One of the
most predominant features of the ‘so –called ‘developed economies is its depth
in their financial markets and the financial Industry, with about 30% of their
savings being infused in the market instruments. However, Indians in general do
not seem to have the faith, of their savings being captured in the gamut of
market instruments. The recent affairs seem to have consolidated this fact. The
year 2012, saw 55,000 cr being redeemed from the Equity Mutual Fund Space
wherein FII’s pumped in $23 Billion in the Indian Markets.
Now those
figures are mind – boggling .Its enticing as to why less than 5% of the
household Savings in India is invested in Equity Mutual Funds. This write up
pretty much tries to analyse that.
One of the
primary reasons, of course is the lack of investor education and how there is
no substantial penetration in the Tier2, Tier 3 cities. These figures, even
made SEBI wake up from their slumber and take some rectifying actions. The
Rajiv Gandhi Savings scheme launched in September was one of the primary steps
taken to incentivize investing in Equity with tax breaks as an important
feature. The next step was incorporating more safety measures for a retail
investor with Regulations like Direct Plans and Actions on Mis-selling. Perhaps
this would propel the retail towards the equity market.
Another
concrete reason why an Indian abstains from putting the surplus in equity is
his/her belief in physical assets like Real Estate and Gold. It’s undoubted
that these asset classes have given phenomenal returns over varied time frames.
But the
corollary to this is , the equity is not well analyzed .Every asset class has
its pros and cons .And the Equity as an instrument is devoid of too many cons. Let
me name a few pros to begin with which is not a pre-dominant feature in the
other physical asset classes. They are Liquidity, Diversification and
Systematic Investing or Leveraging risks. Generally Investments are made with a
certain purpose /goal. When that goal needs to fulfilled, liquidity becomes an
essence that cannot be missed on. Diversification into different categories or
Schemes of equities makes the scope of loss even lesser. Systematic Investment
Planning across time frames will average out the bears and bulls garnering
sumptuous returns. So these pros give Equity an edge.
To further
assess, a chart of performance asset classes is extracted. The premise being, Equity
Mutual Funds is the universe of Diversified Equity Segment, the Real Asset
considered is the Delhi –NCR region and data considered is till March, 2012.
The chart
suggests that the last three years equity has done marginally better than the
Real Estate Category with a 29 % CAGR returns compared to a 27%, where as in the
5 year period it was a dismal 8 % CAGR. An exceptional year of 2008 ushered in
the down-slide. However, if we increase the band-width to a ten year horizon
then 23 % CAGR in Equities with additional features of liquidity, Professional
Fund Management and Diversification of Risk is a feather to the cap. Even gold
hasn’t managed to cope with those figures despite being the best hedge against
inflation and financial turmoil. Real Estate undoubtedly managed to win the
game in terms of returns, but the hassle may not be worth it. Real Estate
generally implies locking up a huge corpus, piled on with EMI’s and the
exorbitant high interest rates in India, maintenance of the property and not to
forget insuring it against the worst come scenarios. All these hassles are
eliminated in Equity, though the risk of capital erosion will always be pertinent.
Taking all of
the above into consideration, the next thought that comes to us is the future
of these asset classes. If analyzed well, we understand that the upside of the
equities is Unlimited whereas the upside of Real Estate and gold is limited.
Wouldn’t we all agree to that?
The equities
are at a nascent stage in India and the scope of growth is massive. Every
developed country has immense depth in its financial markets and that step
would be taken for us to reach that pedestal. According to us, the financial services
are bound to see phenomenal growth. As the chart below deciphers, the upside
from 1991 upwards .Most likely the trend will remain upwards. One of the
prominent reasons being the growth of the Companies underlying will always see
more growth than GDP of the country and that has been the trend of any growing
economy.
The reason
for limited Upside in Real Estate will be for varied reasons like Expensiveness
of liquidity, lack of availability of Service Urban Land and thus Land
Acquisition costs will sky rocket, Delays in Approvals and general pace of
construction. All these factors could certainly prove to be detrimental for the
sector. The 96-99 plummeting of prices in Real Estate prices is a live example.
Equities when
compared to Gold are a clear cut winner in terms of performance over years.
Gold is an exhaustible commodity with its set of cons. Its utility scope is limited,
purely used for hedge and sentimental reasons and thus usually not recommended
more than 5-10 % in an individual’s portfolio.
To further
highlight Gold v/s Equity, this chart has been extracted. Over the span of
thirty years, Rs 100 invested in 1980-81 in Equity has culminated to Rs 10,060
and Gold is Rs 1690. There is a very good possibility that the next thirty
years could give similar returns.
Conclusion: - The final verdict after understanding
the asset classes is that Asset Allocation is imperative and every individuals
risk appetite should be measured. Real Estate and Gold are certainly not bad
Investments. However it demands a lock in of huge amounts which may not be
affordable after a certain point in time for majority of the population. As we see,
the prices today are sky rocketing and is an investment option which is
confined to the affluent class. In comparison, equity has a good scope. If
investments in equity are done with absolute discipline, appropriate study and
Expert-advise, then garnering decent returns and achieving goals will be an
easy deal.
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