We all know that it’s difficult to develop good habits like exercise, reading books, avoiding junk food, maintaining a daily Diary, dedicating time to family/friend etc. However, going to the gym becomes relatively easier if you’ve got a companion (particularly of the opposite gender) going for walk becomes a routine if you have a morning walk group, and reading books becomes easier if there is a library at home and a dedicated family reading hour. Writing a diary becomes a habit if you continue writing for 7 days. Similarly, no matter how financially sound we may be, we need a companion, a mentor, and a friend to develop a habit and habits that lead to excel in any particular area.
Now-a-days, we have a host of artificial intelligence-enabled bots in the form of
mobile applications supporting a DIY fresh from the college Investor. Surprisingly,
these bots have been a significant enabler in bringing the new generation into
investing by making the task simpler and adding a binge of tech into it through
swipes, clicks & notifications. We’ve seen a host of fresh blood investing
their first salary vide these platforms. Not only that, the applications made
it easy and convenient to invest across new age instruments like Reit, Invit, P2P
lending, Cryptocurrencies, etc along with the classical FDs & Mutual funds.
Yet, every coin has two sides to
it. Global financial markets experienced jitters in the past 2 Quarters on account
of the post-pandemic-induced inflation and tightening monetary policy by global
central banks. Accordingly, major asset classes across equities, debt &
alternatives observed a meltdown resulting in loss notifications on the millennial’s
portfolio. More importantly, these notifications are being flaunted vide instant
updates, lock screen messages, and e-mails. As is said, the publicity of bad
news is more invigorating than the bad news itself spreading like wildfire.
This wildfire engulfs the first-time investors. She is amidst these
notifications right from the time she wakes up from bed and follows her while
commuting to the office. The mutual fund advertisement at a metro station, which
earlier appeased her to invest, is now looking evil and deceptive to her. The
tall hoardings across the city’s business district are suddenly seeming to fall
on her. The first discussion at the office cafeteria is about how much your
portfolio lose yesterday. She’s doomed by the thoughts of losing a few
hundred rupees (yes ! hundreds and not even thousands/ lakhs) while attending the
morning meeting and while being with the client. Psychological studies have
proven that our mind attracts what we’re thinking inside and the same is very
well explained in the book by James Allen
in “As a Man Thinketh”. Another notification at the market closing hour slowly submerges
her in procrastinating the few hundred rupees of loss into a major setback,
losing the entire month’s salary, being incompetent at her job, getting bashed
by the boss, holding a bankrupt portfolio, running into debt’s, avoiding eye
contact with parents at home. And this is not all, slowly in her dreams, the economy
is entering a recession, she is losing her job and the dream of an SUV this Diwali
gets shattered.
All so because these DIY investors
don’t have a financial advisor to talk to in times of distress. Nor does she discuss
these money matters with her parents as they sound stereotype old-school Fixed
Deposit investors to her.
Huff…. (take a deep breath). Let’s come back. It’s just a few hundred rupee loss on a fresher’s portfolio.
Probably,
if she’d had a Financial Advisor as a knowledge partner- this chain of thought
won’t have ballooned. Having a financial advisor as a companion by your side
means- she’d have immediately forwarded the screenshot of the morning notification
to the advisor seeking an explanation for the loss. Who in turn would have given her
a broader picture of the markets and practical guidance to counter the
situation. The entire procrastination story of kicking the economic can down
the recession hole would have fumed into oblivion. More importantly, this advice
from the financial advisor might have found ways to be forwarded into the co-worker
whatsapp group and many other such groups and would have changed the agenda of the office cafeteria from loss booking to bottom fishing.
The anxiety is turned into an
opportunity and the financial advisor acts as a catalyst directly or indirectly
to a bunch of millennials. A one-off event here leads to developing a habit
to ignore the ups and downs of the market. That’s the role of a financial advisor as a knowledge
companion in the journey of wealth creation.
