Rajiv Jain was pretty pleased with himself. It was March last year, and GQG Partners, chaired by the star stock picker, had made a near-$3 billion bet on Adani Group, the Indian conglomerate that is spread across everything from mining to ports, airports and power stations.
It was a deeply contrarian move. The company, founded by billionaire businessman Gautam Adani as a commodities trading firm in 1988, had been the target of serious accusations from Hindenburg Research, a short-seller that accused it of using offshore tax havens and high debts.
Jonathan Shapiro writes about banking and finance, specialising in hedge funds, corporate debt, private equity and investment banking. He is based in Sydney. Connect with Jonathan on Twitter. Email Jonathan at jonathan.shapiro@afr.com
