“Ram" PV Ramanathan: From Oil Rigs to Fund Management: An Unlikely Journey: How a Chartered Accountant Built Wealth Through Patient Capital and Zero Leverage

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P.V. Ramanathan is a Dubai-based entrepreneur, chartered accountant, and fund-of-funds manager who led a successful leveraged buyout in 2003, founded Neeti Fund, and hosts the prestigious ValueX Middle East conference annually.

3:00 - Ram's middle-class Indian upbringing and early exposure to family finances through banking errands with his father, sparking entrepreneurial drive

6:00 - Career journey from Ernst & Young Dubai to Schlumberger, learning business operations by spending weekends on oil rigs in coveralls

9:30 - "Money has always been an enabler for me" - philosophy shaped by helping replenish father's education investment

13:00 - Transition from CFO role to leading a management buyout of corrosion services business, discovering value investing simultaneously

18:00 - Building Corrosion Technology Services (CTS) without leverage: "We are bottom feeders. Anyone who works for us six years is potential competitor"

25:00 - Investment philosophy: Four-bucket approach (value, growth, ballast funds) targeting steady single-digit returns with downside protection

32:00 - Contrarian belief: "Don't fixate on short-term results" - explains why quarterly obsession drives counterproductive business behavior

41:00 - Business survival principles: Zero leverage, conservative revenue recognition, maintaining cash reserves through all cycles

50:00 - Global investment opportunities: Highlighting undervalued Korean market and biotech sector despite volatility

57:00 - ValueX Middle East origins and Toastmasters impact: "All of us are better than some of us" - community building philosophy

63:00 - Definition of success: "Making positive difference in every endeavor I undertake" - touching lives through business, investing, and relationships

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