Prajna Capital - An Investment Guide

Background There are mainly two approaches to asset allocation — The Bandwagon Approach and The Contrarian Approach. In the bandwagon approach - one chases the best performing assets and broadly follows the crowd. In the contrarian approach one focuses more on core value and enters assets that may be out of favour. The contrarian approach to asset allocation, if followed judiciously, can be rewarding. It combines a full range of fundamental and technical analysis, evaluating assets continuously — in the search for assets that are likely to reverse its past trend . It is not about just blindly doing the opposite of what the market is doing. It is about identifying assets that offer true value . Rationale One of the key reasons for using a contrarian approach to asset allocation is the cyclicality of asset classes. There are also some asset classes that are complementary to the others. For instance, when interest rates go up, it hurts the bottom line of companies and hence equitie...