Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Weathering the financial storm

Uma Shashikant lists six points that can help safeguard your wealth against the ongoing volatility



    Legendary money manager Howard Marks often recounts a story. When he returned home after the 9/11 collapse of the World Trade Centre in New York, his son asked him if the world was less safe than before. Marks replied that perhaps it was less safe than everyone had thought it was. Marks’ words of wisdom are worth pondering over today. The yo-yo years of the recent past have modified several assumptions. 

    Global investors are reassessing emerging markets and taking the view that China, India, Brazil and Russia hold risks that were unaccounted for earlier. Indian investors find that equity does not deliver in 2-3 years, but in 7-10 years, or more. Market cycles are swinging from one extreme to another, but the unravelling is always filled with surprises—pleasant ones at the top, and nasty ones at the bottom. Let me offer six quality checks to ensure that your ship is in order while you wait for the 
storm to pass.