ETMarkets Smart Talk: This CIO raises exposure to real estate stocks; sees multi-year growth opportunity

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

“We believe India's investment and real estate cycle are in their early stages and can witness multi-year growth led by continuity of public and private sector investments and favourable govt policy,” says Taher Badshah, CIO, Invesco Mutual Fund.

In an interview with ETMarkets, Badshah said: “We have recently increased our exposure to residential real estate noting demand resilience, steady improvement in demand-supply,” Edited excerpts:

We are seeing some turnaround in Indian markets – is it the Diwali dhamaka or Santa rally?
Indian markets were off to a weak start in the early part of 2023, trailing global markets due to growth concerns, particularly in the consumption economy, from rising interest rates and higher relative valuations.

Unlock Leadership Excellence with a Range of CXO Courses

However, markets have been steadily outperforming now for more than 6 months as the overall investment cycle has maintained strength, inflation has cooled off and the impact of interest rates on consumption has been less worrisome.

We are very constructive on India's overall economic cycle for the next few years led by the ongoing structural investment agenda and supported by a more broad-based recovery in consumption demand starting in 2024.

This is also borne out by the strong performance in recent months of the broader markets constituents that are more leveraged to the domestic economy. To us, therefore, this rally appears much more secular than just festive-led cheer.

Why Saurabh Mukherjea is not gung-ho