Podcast Transcript: When markets reach all time highs we are always told SIPs are the best way to invest in equity. Just starting an SIP is seems as a formula for success. Initially, this works extremely well. But, when markets peak out, the problems begin. While all of know…
Investment Strategy Uncertainty often induces fear in financial markets. Developments in the local and global economy leave room for rate hikes. If bond yields rise, longer-term portfolios will be impacted the most. The sensible choice would be to focus on diversifying risk through asset allocation and investing in high-quality instruments.…
Market cycles tend to constantly throw challenges at investors. When markets are at cyclical highs, it is extremely difficult to sell and exit. When markets trade near cyclical lows, taking a bold investment call is near impossible. When the markets trade on an uptrend, we tend to keep buying more…
Podcast Transcript: We attribute investment success to many things. Most of these attributes tend to be external factors. The easy list of attributes tends to gravitate towards luck, timing and capital. But these are intangibles without clear patterns and to-do methods. Often, they are best explained only in hindsight.…
The sharp comeback in pharma stocks, the buyback announcement by TCS, and the sustained weakness in midcaps send out clear signals. The markets are at the crossroads. Liquidity and its power to sustain equity valuations have been overestimated. You may wonder why this is happening. As a performance hugging universe,…
Podcast Transcript: When markets are overvalued, what should an investor do? Should we buy overvalued stocks which we really like? Or, should we stay in cash? Or, should we go where others don’t dare to go and invest? This was the dilemma of 2017-18. This dilemma was not merely that…
While the markets were focused on equities, yields on the 10-Year gilt quietly rose to cross 8% again. With other asset classes like real estate not doing much, and returns from equities clearly slowing down, debt makes a clear comeback as an option for conservative investors. Over the next few…
Podcast Transcript: My stance on mid-cap funds has been bearish in a while. After the dream run between 2013 and 2017, I started to feel very uneasy about them from September 2017. I had been advising clients to invest in the very funds when the valuations were softer and definitely…
Monetary Policy: As the macroeconomic outlook becomes less transparent the monetary policy committee has only become more steadfast in its neutral stance. This leaves room for all possible outcomes and actions. The neutral stance has often been equated to a status quo for policy rates. So, the rate hike of…
“Large caps look inexpensive compared to small and midcaps.” A value investing peer said this in a rather complaining tone. To investors who made most of their wealth buying small and midcaps, these are troubling times indeed. The situation has remained so for the past year. Investors have been struggling…
Participation in equity markets is viewed as a secular trend. Being invested is not the same thing as being invested in the right place. Even within the equity market, where you are invested matters. For instance, one could still have been fully invested in equity markets without owning a single…