Monkey 2 regains mojo, leaps ahead of Sensex and brokers

Last week, Firstpost reported that Monkey 2, the fund manager of Monkey portfolio 2, was spending most of his time watching the 2001 Hollywood remake of “Planet of the Apes”. Looks like the movie about apes dominating humans helped him get his mojo back, because for the week ending 14 October, the fortunate simian bested every single one of its rivals.

The portfolio of 10 randomly selected stocks from the BSE 500 pocketed a 5.5 percent gain, ahead of the Sensex (up 5.2 percent); the Nifty (5 percent); the experts’ picks (4.9 percent) and Monkey portfolio 1 (4.25 percent).

Aban Offshore was the star performer for Monkey portfolio 2, surging a hefty 17 percent, followed by Mannapuram Finance, up 11 percent. All 10 stocks ended positive for the week.

The experts’ picks - a portfolio of 10 stocks selected by 10 brokerages - were boosted by strong gains in Infosys (9.4 percent) and Bajaj Auto (8.7 percent). Nine stocks ended in the green. (View Experts’ pick portfolio here)

Monkey portfolio 1’s gains, meanwhile, were led by Bharat Forge, which advanced 13 percent. Eight out of these 10 randomly selected stocks from the BSE 100 ended in positive territory. ( View Monkey portfolio 1 here ).

The Monkey portfolios are basically an experiment to find out whether you can make money in the stock markets with just a hefty dose of luck. In contrast, the brokers’ portfolio, represents highly seasoned expertise in stock picking. A notional investment of Rs 1o lakh was made in each portfolio, with each stock getting Rs 1 lakh.

As of now, our lucky Monkey portfolio 2, seems to be winning over expert investing skills. (View Monkey portfolio 2 here)

Even for the period since inception - 19 August - Monkey portfolio 2 pocketed an impressive 5.90 percent gain, ahead of the Sensex (up 5.8 percent) and the brokers’ picks (up 4.7 percent). Only the Nifty managed to nose ahead with a 5.92 percent advance, which doesn’t count for much because that’s a miniscule two-basis point lead (100 basis points make one percentage point).

Monkey portfolio 1, however, slipped to the bottom of the pack with a 3.6 percent gain. Firstpost found out from one source that Monkey 1, nevertheless, is not concerned about these daily/weekly ups and downs and is busy learning to further focus his mind with some advanced ‘frog-lotus’ meditation techniques. This is one investor who won’t be getting any ulcers because of his portfolio’s lacklustre performance any time soon.

So will Monkey portfolio 2 continue to extend its lead then? We’ve learnt from some associates close to the fund manager that Monkey 2 is actually not quite what he seems to be at first glance. We were also told from sources, unconfirmed as yet, that he’s not exactly impressed by the human species and that one of his favourite quotes is “Never send a man to do a monkey’s job”.

Firstpost is trying to get an interview with Monkey 2 to separate fact from fiction, and will keep you informed of further developments in the next few weeks.

So stay tuned and come back next week, same time, same place.