Need to focus on opportunity and not just valuation in India, says Mirae Asset's Jisang Yoo

Jisang Yoo, CEO, Mirae Asset Capital Markets was addressing audience at the Mirae Asset Capital Markets' Invest India Global Conference in Mumbai on May 22.

Most foreign investors in India are distracted by the chatter around valuation concerns and tend to lose out on opportunities, Jisang Yoo, CEO, Mirae Asset Capital Markets has said, while addressing audience at the Mirae Asset Capital Markets' Invest India Global Conference in Mumbai on May 22.

Jisang Yoo argued that investors should move beyond metrics such as price-to-earnings ratios and instead focus on earnings growth and emerging innovation. “Many of the India companies are growing,  new sectors are coming, and new unicorns are emerging in India next to the US now,” Yoo said.

Mirae Asset CEO added that he sees great opportunities for India's growing wealth management sector.  Yoo recalled a misconception that India was ‘low income’, when measured in US dollar terms, but in reality, state-level GDP per capita reveals a changing face of India's financial sector.

“When I checked the data, I couldn’t find any instance of per capita GDP being just $2,500,” he said, adding that many states are already approaching $7,000 to $10,000. "The idea that India is a low-income country is a misinterpretation of averages," he said.

As incomes rise and more Indians transition into the affluent and upper-middle-class segments, demand for professional financial advice is growing rapidly. “In the past, when Indians started accumulating wealth, the natural progression was to buy gold, then property, and finally park the rest in fixed deposits with 8-9 percent returns,” he said.

Now, the landscape is shifting. With inflation showing signs of stabilizing and infrastructure catching up with growth ambitions, interest rates have started to fall.

Hence, as rates fall people will start exploring new investment avenues, where wealth management will play an important role, said Yoo.

India’s emerging investors are looking for more investment opportunities. “As wealth managers, we have to evolve. It's no longer about selling products. It’s about delivering integrated solutions that align with clients’ financial goals across decades,” he said.

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