Tag: Direct equity

Real Estate v/s Equity for personal wealth creation

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10th Apr 2023

Lets evaluate several publicly available asset classes and try to answer this question. In addition, we will have a face off among two of the largest asset classes – Real Estate and Equity. This will help investors to build clarity and help choose among these assets.

Wealth Options and Components

In this Wealth chart Fig 1, we can see various Wealth Options and Components publicly available to investors.

  • The old classic asset is Real Estate (RE), in the form of apartments, land, commercial property, etc.
  • Equity markets are a rising star asset class as the digitization processes have made it transparent and accessible. Equity subcategories are also listed. AIF funds and PMS services are also available now.
  • Debt, Jewellery (and Gold and precious metals) and Alternative assets are also available.
  • Insurance is a wealth protection asset, helping cover some risks.
  • Loans are a part of your wealth, however they can be taken for Appreciating or Depreciating Assets (AA/DA). Loans are better used to buy an AA like house or education, than for DAs like furniture, cars and holidays.

Fig 1 Wealth Options

Choosing among the Asset Classes

Here is a chart of Average Returns versus Risk for each of these assets, Fig 2.

  • Returns for each asset class vary by subclass and by time periods. Here we try to take the multi-year average for each class over 5-6 years period of time.
  • Equity ETFs and MFs returns are simplified as the Nifty index.
  • Direct equity assumes blended returns across market caps.

Fig 2 Wealth and Risk

 Hence the broad principle is – You need to take a higher risk to get a higher return.

  • There are perhaps higher risk asset classes such as F&O and Private equity. Several Wealth Options are not seen here. Its seen that results and returns vary widely among Classes and so results cannot be generalized.
  • All asset classes are probabilistic in terms of returns and risks. This means that while the average returns for RE (for example) may be 8-10% per year, there can be a particular year where this may be 15-20% on the high side and (-10%) on the low side.

The choice among these assets depends upon risk appetite, comfort level and nature of the investor.

  • However the chart points to Equity as a higher returns asset, if we are able to manage the higher risk.
  • Having seen all this, the suggestion to the new investor is to try some of these asset options in small quantities to get a better understanding. Here RE is difficult as it is a big ticket item, but the others can be bought for small sums.
  • A Bank savings account and a Stock broking account would be required to try out these (non RE) assets.

Real Estate versus Equity

In this section we delve deeper into the two most common asset classes – Real Estate and Equity.

Assumptions

Let’s simplify Real Estate to an apartment purchase in the person’s place of work. For own use, and as an upgrade from paying rent. Other Real Estate options such as a second house for investing or a plot for investment or commercial property are not being considered here.

Also Equity will also be simplified as Nifty index investments. Specific products such as MFs, PMS, and Direct Equity investment services such as that offered by JainMatrix Investments will not be considered here.

Comparison

In the following table we compare the Real Estate and Equity asset classes across key parameters. (Table 3)

