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Journalism of Courage
The Indian stock markets delivered spectacular returns in the last two years and the 30-share benchmark,the Sensex,was the best performer among the worlds 10 biggest markets last year. This has created a lot of interest amongst retail investors on the investment opportunities in the equity markets and the growth potential in the long-run as equities have always outperformed other asset classes over a longer period.
An Indian Equity Investors Survey carried out by MCX-SX found there is a great awareness level among retail investors on equity and various equity-linked instruments,like mutual funds and Ulips. But investors still prefer to invest their savings in fixed deposits,insurance and precious metals like gold and silver. Investors feels that there is a lack of depth in the Indian markets as 57.5 of the total trading is done on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock
As retail investors still prefer to invest in IPOs,valuations will play an important role in drawing retail investors to the equity markets. Interestingly,the survey found that investors prefer to hold on to stocks for a longer time and sell when profit is realised. Of course,the lack of any guaranteed returns from equities and too many price fluctuations are the two most important barriers to investors not investing in equities directly.
Off late,some mutual fund houses have started investor awareness programmes after the market regulator,Sebi,banned the entry load on mutual funds in September 2009 to develop a direct distribution model.
