What does it take to survive and succeed in the stock market for more than 35 years?
In this episode , We sat down with Sankaran Naren, ( Executive Director & CIO , ICICI Prudential AMC) for a deep conversation on how experienced investors think about markets, cycles and risk.
From his first 30x stock and his journey from momentum investing to contrarian investing, to understanding asset allocation, market cycles, valuation, sentiment and triggers, Mr. Naren shares the frameworks that have shaped his investing philosophy.
We also discuss a question every investor eventually struggles with: When should you sell or switch from an investment? Mr. Naren explains why he prefers thinking in terms of buying, sizing and switching rather than simply buying and selling.
The conversation also covers contrarian opportunities, FMCG, small & midcaps, US AI stocks, SIFs, top-down vs bottom-up investing, portfolio sizing, asset allocation and the biggest mistakes retail investors make.
Chapters:
00:00 Teaser
00:35 Intro – 35+ Years in the Stock Market
01:57 What Brought Sankaran Naren to the Stock Market?
03:17 What Was His First Stock?
05:10 How Do You Hold a Stock That Becomes 30x?
06:11 From Momentum to Contrarian Investing
07:52 Handling Bull Runs as a Contrarian Investor
09:29 What Is Still Challenging After 35+ Years?
10:57 What Should Investors Do When Returns Are Poor?
12:17 What Still Makes the Stock Market Interesting?
13:29 How Does He Analyse Different Asset Classes?
16:31 Do Valuation, Cycle, Sentiment & Trigger All Need to Align?
18:13 Where Are the Opportunities in the Current Market?
19:38 Top-Down vs Bottom-Up Investing
21:40 The Secret Behind Hybrid Strategy & Asset Allocation
24:03 Value Investor vs Contrarian Investor
26:27 Is FMCG a Contrarian Opportunity?
28:24 How Does an AMC React to Bad News or Fraud?
30:06 What Is SIF & Who Is It Suitable For?
31:04 SIF vs Mutual Funds – What’s the Difference?
32:10 When Should You Sell or Switch a Stock?
35:25 How Should Investors Decide When to Switch?
37:02 What Has Been His Biggest Investing Success?
37:52 What Would He Have Done Better?
38:29 One Rule Every Retail Investor Should Follow
38:44 Lessons From His Investment Gurus
39:17 Rapid Fire
Towards the end, Mr. Naren shares his thoughts on the next market cycle, bubbles and crashes, investing lessons from his mentors, books that influenced him, and what investors should stop doing immediately.
A conversation packed with investing lessons from more than three decades in the market.
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Disclaimer:
1. Rahul Jain is registered with SEBI as Individual Research Analyst vide Registration number INH000023287 dated September 15, 2025 pursuant to which it provides Research Analyst services to its clients.
2. Any matter displayed in this content are purely for Knowledge purpose and shall not be treated as an advice or opinion of any kind. Neither Rahul Jain nor the marketing agents related to the firm shall be held liable/responsible in any manner whatsoever for any losses the viewers may incur due to acting upon this content.
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7. The securities quoted are for illustration only and are not recommendatory.
#contrarianinvesting #ValueInvesting #investmentstrategy #stockmarketlessons #SankaranNaren
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What was your biggest takeaway from this conversation? Comment below👇
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Great video get to know about market through investors wisdom just amazing keep the good work going and invite more legends like him
Your discussion is really great lots thanks !
Why ask questions like, how you came to stock, or first stocks, just focus on prediction, strategy, views
This is great. Huge respect for rahul sir to provide such valuable insights and giving a common man like me to learn and earn.
Contrarian investment now working in IT Sector on Oct2026
नरेन जी ने 2 साल पहले बताया था zee में इक्विटी के बजाय FMP लो आज तक सटीक पड़ी है
Zero takeaways…..generic statement available everywhere
Asset Allocation, Asset Allocation & Asset Allocation!!!
That’s all what I heard throughout the video!!!
9:06 isnt probablity part of arithmetic
Again same kind of podcasts every other fininfluencers doing- "keep on doing regular SIP"
Best part of Mr. Naren is that he is always aware fully aware that he has the responsibility of managing public money.
Rahul please allow your interviewees to speak.In whole interview just time how much time u spoke and how Mr Naren spoke.
Plz let the expert speak . Mr Rahul talks too much . Like he is expert .
Epic….a quick outlook on when to sell your investment is to question yourself if I have money right now to buy that instrument at current price will I buy it or not? If yes then you should not sell it. It is difficult to follow logic 😂.
Rahul i found it very funny. Everytime you tried to pull which equity sector is Naren ji bullish on and everytime he nicely slaps with the term asset allocation
❤🎉
These cunning people will never share actual tricks except cheating tactics
GREAT
valuable tips and insights got ,many thanks rahul ji
Excellent presentation
Wonderful
Never trust a-
Politician
Property/car dealer
Mutual fund guy
I would be very cautious about taking advice on selling us stock and reinvesting it in india from a mutual fund company CEO, specifically who don't have a US mutual fund of there won. I mean of course they will tell you to sell and invest in india it's in there best interest 😂😅