Latest news with #Estee
Economic Times
5 days ago
- Business
- Economic Times
ETMarkets Smart Talk: Chasing easy money is the quickest way to lose it, warns Vivek Sharma of Estee Advisors
Vivek Sharma of Estee Advisors suggests discipline beats speculation for wealth. Markets are near September levels, Q1 earnings are modest. Sharma dismisses chasing quick money. Estee's Long Alpha portfolio delivered nearly 35% returns over five years. FII inflows are modest, domestic funds cushion impact. SEBI is a regulator, not a guardian, on derivatives losses. Investors must take responsibility. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads In this edition of ETMarkets Smart Talk, Vivek Sharma, Vice President and Head of Investments at Estee Advisors, highlights why chasing quick returns in the market often leads to financial explains that successful investing isn't about finding the next multibagger or following market noise, but about maintaining discipline and on Estee's systematic, quant-driven approach, he shares insights on why data and long-term strategy trump speculation and short-term bets in creating sustainable wealth. Edited Excerpts –A) Struggling is a stretch—we're just ten days into H2. Markets are back near September 2024 levels, absorbing the gains from a strong the short term, there's more noise than signal. Q1 earnings are expected to be modest at 4–5% YoY, below the 10% projected for FY26, and global jitters aren't it's hard to reliably translate any of this into clear outcomes. It's always more prudent to focus on the long term than react to short-term noise.A) It's very hard to make reliable quarter-on-quarter projections. Short-term earnings and market movements are often dominated by noise and sentiments rather than information.A well-known study by Philip Tetlock showed that expert forecasts—particularly those made with high confidence—were often no better than random chance. At Estee, we take that than trying to predict how each quarter will play out, we focus on maintaining a long-term, systematic models adapt to evolving data over time, allowing us to stay responsive without being reactive. That's been far more effective than chasing short-term noise.A) In my experience, chasing easy money is the quickest way to lose hard-earned a systematic quant investor, I don't subscribe to the idea that wealth creation depends on finding that one golden multibagger or having access to insider Long Alpha portfolio is built on a disciplined, factor-based strategy and typically holds 80 to 100 stocks. This breadth helps manage risk efficiently while still generating healthy the past five years, the strategy has delivered returns of nearly 35%. That's not luck—it's the result of staying systematic and consistent. In investing, it's discipline that compounds, not shortcuts.A) FIIs have been net sellers since October last year and were a major catalyst behind the market drawdown. While some inflows have returned, they remain modest relative to the earlier flows are rarely dictated by a single factor—it's a blend of valuations, earnings outlook, global rates, amongst other stood out in this phase was the strength of domestic mutual fund flows. Equity inflows remained strong and helped cushion the impact of FII selling—reflecting the rising confidence among retail investors in India's long-term fundamentals.A) We don't make directional sector calls. Sector performance tends to be cyclical and unpredictable—what outperforms in one half can underperform in the approach remains sector-agnostic, relying on data and factor signals to dynamically allocate exposure. This helps us stay balanced and responsive, without anchoring to short-term themes.A) Rather than label sectors as overheated, we prefer to let the data speak. Our models track valuation dislocations and crowding indicators, and rebalance exposure excesses—when they appear—get corrected through our systematic process without needing to make subjective calls.A) I think we need to move beyond the notion of SEBI being a protector of retail investors. SEBI is a regulator, not a guardian. Greed is a deeply rooted human trait—despite knowing the odds are stacked against them, people still gamble, and that industry thrives in derivatives to earn quick money taps into the same impulse. SEBI has done commendable work on investor education, and the risks are now well ultimately, adults making wilful decisions in pursuit of profit must bear responsibility for the outcomes.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)
Time of India
5 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
ETMarkets Smart Talk: Chasing easy money is the quickest way to lose it, warns Vivek Sharma of Estee Advisors
