One of my strange ambitions in high school was to become a librarian. The joy of being with books, reading whatever you like, whenever you want was the only attraction at that point of time. My new envious targets are Fund Managers. This desire evolved as I started reading about stock markets from books and newspapers. I still believe the work of a fund manager is more strategic and deals with assimilation of information into financial decisions. The thought of managing other’s money and booking profits for a lot of people is more exciting.
The market crash yesterday gave way to my first day as a fund manager. 
My father gave a little money and asked me to buy shares for him. I bought a few shares for him with the expertise :p I had gained in the last few months. My first day as a fund manager was certainly exciting.
Today’s ET had a guest column from Parag Parikh. I’ve read by Parag Parikh’s Stocks to Riches which speak on behavioral finance. Most of the investment books say two vital points which we neglect most of the time: (1) Do not follow the crowd and (2) Invest with a long term perspective. Yesterday’s market melt down was in fact an eye-opener about these two essential perspectives an investor should have.
Another article provokes you to introspect: “Was the Indian market so unstable that it’ll crash 30% if FII’s take out just 6000crores? Are we insulated from global market?” There was more news on first time investors and their plight. Could we attribute this bump to Reliance power IPO? To certain extent this is also true. On the funnier side was news about investors thronging banks to block cheques issued for Rel Power.
I’m proud about not applying for Rel. Power IPO. Initially I didn’t apply for lack of money. On the last day, I somehow managed to arrange enough money for applying.
Overcoming my temptations with the help of introspection, I decided I’ll not buy Rel Power. My aversion was based on two viewpoints: (1) Intuition said “Do not follow the crowd” (2) Analysis said “Reliance is hyped up. It’s not a very ethical company”
If I had invested the 25% of maximum amount, a retail investor is allowed to apply for Rel Power:
25% of 1 lakh = 25 k
I would barely get 1 or 2 units which will amount to 7k thus locking up 18k. 7k doubles into 14k on listing date which is almost one month from now.
Holding back my temptations, I can invest the same 25k in this period of market melt down and hence invest in companies which have good P/E Ratio, good EPS and a strong background.
Am I not qualified to be a good fund manager? Invest in ROX MF soon