CriteriaReal Estate – ApartmentEquity – Nifty
Ticket sizeRanges from ₹ 25 lakhs to crores depending on city and location. However if you buy with a loan, you need to pay 20% as down payment.Generally speaking the Nifty ETF products start with ₹ 5000, and go to any number. Direct equity has no minimum.
Source for buying and sellingNew apartments can be bought directly from builders. Second sale or older are from known people or with the help of real estate brokers. Aggregator websites also help with real estate information and brokers.Buying Platform – You will need a Stock Broking account for direct equity purchase. Products like MFs and ETFs can also be bought from Bank account – investment channels. And also directly from Fund website or MF distributors.
Rating for Identifying and buyingThis can be HARD and complex. Here the buyer has to identify the location, size of property, new v/s old, builder, etc. The process involves visiting potential properties, finalizing criteria, rating them, and closing the purchase, followed by registering the property. If you decide to invest in the Nifty, it’s EASY and a simple choice of Nifty ETFs. Otherwise the rating is MEDIUM. There are 5000+ listed firms in India, but homing in to a purchase decision of 5-10-20 shares needs reading, and decisions. JainMatrix Investments provides this advisory service. Similarly choosing among MFs or PMSs.
Time and costs for TransactionsThis can take anything from 2 months to a year. The cost over and above property cost may be Stamp Duty and Registration Tax for new properties, but may also include brokerage depending upon the agent or services used.With digitalization, time to buy is very less, 1-2 days, once the buying platform is in place. Brokerage costs vary from 0.75% of purchase for full service brokers to very low for discount brokers. Other taxes are less than 0.1% except Capital Gains tax.
Selling; and Time and costSelling is also HARD. From a decision to sell, to actual transaction it can take from 2-6 months. Brokers, websites or personal network can help. The cost can be 1-2% of property value. There are payment risks so one has to be disciplined in the process.Selling is EASY. The transaction happens at market rates, and funds are transferred in 1-2 days. Brokerage and other costs are similar as buying.
Total cycle timeSo one can see that the total cycle time for Real Estate is long. It includes Buying time, holding period and selling time.Varies by approach. The Nifty ETF or other equity assets can be held till the cash is required or a better investment has been found. At JainMatrix, we suggest Long Term Investments in quality companies, which allow the money to compound. However periodic pruning of a Direct Equity portfolio can be done every 6 months, to let the winners ride and exit underperformers.
UtilityAn apartment in use by the owner is useful, saves rent and provides pride of ownership.Equity investments appreciate and earn dividend. We must save for a rainy day!!
Capital GainsLong Term Capital Gains kick in at a holding of over 2 years. Typically from buy to sell may be 8-12 years on average.Long Term Capital Gains holding period is over 1 year.
Returns from Investing  A house to stay is a good choice in terms of stability and rootedness rather than just monetary returns. It saves on rent. Having said that, an apartment asset can give 8-10% returns on average. Fig 2.The Nifty has given 12-14% CAGR returns over the past decade. Returns are estimated higher for Direct Equity. See Fig 2.

Real Estate versus Equity Opinion by JainMatrix

In fact both Real Estate and Equities are asset classes that can complement each other. Investments should be started early in the working life, salaried or business. These can be in Equity, as the minimum is a small ticket size. In a few years as this asset grows, and the need arises, it can help to initiate a real estate purchase.

Finally Pros and Cons of Equity

Pros

  • High average returns. Rising asset class.
  • Indian equity markets have achieved a global size, volumes and transparency.
  • Flexible – minimum ticket size is small, but it can scale for larger investments.
  • Fast yet robust – digital enablement now allows a stock broking account to be as easy and convenient to handle as a savings bank account. Buying, selling and dividend transactions also happen digitally. Websites and mobile applications have also improved access and ease of navigation.
  • Tax friendly – the tax rules are encouraging for equity with just 1 year for Long Term Capital Gains, LTCG not being taxed until it crosses a certain sum, and ability to set off losses one year with gains in another year.
  • Several equity products like Direct Equity access, MFs, PMS, small case and advisory services allow flexible access to all kinds of investors. See Fig 4.

Cons

  • Equity investors are exposed to market risks, and also industry and company specific risks like fraud, global events, war, weather, currency, etc.
  • Fear and Greed are driving forces in equity markets, and equities can alternate between expensive (excessively high valuations) and cheap (too low valuations).
  • Patience is a virtue, and expecting quick returns can be detrimental for investors.
  • Short term Trading versus Long Term Investing is also a difficult choice for those new to equity markets.

Conclusion

Equity penetration in India is low due to lack of access to stock brokers, pre existing fears of stock markets, inertia and invisible nature of equity assets. However a look at developed markets shows that penetration is as high as 50% compared to India’s 5-6%. Further, financialization of Indians’ assets has begun, with We expect steady growth of equity penetration and

Glossary

  • AIF – Alternative Investment Funds are SEBI regulated and pools of funds from specific investors as per a previously defined investment policy. Next version of Mutual Funds
  • PMS – Portfolio Management Service.
  • MF – Mutual Fund
  • ETF – Exchange Traded Fund – a type of MF which is passively managed, and usually shadows a well-known Index or commodity. It typically has lower management fees compared to actively managed MFs.

