November 19, 2019
Lord Ganesha – the Vighnaharta or “destroyer of all obstacles that come our way”, is source of so much wisdom and power that we begin all our auspicious work only after worshipping him. Each year we indulge in 10 days extravaganza to commemorate his birth. We begin with establishing Gansha’s idol on the day of Vinayaka Chaturthi and festival concludes with immersion of the idol on Anant Chatudashi in holy waters. Does this have any resemblance to what we do to our investments? Lets explore and seek some guidance from the Lord of Wisdom.
This whole process involves three sub-processes – Sthapana – establishing the Ganesha’s idol, Ganeshotsava – worshipping it for ten days and then Visarjana – immersing it on completion of the period.
*Sthapana* – It is akin to creating your investment portfolio. We select a statue, cloths and accessories etc. having an image in our minds as how our God should look like (goal). Similarly we work on determining allocations among asset classes and products to achieve our financial goals. We look at risk and return prospects of individual investment product and see if it matches our risk appetite. So Ganapati-Sthapana is same as creation of portfolio.
*Ganeshotsava* – After the Deity has entered the home it is worshipped for next 10 days. Daily new flowers are offered, incensed sticks lighted, prasadam prepared and distributed after offering to the Deity. After investing our funds we can’t sit idle. One has to periodically monitor and review the portfolio. Evaluate individual investment and overall portfolio periodically, to ensure that each investment is performing and contributing to overall growth of the portfolio as planned.
*Visarjana* – Concluding the festival, we immerse the idols on Vinayaka Chaturthi. This day is fixed. One may construct very impressive portfolio but if you fail to align your investments with your goal, you might suffer. It is more important to know when you have to disinvest than when to invest. While you can make investment any time but where to invest – answer to this depends on when to disinvest or when you will require these funds.
And absence of this knowledge damages the investments for most of the investors. Each asset class or investment product has its own risk and return proposition and an investment cycle. One has to endure a full investment cycle to realize full benefits of that asset class. But if you fit in an investment product in your portfolio without matching its investment cycle to your goals, then it may cause trouble.
So it is of utmost importance for you to know when to do Visarjana before you do Sthapana.
*InvestmentMitra* wishes May Sidhivinayaka shower its blessings of wisdom, wealth and happiness over you and all your dear ones!
Happy Ganesh Chaturthi
Team InvestmentMitra