Date : 10th Oct 2012

Speaker: Ms. Shefali Malik- Equity Analyst, NDTV Profit

Topic: Behavioural Finance

Venue: Skyline Business School, Delhi Campus

Ms. Shefali Malik began her lecture by giving a brief description about the role of media in society & where does business journalism fall under the overall pie of journalism. She gave a brief on how media is a dynamic industry & which keeps everyone excited. She then moved on to her own work profile & how a typical research analyst works. Tracking markets of different sectors & looking out for stories comprises primary duties. Being ahead of others in news updation becomes the key to success in such cases

The students now probed the speaker on a further few points & their main doubts where on the concept of behavioural finance. They wanted to know whether there is a psychological component to the way markets behave. The speaker then cleared the students’ doubts by explaining how investors do not necessarily make rational decisions. Well performing organizations may struggle in the stock exchange & vice-versa due to the public’s perceptions about respective firms. Ms. Malik also informed how policy reforms also impact on the stock markets. The recent allowing of the FDI in retail sector saw a sudden spurt in movement in the retail industry.

Ms. Malik ended her lecture on a cautious note by saying that how India is presently on the downward slide in terms of ratings by international agencies. S & P, Moody’s & Fitch have all downgraded India’s credit ratings in the last few months. Thus she explained how a market analyst in a media firm needs to avoid the ‘herd mentality’ & follow ‘value investing approach’.

Written by Mr.Aritro Dasgupta