Franklin Templeton conducted a survey in 22 countries which covered global investment sentiment. Of the Indian investors surveyed, over 80% predict that the domestic stock market will rise significantly in 2014. The sentiment doesn’t predict any different for the following years with belief that the next 10 years will be quite prosperous, especially in the area of fixed income returns.
Along with equity, property and precious metals are expected to perform the best. Considering recent market performance of precious metals in the market, property is most reliable according to Indian investors. Such sentiment is particularly welcomed, especially after subdued performance of equities over the last 5 years. Maybe this is why close to 60% of these investors still plan to be conservative in their investments for 2014. This is higher than the percentage of conservative investors globally in 2014 (52%).
One should keep in mind of the long term when planning investments, and this is why being risk-averse due to short-term events is a risky practice. This is especially true for the traditionally conservative Indian investor.