My Standard Disclaimer

Investment in securities market are subject to market risks. Read all the related documents carefully before investing. This document has been prepared by JainMatrix Investments Bangalore (JM), and is meant for use by the recipient only as information and is not for circulation. This document is not to be reported or copied or made available to others without prior permission of JM. It should not be considered or taken as an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy or sell any security. The information contained in this report has been obtained from sources that are considered to be reliable. However, JM has not independently verified the accuracy or completeness of the same. Neither JM nor any of its affiliates, its directors or its employees accepts any responsibility of whatsoever nature for the information, statements and opinion given, made available or expressed herein or for any omission therein. The suitability or otherwise of any investments will depend upon the recipient’s particular circumstances and, in case of doubt, advice should be sought from a RIA – Registered Investment Advisor.

Punit Jain is a registered Research Analyst under SEBI (Research Analysts) Regulations, 2014. JM has been publishing equity research reports since Nov 2012. Any questions should be directed to the director of JainMatrix Investments at punit.jain@jainmatrix.com

Equity Portfolio Thoughts – Control, Wealth and your Reflection

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——————————————————————————————————-

Date 28/01/2022, first published 23rd March 2015  

Summary

  • An Indian investor is free to invest in any of 5000+ stocks listed on the exchanges.
  • He may have a range of needs in his equity portfolio, which we have captured in a hierarchy.
  • He may like to progress on this range and exercise his choices in a calibrated fashion

Introduction

I was speaking to an investor a few weeks ago. A busy executive, he had a medium size equity portfolio by value. But I was astonished to see that he had almost a hundred shares in his Demat account. And he looked at me and asked, “So what should I do with my portfolio?” I was of course on a tight time schedule, and ran through my 4-5 step standard template for portfolio discussions.

A little later, on reflecting on the above question, I realized that the answer to the above question can be very nuanced. And really there can be multiple approaches and answers to this question.

Let’s step back to the very basics of the question, what does a person need from his equity portfolio?

An Equity Portfolio – A Hierarchy of Needs

To answer this question, we need to draw parallels from the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, and it is summarized below. Expressed simply, every human can have a number of needs, but at different times in his life, and in different situations, the needs change. Generally speaking, the needs follow a hierarchy.

Portfolio hierarchy, JainMatrix Investments

An Equity Portfolio – A Hierarchy of Needs. Source: JainMatrix Investments. Click to enlarge.

In a similar way as Maslow’s needs hierarchy, a person’s equity portfolio reflects different needs in investing and his ability to focus efforts and achieve his personal needs and objectives. Here are the levels that I am able to present:

