India’s entrepreneurial ecosystem continues to flourish, with fertile ground for businesses to grow and thrive, says Manish Chokhani, Director of Enam Holdings. Speaking on investment strategies, Chokhani emphasized that the price investors pay is the only factor within their control. “In times like these, it’s crucial to double down rather than lose faith,” he advised, urging investors to enter markets at favorable prices and adopt a long-term perspective.

Chokhani highlighted the importance of backing the right leadership, using the analogy of a capable jockey steering even an average horse to success. Support the right people in the right businesses, think long-term, and stay disciplined on pricing, he said.

Prominent market leaders like Ramesh Damani, Owner, Ramesh Damani Finance & Member, BSE, Raamdeo Agrawal, Chairman & Co-founder, Motilal Oswal Financial Services and Ashish Kumar Chauhan, CEO, NSE also shared their insights, reinforcing the optimistic outlook for India’s investment landscape. Together, they echoed the sentiment that India offers immense potential for wealth creation for those willing to think strategically and commit for the long haul.

Below is the verbatim transcript of the interview.

Q: Start with 1999, I mean you are someone who built the market infrastructure. You were at the NSE in 1999. What do you remember of that year?

Chauhan: In some ways, the infrastructure of the capital markets; in those days it was a ‘satta bazaar’ and $200 billion was probably 30% of banking system. The capital markets were very small and considered a kind of avoidable activity.

A few days back, it was 2.5x; probably 220% of the entire banking system and that is the change. The backend, National Stock Exchange (NSE) came about — first year, it became larger than any action in India but it also started clearing cooperation, it started depositories.

They were all building blocks of creating a framework. And then we were also working on setting up derivatives. So, in 1999 Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government came and one of the first things I was told was that we required change in the Securities Contract Regulation Act if we needed to set up a derivatives market.

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So, we started working on that although we had been working on derivatives since 1995 and at the last moment it came saying, if you do not do this this will not work. Of course, it went to the Parliament, got cleared, and that is where the derivatives came about in 2000; I think June 12 is when NSE started.

Q: Two or three most important lessons that investors, new investors, should remember.

Damani: I think 30 years in the market have taught me two things. One, remain broadly invested in the market. You can’t time the market. It will go up and down, and you will be happy, and then you will suddenly miss the great rally. A lot of the gains come in a very scattered amount of time. So broadly remain invested in high-quality businesses, if you will.

The second, of course, which all three will agree, is the magic of compounding that takes place. You should never let that be interrupted. It is like you are rolling a ball of snow, as Buffet said, down a hill. So you want to make sure the hill is very long, which means either you are very young or you live very old. And that is what is magical. I think compounding can take one generation from poverty to wealth if it is done properly.

The enduring lesson that I want to give to a younger audience or to a young India is, to understand our compounding work. It is the eighth wonder of the world.

Q: Three top lessons for investors you have learned.

Agrawal: For the guys who can afford, they should buy only equities out of their savings, and should be fully invested. Don’t time the market. What Ramesh Damani said it works brilliantly. I have seen 45 years. It goes very smoothly. Some days are painful, but that is the price you pay for a 15% portfolio yield, you know. So that has been the message.

There are only two markets in the world which are compounded, America and India. And we are lucky to be in India, I am telling you because in China, which is as big a market, or much bigger market, in 2020 CSI 300 was about 2000 and in 25 years, they are struggling at 4,000. We were at that time 1000 Nifty. Today we are at 24,000-25,000 so the smoothness of the market is extremely important. That slope is very important. And that is the achievement of the Indian way of working, entrepreneurship, political management, the banker’s freedom to determine interest rates and those kind of things. And an ever-building institution — I don’t think there is anything like NSE in the whole world. You clear $7-9 trillion and they can do still 5-10x of that without any problem.

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This country has the capability to create and this technology, the digital technology, is so exponential, I think we have to be optimistic. The first thing is you have to be optimistic about coming into the market and staying invested and waiting for your compounding to happen because patience is going to be the most important thing.

You should bring patience when things are bad like when the markets are roaring, everybody is in the market, but when times are bad, markets are falling. That time, you should have the patience and stay invested.

Chokhani: Number one is the price that you pay is the only thing you control as an investor. So when there are times like what we are going through now, is not the time to lose the faith, but to double down. So enter at good prices. The soil in India is fertile for entrepreneurs and businesses. So stay the long haul, because you will compound a lot of money and three back the right leadership.

You can be in the best business with the wrong jockey on the horse, as you call it. But if you find the right jockey, he is going to make even a stupid horse run well. So back the right people, the right business, think long term, be long term greedy, but remember, price is the only thing in your hand, so be very strict on that.

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