This is the best time to buy quality shares: Prateek Agarwal, ASK Investment Manager
In a chat with ET Now, Prateek Agarwal, ASK Investment Manager, says people should wait out the volatility and see what is proposed in the budget
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In a chat with ET Now, Prateek Agarwal, ASK Investment Manager, says people should wait out the volatility and see what is proposed in the budget
ET Now: Nifty has closed below 7000, what is next?
Prateek Agarwal: Given the ferocity of the fall it is but obvious that we will get margin calls on Friday and very clearly the environment is uncertain. Indian policy makers are conspicuous by their absence and in fact over the past few days may have added fuel to the fire by stating that capital gains need to be taxed and so should dividends. So it is not helping. People should wait out the volatility and see what is proposed in the budget. On a short covering kind of a day you will get a big one but otherwise give or take one or two per cent, it would pause, take breath and only then can it gather steam upwards. So the idea should be to wait out see the volatility subside, see the budget before taking any long term calls.
ET Now: If you had surplus cash or fresh cash to deploy, where would you like to pick your spots?
Prateek Agarwal: For long-term investors, these are very good times. Good quality names are available at 20-30 per cent below the near term highs and that is a very significant cut. Typically, if you see this part of the market in the past, these kind of cuts have practically never happened. So in some sense, this offers a great buying opportunity for long-term investors and for us. We are very clearly focussed in terms of our positioning, in terms of what we offer to the investors at the highest end of the market, the end where we also see strong, sustained growth in EPS. I believe if those kind of names are available at sharp cuts to recent highs, that is probably the best place to park the money. I can substantiate it by also looking at long held market belief that stuff that falls the last is probably the first to go up and as other panellists have been saying, quality is the last to fall. So in all probability it would be the first to go up as well.
ET Now: Nifty has closed below 7000, what is next?
Prateek Agarwal: Given the ferocity of the fall it is but obvious that we will get margin calls on Friday and very clearly the environment is uncertain. Indian policy makers are conspicuous by their absence and in fact over the past few days may have added fuel to the fire by stating that capital gains need to be taxed and so should dividends. So it is not helping. People should wait out the volatility and see what is proposed in the budget. On a short covering kind of a day you will get a big one but otherwise give or take one or two per cent, it would pause, take breath and only then can it gather steam upwards. So the idea should be to wait out see the volatility subside, see the budget before taking any long term calls.
ET Now: If you had surplus cash or fresh cash to deploy, where would you like to pick your spots?
Prateek Agarwal: For long-term investors, these are very good times. Good quality names are available at 20-30 per cent below the near term highs and that is a very significant cut. Typically, if you see this part of the market in the past, these kind of cuts have practically never happened. So in some sense, this offers a great buying opportunity for long-term investors and for us. We are very clearly focussed in terms of our positioning, in terms of what we offer to the investors at the highest end of the market, the end where we also see strong, sustained growth in EPS. I believe if those kind of names are available at sharp cuts to recent highs, that is probably the best place to park the money. I can substantiate it by also looking at long held market belief that stuff that falls the last is probably the first to go up and as other panellists have been saying, quality is the last to fall. So in all probability it would be the first to go up as well.
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