  1. Gain Control: I have seen many equity portfolios that are nothing more than a legacy of 15 years of sporadic investment enthusiasm. With funds available and a pep talk by anyone, individual investors may make a series of purchases. This may be followed by 6 months of watching the results unravel, followed by 4.5 years of inaction. All of which may be repeated again. As a result the shares may be an uncoordinated mass of choices from the past. Selling is more difficult than buying.
    • It may seem that ‘Do nothing’ is an option here. After all these stocks can sit in your portfolio for another 5 years, and your carrying cost is as less as Rs 1000/year. Wrong. If you are not in the right stocks for a ‘long only’ portfolio, chances are that over time your portfolio will decay in value rather than strengthen.
    • The task of the Investor (along with his portfolio adviser) would be to try and gain control of this portfolio. The basic issues here are –
      • 1. What’s the objective and primary need of this portfolio?
      • 2. How many shares are we comfortable with?
      • 3. Whats the risk appetite and profile of the investor?
      • 4. How do we achieve these 1, 2 & 3, and in what time frame?
    • Also essential to Gain Control, is the need to identify and exit the low potential stocks.
    • In my opinion even stable long term (example – avg. holding of 10 years) investment portfolios should be reviewed once a year to align with macro/ sector events and to evaluate opportunities.
  2. Absolute Returns and Profits: Typically equity trading has a very clear objective, of maximizing returns from any trade. Similarly we obviously invest money with the plan of gaining profits and building wealth. The question here is, over what time span? One hour? One week? One year? A decade? New investors are typically looking for a simple quick absolute return.
    • For an investor, the portfolio strategy here is to simply find the shares that have a high confidence rating of highest upside potential. To find such shares is an ongoing exercise. Many successful finds for example may achieve their potential and may not be investment worthy any longer. Others may continue appreciating for decades. However this exercise is also fraught with risks. Many highly rated shares may fail. Or a sector may be affected by an unexpected event.
    • Its critical here to not just understand a target investment firm for its financials, management and business assets, but also the sector and macro context of this firm.
  3. Safety and Stability: Very soon a trader/ investor may realize that just desire for profits and available funds is not enough. One has to approach investing with a safety plan, and temper high profit expectations with realistic back up plans and a safety net. Am I taking too high a risk, with the possibility of a big loss? What’s my worst case scenario? What risk am I comfortable with? And for how much of my portfolio? With some experience, an investor is able to balance the profit expectation with an understanding of risk, and build his checks and balances.
    • For some thoughts on Risk v/s asset classes see LINK.
    • Every asset class has an associated risk. And a good fundamental researcher can assess and understand this risk well. So for a long term equity investor to have a 100% returns per annum expectation is asking for too much. He may actually get it but only once or twice in a decade. And this may soon be followed by a hurtful loss, equally unexpected.
    • A good equity Portfolio should be able to limit equity holdings within individual firms and within a sector, and also align the market cap focus with risk profile such as Safety – large caps, Higher risk – mid caps and Aggressive – small caps.
    • Embed from Getty Images
  4. Belonging: Community, Region, Profession, etc: At another level of the investment hierarchy, a wealthy investor may start thinking of his investments not just as a means to grow wealth, but as an expression of his place in society. This means the person is focusing a part of his funds towards the things that are important to him, an extension of his personality.
    • This could perhaps mean that for a Bangalore based person like me, I could invest in firms like Titan, Brittania Industries, BF Utilities, Mindtree, etc. which are local firms. I may get a feeling of pride to see these firms doing well, and even though a small shareholder, would be sharing a part of a big success.
    • Similarly as a former software executive, I may like to invest in a few software small caps that I not just understand well but also hope that my ownership in a small way can contribute to its success. It’s more about encouragement and support than just returns.
    • In terms of an exclusion list, a lot of people may be uncomfortable about investing in sectors such as cigarettes and liquor/alcohol. Its really upto the investor to be comfortable with his investments, right?
  5. Self Actualization: A wealthy investor may actually decide to focus his funds towards doing real good, or addressing problems of society. In the past the only way one could do this was in making donations to NGOs, and Education or Religious Trusts. In today’s economy there are several listed corporates that address the needs of the weaker sections of society, or of the environment, and still have an objective of making profits for shareholders. I see no essential compromise in achieving both these objectives. There is, possibly, “A Fortune at the bottom of the Pyramid”.
    • I believe firms in sectors like education, environment, renewable energy and some NBFC’s in housing finance and micro-finance may be addressing and solving large problems of society.
    • Readers are invited to revert to me with their ideas or suggestions of such firms that they have come across.

In Conclusion

Different investors may have vastly different needs in their equity portfolio, and we have mapped these in the form of a simple hierarchy. Many of us could be frozen in inaction at Stage 1 of this hierarchy. Others may have progressed along the stages and gained control and solid wealth from it. Some may actually have a portfolio that expresses their hopes and dreams for their society. Its essential for an Investor to reflect objectively about his own portfolio and think about improvements.

So where are you in this hierarchy? Drop me an email to see if I can help you with aligning your Equity Portfolio to your own needs. See Portfolio Review for a short description of our services.

JainMatrix Knowledge Base:

See other useful reports

Disclaimer

This document has been prepared by JainMatrix Investments Bangalore (JM), and is meant for use by the recipient only as information and is not for circulation. This document is not to be reported or copied or made available to others without prior permission of JM. Many firms are mentioned in this report, and it should not be considered or taken as an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy or sell any security. The information contained in this report has been obtained from sources that are considered to be reliable. However, JM has not independently verified the accuracy or completeness of the same. Neither JM nor any of its affiliates, its directors or its employees accepts any responsibility of whatsoever nature for the information, statements and opinion given, made available or expressed herein or for any omission therein. Recipients of this report should be aware that past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance and value of investments can go down as well. The suitability or otherwise of any investments will depend upon the recipient’s particular circumstances and, in case of doubt, advice should be sought from an independent expert/advisor. Either JM or its affiliates or its directors or its employees or its representatives or its clients or their relatives may have position(s), make market, act as principal or engage in transactions of securities of companies referred to in this report and they may have used the research material prior to publication. Any questions should be directed to the director of JainMatrix Investments at punit.jain@jainmatrix.com

