Before I say anything, I would like to make it clear that I use the terms “investor”, “trader” and “punter” in the context of equity investments, very judiciously.
To me an investor is a person who thoughtfully invests his money
in a business to participate in the future growth of that business. A trader is
person who is trying to optimize his return on capital by choosing from the
best instruments available at any given point in time. It may be bond, fixed
deposit, equity stock, gold, crypto currency, foreign exchange, other
commodities etc. or a mix of these. Traders do not invest with the objective of
“wealth creation”. Their focus is usually earning more than the risk free
return while maintaining liquidity of his money. Punters buy financial assets
or commodities just like lottery tickets. They get kicked by the prospects of
hitting a jackpot someday and do not mind losing their entire capital in the
process.
Here we are talking about investors only.
In summer of 2007, the global equity
markets were doing great. Most global indices were close to their all-time
levels. The global fund managers were exploring the world like Cristopher
Columbus. Emerging Markets, BRICS, MENA, Frontier Markets etc were the hot
themes. Everyone was deep in the money. Indian markets were no different. Then
appeared first signs of sub-prime crisis and a sharp correction occurred in
July 2007. However, the losses in correction were entirely recouped in no time
and markets surged to their new highs by January 2008. The 14months after that
were nothing less than a nightmare. The global equity indices saw cuts ranging
from 35% to 75%.
The investors who had conviction in the
strengths of the businesses they were invested in stayed the course and emerged
winners. The punters lost their entire capital and much more. The traders also
lost money.
In July 2007, at peak of the market, one
investor invested in the stock of Mahindra and Mahindra Limited; the other
investor invested in the stock of Reliance Industries; and a retired person
invested in the Gilt Fund that invests in long duration government securities.
If they stayed invested in these
instruments till today, the two investors in M&M and RIL stocks would be
making about 9.25% CAGR (excluding dividends) on their investment; while the
retired person would be making 9.5%.
A plain reading of previous two
paragraphs may prompt the readers to jump to many conclusions. When I sent
these two paragraphs to some of the readers for their comments, I got many
responses. I find the following five responses as representative of the entire
sample:
·
“Are you suggesting over a longer time
frame, investment in gilt and stocks yield similar returns, but risk adjusted
return are far superior in gilt.”
·
“If equities of front line companies have
matched the return of Gilt, even after weathering two unprecedented crises
(GFC, 2008-09 and Covid, 2020), then next decade perhaps equities will give
phenomenal returns.”
·
“RIL gives you excitement’ but M&M is
a steady performer.”
·
“If you are a long term investor, do not
try to time the market. Over a longer period, returns would automatically get
normalized.”
·
“Investment in reliance is like making a
fixed deposit in SBI. You can never lose money.”
However, the responses could be very
different, if I show the following chart to the respondents. This chart shows
the relative performance of the stocks of M&M and RIL from July 2007 till
date. The stock of M&M gave the entire return during first seven years
(2007-2014) period. The current price of stock is almost same as it was in
August 2014. The stock of RIL did not give any return for 9years (2007-2016).
The price of the stock in December 2016 was almost the same as it was in July
2007.
A trader would immediately think,
“December 2016 was the best time to sell M&M and buy RIL. This way one
could have made the 2x the return of an investor.”
But an investor who is convinced about
the business prospects of either M&M or RIL or both, the long intervening
periods of no return are quite painful. The one who learns to manage this pain
ultimately comes winner. The ones who succumb to this pain of non-performance,
would sell RIL in 2016 and buy M&M, and end up as total losers.
If you want to fully assimilate the point
I am trying to make here, then please talk to someone who had sold ITC and
bought RIL in September this year, after getting no return in ITC for 5yrs.
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