Jim Rogers, the feted investor who amassed a fortune alongside George Soros in the 1970s, said in September that he had turned bearish on India. “I did sell my India shares as I don’t see anything happening... There was nothing new coming from [Prime Minister Narendra] Modi,” he said at the time. “You can’t just invest on hope.”
It was a scathing indictment from an investor who craves attention. With his sharp wit and penchant for bow ties, Rogers is a favourite of the financial media. Even his move to Singapore so his daughters could learn Mandarin without suffering the smog in China drew headlines. It was described as a wise move by the billionaire investor.
Yet, Rogers is often spectacularly wrong. His bet on a commodity super-cycle seems unfounded. His own Rogers Commodity Index is now 61% below its 2008 peak. In 2012, Rogers proclaimed that the US dollar was doomed. Since then, the greenback has appreciated 23% against the euro. Also, with the haze from Indonesia, the air quality in Singapore has been dire lately.