In this edition of ETMarkets Smart Talk, Vivek Sharma, Vice President and Head of Investments at Estee Advisors, highlights why chasing quick returns in the market often leads to financial setbacks. Sharma explains that successful investing isn't about finding the next multibagger or following market noise, but about maintaining discipline and consistency. Drawing on Estee's systematic, quant-driven approach, he shares insights on why data and long-term strategy trump speculation and short-term bets in creating sustainable wealth. Edited Excerpts – Q) Markets are struggling in the first month of 2H2025. What is limiting the upside? Explore courses from Top Institutes in Select a Course Category Management healthcare CXO MCA Technology Product Management Design Thinking MBA Others Degree Data Analytics Leadership Data Science Artificial Intelligence Public Policy PGDM Cybersecurity Finance Digital Marketing Healthcare others Data Science Operations Management Project Management Skills you'll gain: Duration: 9 Months IIM Calcutta CERT-IIMC APSPM India Starts on undefined Get Details Skills you'll gain: Duration: 11 Months IIM Kozhikode CERT-IIMK General Management Programme India Starts on undefined Get Details Skills you'll gain: Duration: 10 Months IIM Kozhikode CERT-IIMK GMPBE India Starts on undefined Get Details A) Struggling is a stretch—we're just ten days into H2. Markets are back near September 2024 levels, absorbing the gains from a strong Q1. In the short term, there's more noise than signal. Q1 earnings are expected to be modest at 4–5% YoY, below the 10% projected for FY26, and global jitters aren't helping. But it's hard to reliably translate any of this into clear outcomes. It's always more prudent to focus on the long term than react to short-term noise. Q) The June quarter season has just begun – how do you see India Inc. faring in this quarter? A) It's very hard to make reliable quarter-on-quarter projections. Short-term earnings and market movements are often dominated by noise and sentiments rather than information. A well-known study by Philip Tetlock showed that expert forecasts—particularly those made with high confidence—were often no better than random chance. At Estee, we take that seriously. Rather than trying to predict how each quarter will play out, we focus on maintaining a long-term, systematic approach. Our models adapt to evolving data over time, allowing us to stay responsive without being reactive. That's been far more effective than chasing short-term noise. Q) Everyone says it is a stock pickers market now and the day of making easy money is over. What are your views? A) In my experience, chasing easy money is the quickest way to lose hard-earned money. As a systematic quant investor, I don't subscribe to the idea that wealth creation depends on finding that one golden multibagger or having access to insider information. Our Long Alpha portfolio is built on a disciplined, factor-based strategy and typically holds 80 to 100 stocks. This breadth helps manage risk efficiently while still generating healthy alpha. Over the past five years, the strategy has delivered returns of nearly 35%. That's not luck—it's the result of staying systematic and consistent. In investing, it's discipline that compounds, not shortcuts. Q) FIIs are still not back in India completely – is it valuations or earnings which are proving to be headwinds? A) FIIs have been net sellers since October last year and were a major catalyst behind the market drawdown. While some inflows have returned, they remain modest relative to the earlier outflows. FII flows are rarely dictated by a single factor—it's a blend of valuations, earnings outlook, global rates, amongst other factors. What stood out in this phase was the strength of domestic mutual fund flows. Equity inflows remained strong and helped cushion the impact of FII selling—reflecting the rising confidence among retail investors in India's long-term fundamentals. Q) Which sectors are likely to drive momentum in the 2H2025? A) We don't make directional sector calls. Sector performance tends to be cyclical and unpredictable—what outperforms in one half can underperform in the next. Our approach remains sector-agnostic, relying on data and factor signals to dynamically allocate exposure. This helps us stay balanced and responsive, without anchoring to short-term themes. Q) Any sector(s) which you think is overheated? A) Rather than label sectors as overheated, we prefer to let the data speak. Our models track valuation dislocations and crowding indicators, and rebalance exposure accordingly. Sector-level excesses—when they appear—get corrected through our systematic process without needing to make subjective calls. Q) Despite recent regulatory steps, retail investors still account for 91% of the losses in the derivatives segment. What more can SEBI do to protect them? A) I think we need to move beyond the notion of SEBI being a protector of retail investors. SEBI is a regulator, not a guardian. Greed is a deeply rooted human trait—despite knowing the odds are stacked against them, people still gamble, and that industry thrives globally. Speculating in derivatives to earn quick money taps into the same impulse. SEBI has done commendable work on investor education, and the risks are now well known. But ultimately, adults making wilful decisions in pursuit of profit must bear responsibility for the outcomes.
