Bajpai advises investor discipline

Sebi chairman G N Bajpai urged retail investors to invest in the stock market in a sensible manner and follow self discipline.

Bajpai ,while addressing retail investors at the CNBC TV 18 Investors Camp in the city recently said, "Investors must have self discipline and must take tangible targets for hyper greed can lead to huge losses which they might not be able to withstand for the market cannot deliver unrealistic returns."

Investors should set ones gain expectations, risk withstanding capability and return levels and invest accordingly. Citing an example he said, "Someone being able to take 25 per cent risk should hedge their investment in suitable manner in other instruments too."

The chairman urged the investor community to make use of information which these days were freely available to enhance ones returns and not to rely on rumours.

He also said that persons not very familiar with the process of interpretation of information. Investors should not very savvy with interpreting information available on companies should take help of fund managers for better returns from the market and minimisation of risk.

Bajpai stressed on investors right to seek information. "Shareholders have the right to oppose changes in companies if they find it to their and the company's detriment and can also demand an investigation by the company law board," he added.

This also meant that they had to be serious about their obligations. "It was your money and you should invest wisely, deal compulsorily through trading platform, and through registered brokers" he advised.

They should also sign contracts which help if there were disputes.

Referring to losses suffered by retail investors he said a large number of them enter the market when these are ruling high and exited when market decline sufficiently and has nose dived in certain cases.

He however said that in india we have been able to minimise the risks to a great extent. and have reduced systemic risk, structural risk and operational risk to a great extent.

Talking about the Indian IPO market, he said it has advanced a lot "" we have designed it to move closer to pure computerisation system removing human errors. These are now rated among the best globally.

"Sebi has conducted as many as 728 workshops in the last few months and this will continue," he concluded.