Govind Jhawar (42), a Surat-based trader, is using the 21-day lockdown as an opportunity to upgrade his skills and be future-ready. He has used the time to take a few online courses and is trying to learn more about investment discipline from a host of content available on YouTube.
“It also gave me an opportunity to read some of the books that I have been collecting for some time now. I have also delivered a few online lectures to investors and shared my learning,” says he.
Jhawar, a chartered accountant and certified treasury manager by profession, is the chairman of Sebi-registered investment advisory firm Finideas Group.
He has also used the break to connect with some of the people he had been chasing for the past few months. “Now, they are free. We are getting time to talk. The lockdown is a creating new opportunity for us to connect with people. That way, it has been a blessing in disguise,” he said.
With over 20 years of experience in financial markets, Jhawar also maintains a long-term portfolio, which has bled badly in the unprecedented selloff seen over the past few weeks. At the same time, he for the first time understood the real benefit of hedging, says he.
“The market turmoil has created a lot of opportunity for option traders. We are getting good volatility premium. The mantra is to safeguard our portfolio first and then trade in the market,” he said.
India’s equity benchmark Sensex and Nifty are down more than 30 per cent from their respective all-time high levels scaled in January this year. Over 30 per cent of the stocks in the BSE500 index traded below their book values as of March 31.
Sharing his thoughts on the market bloodbath, Jhawar said this is an altogether different kind of crash. “Most people around the world are sitting at homes. One is more concerned about survival than wealth creation. Hence, even lucrative fundamentals are not working.”
As on Monday, India’s health minister reported over 1,000 cases of the coronavirus with 29 deaths.
“The first priority is health. This is like a war situation. Nobody knows what is going to happen, and when this is going to end. Which country is going to get impacted most. People do not have any focus on wealth now,” he said.
Yet, he says, this is a superb time for investors who have a long-time horizon. “I can’t catch the bottom. But yes, I am a buyer in this market,” he said adding that the market is just little over 30 per cent up from the peak of 2008.
Before hitting a low of around 8,160 in March 2009 post the global financial crisis, the 30-share Sensex hit a high of nearly 21,207 in January, 2008. It traded around 29,400 on March 31, 2020.
“This means in 12 years, we have got only 30-40 per cent growth in absolute numbers. The fundamentals have definitely become good, and whenever the situation becomes normal, the market will rebound. These levels are an opportunity for investors,” Jhawar said.
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