Equity Portfolio Thoughts – Control, Wealth and your Reflection

Leave a comment

——————————————————————————————————-

Date 23rd March 2015  

Summary

  • An Indian investor is free to invest in any of 5000+ stocks listed on the exchanges.
  • He may have a range of needs in his equity portfolio, which we have captured in a hierarchy.
  • He may like to progress on this range and exercise his choices in a calibrated fashion

Introduction

I was speaking to an investor a few weeks ago. A busy executive, he had a medium size equity portfolio by value. But I was astonished to see that he had almost a hundred shares in his Demat account. And he looked at me and asked, “So what should I do with my portfolio?” I was of course on a tight time schedule, and ran through my 4-5 step standard template for portfolio discussions.

A little later, on reflecting on the above question, I realized that the answer to the above question can be very nuanced. And really there can be multiple approaches and answers to this question.

Let’s step back to the very basics of the question, what does a person need from his equity portfolio?

An Equity Portfolio – A Hierarchy of Needs

To answer this question, we need to draw parallels from the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, and it is summarized below. Expressed simply, every human can have a number of needs, but at different times in his life, and in different situations, the needs change. Generally speaking, the needs follow a hierarchy.

Portfolio hierarchy, JainMatrix Investments

An Equity Portfolio – A Hierarchy of Needs. Source: JainMatrix Investments. Click to enlarge.

In a similar way as Maslow’s needs hierarchy, a person’s equity portfolio reflects different needs in investing and his ability to focus efforts and achieve his personal needs and objectives. Here are the levels that I am able to present:

  1. Gain Control: I have seen many equity portfolios that are nothing more than a legacy of 15 years of sporadic investment enthusiasm. With funds available and a pep talk by anyone, individual investors may make a series of purchases. This may be followed by 6 months of watching the results unravel, followed by 4.5 years of inaction. All of which may be repeated again. As a result the shares may be an uncoordinated mass of choices from the past. Selling is more difficult than buying.
    • It may seem that ‘Do nothing’ is an option here. After all these stocks can sit in your portfolio for another 5 years, and your carrying cost is as less as Rs 1000/year. Wrong. If you are not in the right stocks for a ‘long only’ portfolio, chances are that over time your portfolio will decay in value rather than strengthen.
    • The task of the Investor (along with his portfolio adviser) would be to try and gain control of this portfolio. The basic issues here are –
      • 1. What’s the objective and primary need of this portfolio?
      • 2. How many shares are we comfortable with?
      • 3. Whats the risk appetite and profile of the investor?
      • 4. How do we achieve these 1, 2 & 3, and in what time frame?
    • Also essential to Gain Control, is the need to identify and exit the low potential stocks.
    • In my opinion even stable long term (example – avg. holding of 10 years) investment portfolios should be reviewed once a year to align with macro/ sector events and to evaluate opportunities.
  2. Absolute Returns and Profits: Typically equity trading has a very clear objective, of maximizing returns from any trade. Similarly we obviously invest money with the plan of gaining profits and building wealth. The question here is, over what time span? One hour? One week? One year? A decade? New investors are typically looking for a simple quick absolute return.
    • For an investor, the portfolio strategy here is to simply find the shares that have a high confidence rating of highest upside potential. To find such shares is an ongoing exercise. Many successful finds for example may achieve their potential and may not be investment worthy any longer. Others may continue appreciating for decades. However this exercise is also fraught with risks. Many highly rated shares may fail. Or a sector may be affected by an unexpected event.
    • Its critical here to not just understand a target investment firm for its financials, management and business assets, but also the sector and macro context of this firm.
  3. Safety and Stability: Very soon a trader/ investor may realize that just desire for profits and available funds is not enough. One has to approach investing with a safety plan, and temper high profit expectations with realistic back up plans and a safety net. Am I taking too high a risk, with the possibility of a big loss? What’s my worst case scenario? What risk am I comfortable with? And for how much of my portfolio? With some experience, an investor is able to balance the profit expectation with an understanding of risk, and build his checks and balances.
    • For some thoughts on Risk v/s asset classes see LINK.
    • Every asset class has an associated risk. And a good fundamental researcher can assess and understand this risk well. So for a long term equity investor to have a 100% returns per annum expectation is asking for too much. He may actually get it but only once or twice in a decade. And this may soon be followed by a hurtful loss, equally unexpected.
    • A good equity Portfolio should be able to limit equity holdings within individual firms and within a sector, and also align the market cap focus with risk profile such as Safety – large caps, Higher risk – mid caps and Aggressive – small caps.
    • Embed from Getty Images
  4. Belonging: Community, Region, Profession, etc: At another level of the investment hierarchy, a wealthy investor may start thinking of his investments not just as a means to grow wealth, but as an expression of his place in society. This means the person is focusing a part of his funds towards the things that are important to him, an extension of his personality.
    • This could perhaps mean that for a Bangalore based person like me, I could invest in firms like Titan, Brittania Industries, BF Utilities, Mindtree, etc. which are local firms. I may get a feeling of pride to see these firms doing well, and even though a small shareholder, would be sharing a part of a big success.
    • Similarly as a former software executive, I may like to invest in a few software small caps that I not just understand well but also hope that my ownership in a small way can contribute to its success. It’s more about encouragement and support than just returns.
    • In terms of an exclusion list, a lot of people may be uncomfortable about investing in sectors such as cigarettes and liquor/alcohol. Its really upto the investor to be comfortable with his investments, right?
  5. Self Actualization: A wealthy investor may actually decide to focus his funds towards doing real good, or addressing problems of society. In the past the only way one could do this was in making donations to NGOs, and Education or Religious Trusts. In today’s economy there are several listed corporates that address the needs of the weaker sections of society, or of the environment, and still have an objective of making profits for shareholders. I see no essential compromise in achieving both these objectives. There is, possibly, “A Fortune at the bottom of the Pyramid”.
    • I believe firms in sectors like education, environment, renewable energy and some NBFC’s in housing finance and micro-finance may be addressing and solving large problems of society.
    • Readers are invited to revert to me with their ideas or suggestions of such firms that they have come across.

