The Indian stock market witnessed an upsurge in IPOs last year. The trend is likely to continue this year as well.
As public market investors, here are a few common mistakes that one must avoid:
1) Not understanding the company’s business model
The most important thing in IPOs is to understand the company’s business model and at what valuation the IPO has been priced. Study the fundamentals of the company.
One of the world’s most successful investors, Warren Buffet, warns against investing in companies with no clear business model.
If you are investing in individual stocks of any company, it is vital to understand the company’s business model and determine its growth in the future.
Based on that analysis, invest in it. You can also avoid making this mistake by building a diversified portfolio.
2) Falling for the company name
Recently, we have seen how investors went after the IPOs of new-age companies like Paytm and Zomato. The frenzy around these IPOs was not because of the popularity of these companies among GenZ and millennials.
It is common for investors to put their money in the companies because of an emotional attachment rather than a calculative move. Investors need to differentiate and keep their emotions aside while investing.
3) Timing the market
Timing the market can be a futile attempt even for experienced investors. Led by human behavior, many investors leave the market with a fall in prices. It takes a long time for investors to gain confidence in the market and they return when the prices recover. Therefore, investors should focus on the long horizon and let the short-term volatility pass.
4) Failing to diversify
Investors should never put all their money in one investment fund. With the expansion of the portfolio arises the need to allocate funds to different asset classes like commodities, property, shares, and bonds.
As they take the initial steps in their investing career, they should choose a global fund. One of the ways to ensure a diversified portfolio is by following the rule of not including more than 10% in one fund.
One more way to achieve diversification is mutual funds. Investors can also spread out their risk by investing in multiple mutual funds with different investment goals.
5) Do not let emotions take over your decision making
It is true that the sentiments of fear and greed rule the market. As an investor, you cannot let fear control decisions. Focus on the bigger picture.
Always remember that stock market returns can deviate wildly over a short time frame. In the longer run, the historical returns for largecap stocks have the potential for an average of 10%. One has to be patient to stay away from irrational decision-making.
Conclusion
Making mistakes is part of the investment journey. However, some mistakes are avoidable and one way to avoid these mistakes is to build an action plan for your investments.
You must be proactive and determine the lifecycle of your investments. On should invest in IPOs as per the goals.
If you don’t feel confident about your decision-making, feel free to undertake more research or reach out to financial advisors. A thoughtful, systematic approach is the way to go while investing in IPOs.
(The author, Amarjeet Maurya, is AVP – Mid Caps, Angel One Ltd. Views are his own)
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views, and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)
