Want to know where you can invest Rs 10 lakhs this Dussehra? Radhika Gupta answers

Historically, Dussehra is celebrated as the time when Lord Ram killed Ravana, rescued Sita, and consequently, restored law and order in the world. With the Sensex crossing the magical 60,000 threshold and Nifty soaring beyond 18,000, the market is at fresh record high, seemingly slaying any slump or bearish run. 

Dussehra is a good time to clean up your portfolios, weed out what is not working, and bring in the investments that are right for your financial goals. But high market levels don’t offer much solace to those who have been sitting on the fence. At 60,000, the S&P BSE Sensex looks expensive to many. 

Presenting a special series where Moneycontrol asked three market experts  - Radhika Gupta, Nilesh Shah and Swarup Mohanty - a simple question: where to invest Rs 10 lakh right now? Here is what Radhika Gupta, Chief executive officer of Edelweiss Asset Management Limited has to say :

Radhika Gupta’s advice

Like any sound financial advisor would tell you- check your asset allocation. “Asset allocation is very personal and hence, there is no right answer to this. But a fundamental quality of this practice is that it will not make you feel stressed in the worst of the market times. Obviously, in a good asset allocation mix, we will have a sound balance of domestic equity, fixed income, and international equity, and maybe to some extent, gold. I think if you cover these things in your portfolio, it will be in a good shape.” 

As for new investors, Gupta suggests - be on a conservative side while investing, don't be overtly risky in pursuit of aggressive wealth creation, and keep investment goals and product choices clear and simple. “If you are heavily invested in the small-cap funds, even a 10 percent market correction would make you panic and jump out of the market.” 

Also Read: Where to invest Rs 10 lakhs this Dussehra? Swarup Mohanty answers

Where to invest Rs 10 lakhs this Dussehra? Nilesh Shah answers 

Where to invest Rs 10 lakh?

Gupta advises a meaningful part of the funds- about 60-70 percent - should be parked in balanced advantage funds and since the young can afford some risk while in the process of wealth creation, allocation to small-cap funds of about 10-15 percent would be desirable. “The remaining portion would be parked in international equities,” she mentioned. 

On Gold 

“It’s important to segregate physical and investment-grade gold, which included SGBs (Sovereign Gold Bonds).” Per Gupta, gold should not be seen as a value-enhancing or return generating asset category and hence, should only constitute a small part of your portfolio.