In Conclusion

Different investors may have vastly different needs in their equity portfolio, and we have mapped these in the form of a simple hierarchy. Many of us could be frozen in inaction at Stage 1 of this hierarchy. Others may have progressed along the stages and gained control and solid wealth from it. Some may actually have a portfolio that expresses their hopes and dreams for their society. Its essential for an Investor to reflect objectively about his own portfolio and think about improvements.

So where are you in this hierarchy? Drop me an email to see if I can help you with aligning your Equity Portfolio to your own needs. See Portfolio Review for a short description of our services.

JainMatrix Knowledge Base:

See other useful reports

Disclaimer

This document has been prepared by JainMatrix Investments Bangalore (JM), and is meant for use by the recipient only as information and is not for circulation. This document is not to be reported or copied or made available to others without prior permission of JM. Many firms are mentioned in this report, and it should not be considered or taken as an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy or sell any security. The information contained in this report has been obtained from sources that are considered to be reliable. However, JM has not independently verified the accuracy or completeness of the same. Neither JM nor any of its affiliates, its directors or its employees accepts any responsibility of whatsoever nature for the information, statements and opinion given, made available or expressed herein or for any omission therein. Recipients of this report should be aware that past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance and value of investments can go down as well. The suitability or otherwise of any investments will depend upon the recipient’s particular circumstances and, in case of doubt, advice should be sought from an independent expert/advisor. Either JM or its affiliates or its directors or its employees or its representatives or its clients or their relatives may have position(s), make market, act as principal or engage in transactions of securities of companies referred to in this report and they may have used the research material prior to publication. Any questions should be directed to the director of JainMatrix Investments at punit.jain@jainmatrix.com

The Toughest Lesson in Long Term Investing

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Dear Investor,

I often ask myself why people find it so difficult to invest for the long term in the stock market. There are so many trading and demat account holders in India. But so few who are successful investors. My thoughts on this:

1) The Trading versus Investing approaches

These two approaches are so different that perhaps the first step for a new investor is to try to understand both these concepts and decide which approach he should start with.

