Whenever I meet clients who are new to investing I can make out who has been their adviser for their earlier investments. It could be a cousin, neighbor, or a banker. They leave a lot of trail. The greatest thing that they do is emphasize on recent history. Though we all know that today was […]
This article appeared in the December issue of Money Today…. ON THE FUND HUNT P.V. SUBRAMANYAM, Financial Trainer If past records were enough to predict the future, the result of every match would be known even before it started. Similarly, if the past performance of mutual funds was the only barometer, no fund investor would […]
The best example that I have heard as a trainer regarding averages and standard deviation is the following: If one leg of yours is in the oven, and the other in a freezer, on an average you are comfortable. This is a big learning in statistics – the word average makes no sense […]
Understanding mean, median, mode, standard deviation, regression, reversion to the mean – is a pre-requisite to understand financial markets. Let us see some simple examples: It rained 90mm in Mumbai on 22nd July. If it rains like this for 6 months continuously, Mumbai will be drowned. It was 43* C in Lucknow on 23rd May. […]
It is easy for the common investor to get carried away by the agent telling him about the “best performing fund”. The question to ask is “How will the fund manager maintain the same rate or a similar track”. The answer is we cannot. Check out the article on risk and performance. See the amount […]