They were speaking as a part of the CII Mutual Fund Summit in Mumbai on April 15.
Top mutual fund Chief Investment Officers (CIOs), while speaking at a CII Mutual Fund Summit in Mumbai on April 15, are advising new investors to carefully approach investing in these times of volatility and global uncertainty.
Ashish Gupta, CIO at Axis AMC said the current environment is different from what we have seen the last few years, where equity markets had offered steady gains. “We are entering a phase where, for the first time in a while, when one-year trailing returns are turning negative for some investors. It’s easy to talk about staying the course when people have only seen gains,” he cautioned.
The Axis CIO said investors should be aware that equities are a risk asset and not meant to deliver uninterrupted growth. “There will be up and down cycles,” he underscored. Ashish Gupta said what has changed over the last 4–5 years is the influx of younger investors – many of them entering through SIPs (Systematic Investment Plans) which helps tide over the risks of market timing. “Credit must go to distributors for popularizing SIPs, which help reduce the risks of market timing,” said Gupta.
According to Gupta, SIPs are not only more resilient to market highs, but they also encourage longer term investing behaviour. “In a study based on our investor base, the average SIP investor stays for about two years longer than lump-sum investors. The longer the stay, the higher the expected return, and the lower the deviation from those returns. Over the past 25 years, any 5-year investment horizon has almost always yielded positive equity returns,” Gupta observed.
Shailesh Raj Bhan, CIO at Nippon Life Mutual Fund said the “easy phase” for the industry is behind us, noting that given the current challenges, everyone within the mutual fund industry will need to work harder to retain investors, especially those who came in during the past 3–4 years.
Bhan said unrealistic investor expectations and the recent lack of a significant downturn are a cause for concern. “Markets hadn’t gone through a prolonged rough patch until recently. This led to some investor-driven misallocations – people flocking to high-return segments without understanding the risks,” he explained. There’s often a disconnect between expectations and what mutual funds can realistically deliver, he said.
Shailesh Bhan said that many newer investors are yet to face a true market test. “The ‘true test’ hasn’t come yet—buying something, seeing it fall, then holding through that period before eventually making gains. That test is happening now,” he said.
He sees the role of advisors as a central one, in these times of uncertainty. “This is the time when advisors truly add value—not just by helping investors stay the course, but also by guiding them to the right products and encouraging investment during difficult times.” The last 3–4 years didn’t require much handholding, said Bhan, however, “now, it’s different. Advisors need to step up and help investors navigate uncertainty. That’s what will create lasting trust and long-term success.”
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