The Hindu Business Line : Money-Talk

A brand domain specialist and marketing consultant of repute, Harish Bijoor has done stints with Hindustan Lever, Tata Tea, Tata Coffee and Zip Telecom during the course of an interesting career spanning various brand management functions. He now heads Harish Bijoor Consults — a boutique consulting outfit that has clients spanning Europe, Asia and the Indian sub-continent. An avid quizzer and a columnist as well, Bijoor also teaches at the Indian School of Business and has authored the book Marketing Trends — Smart Insights into the world of Indian business. Bijoor has some interesting insights on his own experiences with investing and says that every investor must burn his own fingers to really understand investing.

When did you start investing and what led you to do so?

I started investing just when I joined my first job, on a princely salary of Rs 1,500 a month in 1985. Of this, I would invest as much as Rs 1,000 trying to buy shares from the primary market. I could just afford to buy 100 shares at Rs 10. I picked up all kinds of companies. In two years, I had a whole host of companies in the kitty. Mostly non-names. I was led to this early stage of investment by the greed of doubling money and having an alternative source of non-salary income. I was all of 21 then. Ambitious and foolish at the same time.

Did you start with investment in mutual funds before you moved on to direct investing in the markets, or the other way round?

I went the other way round. The primary market was it. This was the day and age when a whole host of companies were going public. There were a couple of market publications such as money, which were fanning the primary market mind-set. So, there I was!

What role do investments such as gold and property play in your overall plan?

I have not believed in gold as much as in property. Relatively, I believe that gold is a rather static investment when compared to land. Appreciation in property prices has been good in cities such as Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Gurgaon and Pune. Gold has been left far behind.

Which was your first investment, at what age and did you make money on it. Any learning from that experience?

My first investment was in a company called Pfimex International. I received some good dividends from the company. I received a whole lot of bonus shares as well. And, then, the company went bust. I am still holding on to some 1,500 shares in paper form of this entity. Not a good experience at all. I made this investment at 23. Learning: Don't get carried away by those short-term rewards that come by. Read the fundamentals strongly. Nothing is permanent except change. Remember Herodotus!

What are the returns you expect from your investments?

I am a rather aggressive investor. I do believe a direct investment in market instruments should be able to deliver a minimum of 30 per cent appreciation year on year. If not, I would rather park the money in a mutual fund.

Some experts believe that young investors can afford a 70-80 per cent exposure to equity. Do you share that view?

I completely agree with this. One is young...and thankfully reckless... only once in life. When one is young, it is a good time to experiment with a more aggressive exposure to equity. As one grows older, one will have enough time to get sedate and move into non-equity-related instruments of a safer kind.

Finally, your advice on three things that budding youngsters should/should not do when they start off.

Don't be too cautious. You need to burn your own fingers in the investment market to learn what works and what does not.

Focus on the equity market for a start and play around on your own without a portfolio manager. This makes you richer in more ways than one.

Never ignore any real-estate investments that stare at you. Missed opportunities are always regretted. Remember, the only things you regret in life are things you did not do.

As told to Vinay Kamath

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