But the community that has broken the notion of being conservative about equity investments despite the current volatility is the retail investor.
The relentless flows from these investors alongside domestic institutions has been nothing less than a saviour for the Indian market.
“Retail investors have always been considered as conservative in a volatile and uncertain environment,” said Vivek Goel, co-founder and joint MD at Tailwind Financial Services.
“However, this belief has been challenged in a big way in the last one year as retail activity has in fact been counted upon as one of the key supporting factors for the domestic markets.”
Experts believe that this investor community is here to stay and cushion the downside for Indian equities in the near to medium term.
“We do not expect any major impact in retail appetite even if current volatility continues for a few more months,” Goel said.
Retail investors have been relentlessly investing through the systematic investment plan (SIP) route over the last two years. The net inflows through SIPs hit an all-time high of Rs 12,976 crore in September.
In the six months ended September, the total inflows through SIPs stood at Rs 74,230 crore, which is higher than Rs 56,451 crore seen in the same period last year.
According to Siddarth Bhamre of Religare Broking, just like trend is a friend for traders, volatility is the friend of investors.
“In a volatile scenario like one which we are in today, there will be opportunities. So, investors with risk appetite should not shy away from equities,” Bhamre, the head of research at
Broking said.
As Samvat 2078 has been a good year for the retail investor even though it has not been a great one for the equity market, Samvat 2079 is expected to be another “happy investing” year for the retail community.
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views, and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)
