Sneha Shah has an interest in the renewable energy industry and writes about green investing at Greenworldinvestor.com.
SNEHA SHAH
Occupation
Accountant
The portfolio
Diversified mutual funds and shares in technology, energy and Indian companies.
The investor
Sneha Shah has an interest in the renewable energy industry and writes about green investing at Greenworldinvestor.com. She is also getting into Indian stocks, which she believes "are at the beginning of a long-term secular bull market."
How she invests
When assessing companies, a key variable for Ms. Shah is the quality of the management team. But just looking at a company's ability to generate profits is not enough: Sector fundamentals and the macro picture should also be assessed to see if they will be supportive.
Ms. Shah is passionate about the solar power industry. A company she likes is Canadian Solar Inc., one of the three largest suppliers of solar panels and modules, globally. Based in Guelph, Ont., its manufacturing plants in China are among the lowest-cost producers in the industry.
Company revenues in 2014 rose strongly to nearly $3-billion and earnings jumped to $4.11 per share. Management is planning to spin off some of its income-generating power projects into "yieldcos" that pay dividends to investors (other solar companies have unlocked shareholder value this way).
A clean-energy company Ms. Shah does not like is Ballard Power Systems Inc., a maker of fuel cells used in cars and buses. She warns that the company faces competing technologies. And its market niche does not appear to be big enough to generate consistent profits. "Small companies developing new technologies are always risky," she notes.
Best move
"Making a call to invest in ICICI Bank in 2012 when the stock was trading at historically low valuations. Currently, it is up by more than 100 per cent."
Worst move
"Making a call to short SolarCity just after its IPO [in December of 2012]."
Advice
"You will never be right about your investment calls every time. … You should also look to keep holding on to your winners for a long time to fully realize the gains."
Want to be in Me and My Money? Contact Larry MacDonald at mccolumn@yahoo.com or his Website.