In February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, and Russian President Vladimir Putin expected it to be a quick affair. There were rumours that some Russian soldiers had even packed dress uniforms to wear during the victory parade in Kyiv. Four years down the line, not only is the Russo-Ukrainian war still ongoing, but a new front has opened in the Middle East.
With the bottleneck in the Strait of Hormuz driving up fuel prices and the shock being felt in every kitchen in the country, it is difficult for investors to keep calm. To add to all this, US President Donald Trump has single-handedly wrecked any semblance of sanity in the US markets. While writing this article, oil prices jumped 5 per cent after Trump said that the ceasefire with Iran was over.
It is against this backdrop that THE WEEK organised an investor education seminar in Malappuram, powered by Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC (ABSL). The seminar was hosted at Hotel Woodbine, and the panel on stage comprised ABSL’s Rajendra Bendi, who heads its investor education and distributor development in the southern zone, ABSL regional head K. Sajesh, and two ‘fintrepreneurs’—C. Girish Kumar, founder of Fin Folio, and Mohammad Ali Chemban, founder of CM Financial Services.
In his opening presentation, Sajesh drove home the message to tune out the noise and focus on the signal. With a graph of historic data, he highlighted the noises that had disturbed the market over the years. Despite short-term volatility, the graph has steadily continued to climb.
“How many of us remember the Covid years and the financial advice offered then?” asked Girish. “Some people even predicted that the market would not fully recover for the next five to 10 years. Sociologists said that Covid would hit consumption patterns forever as people who went through it would be more guarded in spending. But the lockdown and the pandemic itself have not damaged markets or spending in the long term. Covid itself is a distant memory for most of us.”
Bendi also encouraged investors and potential investors to avoid emotional decision-making and to religiously practice asset allocation. He cited the surge witnessed by gold in 2024-25, and the recent cooling of around 25 per cent. “At one point, it might have looked wise to pull investments from every other sector and park them in gold,” he said. “But, in less than a year, the correction happened. Hence, the need to allocate assets to different baskets objectively.”
Girish and Ali shared real-life stories from their many years of assisting families on their investment journeys. During the Q&A that followed, questions ranged from wills and nominations to asset allocation and investing for children. One answer from Girish elicited the most laughs because it reinforced a warning that has been in force ever since financial transactions moved online.
The question was on how to guard against online con artists. “Do not share your OTP with anyone, no matter what the person on the other end of the call says,” he said.
