Latest news with #SachinRelekar
Economic Times
5 days ago
- Business
- Economic Times
ETMarkets Smart Talk: Sachin Relekar on consumption & defense: Top themes for future wealth creation for long term investors
Welcome to ETMarkets Smart Talk. In this insightful session, we sit down with Sachin Relekar, Senior Equity Fund Manager at Axis Mutual Fund, who shares his expert views on the key themes driving India's equity highlights consumption and defense as pivotal sectors offering promising opportunities for long-term wealth creation. Amid global uncertainties and evolving domestic policies, he explains why these themes are well-positioned to benefit from India's structural growth story. Edited Excerpts – ADVERTISEMENT Q) The month of May started on a volatile note with benchmark indices witnessing wild swings on either side. How are you reading into markets?A) Since the beginning of 2025, several significant macroeconomic events have unfolded. The year commenced with a change in the US presidency, leading to a review of trade relationships with an "America First" objective. In April, the US announced reciprocal tariffs across countries in varying degrees, followed by major changes, including a 90-day pause in tariffs with all countries including China. There is also an expectation that in the coming days the US will sign trade deals with other countries. While these announcements are being made rapidly, the implementation is likely to be slow due to the importance and complexities May, India experienced a geopolitical situation which while brief, its impact was substantial. Both global and domestic capital markets reacted to these macroeconomic events in May, and it is expected that these events will continue to influence market movements in the near term. ADVERTISEMENT However, we believe that the extreme negativity from these events has already been priced in. Moving forward, greater clarity on trade relations is anticipated, which will provide direction to the the medium to long term, our outlook remains largely positive, given the stronger domestic economic prospects. ADVERTISEMENT Q) What is the sense you are making from the March quarter results? Are downgrades more than upgrades this time around?A) The earnings season has produced a mixed set of results. Companies with exposure to developed markets have reported lower earnings, which was within the consumer staples segment continue to experience lower volume growth, while consumer discretionary companies have reported weaker numbers. However, internet, telecom, and select capital goods companies have delivered positive results. ADVERTISEMENT Q) What is the long-term outlook for Indian equities over the next few years? A) We believe that India represents a long-term growth story. Our positive outlook is particularly focused on the consumption sector, with a strong emphasis on the consumer discretionary is a significant long-term trend that is expected to drive sustained growth in this area. ADVERTISEMENT Government policies are clearly designed to support domestic manufacturing, which is a critical component of India's economic strategy. The defense sector, as a thematic investment, may also hold a positive long-term outlook due to ongoing government initiatives and increased budget allocations. Overall, there are several promising themes to consider. Listed companies in India appear to have healthier balance sheets, which enhances their ability to capitalize on growth opportunities. These factors collectively contribute to a favorable long-term equity outlook for India. Q) Which sectors are expected to deliver strong returns going forward? Any safe bets which investors can consider? A) There are several interesting themes and sectors which we believe may benefit from the healthy domestic economic growth and government policies. Some of them can be consumption, consumer discretionary, etc. Q) How can high-net-worth individuals effectively build wealth in the current market environment? A) The investment outlook over the long term is largely positive. While investing one however needs to be disciplined about the management quality, business competitiveness and the same time one should take a longer-term view of the opportunity to meaningfully benefit. Last but not the least, it is important to be disciplined about asset allocation. It plays most important role in determining the financial outcomes. Q) What is your take on Gold? Recently, it crossed Rs 1 lakh in the physical market. Right time to increase allocation or investors should wait for some cool off? A) Gold is currently responding to the uncertainty surrounding global macroeconomic conditions. Should these conditions stabilize and improve, the support for gold may it is essential to focus on prudent asset allocation. Given the natural fluctuations of markets, strategic asset allocation is crucial for wealth building.A diversified portfolio is generally effective, provided one has the patience to maintain it over the long term.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views, and opinions given by experts are their own. These do not represent the views of the Economic Times) (You can now subscribe to our ETMarkets WhatsApp channel)
Time of India
5 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
ETMarkets Smart Talk: Sachin Relekar on consumption & defense: Top themes for future wealth creation for long term investors
Welcome to ETMarkets Smart Talk. In this insightful session, we sit down with Sachin Relekar , Senior Equity Fund Manager at Axis Mutual Fund , who shares his expert views on the key themes driving India's equity markets. Sachin highlights consumption and defense as pivotal sectors offering promising opportunities for long-term wealth creation. Amid global uncertainties and evolving domestic policies, he explains why these themes are well-positioned to benefit from India's structural growth story. Edited Excerpts – Q) The month of May started on a volatile note with benchmark indices witnessing wild swings on either side. How are you reading into markets? A) Since the beginning of 2025, several significant macroeconomic events have unfolded. The year commenced with a change in the US presidency, leading to a review of trade relationships with an "America First" objective. In April, the US announced reciprocal tariffs across countries in varying degrees, followed by major changes, including a 90-day pause in tariffs with all countries including China. There is also an expectation that in the coming days the US will sign trade deals with other countries. While these announcements are being made rapidly, the implementation is