India Today
01-07-2025
- Business
- India Today
Estée Lauder began in a restaurant kitchen and built brands like MAC and Clinique
Under the dim glow of a humble converted restaurant kitchen in Manhattan, New York, a young Estee Lauder stirred creams over a stove late into the night. It was the early 1940s. She and her husband Joseph Lauder had just founded their cosmetics business -- and this kitchen was their entire before her name became synonymous with luxury beauty, the duo hand-mixed each batch, poured passion into every jar, and then labelled and boxed each jar themselves. By dawn, Estee was off to department-store counters, ferrying these overnight creations in a 1944, American luxury department store Saks Fifth Avenue placed their first order -- $800 worth of products that sold out in just two days, a triumph that hinged entirely on those small-batch kitchen creations. In 1945, Estee and Joseph would go on to officially found Estee Lauder Inc., with that converted kitchen as their first SCIENCE MET SALESBorn Josephine Esther Mentzer to Jewish immigrants in Queens on July 1, 1908, she grew up amid disorderly shelves of nuts and bolts in her family's hardware store, learning business acumen early she learned to arrange displays neatly and wrap hammers as gifts at Christmas. These were lessons in presentation that would later define her brand aesthetic. Estee and Joseph Lauder at a fine arts festival at Mar-A-Lago (1970) (Photo: Wikimedia Commons) advertisementAs a teen, her cosmetics classroom was the stable-turned-lab behind their home. There, her uncle, Dr John Schotz, a Hungarian chemist, crafted creams with her taught Estee the chemistry behind creams, launching her lifelong fascination with SCHOOL MAKEOVERS TO SALON SELL-INSAt Newton High School, Estee wasn't merely a student -- she was a budding entrepreneur. Friends received 'complete makeovers' to prove the magic of her uncle's formula. Estee observed carefully, colourful jars in started blending small batches. Soon she was selling Super Rich AllPurpose Cream, Six-in-One Cold Cream and more to salons, beach clubs and day at the House of Ash Blondes salon, the owner noticed her flawless skin. Estee returned with four jars the next day -- and landed her first outside MAKEUP, HEARTBREAK, REUNIONShe married Joseph Lauter (later Lauder) in 1930, and in 1933 they welcomed son Leonard. Even after motherhood, she spent daylight hours selling, nights refining her creams on the partnership blended life and enterprise: Estee refined formulas by the kitchen stove while Joseph managed logistics. (AI-generated image) A divorce in 1939 sent her to Miami Beach where she carried on when her son took ill around that time, she ended up finding love once more with Joseph. They reunited and remarried in 1942 -- recommitting not only to each other, but to their shared GIFT-WITH-PURCHASE TO THE SAKS BREAKTHROUGHBy the 1940s, Estee was staging live demos in salons, college lounges, even department- store elevators, guided by a motto she lived: 'Telephone, telegraph, tell-a-woman.'The Lauder duo understood that a beauty product needed to be experienced. Ad agencies dismissed them, so they used their US$50,000 ad budget for free samples and 'gifts with purchase.'The year 1944 marked a turning point. Estee secured an order from Saks Fifth Avenue -- and sold out in just two by this success, she and Joseph officially incorporated Estee Lauder Inc. in 1946. Even then, production stayed in that converted restaurant kitchen -- night after night of simmering creams fuelling her vision. Estee and Joseph Lauder at a Red Cross Ball at The Breakers in Palm Beach (1971) (Photo: Wikimedia Commons) advertisementYOUTH DEW AND PERSONAL BRANDINGIn 1953, Estee introduced Youth Dew, a bath oil that doubled as an affordable perfume. Priced at $8.50, it offered accessible glamour. It was poured it into their baths -- and ordered 50,000 bottles in that first year. Within a decade, Youth Dew made up 80% of company sales, driving Forbes-worthy flair wasn't just in chemistry -- it was in sensing that women wanted indulgence that didn't break the also understood image. She styled herself as the archetype of grace, wore couture, and turned product demos into theatre -- spraying YouthDew at launch events or even spilling it in Paris department stores to stir pioneered the 'free sample' and 'gift-with-purchase' marketing techniques which are now standard in beauty retail. These moves weren't just gimmicks, but built on her brand ethos. (AI-generated image) advertisementA WOMAN, A FAMILY, A GLOBAL EMPIREIn 1958, Este's son Leonard Lauder formally joined the family business. He was just 25 then, but sharp-eyed and business-savvy -- much like his mother. Under his leadership, what began as a kitchen-born dream grew into a global powerhouse that would help shape the future of global company went public in 1995, a move Leonard masterminded. Valued around US$2 billion, it turned the family name into a Wall Street then, Estee Lauder was already a growing constellation. In 1964, they'd launched Aramis, one of the first prestige men's grooming lines. In 1968, came Clinique, a skincare line developed by dermatologists and marketed as allergy-tested, fragrance-free, and rooted in science -- a radical move at the the 1990s, the company acquired and grew brands like MAC Cosmetics, La Mer, Bobbi Brown, Aveda, and Jo Malone London. In 2006, it helped launch Tom Ford Beauty, and by 2022, it owned the Tom Ford brand outright. Estee Lauder during the inauguration of one of her stores (October 1989 in Hungary) (Photo: AFP) advertisementEstee's reach had already crossed oceans long before going public with the company. By the early 1970s, her creams and perfumes were sold in more than 70 countries, from Harrods in London to Galeries Lafayette in had started with five employees and US$850,000 in earnings in 1958, ballooned into a 1,000-person company generating over US$100 million by MATRIARCH'S LEGACY AND FINAL CURTAINEstee herself remained a fierce