Seven significant laws of Investing

Understanding the correct time and rules regarding investing is very crucial at this day and age. The decision on when to return to the market for those who stayed out before or after the pandemic appears to be even more difficult.

The year started with the stock market on a tear. Global equities have recovered all of the post-pandemic losses and are now up nearly 85% from their March 2020 low. Despite this, research shows that many investors either skipped the bull market or are massively underinvested, waiting for the “right” time to re-enter. We can safely assume that the majority of us fall into one of these groups. There are time-tested approaches for dealing with these obstacles and earning a fair return over time, as history demonstrates.

Given accelerating global growth and corporate earnings forecasts, as well as extremely loose policy settings, we do not expect a big bear market to emerge in the next year. As the rate of vaccines increases across the world, we expect economies and companies to steadily return to normalcy by the end of the year.

Based on decades of market experience, it’s difficult to imagine an equity bear market without a corresponding economic downturn. As a result, the risk of attempting to time when to leave the market before any short-term correction and re-enter at the bottom outweighs the risk of remaining invested (since the investor could lose some of the best days in the market by staying out). The safest course of action for this community will be to remain well-diversified across asset classes and industries, and to rebalance their portfolios if they have strayed significantly from their risk tolerance.

Given that equities are now at record highs and there is increased anxiety about a short-term downturn, the difficulty of knowing when to get back in appears to be even tougher for those who stayed out of the market before or after the pandemic. Their reluctance is always motivated by a desire to time their re-entry perfectly. This is by far the most popular investment blunder.

The seven law of investing

1. Prepare an investing strategy that takes into account your financial objectives, risk tolerance, and time horizon.
2. Make a cash reserve for unexpected expenses.
3. Invest the majority of the remaining funds (say, 80%) in a core portfolio that is well-diversified through asset classes, countries, and industries. This would help to mitigate the negative consequences of unforeseen events.
4. Time and the miracle of compounding returns are your friends, so stay invested during market cycles.
5. To get the portfolio back to your risk tolerance, rebalance it at frequent intervals (say twice a year).
6. Use the remainder of your assets (no more than 20%) for short-term trading (for those who want the thrill). Make sure it’s based on solid research rather than the latest fad, and that it’s done calmly – don’t be too greedy at the top and panicky at the bottom.
7. And finally, stick to the investing strategy. Procrastination, as we all know, is the investor’s worst enemy.

For some investors, putting all of their money to work right away may be stressful. Setting up a pre-determined routine investment plan for such investors would eliminate any personal prejudices. This so-called rupee averaging strategy will allow the investor to profit automatically from any market upside while also allowing the investor to buy at a lower price if the market pulls back. Pre-determined rules may be included in this strategy to speed up sales in the event of larger-than-expected market declines.

The market is still a bull in the long run. The strategy outlined above should enable investors to weather downturns, minimise biases, and remain in the game. After all, before we can ride the bull, we have to get on it.

NEWS SOURCE

ALSO READ: On the government’s latest Udyam site, 30 lakh MSMEs register in ten months