Diversify portfolio with bottom up strategy; bullish on IT: IIFL’s Nirmal Jain

This is a good time to build a diversified portfolio with a bottom up approach to selecting stocks, Nirmal Jain, chairman and CEO of IIFL Finance said in an interview to CNBC-TV18.

A bottom up approach to investing means focusing on the merits of a particular company irrespective of how the sector as a whole is faring, or general stock market conditions.

This is different from a top-down approach to investing, which looks at the overall economy and market conditions, and their effects on stock prices.

Till about a month back, the overall mood in the market was bullish and even companies without sound fundamentals were in demand. After two big market selloffs—one in the last week of January and the other in the last week of February—the mood has turned cautious.

Jain is bullish on IT as he expects most corporations to increase their spending on technology. Jain is not as bullish on pharma, where he feels, investors should be selective about what they are buying.

“Sectors like capital goods, consumer staples as well as discretionary or metals are also doing very well because commodity prices are doing well all over. So this is a time to pick up stocks from multiple sectors rather than putting a weight in one sector,” said Jain.

On the economy, Jain said, “From 2008 to 2018, the economy was firing up only on one engine and that is consumption growth, but in other nations there are 3 engines that drive the economic growth – consumption, investment and exports. However, given the union budget that we had, investment and exports can fire up. So, I am optimistic that 15-20 percent growth will sustain and that’s what market should return for next 3-4 years.”

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