OMKARA CAPITAL — DAILY NEWSLETTER: 18th August 2026

Pause and Reflect

With the earnings season behind us, this is a good moment to pause and reflect. In markets, it is easy to become mechanical: waking up each morning to check what happened in the US, what global cues are suggesting, and what the latest Trump is saying. But sometimes, reflection is more valuable than reaction.

Lessons from My Biggest Mistakes

Looking back over the last few years, I can honestly say that my biggest mistakes came when I moved away from discipline and tried to be unnecessarily clever. These mistakes usually involved:
• Trying to be extra smart or overly adventurous
• Shifting portfolio unnecessary (selling winner and keeping losers)
• Betting on turnarounds and smaller companies without enough conviction
• Searching too hard for multi-baggers
• Getting influenced by narratives, news flow, or market noise
• Investing just because a large investor had entered a company, without completing my own research
The money I made, on the other hand, came from the basics: strong fundamentals, capable management, solid balance sheets, and the “boring” businesses where I had done my own work and had the conviction to stay invested.

Had I avoided those mistakes and simply invested in high-quality companies—even those that looked expensive at the time, such as Bajaj Finance, CG Power, TD Power, KRN, or CarTrade—I may not have lost as much money. In fact, I may have made money while also avoiding unnecessary stress. That trade-off is worth remembering.

Risk Management Matters More Than Speed
Too often, we want to make money quickly. We chase multi-baggers, turnarounds, and other people’s ideas instead of trusting our own process. The biggest mistakes happen when we forget risk management: choosing the right stock, buying it at the right valuation, and sizing the position appropriately. That equation is the only real weapon we have.

Managing the fund has reinforced an important lesson: our first job is to protect capital, not to obsess over growing it quickly. If we protect our money and reduce avoidable mistakes, wealth creation can take care of itself over time.

In investing, mistakes often cost more than missed opportunities. We may not realize how many weak stocks are sitting in our portfolios, or how often ego prevents us from selling names we already know were mistakes. For one reason or another, they remain in the portfolio and continue to consume capital, attention, and time.

Quality Is Rarely Cheap
I have also realized that cheap often becomes expensive. Turnarounds do happen, but the probability is usually low. In India, every sector has a story—rice, milk, textiles, paper, semiconductors, power, and many others. Someone will always compare an industry with China and explain why the opportunity is huge.

But the biggest currency in wealth creation is not a low price-to-earnings multiple. It is the ability to back the right management team, supported by a sizable and resilient balance sheet—qualities that are not always captured in valuation ratios.
Final Reflection
If I could go back, I would tell myself one thing: fewer mistakes would have created far more wealth than I imagined. Unnecessary alterations in the portfolio slowly decays the wealth creation process. Even repeatedly investing in the same researched, high-conviction companies & avoiding mistakes could have delivered better returns, more mental peace, better sleep, and more time with family.

Hence, over the next few days, our job will be to exit some old names where we have waited long enough and our patience has been tested. We want to strengthen the portfolio without becoming emotional. We will come back with a list of stocks to sell and the better names to shift into, as discussed & shared with you all.

Warm regards,
Omkara Capital Private Limited
www.omkaracapital.in

Disclaimer: This newsletter is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment advice. Please consult your financial advisor before making any investment decisions.