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Business News/ Money / Personal Finance/  Sensex and me: Melvin Joseph’s journey
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Sensex and me: Melvin Joseph’s journey

Joseph, a Sebi-registered investment adviser and founder of Finvin Financial Planners, says SIPs in equity mutual funds every month irrespective of the market level are the best way to create wealth.

In the last 20 years, I made my life through mutual funds. The return in these 20 years from equity funds was around 17%. But the growth was not linear.Premium
In the last 20 years, I made my life through mutual funds. The return in these 20 years from equity funds was around 17%. But the growth was not linear.

With the Sensex crossing 50,000, Mint has launched a series called "Sensex and me." In it, finance professionals and ordinary investors document their lives alongside the Sensex in all its ups and downs. Here is Melvin Joseph, a Sebi-registered investment adviser and founder of Finvin Financial Planners, writing about his two-decade old journey in the market.

My journey in the market

I started equity investment in the year 2000 in a small way. In the beginning, it was purchasing a few stocks based on tips from "experts" and selling them after a few days/weeks with some "gain". In most cases, I realized that the value increased after I sold. Then I would purchase them again at a higher value, but it resulted in losses. Soon I realized that this is not my cup of tea and mutual funds are better. In a mutual fund, an experienced fund manager with the support of a research team selects stocks and invests our money and charges a nominal fee for managing it.

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In the last 20 years, I made my life through mutual funds. The return in these 20 years from equity funds was around 17%. But the growth was not linear. From 2003 to 2007, it was a bull run. I still remember those days where I could see my portfolio growing daily! There was green all over the TV screen. In 2008, I saw the first crash and the portfolio reduced to almost 50% in a few months. I stopped watching my portfolio. But the market bounced back to the previous levels in the next one year. I was able to invest some incentive money from my employer received in 2008 in equity funds and saw it double in just one year.

From 2008 to 2020, there was volatility in the market, but there was no major crash. In 2020, covid-19 created the next big crash which we have just seen. But the recovery was very fast and now we are seeing 50,000 for the Sensex. I have realized that systematic investment plans (SIPs) in equity mutual funds every month irrespective of the market level are the best way to create wealth. At the same time, I have seen that none of the top performing mutual funds of 2000 is in the performers list now! This highlights the need of an yearly review of fund performance and replacing the non-performers. Also, the market will not give a positive linear return every year. In the last 20 years of my investment journey, I have seen a few years of super performance, few years of very bad performance and many years of average performance. It is through such volatility we can make money from equity.

As narrated to Renu Yadav

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Published: 21 Jan 2021, 03:40 PM IST
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