The Need: A place to gather for like-minded Indian investors
Online forums or communities are great places where you could discuss interesting topics, talk to experts, clear your doubts, and gather valuable information on any subject. I have been longing for a while to become a member of one such good value investors’ forum in India. I sieved the web intensively for a free Indian stock market forum but hardly could I find one. Nonetheless, I encountered some paid clubs and subscription blogs. To my dismay, they charge anything upwards of Rs. 10,000 a year. But what I was looking for was free and quality stuff.
The Idea: Indian Value Investors’ Club
Thus I ended up thinking “how about building myself a value investment community for brainstorming ideas and sharing thoughts?” A place for birds of the same feather to flock together! A virtual forum. Although there are a lot of Indian share market and business forums out there on the web, almost all of them are for traders. All the calls made in such forums are for a meager profit of Rs. 10 or 20. Moreover, a stop-loss would be advised at Rs. 5 below the call! What’s the point in it? You make only your stock broker rich! Has anyone gotten rich trading in stocks? You get rich only by investing in good businesses.
So, only the traders or momentum investors who invest based on charts and technicals will be interested in such calls. Just to make a paltry sum as profit. Anyway not us, value investors, who are in pursuit of buying an asset worth a rupee for fifty paise. I intend something unique. A free forum, where the discussion is to be purely on the merits, business opportunities, fundamentals, business valuation, and intrinsic values of businesses; not the charts, technicals, or momentum. Isn’t it a good idea?
The Result: Value Investors’ Forum of India on Facebook
Retail participation in Indian stock markets is extremely low. Out of the retail participation, only a very few retail investors follow the value investment approach. Unlike other countries, in India shares are the only asset that swings wildly from significant undervalue to hyperinflated prices compared to other assets like real estate or gold. However, retail investors are not exploiting this marvelous opportunity of grabbing an asset for a price significantly lesser than its intrinsic value. Retail investors usually jump into the bandwagon at the peak of a bull market, burn their fingers, and will stay away until the next bull market. To my knowledge, this has been happening at least for the past two decades.
All intelligent investing is value investing – acquiring more than you are paying for. You must value the business in order to value the stock. -Charlie Munger
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As the quest for an Indian value investors’ forum didn’t materialize, I ended up starting and building our value investment club. Furthermore, due to the limitations, I am unable to share here on this blog all the tidbits of information and good reads that I come across often on the subject of value investing. I could do that on the forum. Apart from my updates, it is going to be a forum where you can exchange your investment ideas, share your thoughts on extraordinary situations, express your opinions, and discuss your experiences in investing.
You’re invited
You can post your questions, actively participate and benefit from the buzz that’s about to go on in the Value Investors’ Forum of India on Facebook. I can guarantee you that the message boards will be actively moderated for spam. Any update on the forum that doesn’t fit the value investing approach (eg., technical analysis, penny stocks, futures, options, trading, commodities, forex, paid subscription invitations, etc.) will be quickly removed. The quality of the postings on the forum is therefore guaranteed. Entry into the forum is going to be absolutely free for you. Come, join the forum. Participate, clarify your doubts, share your insights. Exploit the profit opportunities in Indian stock markets.
Update: The forum is there on LinkedIn too. Join the Value Investors’ Forum of India on LinkedIn.
I could see both Rajasekharan and Raj & Co updating on that forum. Are you two different persons? Just thought to ask.
Both are one and the same. I browse through Google Plus in those two IDs. As and when I come across an interesting information, I share it to the forum. Mostly I share money matters in the Raj & Co ID and all other things in my personal ID, as a brand building effort with Raj & Co.