WHERE TO INVEST AND WHY

As a student of commerce, I held a belief that finance is the life-blood of business.  For the cause of business sense and sustainability flow of funds or circulation of money is important.  And in the domain of finance and business, investment stands as one of the most important activity and decision.  When it comes to investment one has to have the competence for making useful investment which can reap good returns.  Risk and return are inherent part of investments and financial growth.  As individuals or as a business entity one has to learn and master the art of making good investments so that one is able to convert them in the times of need.  Time is also an important factor when it comes to making an investment and it is linked with market expectations and capitalising on such investment in the time of need.  Futures are good options, they are the derivative products.  Derivations as such are significant to understand the evolution.  The students of commerce restrict their thinking of derivatives to finance but Interestingly derivatives and derivations are equally important in other functional areas of management or commerce.  The scholars in finance have suggested various propositions and models which help individuals as well as firms to make decisions that multiply their wealth.

Finance is a function of money market as much as of human sensitivity.  The emotional faculty of men impact capital market.  Information flow, information control, information manipulation, all these are human activities and thus play an important role in impacting perception.  Perception is the key while people operate in any kind of market or any kind of setting – market place or space, work place, society, family, virtual space or physical space, anywhere.  And perception as such is an effect of sensation – the response of sensory organs.  The cognitive architecture of individuals helps in forming perception.  Human and market relationships are greatly impacted by the kind of perception individuals form.

As mentioned earlier investments are important part of the study of finance.  Finance deals in investment of money in the capital market for the want of good returns.  Interestingly management of people and performance also depends on investment – investment in relationships. We keep on focusing on multiplying our wealth, hence keep focusing on investment of money in stocks with an expectation of good returns and when these returns are capitalised, we do not have people around with whom we can enjoy the return on investment, since we have not invested in relationships, since people have not been our focus of investment.  So, a question arises – who is the ultimate beneficiary of our investments or will the returns on investment help in our way forward.  We need to give a thought to this question and if the need be we should revisit our investment portfolio or we should reprioritise our investment priorities.  Money is an important part of finance.  It is a mean to the end of leading good and happy life.

There are individuals who invest in relationship, they build good relationships, they nurture relationships by timely reinvestments, at times without any expectation of return.  They are so invested in relationships that many a times they forget to estimate the return, it becomes so organic that it looks like a very usual process.  As investments in finance are short-term and long-term – relationships are also similar; transactional and/or meaningful; tangible or/and intangible.  One of my friends in finance told me that SIPs are better as they do not take much efforts, they are for long-term and relatively they are less risky.  Same is the case with investment in the relationships.  SIP (Systematic Investment Plan) approach of investment is quite appropriate in human relations as they require regular dose of small investments, one needs to give time to friends on regular basis.  We need to allocate resources, time and energy appropriately so that in times of need one can reap good fruits out of these investments.  Usually such investments never go waste, they help build better ties of interdependence or they leave us with strong life lessons. 

It is also observed that many a times we expect return without even investment, we seek other person’s help even when we have not helped him/her in times of need, we focus more far beyond than within self.  Investments are important as relationships are important and without investing in building relationship, expecting return is not desirable.  As one can not give what one does not have, one can not invest if one does not believe.  Achievers are great believers, believing in one’s ability and competence.  Good relationships are life time investments and their return can never be measured in terms of money – their value shall always be rising.

In order to lead a good life, we need good people around, we need positive relationships, we need dependable friends, and we need colleagues with strong sense of hope and optimism. This shall surely make our life happy and worth living.  Non-monetary return on investment shall stand much taller against monetary return.  One needs to learn the derivations of human relationships to better understand the world of commerce and business.  Human needs are unlimited and commerce and business help fulfil those needs through market.    

Looking at above relationship, I feel that all the domains of commerce and business enjoy strong inter-relationship. At times many fail to understand this closeness within and seek answers from beyond.  They create boundaries, define territories, distinguish individuals, and classify subjects for the want of discipline.  The world of business and commerce, finance and marketing, production and performance, people and product would not be doing any good if it does not make life of people worth living and does not improve their confidence level to take up challenges.  Believe me, ultimately it is damn people who need your attention for investment, every thing else shall fall in place, itself.