Investing in times of war: Panic, pause or buy the dip?
Published by India Today
Abhishek Kumar's role: Quoted
Abhishek Kumar advised staying calm and holding positions unless cash is needed, continuing SIPs, investing lump sums gradually through a systematic transfer plan, spreading money across equity, debt and gold by risk appetite, and named sectors exposed to oil prices.
What Abhishek Kumar said
Should I sell my investments when markets fall during a war?
My first step would be to stay calm and hold your positions instead of selling in panic during a temporary fall. If the reason you invested and your financial goals have not changed, treat the red numbers as a paper loss, which only becomes real if you exit. Cutting exposure should be a last resort, for when you need the money immediately.
Should I pause my SIPs when markets are volatile?
If you are a long-term investor, I would continue your SIPs without a break so that you benefit from rupee cost averaging. Volatility means each SIP instalment picks up extra units when prices dip, and that lowers your average cost. Since no one can reliably call the bottom, pausing SIPs in a downturn often means missing the recovery and weakens compounding over the long run.
How should I invest a lump sum during a geopolitical crisis?
It is generally wiser to spread a lump sum out through a systematic transfer plan than to invest it all at once or wait for the conflict to end. Investing over several periods lowers the chance that all your money goes in at a local peak, while still letting you take part in any price corrections along the way.
Should I move money into gold and debt during uncertain times?
I believe in spreading money across equity, debt and gold, since gold and debt usually move little with equities, or even in the opposite direction. Gold protects you against a weaker rupee and global uncertainty, while debt offers capital preservation and liquidity. But these assets tend to lag when equities recover, so the mix should follow your risk appetite rather than be a full move away from equity.
In our words, from what he said in the piece. General information, not personal advice.
More of Abhishek's views on money management
India Today discusses how retail investors should respond as conflict in West Asia unsettles markets and foreign investors sell Indian equities. Advisers and market participants cover avoiding panic selling, continuing SIPs, staggering lump-sum investments, the role of gold and debt, and which sectors may hold up or suffer from higher oil prices.
Publisher source
Investing in times of war: Panic, pause or buy the dip?