Stocks, MFs, Gold, Silver: Where to put money in this market? Jashan Arora of Master Trust explains

The benchmark equity indices BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty have outpaced broader markets in the ongoing calendar year till July 17. Where the BSE Sensex has gained 5.27% YTD, the BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap indices have advanced 1.34% and 0.83%, respectively. The trend raises a key question: where should one bet amid the ongoing geopolitical tensions and significant outflow of more than Rs 80,000 crore by foreign institutional investors (FIIs)?
 
In an interaction with Business Today, Jashan Arora, Director at Master Trust Group, said the global equity markets have been witnessing interesting times, all thanks to the person at the helm in the United States. “Earlier, we used to wake up and check SGX Nifty. Today, we check social media to see what he has written.”
 
Arora believes that domestic flows have supported the market in the recent past. He believes that the next 18 months could see a time correction rather than a price correction, like 2011-2014.
 
While sharing his advice with retail investors, Arora said that SIPs should continue, and investors should go aggressive if there is a market fall. “Indians have missed investing in commodity ETFs like silver and gold. There's a huge demand-supply mismatch in silver, and I think silver will outperform gold in the next 2-3 years,” he said.

Commenting on the recent Jane Street incident, Arora added that if they did something wrong, they should be penalised and not allowed to take money out of India. Sebi has never penalised anyone at such a high value before. “I think regulators should have stopped it earlier. Position restrictions should be introduced,” he said, adding that small traders need better information, disclaimers, and education about risks. There should be eligibility or aptitude tests before trading derivatives.
 
“New-to-market investors should not be allowed to trade derivatives without understanding the risks involved,” he said.
 
The market watcher is bullish on private sector banks. He said that they have been conservative in the last 3-4 years. Their balance sheets are healthy, and they have a decent loan book. “They haven't given high returns recently, but they can be a good contrarian bet. IT, however, is tricky. I am not very bullish due to instability in the US and the disruption caused by AI,” Arora said. He also thinks that the real estate sector will do well due to transparency and high demand with limited supply. He is also positive on the auto sector (except EVs) for the next 2 to 4 years.

Arora also told Business that Master Trust Group is also considering entering the mutual fund space. “We may be late, but considering how rapidly the market, the mutual fund industry, and even our SIP book is growing, I still believe there’s a lot of room to play. Compared to all the Western and developed countries, we’re still way behind. For instance, the ETF market in India is still underdeveloped,” he said.
 
Arora added that multi-cap is the best route for investors. “And for conservative investors, just put your money into Nifty Bees or Junior Bees and forget about it. You will still beat FD returns by at least double over 5-7 years,” he said.