In India, real estate along with equity capital markets have been the largest source of wealth creation among investors. But many investors tend to be over-allocated to real estate due to legacy holdings. There is also a general belief that unlike capital markets, the real estate sector has been largely unregulated with few stakeholders profiteering.
The capital markets also went through their own stages of evolution. However, as a proactive regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has taken strong corrective steps and what we have are well-regulated, completely dematerialised and smooth functioning capital markets, which inspire confidence.
