ETMarkets Smart Talk: India remains an ocean of outperformers in terms of economic growth: Siddharth Oberoi
In an interview with ETMarkets, Oberoi who has nearly 26 years of experience in Indian Capital Markets, said: “FIIs had been sellers due to valuation concerns, however, as time passes and earnings catch on, we believe FIIs may make a comeback” Edited excerpts:
What is your investment style amid volatility?
Volatility is present at all times. It is the nature of the markets. The investment style remains the same, that of identifying mispriced bets in the market where the risk-reward is in our favor.
As we enter the last month before we move to FY24 – your key learnings from the financial year gone by?
As they say, there is always a bull market somewhere, one has to pick and choose carefully which companies and sectors are to be benefited in the current scenario.
A massive upswing in commodity prices led by geopolitical events reduced the earnings for several companies.
However, there were many companies that benefited from this trend. We chose several of those companies with satisfactory returns.
Which sectors do you see could do well in FY24 and why?
We as a company are very positive of banks and infrastructure gave the growth potential. Nearly $50 billion of projects are underway for which tenders are out.
These will tremendously increase the earnings profile of companies operating in the infra sector. Overall, there is buoyancy in the economy which has led to loan growth of 20% across banks. This too shall propel their earnings going forward.
Benchmark indices broke below Budget Day lows last week. What are the spooking markets right now? What are your views?
Volatility is a given. Nothing moves in a straight line. With that, we think the fundamentals of the economy are improving. All data factors point to that. It is a matter of time before we can expect a decent rise.
SEBI highlighting pump and dump trades is a welcome move – what would you advise retail investors on how they should consume info which is freely available?
As the saying goes ‘there is no free lunch’. Investors should have a variety of tips offered for free. Investors should deal with only SEBI-registered investment advisors/analysts.
One must also be very careful in processing information on stocks that are offered for free as there is always a person on the other side benefitting from this.
It is better to pay and get advice on stocks as the interests of both parties to remain aligned.
What is your view on global diversification in 2023? FIIs seem to be moving away from India and investing in other EMs and treasury amid higher valuations.
We believe India remains an ocean of outperformers in terms of economic growth. With the massive increase in per capita consumption of just about every product and service expected going forward, one can do the best to bet on India at this point.
FIIs had been sellers due to valuation concerns, however, as time passes and earnings catch on, we believe FIIs may make a comeback.
What is your take on the GDP data which has slowed down? Do you think this could push away smart money?
India is the fastest-growing large economy at this stage. While there has been a moderation in the growth, we believe that this has to do with heavy volatility in commodities worldwide.
As things normalize, we expect GDP growth to pick up on the back of increased spending on infrastructure and its impact on employment.
India offers an extremely large growing market and smart money eventually finds its way to the best possible growth prospects.
What is your investment style amid volatility?
Volatility is present at all times. It’s the nature of the markets. The investment style remains the same, that of identifying mispriced bets in the market where the risk-reward is in our favor.
As we enter the last month before we move to FY24 – your key learnings from the financial year gone by?
As they say, there is always a bull market somewhere, one has to pick and choose carefully which companies and sectors are to be benefited in the current scenario.
A massive upswing in commodity prices led by geopolitical events reduced the earnings for several companies. However, there were many companies that benefited from this trend. We chose several of those companies with satisfactory returns.
Which sectors do you see could do well in FY24 and why?
We as a company are very positive of banks and infrastructure given the growth potential. Nearly $50 billion of projects are underway for which tenders are out.
These will tremendously increase the earnings profile of companies operating in the infra sector. Overall, there is a buoyancy in the economy which has led to loan growth of 20% across banks. This too shall propel their earnings going forward.
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)
