Standard Chartered's Fook Hien Yap explains India investment strategy for the year

Standard Chartered Bank views India as a key component of its investment portfolio, particularly favouring large-cap investments as there is a higher margin of safety.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Fook Hien Yap, Senior Investment Strategist at Standard Chartered Bank, explained the bank's approach, stating, “We have a barbell approach; on one hand we like cyclical sectors like industrial and discretionary but on the other hand we also want to balance it with healthcare, which is a bit more of a defensive approach. So, our preference is still with the large caps this year.”

The barbell strategy involves splitting an investment portfolio into two extreme ends of the risk spectrum -- low-risk assets like government bonds for safety, and high-risk assets like stocks for growth -- minimising medium-risk investments.