creative force through it all. She continued to mentor and test, refine and dream. She showed up at counters whenever a new store opened, personally handing out samples well into her later years. And she wasn't the only woman shaping the brand's wife, Evelyn Lauder, made her own global mark. It was Evelyn who co-created the iconic pink ribbon -- now recognised around the world as the symbol of breast cancer awareness -- and helped raise millions for cancer passed away in 1983 -- she honoured him by establishing a management institute. On April 24, 2004, when Estee Lauder died of cardiopulmonary arrest at around the age of 97 in New York, the tributes poured in. Estee Lauder (L) meeting the Princess of Great Britain before attending the London Festival Ballet's performance of Romeo and Juliet. (July 25, 1989, in New York City) (Photo: AFP) She had been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and France's Legion of Honour. But perhaps her real honour was how she transformed the beauty sons Leonard and Ronald -- and later her grandchildren -- kept the family vision alive within the powerhouse she built. What began as artisanal creams simmered in a kitchen became a billion-dollar genius lay not just in formulas, but in her belief that luxury could be personal, accessible, and showed the world that high-end brands could start in humble places, bloom from formula to fragrance, and thrive on passion more than polish.- Ends
Irish Independent
17-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Tributes after Estee Lauder heir who took the cosmetics business global dies aged 92
Estee Lauder Companies announced the news and said he died surrounded by family. Mr Lauder, the oldest son of Estee and Joseph H Lauder, who founded the company in 1946, formally joined the New York business in 1958. Over more than six decades, he played a key role in transforming the business from a handful of products sold under a single brand in US stores to a multi-brand global giant. He had held the title of chairman emeritus at the time of his death. Estee Lauder's products are sold in roughly 150 countries and territories under brand names including Clinique and Aveda, according to the company's latest annual report. The company generated sales of nearly $16bn (€13.8bn) in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024, the filing said. Estee Lauder went public in 1995, but members of the Lauder family still have about 84pc of the voting power of common stock, according to the latest annual filing. Mr Lauder served as president of The Estée Lauder Companies from 1972 to 1995 and as CEO from 1982 to 1999. He was named chairman in 1995 and served in that role until June 2009. Under his stewardship, Lauder created the company's first research and development laboratory, brought in professional management at every level, and was the impetus behind the international expansion, helping to spearhead the company's sales and profits exponentially, according to the company. Mr Lauder led the launch of many brands including Aramis, Clinique and Lab Series, among others. Until his death, he remained deeply involved in the company's acquisition strategy, including the acquisitions of such brands as Aveda, Bobbi Brown, Jo Malone London and MAC, the company said. 'Throughout his life, my father worked tirelessly to build and transform the beauty industry, pioneering many of the innovations, trends, and best practices that are foundational to the industry today,' said William P Lauder, son and chair of the board at The Estée Lauder Companies, in a statement. 'He was the most charitable man I have ever known, believing that art and education belonged to everyone, and championing the fight against diseases such as Alzheimer's and breast cancer,' he added.
New York Post
16-05-2025
- Business
- New York Post
'Big Short' investor Michael Burry doubles stake in Estee Lauder
Michael Burry's Scion Asset Management has doubled its stake in Estee Lauder, at a time when the beauty giant's new CEO is steering the company through a transformation to overcome weak demand in key markets such as North America and China. The US investor, whose bets against the US housing market before the 2008 financial crisis were chronicled in the movie 'The Big Short,' now owns 200,000 shares of Estee valued at $13.2 million, according to a regulatory filing on Thursday. That is double the number of shares his fund held at the end of December last year. Advertisement Michael Burry's Scion Asset Management now owns 200,000 shares of Estee valued at $13.2 million, according to a regulatory filing Getty Images 'Burry's bet suggests belief in Estee Lauder's ability to reclaim its status as a beauty powerhouse in an increasingly competitive global market,' said Angeli Gianchandani, a global brand marketing expert at New York University. Since joining the company in January, Estee CEO Stephane de La Faverie has ramped up product launches and introduced new luxury price tiers in an attempt to revive demand after several quarters of slow growth. 'I view this as a positive for Estee Lauder amid the CEO's effort to turn around the business, though the position size of the investment is not very large,' said Morningstar analyst Dan Su. Advertisement The recently announced 90-day truce in the global trade war between Washington and Beijing brings US tariffs on China down to 30% from an eye-watering 145% level. The move is expected to ease some pressure on companies with a big exposure to China. Asia-Pacific region, which includes China, accounted for roughly 31% of Estee Lauder's total sales in fiscal 2024. Advertisement Burry slashed the number of companies in his portfolio by roughly half, to seven, the regulatory filing showed. WireImage Burry slashed the number of companies in his portfolio by roughly half, to seven, the regulatory filing showed. Estee's stock has lost 15% of its value so far this year. Its shares were up about 2% on Friday. Scion could not be immediately reached for comment.