  1. Trading is the purchase (or sale) of a stock to take advantage of a short term rise (or fall) of the price to make a profit. The ‘short term’ referred to here ranges from a few minutes to a few weeks.
    • Inherent in this approach is the need to ‘track your trade continuously’ and to ‘understand price, volume patterns’, a subject well understood by a Technical Analyst.
    • The lure of a quick buck attracts a lot of people to trading. The flip side is that there is a big learning curve, and my guess is that 5% of traders make large profits (with learning, luck, experience and the right attitude) while 95% walk away with varying degrees of losses.
    • My conviction is that Trading is a zero sum game. So for a particular stock, Profits (by winners) + commissions + taxes = Losses (by losers).
  2. Investing is the purchase of part ownership of a business, to have a share in the success of this firm, reflected in terms of revenue and profits (at the corporate level) and dividends and share price appreciation (at the shareholder level). It is generally made for the medium to long term.
    • Inherent in this approach is the need to find a company to invest in that is in a growing sector/ industry. It must have good management, that is transparent about their initiatives, financials and challenges. It must be Undervalued (cheap at the time of buying).
    • This subject is well understood by a Fundamental Analyst. (Disclosure: JainMatrix Investments is focused on Fundamental Analysis for stocks).
    • Investing typically needs the investor to allocate his money for at least 6 months, but more likely 2 years or longer. Thus investors need to have patience and this much time on hand.
    • My conviction is that Investing returns from a good portfolio give an exponential gain over time. See Fig 1. The graph illustrates how exponential growth (green) surpasses both linear (red) and cubic (blue) growth.

    • JainMatrix Investments

      Fig 1 – Exponential growth

    • In Investing, when there is a success, all shareholders win and profit. Its not a zero sum game. Its actually a meritocracy where the best performing listed corporates spawn the best rewarded shareholders.
    • In the long run, on average Indian equities (and Indices) have given 12-14% returns per year.
  3. My personal conviction is that someone new to the markets must enter as an investor and learn his lessons over a few quarters before trying his hand at trading. He soon realizes the power of a few clicks of the computer and can take responsibility for his losses (and enjoy the gains). In reality trading is more attractive to first time users and and he may be burnt very quickly by a few bad experiences.

2) The Herding Instinct and Contrarian Thinking

Once a person has decided to be an investor, the next big lesson is to learn ‘the Investing Instincts’. And the biggest of them is to resist the Herding instinct.

People collect or herd together in their decisions. They follow the larger group and blindly copy their decisions. But investing in the fundamentals of a company involves understanding the business of a company and taking rational decisions.

  • Perhaps the buy decision was on the basis of 2-3 corporate events / initiatives that are likely to play out over 2-3 years. So the investor needs to watch for these events, and once completed successfully, review the investment, and perhaps exit with his profits.
  • Perhaps the sector, the management and the brand are identified as so good that the company will weather all storms over say, the next 5 years and continue to win and perform financially.

The challenge to such fundamentals based investment decisions are events within these time spans that cause large share price movements. It could be a Modi government win that causes a 30% upside in the overall market and your investment appreciates 50% (a good problem to have). Or it could be a 10% fall in the market that may cause the firm’s share price to fall 20%.

The opposite of the Herding behavior is Contrarian thinking. The Calm investor has to only make 5-6 big Buy or Sell decisions every year.

  • The Modi government win and subsequent 50% upside can be an exit opportunity if a targeted appreciation is achieved. Or it can be ignored if the view is that the upside is higher as the event / initiative is not complete yet, and still to play out. In addition we have an environment of improving market outlook, and still far from bubble territory.
  • The 10% fall can be seen by investors as another opportunity to enter the market at lower levels. For those who are fully invested, this fall can be completely ignored. In the investing world, ‘What goes down has to come back up again’ applies more often than the more popular converse.

Take the current fall in markets. It seems to me that the Sensex move from 20,300 on 7th Feb 2014 to 28,800 on 28th Nov has been a 42% gain over 9 months almost without a break. All big gains are interspersed with small corrections (and the converse). The fall has been anticipated many times over the last 2-3 months. Nobody can predict it accurately. But it is almost a consensus now in the market that there will be a fall.

The investor needs to stay calm and take advantage of it, if and when it happens.

