follow what they preach. Keep an open mind and attend the workshop, you will be on your way to a better financial life.

Also, I would like to appreciate the Safal Niveshak initiative as a whole, including your blog. There is an amazing collection of articles that has helped me convert to investing. After the losses of 2008 – a painful lesson, your blog made me put things into perspective, I am glad I landed at the right place. My sincere appreciation for your efforts in educating India about Value Investing.

~ Mansoor

Safal Niveshak’s initiative is all about empowering investors and would be investors. It was an idea whose time had come. I wonder why no one thought of it before.

Personally, what I liked of the workshop – It was simple, devoid of jargon, and came from the heart. Topics of particular interest to me were – Stock picking ideas, when to sell a stock, and asset allocation. I liked the coinage – “Are you a stock or a bond?” My only regret – I would have liked to see more people at the workshop, though at times a small group means more meaningful interaction.

On a lighter note – I wish this workshop was conducted 20-25 years ago, I would have been a multi billionaire by now!

~ R.K. Chandrashekar, a contented long term investor since 1978. One who has made many mistakes, has been lucky and unlucky at times, identified multi-baggers, let go some of them too early, held on to a few, over-diversified but at the end of the day contented with what I have.

Hi Vishal, it is very heartening to see a young dynamic and enterprising lad (you) making sincere efforts to grow a crop of bold investors. I must accept that we all (small investors) have a ‘chicken little’ within us. In that sense, we worry about our hard earned money blown away in the stock market. And we also know that we can put the blame on the people who advise us!!

Although I have been taking calculated steps to grow my wealth, I find real-estate a firm step to set the ground for my children. That’s in the long run of 10 to 15years. Your workshop has opened up avenues of alternate investing, though I have never ventured this direction. Surely, it’s been a beneficial time for me to spend in terms of information. I wish you good luck in this effort of giving birth to a new breed of independent and bold stock investors. I find sincerity in your words and I’m sure that your audience are benefitting from your inputs.

And last but not the least, as Gandhiji said, “be the change you want to see in the world’. You are a man who ‘walks your talk’. I’m touched with these gestures. Good luck!

~ Anil Valecha

Dear Vishal, it was a pleasure meeting you at Bangalore and I take this opportunity to thank you for the excellent presentation while conducting the “Art of Investing Workshop.”

As a small investor I have benefited immensely by attending this workshop by way of establishing in me a wealthy mindset, the confidence, and the art in using Investment Strategies.

I also take this opportunity to convey to you my heartfelt appreciation for the initiative you have taken in launching your website ‘Safal Niveshak’ for the benefit of small/ minor investors.

~ Dipak Chakraborty

Art of Investing Workshop was a really good experience for me. It was great to meet you and other readers of Safal Niveshak in person. I would highly recommend other investors to attend such workshops because they can discover a lot about their own financial life. They can learn a lot from Vishal’s wisdom and the views from other readers of Safal Niveshak.

I think the initiative by Vishal to educate investors through workshops like these is a really great idea. I am looking to forward to more such workshops in future. Thanks a lot for taking up this initiative!

~ Vijayshankar S

I am fortunate and proud that I have attended the first workshop conducted by you in Bangalore on 14/4/2012. The workshop is one of its first kind and is really useful. What is unique is I don’t find any workshop with a sole purpose to educate people on Investing in stocks. Yes it is truly required these days to look for a way to investments other than traditional ways like deposits and bonds. At the same time, it is quite embarrassing to go for investment in stocks as we see the current world with cyclical Sensex index graph.

So there comes your workshop to move with lateral thinking that encompasses the urge to eliminate innocence, ignorance and start being knowledgeable on what we are doing. The workshop covered almost all the elements to start investing in stocks. Thanks Vishal!

~ Suresh Perumalla

Initially I had read Vishal’s posts and was impressed by the content, clarity and thought behind the ideas. When I went for the first ever Investor Workshop of “Safal Niveshak”, I was quite happy and satisfied. For me, it was a like a real eye opener, right from how it’s very important to have a Financial Plan and have an objective for investing, to Goals, having Patience and confidence on your stocks, when is the right time to invest , valuations, how and why small investors should invest, how to not let your judgment be clouded by others, teaching investment as an ART to our children, and how to avoid the pitfalls of investing.

It was like a beginner tutorial for “Art of Investing”. There were many takeaways, but two significant ones for me were – first, never invest in an idea/company you can’t draw it with a crayon, and second, do read annual reports. 99% people don’t read annual reports and thus 99% people don’t make money in the stock market.