likely to be slow due to the importance and complexities involved. In May, India experienced a geopolitical situation which while brief, its impact was substantial. Both global and domestic capital markets reacted to these macroeconomic events in May, and it is expected that these events will continue to influence market movements in the near term. However, we believe that the extreme negativity from these events has already been priced in. Moving forward, greater clarity on trade relations is anticipated, which will provide direction to the market. Over the medium to long term, our outlook remains largely positive, given the stronger domestic economic prospects. Q) What is the sense you are making from the March quarter results? Are downgrades more than upgrades this time around? A) The earnings season has produced a mixed set of results. Companies with exposure to developed markets have reported lower earnings, which was anticipated. Companies within the consumer staples segment continue to experience lower volume growth, while consumer discretionary companies have reported weaker numbers. However, internet, telecom, and select capital goods companies have delivered positive results. Q) What is the long-term outlook for Indian equities over the next few years? A) We believe that India represents a long-term growth story. Our positive outlook is particularly focused on the consumption sector , with a strong emphasis on the consumer discretionary segment. Urbanization is a significant long-term trend that is expected to drive sustained growth in this area. Government policies are clearly designed to support domestic manufacturing, which is a critical component of India's economic strategy. The defense sector , as a thematic investment, may also hold a positive long-term outlook due to ongoing government initiatives and increased budget allocations. Overall, there are several promising themes to consider. Listed companies in India appear to have healthier balance sheets, which enhances their ability to capitalize on growth opportunities. These factors collectively contribute to a favorable long-term equity outlook for India. Q) Which sectors are expected to deliver strong returns going forward? Any safe bets which investors can consider? A) There are several interesting themes and sectors which we believe may benefit from the healthy domestic economic growth and government policies. Some of them can be consumption, consumer discretionary, etc. Q) How can high-net-worth individuals effectively build wealth in the current market environment? A) The investment outlook over the long term is largely positive. While investing one however needs to be disciplined about the management quality, business competitiveness and valuation. At the same time one should take a longer-term view of the opportunity to meaningfully benefit. Last but not the least, it is important to be disciplined about asset allocation. It plays most important role in determining the financial outcomes. Q) What is your take on Gold? Recently, it crossed Rs 1 lakh in the physical market. Right time to increase allocation or investors should wait for some cool off? A) Gold is currently responding to the uncertainty surrounding global macroeconomic conditions. Should these conditions stabilize and improve, the support for gold may diminish. Therefore, it is essential to focus on prudent asset allocation. Given the natural fluctuations of markets, strategic asset allocation is crucial for wealth building. A diversified portfolio is generally effective, provided one has the patience to maintain it over the long term.
Mint
20-05-2025
- Business
- Mint
After a spirited rebound, markets fall for third straight day
The benchmark indices fell for the third straight day on profit booking, following a rebound after India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire to end the four-day military conflict that stemmed from Operation Sindoor. On Tuesday, the Nifty 50 index fell 1.05% or 261.55 points to 24,683.9, while the Sensex 30 slipped 1.06%, its sharpest decline in five days, to end at 81,186.44. The market had rallied almost 5% from 24,008 on Friday (9 May), a day before the ceasefire, to a high of 25,116.25 on 15 May. From there, Nifty has fallen 0.08% and Sensex has declined 0.15% on profit booking. All the Nifty sectoral indices ended lower on Tuesday. The Nifty Auto index fell the most, closing 2.17% down, the India Consumption index dropped 1.77%, and the Nifty Financial Services index closed 1.73% lower. The Nifty Midcap 100 index settled 1.62% lower. The market sentiment remained negative on Tuesday, with 42 of 50 Nifty constituents ending in the red. The BSE market capitalisation fell by ₹ 5.4 trillion to reach ₹ 43.82 trillion. Of the 2,969 stocks traded on the NSE, 1974 declined and 915 advanced. Fund managers said that much of the negatives, including geopolitical tensions and global tariff uncertainties and earnings disappointments, were priced in. But with Moody's downgrading the US, a selloff in emerging market assets by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) amid rising US bond yields could crimp the short-term sentiment. 'When US bond yields go up, it's always negative for India and for emerging markets because the cost of debt is moving up,' said Christy Mathai, fund manager-equity at Quantum Asset Management Co. In such cases, investors could be better off investing in local currency and local bonds as opposed to investing in emerging markets, he said. Sachin Relekar, senior equity fund manager at Axis Mutual Fund, said, 'We believe that macro headwinds are receding.' The recent geopolitical issue with 'our neighbouring country seems to be behind us', he said. There were concerns around trade and tariffs, which were steep when proposed, but the tone of negotiations—especially with China and potentially with India too—now seems more positive, he said. 'We still need to see the final details, but it doesn't look as bad as it did around before and, hence, we believe that the two issues are less of a concern going forward,' Relekar said. Most of the earnings downgrades that had to happen have happened and there is not much room for the earnings to go down further, according to Mathai. The earnings season for Q4FY25 has not been that weak and was on the expected lines, he said. 'From hereon, we might see an 11% earnings growth for FY25-26.' FIIs have been net buyers in Indian equity markets for the last five days with inflows of ₹ 15,262 crore. Asian indices closed higher with Hong Kong's Hang Seng ending 1.49% up and Japan's Nikkei 225 settling 0.8% above the previous close.
