IN PERSON: Pulak Prasad on What I Learned about Investing from Darwin

Following the conversation, we invite you to join us for a meet-and-greet with the author, book signing, and light refreshments.

The investment profession is in a state of crisis. The vast majority of equity fund managers are unable to beat the market over the long term, which has led to massive outflows from active funds to passive funds. Where should investors turn in search of a new approach

Pulak Prasad offers a philosophy of patient long-term investing based on an unexpected source: evolutionary biology. He draws key lessons from core Darwinian concepts, mixing vivid examples from the natural world with compelling stories of good and bad investing decisions—including his own. How can bumblebees’ survival strategies help us accept that we might miss out on Tesla? What does an experiment in breeding tame foxes reveal about the traits of successful businesses? Why might a small frog’s mimicry of the croak of a larger rival shed light on the signs of corporate dishonesty?

Informed by successful evolutionary strategies, Prasad outlines his counterintuitive principles for long-term gain. He provides three mantras of investing: Avoid big risks; buy high quality at a fair price; and don’t be lazy—be very lazy. Prasad makes a persuasive case for a strategy that rules out the vast majority of investment opportunities and advocates permanently owning high-quality businesses.

Combining punchy prose and practical insight, What I Learned About Investing from Darwin reveals why evolutionary biology can help fund managers become better at their craft.

Pulak Prasad founded Nalanda Capital in 2007. Nalanda is a Singapore-based firm that invests in listed Indian equities and manages about US$5 billion primarily for US endowments and foundations. Prior to Nalanda, Pulak spent almost nine years at the global private equity firm Warburg Pincus. He was the co-head of India for Warburg Pincus for about four years. Prior to Warburg, he worked for six years at the management consulting firm McKinsey in India, US and South Africa.

Partha Mohanram is the John H. Watson Chair in Value Investing, Acting Vice-Dean of Research Strategy and Resources and Director of the India Innovation Institute at Rotman. He has published extensively in the areas of financial statement analysis, valuation of growth firms, implied cost of capital and executive compensation. He is Editor-in-chief of Contemporary Accounting Research and serves on the editorial board of The Accounting Review and Review of Accounting Studies. His research work has won numerous awards including the Haim Falk award (2017), the Rotman research impact award (2018) and the Notable Contributions to the Accounting Literature award (2022). Professor Mohanram is at the University of Toronto. He He obtained his PhD from Harvard, MBA from IIM – Ahmedabad, and B.Tech from IIT-Madras.

This event is available to attend in-person.

Rotman Events is committed to accessibility for all people. If you have any access needs or if there are any ways we can support your full participation in this session, please email [[email protected]] no later than 2 weeks in advance of the event and we will be glad to work with you to make the appropriate arrangements.

• The event will be hosted in Desautels Hall at the Rotman School of Management (105 St. George St., Toronto, ON M5S 3E6). Your registration fee includes a copy of the book, meet-and-greet with book signing by the author and light refreshments.

• Refunds will only be issued for cancellations received in writing NO LATER than 24 hours prior to the event. Please email [email protected] for processing.

• In-person registrants who do not pick up their book at the event will have 5 business days to request postal delivery by emailing us at [email protected]. All unclaimed books will be returned to the publisher after that time.

Questions: [email protected], Megan Murphy

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