I would wish Vishal all the best for his future work. May he keep doing these Workshops more often and help small investors to visualize their goals.

~ Ashutosh Kaul

Hi Vishal, first of all congratulations on conducting your first “Art of Investing” Workshop. Meeting you in person was great. I am glad that I was among few out of million people in Bangalore to gain from it. This would certainly give me some added advantages than others. The Workshop covered all the aspects of investing, specially the Stock Market and related investment. I gained more insight and a great refresher of all the items that I had read on your blog (as you know I read every post of your blog with high concentration). The workshop helped me clarify all my questions and doubts that too in person, which is always great. I was able to talk to you in detail about the topic of interest and doubts related to investing which was a great + point of meeting you in person.

I personally think that everyone who thinks of saving and investing must attend this workshop with an open mind, and I would personally recommend all my friends collogues and relatives to do the same, cause that way I would be helping them make better decision for their future and investing.

One should attend future workshop of “art of investing” and read your blog if….

1. You work hard for your money and want your money to work hard for you.
2. You want to be a person who wants to be control of his finances and investing
3. You want to learn how to be your own financial advisor.
4. You want to learn all the terms that you hear on BUTV or CNBCTV18 and think what they are.
5. You want to be able to make good decision about investment and stocks.
6. You want to make sure that those relatives and so called financial advisor didn’t fool you and don’t fool you in future if they have.
7. You want to learn what kind of investor you are?
8. You want to learn about risk and how to handle them.
9. You want to learn about how to evaluate a stock.
10.I can go on and on however I will sum it up by saying, above all if you want to learn, secure your future and be a Safal and happy Niveshak.

I wanted to thank you for your initiative that you have taken to teach all of us all about investing, Safal Niveshak is a very good initiative and not to forget that you are providing us all this awesome post day after day week after week at no extra cost and without any advertisement, Frankly I would not mind if you put some ads on your blog I would be more than happy to read your blog even with adds.

A big thank you for investing your time and energy to make sure that we understand what is investing all about and how it should be done.

~ Vikrant Upadhyay

Here is the first ever batch of the Safal Niveshak’s Art of Investing Workshop in Bangalore…

15th April, 2012 | Chennai
After meeting some really smart investors in Bangalore, I was looking forward to meet the Chennai batch of the Art of Investing Workshop.

And yet again, I was elated to meet and talk to a group of smart, experienced investors.

Even the Workshop in Chennai was filled with in-depth discussions around stock markets, money, and human behaviour. Also, like Bangalore, it went on for six hours, and gave me some great ideas on how I should conduct my future Workshops.

I am Ravi Padmanabhan, from Chennai. I attended Safal Niveshak’s program titled Art of Investing on 15th April 2012. I am into value investing for the last ten years and it is very rare to see people who focus on long term investing these days. What I particularly liked was that the Investment concepts were made simple and the workbook given was very useful. The way Mr. Vishal presented these concepts were really good, especially his practical insights from his career as an Equity Analyst. I would personally recommend this workshop for anyone who would like to create wealth in the Stock Markets over long term.

~ Ravi Padmanbahan, Value Investor & Founder – Chennai Investors Club & Guest Speaker on Investing with NDTV Hindu

Congratulations to you for taking up this new initiative. The workshop gave a lot of insights in the art of investing. It helps in making good financial decisions. This is for the common man who wants to take complete control of his financial life. The workshop also highlighted the importance of long-term investing in Stock Markets. Nice to be a Safal Niveshak tribesman!

~ Mahesh Santhanagopalan, CFP

Here is the first batch of the Safal Niveshak’s Art of Investing Workshop in Chennai…

Here are a couple of videos from the Chennai Workshop – first, where I am speaking, and second, where Ravi Padmanabhan is sharing his experiences as an investor.

My special thanks goes to…
At the end of it, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone who made the Workshops successful, especially the participants who braved the Bangalore and Chennai traffic (and on a weekend) to come and listen to my simple ideas on investing.

I would also like to thank my friend from school, Ashu Agarwal, who along with her husband Anshuman, let me use their company’s training room in Bangalore for conducting the Workshop…and also saw through the arrangements so that the participants were all comfortable.

My special thanks also goes to Mr. Padmanabhan Ravindran, Founder & Mentor at Chennai Investors Club and a Safal Niveshak tribesman, who helped me arrange the Workshop in Chennai.

Finally, I would like to thank all my readers to have instilled in me the confidence that, amidst all the madness out there in the stock market, there are people who are smart and believe in the idea of sensible, long-term investing.