CoreValues
There are certain qualities and traits that run as a common thread across many admired global investment firms, and this DNA not only defines who they are, but also gives them their unique edge over their competition.
At TrustLine, we strongly believe in these qualities and have consciously woven them into our core values and business practices to form a strong foundation. Today, our entire business stands on this foundation.
Experience shows markets are never rational. It is either extremely bullish on future prospects or extremely negative on future. Keeping one's rational framework intact in these extreme swings is the key to successful investment.
As it is often said, Stock market rewards conviction and victimizes the unconvinced. Years of investing experience has reinforced our belief that key to long-term investment success lies in identifying unpopular , but sound opportunities and staying with them in testing times even when there is lack of popular support from financial community.
This may sound like a cliché. But its importance in investment cannot be underestimated. While we are in this business for building long-term wealth, our "eyes" are not on money. Instead, our focus is on building robust research process to deliver and sustain above average long-term returns. Investment is religion for us. This is a powerful quality that differentiates us from competition.
We approach investments with a clinical precision guided by rationality, not influenced by the swings of bullish fervour (greed) or manic gloom (fear) that normally holds the markets to sway. We attempt to be greedy when others are fearful and attempt to be fearful when others are greedy without being contrarians for contrarian’s sake.
We believe our understanding of equity as an asset class and business fundamentals drives the quality of our research and differentiates us from our competitors. We believe that our research enables us to identify market trends and stocks with high growth potential, which facilitates more informed and timely decision making. This will help us to build and promote our brand and to acquire and retain our clientele.
Our key strength is our steadfast commitment to the concept of "Margin-of -Safety". As a result, preservation of capital / principal is our No.1 priority and generating returns comes later. We practice this in a very religious and disciplined manner.
As in any business, more so in investment business, the ability to operate within the circle of competence gives an enormous edge in long-term wealth building. We stringently evaluate our capabilities to understand a particular business under research. We take up only those opportunities where we have distinct domain insights and have clear understanding of the economics of those businesses.
At the core of our investment philosophy lies this strong belief that Investing in publicly–traded-equities is no different from buying or acquiring private businesses. When we invest in a stock, it is viewed as buying a piece of business, not a piece of paper. We view ourselves as Business Analysts than as Market or Investment Analysts. As a result, our focus is on the economics of business, not on the price–action or market-action.
Our key objective is, first to protect the principal and then to grow it at an above-average Long-term rate of return. We strive to meet this objective thro’ our stead-fast commitment to the concept of “Margin – of – Safety“ (MOS) in all our investment opportunities.
Fundamentally, our approach to stock selection is bottom-up, stock –specific from under-researched / under-discovered universe with huge emphasis on Intrinsic Value ( Free- Cash flow ), Return on Equity(ROE) and Margin of Safety.
In summary, our broad strategy is to look for profitable businesses that have superior long-term economic characteristics ( durable competitive advantage) and are run by able and honest managements and available at attractive valuations with reasonable Margin of Safety.
ResearchProcess
The most critical component of the investment process is our Research. This is for two reasons.
The tools that we use in our research process are:
In addition, we’ve set up the following facilities to support research process.
In Portfolio Management, TrustLine has built a very strong clientele of senior professionals from leading organizations.
Asset under Management has grown at a healthy clip over the last 16+ years and the portfolio returns have consistently out-performed the benchmark indices by a wide margin (7.77% annualized out-performance over BSE smallcap Index). Such a strong out-performance is a direct outcome of our robust research process and unique stock-picking skills.
TeamStrength
Trustline has a solid team of Specialists with expertise in Finance and Technology with multiple industry backgrounds. The team is ably guided by Mr. ArunaGiri, a seasoned professional and is well-supported by an advisory board consisting of experts from various fields.
"TrustLine has built very strong processes for research and stock picking over period of time. They go about investing with diligence and emotional discipline. It comes across as the most customer centric firm with huge focus on client servicing and on long-term value creation for client portfolios. Their long-term value investing approach fits in well with my own approach of patient investing."
I have been happy with my association and I am having an enriching investing experience with them.
Leadership Level in a Global Tech Co.
“I have been associated with TrustLine from the very beginning. What I like about them is a clear approach and high reliance on the research rather than market sentiments.The transparency of information and decision making is very high and the team is completely dependable.”
