Vineeta Mahnot
Position: Equity research analyst at Hem Securities
Based: Jaipur
Years trading: 7
q What asset class and geography are you focused on?
a We track Indian equity markets closely. We also track the developments in domestic and international markets, government policies affecting the investment cycle in the country and global developments influencing the sentiments of investors. We focus on fundamentals of Indian companies across all sectors.
What is the outlook for the month ahead?
Fundamentals are strong in India on account of the improving macroeconomic data. India’s GDP growth is expected to outperform many Asian countries in the coming years. This month two major events will drive the Indian equity benchmarks – RBI monetary policy, which is due to be announced tomorrow, and India Inc earnings for the financial year ended in March 2015, which seem to be on a strong growth trajectory.
What are the main risks, either upside or downside, to the outlook?
The outcome of the Greece bailout deal with leaders of European Union, the Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy, various macroeconomic data across the world – especially US, corporate earnings, which will start kicking in – crude oil prices and trends in global markets will define the trend in Indian equity benchmarks.
What is the best investment at the moment?
We are bullish on the India fast-moving consumer goods sector, with the key investment pick being the biscuit and dairy maker Britannia Industries. With rising per capita income of the rural population and increasing consumer spending, the sector seems to be doing well. Britannia, one of the India’s biggest brands, has a market share of more than 33 per cent. The company is expanding its customer base by launching new products and revamping existing ones.
What was the best investment you were ever involved in?
The year 2008 was the most disappointing in terms of equity performance across the world. All stock markets crashed on account of the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy. In those circumstances, during such critical times, we cherish our bullish stance on the Indian pharmaceuticals sector. We picked fundamentally strong stocks such as Ajanta Pharma and Lupin, which turned out to be a boon, providing multiple returns.
What was the worst?
The meltdown in 2008 also proved to be setback for the Indian real estate sector, which fell sharply and has yet to recover.
* The National staff
