Most advisors remain optimistic on equities and pessimistic on gold, finds Jayshree Pyasi after speaking to a few leading IFAs in Mumbai.
As the markets reach a 13-month low, there is a general feeling of unrest among investors. We spoke to a few leading advisors to get a clearer picture about how they are guiding their investors.
Exiting gold
“We are now exiting gold. Over the last three years we had been taking money only in liquid and gold. We are now liquidating gold and putting into short term debt having tenure of six to nine months. When considering equity investments, we give more weight age to fundamentals rather than Sensex or Nifty levels,” says Dinesh Khemlani of Comsol.
Rajesh Jha of Jain Investments shares a similar opinion and believes that gold is expensive at these levels and is telling investors to stay away from it.
Focus on equity
Another leading IFA, Sadashiv Phene is of the opinion that equity deserves a look at these low levels. “I am focusing on increasing the equity exposure through diversified equity funds. A lot of wealth creation can happen over a period of five to ten years if an investor stays invested. Even balanced funds are superior at this stage,” maintains Sadashiv.
Masarrat Mona Fakih, a Mumbai based advisor with a focus on HNIs is also recommending an increased equity asset allocation.
Remain invested
“Since prices have fallen in almost all the sectors barring telecom and consumer goods, there is a general atmosphere of panic among investors,” says Rajesh.
Addressing the growing concerns and anxieties of clients, advisors have resorted to handholding and reassuring clients.
Phene says, “Investors want to redeem at this time. But we have to tell them that this is not the time to exit but stay invested.”
Though Masarrat hasn’t received any panic calls, she agrees that the investors are concerned. She says, “Investors are concerned. Having been through so many cycles, investors have matured and understood that this is not the time to withdraw but remain invested. But we have to give them a lot of assurance which we are proactively doing. We are meeting up investors and telling them to exercise patience.”
SIPs continue to keep them invested
“People are staying invested through SIPs as they seem to perform better in these markets,” says Rajesh.
Masarrat insists that they are still receiving fresh investments through SIPs. She says, “People are not stopping SIPs and are with us till date.”
Rajesh Jha adds further, “We are directing client money into good quality funds where the beta is low. We are staying away from volatile funds. Also, we are recommending some allocation to hybrid funds.”
