scorecardresearchUnderstanding risk management before investing in the stock market

Understanding risk management before investing in the stock market

Updated: 24 May 2022, 05:42 PM IST
TL;DR.

Stock market investment provides high returns but it is also associated with heavy risks. Read the piece to understand how such risks can be mitigated.

Risk management in the stock market is the technique of identifying risks and developing ideas and strategies for their reduction along with the maximisation of high returns.

Risk management in the stock market is the technique of identifying risks and developing ideas and strategies for their reduction along with the maximisation of high returns.

Thanks to an extremely volatile nature of the stock market, there are multiple risks associated with an investment in it. Risk management is the technique of identifying those risks and developing ideas and strategies for their reduction along with the maximisation of high returns.

Below are a few methods through which risk management can be done.

Awareness of the market trends

The stock market is dynamic in nature. So, it becomes crucial for the investors to be very diligent in constantly gaining information about the changes in the stock market. Specifically, there won’t be any trend that could last for a decent amount of time but the changes do take place on a short-term basis. Investors must identify such short-term trends and try to keep up their investments in accordance with such trends.

Rational decision-making

Most of the time, investors come under pressure to make quick decisions given the situation in the stock market. Such decisions often lead to losses. Every single step taken by the investors demands thorough research and investigation with long-term and short-term benefits in mind.

Diversification of investment

Diversification of one’s investment portfolio is one of the ways to mitigate risks. Diversification in the stock market means investing in not only stocks but a wide range of financial products such as derivatives, bonds and mutual funds. This strategy can be helpful because even if investment in one product leads to losses, the rest will be able to strike a balance.

Have a plan

It isn’t a compulsion but is wise to have a specific plan ready for trading. When an investor plans the entire trading, they are in complete knowledge of when to enter and exit the stock market. The right timing of entry and exit helps minimise losses and maximise the returns. Under this, there are two major instruments that must be used. They are stop-loss and take the profit.

Firstly, take-loss is the strategy in which the investor must set the lowest bar beforehand at which they must sell the share and do not wait for the prices to rise.

At the same time, ‘take profit exit’ strategy indicates that the investor must grab the opportunity to make profits by selling the stock when the prices have risen to a certain level. Here the investor does not wait for the prices to further rise more and invite risks.

Therefore, an intelligent investor would definitely use all the strategies of risk management to omit any kind of risks and maximise profits during their investment journey.

So, it is advisable for an investor to manage risk prudently by understanding the market well, avoiding impulsive decisions, diversifying the portfolio, and making a concrete plan.

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First Published: 24 May 2022, 05:41 PM IST