FINANCIAL PLANNING : A Reality Check

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Saturday 2 March 2019


Markets are on a see-saw. For a few days they surge and then they slip back. I guess this is going to be the story through 2019. Let’s look ahead.
·      Election results – Look, there is always a knee-jerk reaction to election results. Always remember that you invest in equity because you want to make money in the long term and not for short term profits. In the long run, it really does not matter. The market’s reaction to 2019’s election result will be a tiny blip 10-15-20 years from now. Let’s look at some facts about where the markets were in:
Year
Sensex

1980
148

1990
1048

1992 Aug
2529
Harshad Mehta crash
2000
3972

2008-Oct
8509
US Housing bubble crash
2010
20509

2019 (15-Feb)
35809


If out of fear and a feeling of despair you had not invested or disinvested in 1992 or 1996 or 2000 or even as recent as 2008, you would have lost out. Markets go through their cycles and have their ups and downs. As an investor, you have to learn to ‘ride’ these patterns. Investing is not only a ‘Gloom and Doom’ Report, there is also a ‘Bloom’.
Think of the year 2025, 2030, 2040 and beyond. Will this election result matter or will growth matter? No matter who has been in power, economies have only progressed. From the Great Depression of 1929 to electric cars, from the Bengal Famine of 1943 to having a surplus of foodgrains, our lives have only improved, and markets have always reflected this.
So, don’t fret over who will win and which Govt. will come to power, focus on charting out your LifeGoals and investing wisely to achieve them.
·      Recession in the US and Europe? – According to Krugman, the US is in worse shape than it was in 2008. What he is referring to is the country’s huge public debt which, at a little over $22 trillion, has been growing over the last few years, and a debt-to-GDP-ratio – a measure of the ability of a country to repay debt – rising to 104% now. He is now looking at a recession also because of the slowdown in Europe, where economic powerhouse Germany has been hit because of tariff wars involving the US and China, a recession in Italy, and slowdown growth in France. 1
·      Debt markets on tenterhooks – The IL&FS story broke in late-2018 and debt markets have been in a roil since. Just about when it was sinking in, in came the story about DHFL promoters siphoning off money. Then, two more shots – Zee and Reliance (Anil Ambani group) were in the news for all the wrong reasons and their share prices plummeted. A few clients called and enquired about the way ahead – should we sell our MFs / should we move from debt MFs to FDs? For once, even I was taken aback with the speed of events and it got me thinking.
Why do we invest? To make our money grow so that we can meet our LifeGoals, right? And to achieve this, we invest across various asset classes – primarily equity and debt and for some it could even have been in Gold and real estate. Each of these, carry a degree of risk and all these asset classes exist in a volatile market-space. The degree of volatility is dependant on a number of factors – internal and external – most of which we (as investors) have no control over. All that we can do is to try and minimize the risk so that we can meet our LifeGoals as and when they become due. The level of volatility is not within our control. It is very difficult, is not impossible, to predict black swan events. So, my suggestion to you is that you have to ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’. Do not let the near-term ‘noise’ distract you. Focus on achieving the numbers that you have set out to get, as listed out in your LifeGoals. If you are investing without setting out your LifeGoals, correct that anomaly.
Once you get your Focus right, the ‘Noise’ will disappear.

Have a good day.

Wednesday 25 January 2017

A New Year. An Uncertain Beginning.

2017 is going to be an exciting and uncertain year. There are so many unknowns that one can’t predict the year.
  • ·       Demonetization – The entire exercise of pulling out Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes is over and the reason for the same seems to be unclear. Almost the entire amount of currency (Rs. 15.44 lakh crore) has been deposited in the banks and has come back to the RBI. This is not a good sign as it clearly shows that there is no fear of the law. Per reports, the RBI has put back around Rs. 8-9 lakh crore back into the system. I think this is all that will come back. According to me, the original amount of Rs. 15-lakh crore will not come back to the system. Because if it did, then no one will move to ‘digital’ as we are a ‘cash-happy’ country, given the fact that 98% of our transactions are in cash. The after effects of demonetization are still to play themselves out and no one knows for sure where they would lead to or how long it would be before things get back to normal. I think the current levels of cash are the new normal and slowly we will have to adjust to this. We will have to arrive at our own balance of cash vs. digital. I had hoped that the Govt. would have announced follow up measures to the demonetization on gold and property, but nothing has been announced so far. Hopefully, in the months to come. As many experts have as many opinions. Most are guesstimates as this is a ‘black-swan’ event which has no prior.

  • ·       Trumped up – With Donald Trump in the driver’s seat now, there is a lot of uncertainty in the global markets. His ‘protectionist’ approach could change the dynamics of business across the world. No one knows what his policies would be and hence the uncertainty. From NATO to the TPP and NAFTA, the future of everything is unclear.

  • ·       Fed rate hike – The US Fed is expected to raise their interest rates 2-3 times this year. This could lead to money moving out from emerging markets to the US.

  • ·        Europe – has a series of events which will unfold this year:

o   The aftermath of the Brexit vote and Britain’s trade negotiations

o   Elections in Germany (September), France (April 23) and The Netherlands (March 15)

o   Referendum in Italy

o   the finalization of the third Greek support package

  • ·       The Chinese bubble – The real situation in China continues to be uncertain. According to experts, this is a bubble which could unravel any time (though no one can put a finger on the time).

  • ·       Oil prices – continue to rise and are currently @ $55-levels. For us in India, it is a growing matter of concern as the Govt. has done all its fiscal math based on a maximum of $60. Estimates say this level will be breached in 2017. So, the Govt. calculations could go awry if the price of oil grows beyond the $60 levels.

  • ·       Elections in India – UP, Punjab Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa go for elections in February-March, with results being declared on March 11, 2017.

  • ·       Interest rates in India – G-Sec rates dropped significantly in the last quarter of 2016. Currently, the G-Sec. rates stand at around 6.5%. Most of the rate cutting has already happened. It could drop by another 0.5% or so over this year. A lot of this has already been passed on to the customer in terms of lower FD rates and lower home and car loan rates. I do not see scope for much more lowering. With banks being flush with funds currently (from demonetization) I think the rates are going to remain at these levels for some time now.


The Budget which is due on February 1, 2017 should be a harbinger of things to come. Fingers crossed till then.
 
Warm wishes to you and your family and a happy 2017.