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Disclaimer

This document has been prepared by JainMatrix Investments Bangalore (JM), and is meant for use by the recipient only as information and is not for circulation. This document is not to be reported or copied or made available to others without prior permission of JM. It should not be considered or taken as an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy or sell any security. The information contained in this report has been obtained from sources that are considered to be reliable. However, JM has not independently verified the accuracy or completeness of the same. Neither JM nor any of its affiliates, its directors or its employees accepts any responsibility of whatsoever nature for the information, statements and opinion given, made available or expressed herein or for any omission therein. Recipients of this report should be aware that past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance and value of investments can go down as well. The suitability or otherwise of any investments will depend upon the recipient’s particular circumstances and, in case of doubt, advice should be sought from an independent expert/advisor. Either JM or its affiliates or its directors or its employees or its representatives or its clients or their relatives may have position(s), make market, act as principal or engage in transactions of securities of companies referred to in this report and they may have used the research material prior to publication. Any questions should be directed to the director of JainMatrix Investments at punit.jain@jainmatrix.com

How many mutual funds should I hold?

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——————————————————————————————————————————– I came across the question on an online forum, and wanted to answer this …..

How many mutual funds should I hold?

Let me try to answer your question from several perspectives.

Answer from perspective 1: A mutual fund is a collection of direct stock investments with an overall theme and structure. The theme usually is

  • Large Cap/ Mid/ Small equity, or
  • a sector equity, or
  • a debt or bond fund, or
  • a mix of above.

The structure will be a diversified number of stocks/ bonds with an upper limit for any single investment. It can also limit sector concentration, etc. There are also norms of Risk and Churn which are to be followed. Having noted this, I would argue that if we understand the perspective of the investor, just one MF would be sufficient. This choice would incorporate the risk profile of the person –

  • Conservative (debt, bond, ETF or safe Large Cap equity MF)
  • Aggressive (Mid Cap, Small Cap or sector fund) and
  • Balanced (diversified equity plus debt).

There may also be a mutual fund house performance risk, so at best a second fund may be added from another MF house.

Answer from perspective 2:

For equity investments, None.

I am personally of the view that once a new investor has experienced equity MF investing for a few years (or even earlier), he is mature enough to both –

  1. do some of his own research and
  2. realize some of the negatives of MFs.

And he may be ready for Direct Equity investments on his own. Let me elaborate. MFs are good instruments for the beginner investor. But there are a couple of negatives of MFs

  1. Annual management expense are fixed costs of up to 2.5% of portfolio.
  2. Variable performance of MFs. Many have underperformed the benchmarks over extended periods of time.
  3. No success incentives. There is no element of success profit share with investor, so there is no incentive to outperform the indices, except a higher position on the rating charts.
  4. Mis-selling of MFs by intermediaries can cause high MF churn, not allowing investors to wait for gains.

In this scenario the investor may realize that investing directly in equity with some guidance is the lowest cost and maximum gain scenario, for long-term investment gains. This is what we do at JainMatrix Investments.

  • The investor can use his own demat and trading account for share purchases
  • The investment service recommends investments into direct equity and monitors them to ensure performance
  • After the fixed costs of the Investment service, and the demat and share purchase costs, the investor gets to keep his entire portfolio profits, effectively maximizing gains
  • Critical here is the quality of the investment service, which they should ensure

JainMatrix Investments has a great track record, check for yourself. LINK

Disclaimer

This document has been prepared by JainMatrix Investments Bangalore (JM), and is meant for use by the recipient only as information and is not for circulation. This document is not to be reported or copied or made available to others without prior permission of JM. It should not be considered or taken as an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy or sell any security. The information contained in this report has been obtained from sources that are considered to be reliable. However, JM has not independently verified the accuracy or completeness of the same. Neither JM nor any of its affiliates, its directors or its employees accepts any responsibility of whatsoever nature for the information, statements and opinion given, made available or expressed herein or for any omission therein. Recipients of this report should be aware that past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance and value of investments can go down as well. The suitability or otherwise of any investments will depend upon the recipient’s particular circumstances and, in case of doubt, advice should be sought from an independent expert/advisor. Either JM or its affiliates or its directors or its employees or its representatives or its clients or their relatives may have position(s), make market, act as principal or engage in transactions of securities of companies referred to in this report and they may have used the research material prior to publication. Any questions should be directed to the director of JainMatrix Investments at punit.jain@jainmatrix.com