THE BEHAVIOURAL GAP - WHY INVESTORS DO NOT GET RETURNS THEY SHOULD?
The Behavioural Gap - Why Investors do not get returns they should?
Have you wondered why your fund seems to have delivered fantastic returns and yet your returns have been on the lower side? Well you are not alone. Any market investment can be said to give two types of returns or performance - first its actual market returns /performance and second, the returns /performance of the investor holding the investment. Most of us would think that the two should be similar, in the same range. However, often the reality is quite different, especially in the long run.
Facts and historical evidence across different markets and multiple studies have proven that the market performance has been much higher than the investor performance in the same market /investment across different countries and spanning over many decades. The results are often the same, irrespective of even investment horizon. This difference between the return an investment organically produces over a fixed time frame, and the return an investor in that very investment actually earns, is coined as 'behaviour gap'.
There is a popular research report published every year by DALBAR on ‘Quantitative Analysis of Investor Behavior’ for past 22 years. Here are the brief extracts from the report for the period ending on 31st December 2022:
Period 30 years 20 years 10 years 5 Years 3 Years 1 Year
Average Equity
Fund Investor %
7.13 8.13 13.44 14.80 21.56 18.39
S&P 500 % 10.65 9.52 16.55 18.47 26.07 28.71
Behavioural Gap 3.52 1.39 3.11 3.67 4.51 10.32
As can be clearly seen, the broad stock market in the US has outperformed the average equity fund investor by a huge margin, almost 50%, over the 30-year period. Interestingly, the outperformance is seen across all holding periods. Similar results were seen in almost all the past studies carried by DALBAR. Results have been on similar lines by many more studies.
Closer home too, a recent study done by one domestic fund house for the period from 2003 to 2022 showed that the equity funds delivered impressive returns of 19.1%, but the investor returns were just at 13.8%. The outperformance of nearly 38%, compounded, over nearly 20 years of investment is very alarming to say the least.
The verdict is simple - even though the Indian equity investor has created wealth, outperforming all other asset classes over the past two decades, he has clearly missed creating many more multiples of wealth creation due to his behaviour.
As witnessed, one of the biggest roadblocks to investing success is investor behaviour, often driven by biases and emotions. Investors let their biases and emotions dictate their investment decisions. We have often spoken of the cycle of 'Fear - Greed - Hope' seen in the markets. Investors typically panic and sell when markets correct and become greedy and buy when markets have moved up. However, avoiding our personal biases, and emotions and making rational decisions in real life is a tough task.
On the positive side, there are many famous and successful investors whom we know by names and still many who are silently enjoying their success around us. These are investors who have overcome the factors we spoke about above, made fewer mistakes, corrected themselves in time and then played the game well in the long term. So what would distinguish these successful investors and the average equity fund investor?
Successful investors have been found to portray certain characteristics, unlike average investors. They are more rational, they do not let personal biases impact investment decisions, they are more patient and do not let emotions cloud their judgement, are more focused on the wealth creation journey rather than the money, are research and data-oriented, and they keep the big, long-term picture in mind. As common investors, this can be a lot to digest and copy at one go but we surely can learn and dig deeper into each aspect of our investment journey.
There is an interesting thing. Investors who are guided by qualified experts say, experienced mutual fund (MF) distributors or investment advisors, are likely to have outperformed the average investor. The true role of your MF distributor is not to find the top-performing fund or service your queries. The true role is of managing and even controlling investor behaviour - making sure that factors like personal biases, emotions, ill information, lack of knowledge, etc, do not impact your investment decisions. They would make sure to push you to save and invest more, motivate you to see the big picture and at times, even disagree with you, see the big picture which you do not see and give you conviction and confidence when you need it the most. That’s the true, invaluable role that your mutual fund distributor plays and one cannot really put a price on this or quantify this in terms of the value it can bring to your financial journey. What we can assume though is that if we do follow and seek guidance from our MF distributors /advisors, we would be able to bridge the investor’s behavioural gap by a large extent. With just a couple of percentage differences, there can be life-changing for you when compounded over the long term.
The behaviour gap is the reason we often feel that we have failed to create wealth as much as we could have, given the impressive historical performance of the equity markets. More than timing the markets or product /fund selection, it is how we behave and make decisions at the overall portfolio level that truly matters. It is time for us to also acknowledge this fact, focus inwards and find ways of becoming better investors with time, knowledge and experience. Surely, we are supported and guided by our MF distributors /advisors in this journey. What is also needed is that we listen to them more, make decisions and take action. And let deep, meaningful conversations take place.
NJ E-wealth
The 7 Golden Rules of Wealth Creation
The 7 Golden Rules of Wealth Creation
We all have dreams and aspirations, especially when we are young. Be it an early retirement or palatial home or big cars. Unfortunately, most of us find us difficult to reach these dreams and have to either give up on grand dreams and set realistic ones or wait till you become too old to afford it. There are only two ways to ensure that you change this. First, earn enough money which may or may not be possible for everyone. Second, walk the easier but the longer path of saving & investing.
Starting early is half work done. The best time to start investing was when you got your first pay cheque. The next best time was not today, but yesterday! There is no tomorrow, you have got to do it today if you are serious. We all know about the power of time and the power of compounding which can do wonders. But unless you don't start early or asap, the end date for the wonder to unfold will be too late. We have to get time on our side else, we would have to work doubly hard to make up for the lost time.
Give a 5-year-old child her favourite ice-cream and ask here if she wants to eat it now or give it back and have two the next month. What will she do? Often, we are no less than that 5-year-old kid when it comes to choosing between instant vs delayed gratification. We cut corners here and there to buy things we don't need to show off before people whom we don't like. Frugality and minimalism and the in words today. Instead of spending on riches & luxury, it's always better to spend on upgrading yourself, learning, setting up side-business and save /invest in appreciating assets at the very least. The more focussed and aggressive you are today and the more you enjoy the journey, the sooner will you reach your destination.
We often cannot see the forest for the trees. We lose sight of the big picture and spend more of our time in knowing which fund will perform the best, which is the next big multi-bagger, how my funds have performed, and so on. How does it matter even if your fund level performance if plus or minus a few percentages when it occupies only a fraction of your portfolio? Shouldn't we really see the big picture? A typical household in India today has huge exposure to real estate and gold, occupying almost half of all the wealth. The other half is in financial assets where again bank deposits, government small saving plans, insurance investments, etc garner a large share. The lowest exposures are to equities and mutual funds - the products which are crucial to exponential wealth creation over the long term. What we are only suggesting is that everyone should have a well-balanced portfolio with the right exposure to equity asset class as per the risk profile & returns expectations. This will have to be revisited and portfolio rebalanced from time to time, periodically and market event driven.
