Lessons from the retired pilot who increased his capital since 2006

Ahmed Asif Akhter, a retail investor since 2006, poured his life savings in stocks after retiring in 2018 as wing commander of the Bangladesh Air Force. 

Unlike most retail investors in Bangladesh, he managed to protect as well as increase his capital over the last 16 years in the volatile stock market.

"I have learnt that it is a must to buy shares of a good company when they are trading at low prices, hold them for a significant period, and then sell at a high price," he said in a recent interview with The Business Standard.

Many Marwari businessmen in the Indian subcontinent adopted this technique, popularised by American investment maestro Warren Buffet and his teacher Benjamin Graham.

Following some small gains in banking scrips in 2006, he invested Tk11 lakh in Apex Footwear shares in 2007, and the soaring market increased his capital to Tk52 lakh.

After realising Apex's gains at market peak, the pilot invested a big sum in United Airways shares and sold them off during market euphoria in 2010 as the stock surged too much compared to its fundamentals.

While Apex Footwear was a winning stock, United Airways turned out to be a failure and ruined its investors.

Ahmed Asif Akhter, happy with the big profits, did not continue chasing soaring stocks during the 2010 bubble. Instead, he went for low-risk investments and focused on increasing his income from his regular job.

He invested in privately placed shares of Shahjibazar Power Company Ltd at 10% premium over face value before leaving the country to join the UN Peacekeeping mission on the battlegrounds of Congo, Africa.

"I wanted to be Warren Buffett but during the post-crash days in the 2010s, I was less focused on stocks from the battleground as my investment was in private equity" he said.

Maybe the detachment with the secondary market then helped him a lot in capital protection.

He again invested in multinational cement company LafargeHolcim, grabbed the right shares and sold them at the mid-term peak in 2014, following a 300-400% rally.

"After significant gains at the stock's peaks, I never let myself be driven by greed for more. Rather, I realised those gains to spend some for sharing the happiness with family."

After retirement, he continued his stock market endeavours with more capital, entered into loan-free steelmaker RSRM, but exited with 37% loss as the investment went wrong.

"Initially, I did not know what was wrong. But it definitely felt that something was hidden," he said, pointing at the poor disclosure culture of publicly traded companies in the country.

Besides, he has to wait a lot to realise the expected gains, just like all the long-term value investors.

Instead of blaming others, he practises the habit of holding himself responsible for all his profits as well as losses in the stock market. 

But of course, policy instability, manipulation by vested quarters, sponsor-directors' lack of responsibility — all hurt him.

Entrepreneurs who share their fortune with the mass people for generational wealth creation through stock investments are deemed respectful to the retail investor.  

Investing in businesses that have success potentials and are run by good entrepreneurs must pay off, he believes.

He learnt the importance of holding cash for grabbing opportunities after market falls. He does not support the securities regulator's restrictions that artificially hold stock prices up despite weakening earnings and investors' pessimism.

Alongside holding some stocks for decent cash dividends, he is now waiting for low-risk entries.