Investors Advised to Approach Equities with Similar Long-Term Strategy as Buying Gold, Says Swarup Mohanty of Mira Asset

Investor Behaviour Offers Key Lesson for Equity Investors

Mirae Asset Investment Managers (India), led by Vice Chairman and CEO Swarup Mohanty, has identified a crucial lesson for equity investors in the way Indians approach gold investing. For generations, gold has been a deeply ingrained savings habit in Indian households, where families buy gold during festivals such as Dhanteras and Akshaya Tritiya with the goal of accumulation rather than tactical timing.

This disciplined pattern of buying and holding gold over decades without worrying about prices or selling during a crisis has quietly built financial security for many families. Mohanty argues that if Indian investors could transfer this same mindset to equities, the results could be transformative.

However, when it comes to equities, investor behaviour is opposite. Investors constantly worry about prices and look for exits as soon as panic strikes, as seen in the ongoing Middle East conflict. Despite multiple past instances of market volatility, investors have resorted to panic selling, with the Nifty shedding 7% in March alone since the US-Iran war erupted.

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Mohanty advises accumulating equity without obsessing over the price, similar to the traditional behaviour of buying gold. Conversely, if investors bring the bad habit of price-watching to gold, they destroy its purpose as a safety net. With MCX gold soaring almost 70% in 2025 and up another 20% this year, while the returns from the Indian equity markets over the last 18 months have been nil, Mohanty's message is less about asset allocation and more about investor behaviour.

Maintaining discipline, continuing to accumulate over time, and resisting the urge to panic during downturns can allow the power of compounding to work in favour of investors.