Many studies have found that equity markets have delivered very attractive returns over the long term, outperforming other asset classes. This is in spite of all wars, events, crisis, pandemics, etc, etc. However, investors have rarely made those kinds of returns. And the reason is exactly these temporary aberrations which tested the conviction of investors and most investors unfortunately failed. Warren Buffett once said "If you cannot control your emotions, you cannot control your money." Our emotions and our behavioural biases often cloud our decisions and instead of acting rationally and against the herd mentality, we become part of the herd. We enter markets when it is late and exit early. With all the noise around us and all the easy information available, we try to time markets and make 'smart' decisions, when perhaps, even getting stranding on a lonely island without a mobile network would have proved to be financially more profitable! Remember, even refusing to do anything is doing something.
We all know that diversification reduces the overall risk of your portfolio. The guiding principle is that not all assets will behave the same at the same time as they would carry different set of risks and return factors. Diversification at the broad level is required also so that you can play that asset allocation game properly and as per a set strategy which can be executed on an ongoing, periodic basis. However, too much diversification into too many asset classes, products, etc would also mean that a lot of underperforming assets sneak into your portfolio. You can't really make good money betting on all horses in a race. Some experts are also of the extreme view that you diversify if you don't really know what you are doing. So it is a matter of the optimum balance, the right mix of a few important things. One may zero it down to say equity, debt and physical asset classes and have exposure to select financial products /securities within these asset classes and again some limited diversification w.r.t. fund categories, AMC, market-cap, sectors, duration /time to maturity, underlying instruments, etc within these products.
All it takes to wipe out your wealth, is one unfortunate moment, event in a lifetime. We have seen many cases around us where families have been pushed back on years of progress in life by a tragedy, by business losses, by court cases, by crimes, accidents and so on. We can't really control what can happen in life, although we can be careful. However, we can certainly control the financial repercussions originating from such events such that our financial well-being is not compromised and we are not left at the mercy of fate. Having proper insurance, is one sure shot way of minimising financial losses and suffering. There are many products out there, both personal and non-personal out there which can protect us financially. Explore products related to life, health, personal accident, critical illness, home, motor, fire, travel, shopkeepers', professional indemnity, etc to minimise your financial suffering. The other way to minimise financial risks in life is to not take unnecessary risks (avoidance) and huge bets.
One thing very common in all self-made millionaires is that they take themselves seriously. They are clear on what they want, they are focussed and passionate, have build good habits, strong character and display behaviour in line with their image and goals in life. They invest in people, in learning, developing their knowledge and skills, in building networks. Often, they don't risk everything on one product alone, even though they may be committed to one idea. They would have multiple sources of income, diversifying to things which interest them. They would try and automate /outsource /partner with or hire people in such a way that these different sources of income take very little time of their own. For them, money is not the destination or end goal but its journey, the game that excites them. This is what sets up apart from all of us on the wealth creation journey. Picture yourself what you want to become and be that today.
NJ E-wealth
Importance of Insurance in Financial Well-being
Importance of Insurance in Financial Well-being
Uncertainty is omnipresent today and we live in the world full of uncertainties around us. We never know what will happen in the next hour or day! We need to be prepared for the best and the worst. One unfortunate event happening can cripple the entire family and wipe out years of financial savings. Insurance is an important tool in protecting a family's financial well-being. You and your family needs insurance for proper coverage and financial support against all risks relating to your life, health, and property having financial implications. Insurance is considered as a safety net that protects you from financial troubles on rainy days.
No matter how much you are earning or how much you have saved; your financial position can be dented by an unexpected event in a moment. So, the best way to become financially secure is to cover yourself, your family, and your assets with insurance. Insurance provides financial support and reduces uncertainties that individuals face at every step of their lifecycles. It enables you to continue living with minimal worry, especially when large financial burdens like medical bills, mortgage, debts and others would easily change the financial status of your family. For instance, with medical inflation growing at approximately 15% per annum, even simple medical procedures cost enough to disturb a family's well-calculated budget, but a Health Insurance would ensure financial security for the family.
By minimising the financial impact of unfortunate events, we are not just safeguarding the present but also protecting the future for everyone. We can reasonably expect that our life continues as it should to the best extent possible even in the worst scenario provided we have the adequate protection with the right cover. Thus, critical life goals like buying of home, education for children, marriage for children, retirement for spouse, regular income, etc. ideally should not be compromised. We have also seen tragedies push back With the financial support from claim proceeds of insurance policies, one can even help avoid and pay-off debt.
There are different types of insurance plans to cover the different types of risks that you might face. You can, thus, choose different policies based on the risks that you face and create yourself a 360-degree layer of financial protection. Having adequate and broad insurance coverage will give you peace of mind and no amount of money can replace this. With insurance, you are assured that you and your family members are financially secured against any unforeseen events in life. It also ensures that in case of any emergency, you are in position to handle the same. For e.g., if you have a medical emergency, with adequate health cover available, you will be able to get the required medical attention/treatment. With life insurance, you are assured that your family will not suffer financially in your absence. The access to financial support ensures that you can get the best treatment possible and make good on any losses.
Life and health insurance policies also offer the additional benefits as tax saving instruments under 80C & 80D. Furthermore, under life insurance plans, the maturity and death benefits received are also exempt from taxation as per Section 10(10D) of the Income Tax Act. Tax benefits however should not be considered as the primary objective of any insurance decision but as a by-product benefit.
In addition to the primary objective of protection against financial risks, there are products offered by insurers which also provide in-built savings /investment plans. Savings plans are protection-cum-investment policies that are designed to aid in disciplined and periodic savings in addition to giving basic insurance coverage. Products like endowment savings, money-back, ULIPs or unit-linked insurance plans and annuity plans are available in the market. Although such products are popular in the industry, we believe that such products cater to a very specific kind of customers and it is always recommended to check on the suitability of such products for your needs with the help of your insurance advisor /agent.
The best-laid plans can go haywire. Life has a tendency to throw surprises at you. Thus, the need for a contingency plan to absorb the financial shocks of such surprises. A proper, full insurance need assessment would probably be the starting point for understanding your needs. A comprehensive cover may cost you a bit today but will surely save you on a rainy day.
loans
If a client wants to submit a printed mandate, client needs to upload a scan copy of duly signed pre-filled mandate after e-signing Agreement and Pledge Request form. NJ E-Wealth > Transact > Loan > Reports & Utilities > NJ Capital Mandate. NACH pre-filled Mandate is mailed to Client's registered mail id from ewealth@info.njindiaonline.com at Loan Sanctioned stage.

