The Hindu Business Line : `We are eyeing a bigger pie in IPO marketing'

SLEEP with your shoes on - Mr Vinod Kumar Sharma, Vice-President, Head of Research at Anagram Securities, had advised investors when the stock market had just started displaying signs of instability.

A few weeks and a few hundred points correction later, he is still underlining the significance of booking profits. "Profit taking should be a critical element in an investor's overall strategy", he told Business Line.

Excerpts:

Will the current instability stay for some more time?

One of the most unpalatable truths is that India may not be able to put up a very convincing show before foreign institutions for long periods of time. Allocations by overseas investors may be curtailed on occasions.

FII money is sure to flow in and out, depending on their outlook and the latest market conditions. The impact of these variations may not be very enjoyable for ordinary investors, who must sooner than later develop an appetite for unpredictability.

In fact, we have been telling investors to pull back since December, at least to a limited extent. Some of the developments that followed since then seem to have vindicated our stand.

Do you have faith in popular theories like mid-cap stocks moving ahead?

Remember, the mid-cap rally was among the mainstays of the stock market for certain spells. Investors did pick up a lot of mid-cap names in the last couple of years or so, many of which turned out to be good bargains.

A number of sectors - not auto ancillaries, pharma or engineering alone - threw up mid-cap stocks that moved up smartly. However, at the same time, investors should not rely too much on only such stocks. In other words, some of the established, large-cap players should enter your portfolio on their own merit when you find they can add enough value to it.

Let me add here that some of the so-called trendy theories of the past did not stand out when the scenario turned more competitive or exacting later on.

What are Anagram's expansion plans?

A larger network of branches is being put in place. We should be in one hundred or so centres in the foreseeable future. `Moneypore' plans to emerge as a leading brand in a market that is increasingly becoming conscious of specialised services.

On another front, we are eyeing a bigger pie in terms of IPO marketing and distribution of financial products like mutual funds. The assets that have been built up are generally on account of retail clients, including clients who have opted for equity schemes.

In life insurance, we have a distribution tie-up with ICICI Prudential. We also sell miscellaneous loan products.

In which direction will the market expand for you?

Well, the securities broking business looks promising to Anagram, thanks to the interest that is being shown by the investing fraternity. To put things differently, an outfit such as ours expects to improve reach as new businesses are opening up.

Distribution of MFs should be a big thing for us in the coming days. Generally speaking, more discoveries will be made in the stock market as relatively unknown companies unfold ambitious business models. Investors will progressively have to look beyond the frontline stocks for superior gains.

The Net will make the process more convenient. Commodity trading is also set to gain wider acceptance.

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`We are eyeing a bigger pie in IPO marketing'