The Business of Investing

Your 1000 Rs SIP won’t make you Elon Musk.”


“If the markets go down 40%, be assured you will lose money.”
“Long-term equity returns have been around 12% and this includes periods when bonds were giving higher returns.”
“There have been decades in India when the stock market has given zero returns.”

In a world where financial mis-selling is rampant, here is an institution that is actively discouraging its customers. And yet, when Rajeev Thakkar of Parag Parikh Mutual Fund said this, it was hard to escape the feeling that it needed to be said. In a world of AI, Bitcoin, and Indian loss-making tech companies trading at 100 PE, where everyone is looking for the next big idea to get outsized returns, it needed to be said.

Because investing is unlike any other business.

In most businesses, the customer is always right.
In investing, the customer is often wrong — and pays for it.

Most businesses reward activity.
Work more. Produce more. Earn more.
In investing, activity can destroy value.
Doing less is often smarter.

Most businesses rely on expert intuition.
Experience and instinct help.
In investing, intuition can hurt.
Your instincts push you to make fatal mistakes.

Most businesses measure success simply.
Revenue up. Costs down.
In investing, success depends on risk, not just return.
Two investors with the same return can have opposite outcomes.

Investing feels familiar.
But it plays by different rules.
And that’s exactly why these truths matter.