  • Take a print out of pre-filled NACH mandate and write client's Name and signature as per mode of holding pattern in the Bank record.
  • Upload the scan copy of the same from NJ E-Wealth > Transact > Loan > Reports & Utilities > NJ Capital Mandate > Upload
  • TAT for Mandate registration is 15 working days.
  • There is no requirement to submit a physical mandate at the nearest NJ Branch.
Note: The Upper limit of the mandate will be 1 Lakh by default but may vary depending on the higher loan amount.
Fund Manager INTERVIEW
patner Interview
Mr. Manish Gunwani
Fund Manager - CIO - Equity Investments, Nippon India Mutual Fund
Manish Gunwani is CIO - Equity Investments at Nippon India Mutual Fund. Manish graduated from IIT Chennai with a B.Tech and has a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from IIM Bangalore.

Kotak Deepak Amrutlal (ARN-127784)
AMFI REGISTERED MUTUAL FUND DISTRIBUTOR

Deepak A Kotak

  • Retirement Assessment
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  • Portfolio Review
  • Mutual Fund:Debt / Equity / ELSS

"We have taken due care and caution in compilation of this E Newsletter. The information has been obtained from various reliable sources. However it does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of any information and is not responsible for any errors or omissions of the results obtained from the use of such information. Investors should seek proper financial advise regarding the appropriateness of investing in any of the schemes stated, discussed or recommended in this newsletter and should realise that the statements regarding future prospects may or may not realise. Mutual fund investments are subject to market risks. Please read the offer document carefully before investing. Past performance is for indicative purpose only and is not necessarily a guide to the future performance."

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