Former Senior Vice President and Business Head Wipro Ltd
"It is now over a decade I have invested through TrustLine PMS. I can vouch for their integrity and thorough research which leads to outsized returns, your search for deep value PMS ends here if you are a patient investor"
President, GiveIndia | Entrepreneur | Former VP, Cisco
“Very true to the name TrustLine India, I could certainly trust them to handle my investments. They have process’ to figure out what is right in different market situations and more importantly have the ears and eyes for tracking reality and not go by the hype that gets created by speculators. I am happy to be with TrustLine for the long haul and will strongly recommend to anybody who wants to stay invested and have peace of mind.”
Former Director, CTS
“TrustLine is a dependable and trustworthy organization. I have just offloaded all my investment activities (concerns!) to them and focusing completely on my business. Infact I don’t even bother about daily or monthly market status as I am confident that the investments through TrustLine will get me very good returns in the long term. I am pretty impressed with TrustLine’s diligent investment process and their tenacity to strictly adhere to the same.”
Founder and CEO, Preksh Innovations Pvt. Ltd
"I have been a investor of TrustLine for a fairly long time and in this period, I have had the pleasure of constantly increasing my exposure to TrustLine, and I intend to increase my exposure in the years to come. Needless to say that my investment has paid off, but what has been more important to notice, has been the fact that TrustLine has stuck to its core philosophy, through fairly difficult times and where the conviction on the value investing philosophy would have been severely tested. It is for all to see and the results to show that TrustLine management has come out of this test in flying colours"
Founder Director, Fulcrum Venture India
“TrustLine reflects the true picture of an organization that can be entrusted with your lifetime savings. TrustLine’s asset growth philosophy of making objective decisions by extensive & patented research model & cutting out the market cacophony & sentiments reflects the clarity of the Management’s vision in the area of investments.
TrustLine’s No-Nonsense approach towards investments is a marked difference vis-à-vis the current set of analysts bugged by "chase-the-next-hot-stock" syndrome.
Service Category: Portfolio Management Service Provider Year first hired: 2004 (hired more than once)
Top Qualities: Clarity in Vision, Straight Forward Approach.
Vice President, First Data Corporation
"Trustline's long-term value investing approach fits in with my own philosophy of how I want my funds to be invested. They come across as a very customer centric firm, with a strong focus on client servicing and on long-term value creation for client portfolios. I am happy with our association over many years, and I wish them all the best."
Head of India, Natwest Group
"I have had the pleasure of knowing Arunagiri for several years now. He brings with him a rich understanding of the financial markets in India. What I find reassuring with TrustLine is their unwavering focus on their investment strategy that revolves around identifying high quality stocks from small-cap space ahead of the markets. They have a well evolved process to contain risks in this space, thereby delivering above-average returns over long-term."
CXO | Technocrat | Market Enthusiast
"Thank you very much for helping us take this wise decision of opening a small relationship with you back in 2008. I want to let you know that this is so timely. We will be using this fund for my daughter's US studies. We are glad our small investment with TrustLine has helped us in a big way. Thank you. You can be rest assured we will be knocking your doors soon."
Director, PayPal, India.
“TrustLine is an honest firm which keeps the interests of its customers foremost, that’s what has been most encouraging for me to keep expanding my fund with them. Their focus on taking a longer term perspective fits in with my own philosophy of how I want my funds to be invested.”
Chief Value Creator, Valulead Consulting
"One of the best books I have read on value investing is "The Intelligent Investor" by Benjamin Graham. Warren Buffet describes it as "by far the best book on investing ever written". It is one thing to read the book and understand the principles of value investing. It is another thing to develop the skills and dedication to implement the principles for your own investing needs. That is why I reached out to Arunagiri's TrustLine who I have watched over the past couple of years implement it for my portfolio.
Value investing is not for the faint-hearted, for your portfolio may be lagging at the initial stages of portfolio construction. But if you focus on the long term, the rewards are there to see as exemplified by the startling compounded annualised return delivered and published at http://www.trustlineindia.com. I highly appreciate the professionalism, due diligence and the long term approach of TrustLine."
Distinguished Engineer, Cisco Systems
“The enduring focus of TrustLine, 'Managing for Value', provides the ideal platform for creating wealth for the long term. This investment philosophy is the one which makes most sense in this highly volatile market environment.”
Veteran Banker and Market Expert
"I have known Mr. Arunagiri for more than ten years now and so invested in a portfolio with TrustLine.
I have had the confidence that the money is invested well with diligence and I have found it grown in volatile markets substantially even in difficult times. I have never regretted my decision of investing with TrustLine."
Director, Identive Technologies India Pvt Ltd
Trust & Lineage. The two pillars on which was founded a company that dreamt to perform, and dared to outperform the competition.
We are TrustLine - a leading Chennai-based Equity Research and Asset Management firm. With financial research as a core competence, we track and study over 800+ companies as part of our investment research.
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