And you thought Bollywood is just for fun
and entertainment. Legendary Bollywood actors and actresses have words of
wisdom that can help professional fund managers and investors alike. After all,
investment is art as much as it is science. Hence, there is no shame in taking
some cues from film artists!
The conference will focus on five important
investment themes viz., Investment Strategy & Financial Planning, Stock
Selection, Role of Advisors, Risk Management and Ethics. Present day
celebrities, yesteryear stars, and even dead Bollywood legends will spring to
life and deliver masterpieces from their movies to investors and fund managers.
Before the formal sessions begin, there
will be a conference flag off. You guessed it right, an item number by Shah Rukh
Khan and Bipasha Basu! No Bollywood event ever happens without a Shah Rukh Khan
dance.
There will be no Q&A after the sessions
since Bollywood actors can only play pre scripted roles, and cannot react to
sudden questions.
Investment Strategy and Financial
Planning
The opening session will be star-studded
with 6 leading actors (living and dead!) sharing their views and ideas on
investment strategy and financial planning.
Amjad Khan will kick start the session with
his famous dialogue from Sholay “Only one man can save you from
Gabbar’s anger; only one man…Gabbar himself”. He is politely asking
you as an investor to take responsibility about your savings and be
accountable. At the heart of any good strategy is its simplicity which Hrithik
Roshan expounds through his Kaho Na Pyaar Hai dialogue “beauty lies within
simplicity”. The podium will then be shared by the legendary Raj Kapoor
and Dilip Kumar, who will explain to the audience the importance of portfolio diversification.
Raj Kapoor’s Shree 420 lines “My shoes are Japanese, these pants
are British, I have a Russian red hat on my head…but still my heart is India”
will explain diversification even to a layman, while Dilip Kumar’s hard-hitting
dialogue from Karma “To protect his cubs, a tiger does
not need wild dogs” advises us to keep it simple, and protect one’s
portfolio with a little bit of smart diversification.
Anil Kapoor and Hrithik Roshan will then
dwell on the timing aspect of the investment strategy. In Jodha Akbar, HR says “There is a big difference between winning and ruling”.
Winning is a short term gain, while ruling is a long term perseverance. Investment
world will provide you with countless short term winning opportunities but the
trick is to convert them to long term growth and stability. In other words,
don’t be short term focussed. And Anil Kapoor is there to warn you about bad
timing, just like he did in Masafir, where he said “Whether the policemen
are real or fake…bloody, they always comes late”. Farhan Akthar and
Madhuri Dixsit will end the session with some sage advice. FA will motivate you
to have conviction, like when he said in Luck by Chance “keep walking on your
road, keep on walking… and slowly the whole world will come on your road”.
So what if you make mistakes, are we not here to learn from it? These parting
words will come from Madhuri Diksit, “Every sorrow is the beginning of a
probable happiness…and every loss is an indicator of an upcoming profit”
(Devdas). Life is a cycle; cut your losses, learn your lessons, and work
towards your inevitable profit!
Stock Selection
The next session is lead by the don of all
dons, Amitabh Bachan, who along with 5 others will give you some tips on stock
selection. They will dwell on complicated concepts like valuation, volatility,
behavioural finance, and even luck!
In deference to his stature, the senior
Bachan will take the floor to extoll the virtue of saying no. “To make progress in this world…it is very important to say no” (Agneepath).
This is especially true during bubbles when stock valuations reach dizzy
levels. It is during times like this you should be able to say no. In stock
selection there are some dos and don’ts. Govinda (Deewana Mastana) will
encourage you to have patience, “This world is a bus stop and a girl
is a bus. If you run behind it then you will miss it, but if you stay in the
same place then another one will come from the front”. Jackie Shroff
(Farz) will reinforce the importance of patience “The fun of hunting
comes only when…the prey does not get captured quickly”. The don’ts
will be driven home by Dharmendra (Yamla Pagla Deewana 2), where he will
explain the behavioural finance concept of not getting emotional in your stock
selection, “How many times have I told you…have fun, but don’t fall
in love”. The junior Bachan (Abhishek) will take the discussion to a
more technical level where he will emphasize on the contrarian theory (When
people are talking against you…then you are making progress-Guru) and
volatility (Every hurdle…is a chance to get to the destination-Sarkar Raj).
In
case you thought stock selection is all about skill, Jackie Shroff is here to
explain the role of luck as well “Sometimes luck comes before death”.(Farz)
The Role of Advisors
Bollywood actors are very much used to the
concept of advisors, and hence can succinctly explain their importance while
making investment decisions. This short session will be anchored by three
people, led by Hrithik Roshan “I will never leave your hand…not
today, not now, and not ever” (Aap Mujhe Achhe Lagne Lage). This is exactly
what every financial advisor should swear to his clients! Dilip Kumar (Saudagar)
will emphasize the point further “A right is not asked with head
bowed down…but with the head held up”. As a client you have every
right to question your advisor, until
you are satisfied with the answer. And don’t be a Dharmendra from Sholay who
said “we work only for money”. A financial advisor
should never give such a feeling to his/her clients.
Risk Management
“To live life there are only two
ways…one whatever is happening let it happen, keep tolerating it..or else take
responsibility to change it” (Rang De Basanti).
Aamir Khan will take the floor on risk management with this opening. While risk
management is hard work, it eventually pays off. Jackie Shroff in Border did
tell viewers “The more you sweat in peace…the less you bleed in war”.
Prepare and position your portfolio from a risk perspective, so you bleed less
during a financial crisis. And what is the consequence of ignoring risk
management. “In trying to achieve a lot a human sometimes loses
everything”. Govinda in Andolan is not talking about ponzy schemes!
Ethics
From a grand start of 6 in the opening
session, the last session will have only two doyens speaking about ethics, as
most of the attendees eagerly await the close. “Rather than living
under the roof of humiliation…it is better that a person lives without any roof,
but with respect intact” (Khudgarz). Jeetendra is simply driving the
point that ethics in investment world will ensure no humiliation at all times.
Dev Anand (Johny Mera Naam) will give us the thumping end by screaming “I can sell the moon for you…but not my honesty”.
Closing Session
The conference will end with the screening
of a yet to be and never to be released movie “Black money, Bollywood and
Switzerland!”
