We are not chasing momentum just for the sake of it, says Mirae Asset's head of equity

Only after working in sales, marketing and managing a manufacturing unit did Gaurav Misra realise his true calling: recognising undervalued companies and research. Misra has traversed many terrains in the investment world as well, from working in a private equity firm to rubbing shoulders with the legendary Bharat Shah at ASK Investment Managers. With such diverse experience, it was intriguing to delve into the investing philosophy of Misra, who is currently the head of equity at Mirae Asset Investment Managers and the fund manager of Mirae Asset Large Cap Fund and the Mirae Asset Focused Fund. During our conversation, he also explains the reasons behind the recent dip in his funds' performances and his strategy to overcome the slump. Here is the edited excerpt... What first got you interested in equities? It was a bit of a departure from my experience thus far. It was after I had gathered assorted experience in sales, marketing and in running a small-scale manufacturing unit that I became increasingly convinced that my true calling was in identifying situations, recognising undervalued opportunities, and conducting research. That was the driving force behind my decision to enter this industry. When I joined, the industry was fairly fledgling with only a handful of domestic brokers and a few AMCs in the country. But it was really the deep desire to find potentially hidden or mispriced ideas and opportunities that was my driving force. What was it like to be on the sell side before joining ASK Investment? As an analyst on the sell side of the industry, the most important lesson I learned was that you must conduct bottom-up research and develop a comprehensive understanding of how to identify companies in various industries. In my early career, I worked in the pharmaceutical sector, where each firm had its own unique dynamic. There are a lot of different business models, strategies and other aspects such as regulatory overhang in the sector. I think that experience helped me stand in good stead going forward. With the passage of time, I learned about several other sectors and figured out how the dynamics in each of them were different. So that's how the initial experience hel