SEBI: ‘India is in a very good position; Retail investors should remain invested for a long time’, said SEBI Chairman

New Delhi| Despite global challenges, India is in a very good position and retail investors should maintain investment in it for a long time despite market fluctuations. .

SEBI Chairman said – Flexibility in the Indian market despite tariff concerns
Pandey said in an exclusive interview with PTI that India has shown great flexibility since the tariff war has impacted markets around the world. “I would say that…”, the market regulator said, highlighting the country’s economic strength India is in a pretty good position despite global adversities”

Pandey said that these include sustainable economic growth, low fiscal deficit, fair external debt, absence of double balance sheet problem and manageable current account deficit etc. He said the country is also negotiating various bilateral trade deals.

“There is no doubt that geo-economic fragmentation, as well as allocations made specifically on behalf of the US, led to adverse global conditions”, he said regarding the impact of the ongoing volatility on retail investors, Pandey admitted that many investors have been associated with the market recently and have not seen any slowdown.

Current situation: Learning opportunity for retail investors
Pandey said this would prove to be a “learning opportunity” for retail investors. He has advised investors to maintain investments for the long term. “If that’s the strategy they (investors) employ, they will definitely be in a better position rather than panicking in the short term”, said Tuhin Kant Pandey, a bureaucrat-turned-regulator who took over as SEBI chairman in March this year.

He said retail investors also need to bring better awareness and place bets with proper information. Citing the example of futures and options trading, where retail investors made speculative bets and lost money in more than 90 per cent of the trading, the SEBI chairman said that one should not behave like being in a casino. Pandey said that SEBI’s measures on this front have been effective to some extent. There has been a decline in business year after year. He pointed out that there is still more activity than two years ago.

“We must understand that investors are making their own decisions and diversifying their asset allocation”, the SEBI chairman said when asked about the moderation in Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) flows and the frustration of retail investors.

He said retail investors need to be intelligent and well-educated. They should not be attracted by false promises of high returns and should never be influenced by unregistered entities acting as “financial advisors”.