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Investment Articles

Here we have a collection of articles covering some interesting aspects of investing. These are bifurcated under three broad-based segments:
  1. Investing overview
  2. A deep dive into equity investing
  3. Global macros and general reading

Investing – A bird’s eye view

Asset allocation
Asset allocation is the implementation of an investment strategy that attempts to balance risk versus reward by planning, monitoring & periodically adjusting the percentage of each asset in an investment portfolio according to the investor’s risk tolerance, goals and investment time frame. The key role of asset allocation is diversification which helps in risk mitigation and also in long term lower drawdown led outperformance.
Different Asset Classes
The two key broad-based asset classes are physical assets like real estate, land, precious metals, commodities and financial assets like equities (stocks), bonds and derivatives on physical assets. The article maps the key asset classes and helps one understand the important drivers across these.
Types of Equity investing styles
Equity investing by its very nature cannot have a one size fits all approach. That said, while there is no right or wrong investing style to pursue indefinitely one has to ensure that the style chosen resonates with their risk profile, time horizon, investment goals and above all their individual personality.

Equity Investing

Long term investing
In equities, the power of long-term compounding is spoken and written about extensively, yet most fail to capitalise on the same. The article beaks some myths about long term equity investing and highlights the role of research, avoiding short-term thinking, more patience with time in markets and lesser focus on higher rate of return.
Are stock markets & economics related?

While markets are often considered a barometer of the economy the reality is that the markets tend to be forward looking and hence most of the best periods to put money in the markets are missed owing to news flow and a general sense of despondency. The article talks about how to have a framework in place which focuses on a long-term investment plan with periodic allocation rather than trying to time economic cycles.

Role of market cycles in investing
Trade cycles are a repeating loop of economic activity getting bucketed in four key phases namely expansion, peak, recession & recovery. This is an established axiom in economics. The article adds to that knowledge and does a deep dive into what sectors typically lead market recovery during the respective broader economic cycles.
Value vs Growth investing
Growth and value are two of the most well recognised and widely followed approaches to investing in equities. Growth investors seek companies that offer a clear runway & long-term visibility in earnings growth while value investors seek stocks that appear to be trading at lower than historical values and are thereby available to a deep discount to a longer term DCF based valuation.
Momentum investing & sector rotation
Sector rotation is a topic of intense debate among investors as it challenges the notion of time in market vs timing in market. In our experience, it holds the key to generating long term alpha. The key to successful investing lies in not only in selecting the leaders but selecting them ahead of the general market consensus around them. Sector rotation can also be of help in planning exits from investments especially those which have a lower moat owing to cyclicity in demand for its products.
Time in markets vs Timing the markets
While both time in market and timing in market are important from a view point of long term returns and generating alpha respectively, the reality is that long term investing outperformance often suffers from an internalised bias wherein the annual rate of return is often underrated and time spent in markets is underrated. Also, timing the markets carries a key risk of missing out on some short bursts of massive outperformance which can in turn significantly affect long term returns on portfolio.
Role of EQ in investing
In the game of investing, often the greatest battle is with the person in the mirror. While we all have go through the emotional roller coaster in our journey of equity investing, how often have we missed out on mega gains as we chose to book out too early or have led to debilitating losses as we held on to suboptimal picks in the face of a clear secular downtrend. The reasons in both cases are deeply internalized versions of our set of beliefs and psychological make up. This is the role that EQ can play in helping an investor weather the storm and take their respective ships to the desired port of call.

General reading

History of bubbles
The one thing history teaches us is that we don’t learn from history! Here are some of the largest bubbles in history and its almost fascinating to see how over the centuries the cycle of greed and fear manifests itself.
Interconnection between gold, USD & Oil
This is the holy trinity that defines global money flow and is also a key determinant in the global hegemony of the US dollar. An understanding across this can help the broader macro-economic cycles of gold & oil.
Investing in times of Global disruption
We live in an era of massive technology led disruptions. The demographics of nations; the changes seen and some of the future changes envisioned could have a marked impact on the global economy with an interesting shift is the market base. The article offers some insights and makes us think on who could be the economies and businesses therein that lead the way for change.