IPL - INVESTMENT LEARNING

 Its  IPL   time again.....lets look it from a learning perspective..IPL and learning ??? It was supposed to be entertainment right?? yes baba...but still.....

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Sport can teach us a lot about life.


Here are 5 things that  that I was taught about IPL T20 tournament from an investment angle by Finance Guru's @ Reuters.....

1. Start early: T20 does not reward late starters. Teams must start putting runs early in their innings, otherwise it can get too late and the surviving batsmen are always playing catch up.

Similarly, we must also start investing and saving early. This allows us to benefit from compounding of capital, as well as allows us to “keep the scoreboard ticking” in order to move closer to our financial goals.

Additionally, we have seen how batting sides take advantage of fielding restrictions early in the innings. Similarly, early in our innings during our youth we must also take advantage of the freedom to do things that we might not be able to later in life. One of these freedoms is to start building our financial resources when we have very few other financial obligations

2. Risk and Reward tradeoff: T20 is all about taking high risks and ensuring that the team gets rewarded for it – whether its aggressive opening batsmen, or field placing or trying out new bowlers. Finance is all about a tradeoff between risk and reward – you just cannot get rewards without taking on risk, just like a batsman faces the risk of being caught at the boundary if he is trying to hit a six.

If we chase high returns, we must be ready to take on the accompanying risks. Also, just like not every ball can be hit for a boundary, not every investment will turn out to be a goldmine. Sometimes singles are equally important to keep the scoreboard ticking

3. Be ready for the unexpected: In case of rain or weather related delays, the Duckworth-Lewis method gets used and can lead to unexpected outcomes. A team must be prepared for the unexpected and the only way is through having already scored enough runs whatever the stage of the game.

Similarly, our investments must also always be ready to deal with unexpected situations that life might throw at us. We must have enough of a margin of safety to be able to protect ourselves against the proverbial rainy days that we might face in life

4. Strategic break: Strategic breaks help teams to review their progress and plan for the remaining overs. Similarly, as individuals we too must do the same. Unless we regularly review how well our finances our doing and how we must tackle the challenges that the future will throw our way, we might not end up meeting our targets

5. Balance: Just like a T20 team needs the right balance of big hitters, anchors and effective bowlers, our investment portfolio also needs the right balance of investments. Too much of growth or aggressive funds, without a stable foundation of high quality diversified large cap funds, might end up with too much imbalance that can hurt our portfolio. Our investments must be diversified across sectors and different assets, and not be concentrated in any one area

FLASH MOB - Truly Indian

You could say that India is the spiritual home of flash mobs. They have always been an integral part of Bollywood cinema. Every movie has at least one number where the hero and heroine suddenly break out into song and dance, to be shortly joined by a hundred of their closest friends. So, having watched that for years, we already know all the moves.

But while flash mobs have been around in the US and other western countries for nearly a decade, the phenomenon is just beginning in India. Several years ago one was tried at a Mumbai shopping mall but the police were called in. Later the police said all such activity would be banned because gatherings of more than five people are a security risk. This is perplexing given that on any evening of the week, one can see more than 30 people at the Gateway of India, 100 people sitting on the walls of Marine Drive, and 500 people on marina Beach.

However, flash mob at Mumbai’s main train station Victoria Terminus had much better success. The organizers had to plan a month in advance to get approval from all the relevant authorities, but it happened.

So to all my friends who ask have you ever seen anyone break out into song and dance, to be shortly joined by a hundred of their closest friends as they show in Bollywood??? I would say YES... I have seen flash mob...

Take CARE...????

Today she called and before I could even exchange pleasantries, she began on her grievances (again!).

And as she poured out on how hard life was, my mind was reeling. The strain in her voice was apparent, her anger was justified and I agreed with her reasoning too, but I could not (at least not substantially) feel ‘sorry for her’. The predominant thought ringing emphatically in my ears was, ‘there she goes again’.

“Why should everything be my responsibility, it is so unfair!” She screamed in utter frustration. Thank god, phones do not have eyes; for right then, I was looking at my watch and trying to gauge how further delayed I would be in getting on with my day. A part of my mind was also scrutinising the conversation for an opportune moment to excuse myself and be off the hook, as politely as I could. Well she is a good friend and this sounds mean and cold but I am stating facts here.

As I observed myself observing her, it hit me! No one really feels or truly cares, because we can’t (unless it is really tragic like a disease or a death or a huge failure)! That we just pretend we are listening while we mentally tune out and attend to quotidian chores-, should supper be rice or roti, should I attend class or not?,… Or maybe, we listen with customary validations of ‘hmmmm’ but we ‘do not’ or perhaps it would be fair to say that most of us ‘cannot’ truly give a damn!

I remember being where my friend was, narrating with meticulous details of how ‘unfair’ life had been to me to many an unwilling ears, yet most of the times, those outlets only took away more of my energy, tempting me to hate and rage more, wallow in self pity as I flashed my balance sheet to the other uncaring eyes and ears.

I am not saying we don’t care… I am saying perhaps we can’t care… or maybe don’t care enough to commiserate the negative chain it gets us into