Stock market is like a casino for Indians: Study

By siliconindia   |   Thursday, 29 April 2010, 17:22 IST   |    2 Comments
Printer Print Email Email
Mumbai: An average Indian is still shying away to wear the hat of investor. An average Indian still feels that the stock market is like a casino, according to a study by brokerage firm SMC Capital. The study said that while India adds 1.9 crore new mobile phones each month, the number of new demat accounts comes to only 1,90,000, reports PTI. Till date, the country has only 1.7 crore demat accounts. The lukewarm response to demat accounts "shows that while the story of Indian as a consumer has opened up, the story of India as an investor is still under wraps," said Jagannadham Thunuguntla, SMC Capitals Equity Head. While the current underpenetration of direct investor base in India is a definite case of potential in the long term, this statistics may also indicate that an average Indian is yet to get convinced about the reliability and dependability of Indian capital markets, the study said. The tepid investor response could be the reason why several areas of financial services such as asset management, wealth management, portfolio management, and online broking are yet to taste success in the country, Thunuguntla added.