A landmark year

For me, anniversary issues of our magazines are always a nostalgia trap. As the founder of Value Research and the magazines, I naturally look at the past with a certain fondness, as a father does to his children. The temptation is always to talk about the past, the turbulent yet exciting journey of almost two decades. However, I must stop myself from going too far down that path. Apart from some long-time readers, most of you are not here to reminisce about the past but to create a better future. As every mutual fund investor knows too well, past performance does not indicate future returns. Wealth Insight has served you well for 18 years with equity research, but that's not why you are reading this issue - you are reading this because of what you expect us to do in the coming years. Our commitment is to keep evolving to provide you with the most insightful analysis and research to help you invest better.

This past year has been a landmark for equity research at Value Research and Wealth Insight. Six months ago, we launched our Stock Rating system, a project that had been in the polish-to-perfection field for a long time. The primary goal of Value Research Stock Ratings is to uncover valuable investment ideas, not just the popular ones. We strive to identify opportunities that offer long-term value rather than short-term thrills. So, what do these ratings do for you? Essentially, they provide a ready-made packet of quick research that you can apply immediately to any stock. It's an investing framework designed to guide the initial stages of your investment decisions.

A robust investing framework serves as a consistent decision-making tool, narrowing the universe of potential investments to a manageable subset for further analysis by applying a uniform, no-exceptions set of principles. Committing to a specific philosophy and process helps investors avoid emotional decisions, filters out noise, saves time that would otherwise be spent devising new strategies, and, most importantly, directs actions rather than reactions in times of market volatility. Investors often get excited about stocks and ignore potential downsides. For instance, it's common to focus on growth and forget about valuation. A rating framework helps prevent such oversights.

In fact, one of the stories in our cover packages of 'Wealth Insight' July 2024 issue is meant to be a walkthrough of how the rating system is especially useful at a time like the current one. When the markets are raging, it's easy to ignore warning signs about individual stocks. That's exactly the problem that the rating system solves.

Another story in our anniversary package is about international investing. Of all the asset classes that Indian investors should invest in, we invest the least in foreign equity. The easiest way to invest abroad has been through mutual funds, but in recent months, this route has been closed by the government. However, you can still invest abroad directly by buying stocks yourself. Unfortunately, most investors are aware of only the top few well-known foreign stocks. This part of our cover story package takes you beyond these top few and discusses how to broaden your foreign investments.

As we mark this anniversary, we continue to deliver on our unwavering commitment to your financial success. Here's to a future filled with insightful research, successful investment strategies, and enduring growth for all our readers. Together, we will navigate the ever-changing financial landscape, achieving greater heights and unparalleled success.