Market in the classroom

Students of MDI manage a mutual fund and assets for 600 investors to the tune of two million rupees

Sensex is geared to hit 21,000 and it is likely to spell good news not only for the country’s top investors but also for a bunch of MBA students in the Millennium City, who proudly admit to be ‘in love with the markets’.

Thirty three students of Management Development Institute (MDI), a premier B-school in Gurgaon, track 11 corporate sectors and invest in their equity as a part of their role in a group called ‘Unnati’.

Having already invested more than Rs 20 lakh in dozens of companies, 22 first year and 11 second year students play safe and carry out thorough research of the investee companies before taking any small or big investment call.

Their way of functioning is quite simple, yet professional at the same time. Each of the 11 sectors are followed by three students – two from the first year and one from the second year. The tracking is done after going through the financial statements, quarterly reports and other updates available on various online platforms. After an incisive analysis of those companies, the investment decisions are made by three coordinators — Rishi Maheshwari, Syed Fahd Iqbal and Archit Shukla — who are senior students and set to complete their PG diploma in management in February. 

Though Syed Iqbal, 24, did not have any stint with a corporate after he completed his engineering degree but his passion for financial markets compelled him to get bullish about Dalal Street. He used to track banking industry regularly last year for ‘Unnati’ and now, he is one of the three investment coordinators.

While investing, they curb their prejudices firmly. “We can’t afford to let our emotions blur our decisions. We ought to behave rationally for the sake of our investors, who are more than 600 in number at present,” says Iqbal.

After having developed an acumen for markets, not all the students aspire to be one of the ace investors such as Warren Buffett or Rakesh Jhunjhunwala but they certainly follow their advice for good measure. 

“As Warren has said that you should be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful, so we don’t fret when the Sensex is sliding. We know that we should follow the macro fundamentals of individual companies and not the overall index of economy. There are certain large cap and mid cap companies which continue to perform well despite the slowdown,” says Rishi Maheshwari. 

Though they have invested only in equity, which is conventionally the riskiest investment, they don’t have any qualms about it simply because they don’t raise the capital every now and then. They raise the money once a year, and it is raised from the new entrants in the first year.

In near future also, they don’t have any plan to raise funds from outside. “We tend to put a lid on our investments also. The idea is not only to make money but to learn from the entire process of making investments,” said Rishi, a civil engineering graduate from IIT Roorkee, who has also worked with merchant banking division of Sumedha Fiscal Services before returning to studies at MDI.