I think retail is a very big participant in these markets. Whenever retail participation is very high, it is not a good sign. In stock markets, the majority is seldom right over long periods.
If you look at the retail flow of savings into equities, roughly $40 billion a year is coming to mutual funds. Maybe, $15 billion net flows into the insurance industry and another $10-15 billion is coming through the EPFO and the NPS. If you assume direct participation in stocks to be another $10-15 billion, it adds up to $80- 100 billion per year.
India’s pool of household financial savings is about $300-350 billion; 10% of the GDP. This suggests that almost 30% of household financial savings is now getting into equities
–said Prashant Jain, CIO, HDFC AMC
