Vakra-Tunndda Maha-Kaaya Suurya-Kotti Samaprabha |
Nirvighnam Kuru Me Deva Sarva-Kaaryessu Sarvadaa ||
Vakra-Tunndda Maha-Kaaya Suurya-Kotti Samaprabha |
Nirvighnam Kuru Me Deva Sarva-Kaaryessu Sarvadaa ||
So, what’s the backstory?
COVID 19 pandemic led to shutdowns and most sapiens were forced to stay at home. It was a time for reflection. Worldwide, stock markets had a sharp fall in March 2020, followed by an unprecedented recovery with most global indices doubling in a year or so.
Around early 2021, everyone in India started asking about stocks to invest in.. we will not start another discussion on Uber/Ola drivers asking for stock tips.. but you get the drift. Lot of first-time investors, in their 20s/30s, started investing in the stock market using discount brokerages, driving a surge in demat account numbers and increase in market share of discount brokerages. People watching global markets saw euphoria around Gamestop, AMC and other meme stocks. YOLO mania was unleashed.
On a separate note. Taking a step back. Something interesting has been happening in last couple of decades in India – wealth is being shifted to asset owners (like stocks, real estate etc.) vs salary earners at a galloping rate. In this context, investing skill has become of paramount importance. All of us have access to direct investing on our fingertips (literally too!) with the advent of discount brokerages apps and other fintech apps but we still don’t have the right tools to maximize use of these avenues. It’s like taking an exam without preparation or without having knowledge of first principles.
Experience in investing for a retail investor – what does history & research say?
Over multiple stock market cycles in the past, retail investors have always underperformed and are typically left to hold the bag when the stock market falls (and stock market always has its ups & downs .. like Sachin Tendulkar or Anil Kumble had good & bad years). With lot of time on our hands, we dug deeper in behavioral finance to understand – why?
We, as sapiens, come with emotions and biases which have helped us survive over generations but now lead to lower returns as a retail investor. Everyone including legendary investors like Warren Buffet, Charlie Munger or Rakesh Jhunjhunwala suffers from these same biases. Trick is to know them and avoid them while investing. Step number 1 in this process is awareness. We would be covering these biases in a separate series of articles.
How would SocInvest help?
We have created four pillars in SocInvest:
Social All of us learn from our friends, family and experts. So, isn’t that the best place to start learning about investing? it’s like group learning which many of us did in school or college .. or going to a coaching class of a star teacher (experts).. best way to reinforce our learning and provide discipline. Knowledge shared = Knowledge squared.
Skin in the Game Have you faced this - you have walked into a bank and the bank employee starts selling products which may not be in your interest but provides largest commission to them? Similar story repeats in an electronic store where the sales guy will convince you to buy the product where his/her margin is the highest. In a bull market, we find all kind of advisors giving stock tips on telegram, what’s WhatsApp or twitter.. pause for a moment and think – why? There are no free lunches in the world. Answer lies in the power of incentives. Say no to free gyan! Follow actual portfolios of friends, family and experts to get suggestions for your own portfolio.
Knowledge One of the key issues faced by retail investors is quality research, in an easy-to-read format, focused on stocks. Stock specific analysis would always trump macro investing especially when we are continuously bombarded with all kinds of breaking news and our attention span is tending towards zero! Another facet of the same coin – why should limited number of people hog the limelight talking about stocks? Other people in metros, Tier 1, Tier 2 or small towns have pearls of wisdom on specific stocks, may be not on all stocks or macro. Internet has leveled the playing field in most industries – so why not in building advisory services? SocInvest would tap into this ocean of knowledge and bring hand-picked articles and videos from experts and investing enthusiasts. Such valued contributors are the backbone of our knowledge base and we promise a strong partnership with each one of them. This would help retail investors acquire key insights to bolster their returns.
Invest Some of us do not have time to invest ourselves – full portfolio or part of it. So, SocInvest would be providing a curated list of investment options covering all bases. Curated options will have marquee managers, good consistent historical returns and lower risks. SocInvest will also provide some of the investment options which are typically not available to retail investors but not all… only the best ones!
Our Focus
“The most important single thing is to focus obsessively on the customer. Our goal is to be earth’s most customer-centric company.” .. Jeff Bezos
Our focus is the retail investor (DIY, non-DIY or any shade in between) and we are looking to help him/her generate wealth through compounding returns over a long period of time. We are not here for investors making quick returns or for any shortcuts!
“Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it … he who doesn’t … pays it.” … Einstein
Our Ethos
“Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.” … Socrates
“Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is.” … Isaac Asimov
“Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young.” … Henry Ford
We, at SocInvest, are a bunch of lifetime learners. We would make mistakes.. but will never stop learning or experimenting. We would like to hear your views – now or later. Look forward to hearing from you. Please join our waitlist and reach out to us on – saurabh@socinvest.app.
Good initiative..