Thoughts on the Core Portfolio

Ideally I would like my portfolio to double every couple of years, and be at least a millionaire within a few years, and then live happily ever after. Wishful thinking? Absolutely! Will this happen? Unlikely... unless I win the lottery. Of course since I have never bought a lottery ticket, that's not really happening.

I am willing to settle for a core portfolio of securities with a low/medium risk profile and a medium/high return. This is a reasonable requirement for almost everyone... right? The only challenge is to identify the right investment vehicles.

So far, here is my plan: put in the bulk of my investments in good balanced and large cap oriented mutual funds. This represents the bulk of my portfolio and should provide reasonable results with a reasonable risk. I can essentially fire and forget, and focus on other things. Like the itch to beat the market, where I set aside a small amount that I can play around with directly in the stock market, and any losses, though painful, do not wipe me out!

Thoughts on what goes into the core portfolio: HDFC Prudence, HDFC Top 200, Franklin Bluechip, and maybe a couple of index funds.

Gammon India... going down

Q2 results for Gammon India are not looking so good. The stock today stands at 179, higher than the 151 I paid for it in June 2009, but lower than the 197 I paid in September 2009.

The reason for first buying the stock was that you could see Gammon all over the place in Delhi. The were building the metro and countless flyovers in Delhi. Financials were good, and in September 2009, I had already made a decent amount of money. The financials still made sense and there was no reason not to buy a bit more. It looked pretty good in the portfolio at that time.

The stock went further up and stayed in the 220-240 range, when I should have sold, and then started the gradual decline. I still think it is a decent company to invest in, the industry as whole has good potential, but the recent bad press means that the share price is likely to go down further in the near future.

For now, I am selling. However, I will try to keep an eye on the stock and buy back at lower levels.

Links to Gammon India:
Google Finance
MoneyControl

Stock Buying Strategy for the Aam Aadmi

So you want to buy some shares on the Indian stock markets... but don't have the time or energy to do the full due diligence. But you know that you can beat the market... You want the returns but can't put in the time. You want the thrills but need a safety net... you want the cake, and want to eat it too.

Well... yes you can! Well, I can. Here is what I do: I build my self a safety net of mutual funds, and keep some money on the side for investing in the stock market. I know very well that there is no way I can find the time to fully research the stocks I should be buying, so I widen my safety net as much as possible. The bulk of my money goes into mutual funds, and I have set aside a small amount to play around with, to get the thrills.

This strategy gives you a nice safety net where your investments can grow in the hands of professionals, and at the same time gives you an opportunity to 'play the market' and pit yourself against the professionals. And by the way, I see no reason why you shouldn't be beating the professionals.