The Hindu Business Line : ‘Be an investor, not a trader’

When you are an investor, there is nothing that happens around the world that will not interest you, says Mr Raja Pannir Selvam, an advocate practising IP law in Chennai. “You need to keep your ears and eyes wide open. Any news across the globe may affect your investment,” he adds, during a recent interaction with Business Line. Excerpts from the interview.

When did you start investing? And what was the trigger?

I started when I was just completing school education. The curiosity to explore the markets started when my friend, who was a share broker, and I used to generally chat about his day when we met during the evening meetings at our church. It took about a few months for me to get the basics right.

Do you continue to hold the shares you bought first?

The first scrip I got was Maruti, five in number. I do not hold those shares anymore.

How do you make your share investment decisions?

In the beginning I just picked any scrip as I liked. It was a blind pick.

However, very soon, I realised the advantage of picking fundamentally strong scrips, an approach that I then followed. And there has been no looking back.

As a practising legal professional, how do you monitor your investments regularly? How much time does it consume?

Yes, it is tough. However, as you have rightly put the question, as investment and not trading, I would say that for an investment it does not consume much time simply because I merely wait for an opportunity for the bears to take over the market.

Thereafter I pick these fundamentally strong scrips. I normally spend about two hours a week just to keep updated on the developments.

What is the return you look for from investments?

I usually expect 20 per cent to 25 per cent on my investments.

What are the sectors that hold promise to you currently?

Infrastructure, oil, fertilisers, gold, and steel — growth of these sectors will continue for years to come.

Thumb rules to help a new investor.

Be an investor and not a trader. Look at the long-term growth rather than the short one. “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed,” Mahatma Gandhi said. So, book your profits before the bear hugs you.

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