A boardroom packed with industry stalwarts sparked an engaging discussion on market movements, investment strategies and the evolving financial landscape.

Setting the tone, Devina Mehra, founder, chairperson and MD of First Global reflected on the Indian market’s history of corrections. Over the past 18 years, she noted, there were only three or four years without a double-digit correction, making this more of a routine. She added that 2023 stood out as a rare year which did not witness a double-digit correction.

Mehra further cautioned that whenever the market falls, the stocks that fall especially in the small-cap are often not the ones that come back. “Get into a steadier portfolio.”

Adding to that, Prashant Jain, founder and CIO at 3P Investment Managers, highlighted rising GST collections indicate a growing economic activity.

Navin Agarwal, Group MD, Motilal Oswal Financial Services emphasised phenomenal growth in both asset management business and broking business in the last half a decade. He noted the rising number of unique mutual fund investors and Demat account holders.

Jain shared that he has witnessed four times in his career that small caps are like seasonal waves, so losses will be massive.