Speaking at a fireside session during the Groww India Investor Festival 2026 in Mumbai, both investors urged retail participants to ignore short-term market noise and stay focused on long-term wealth creation through disciplined investing.
“We have become used to markets delivering 15-20 percent returns every year after COVID. Markets do not move in a straight line,” Damani said, cautioning investors against drawing conclusions from short-term corrections or temporary underperformance.
Referring to past market cycles, Damani said benchmark indices across global markets have frequently moved sideways for long stretches, even while fundamentally strong companies continued to steadily create substantial shareholder value beneath the broader market’s muted performance.
“When I started my investing journey, the Sensex was below 1,000. Today it is above 80,000. There is no reason to believe India’s next 10-20 years will not continue to create massive wealth,” he said.
Addressing concerns over persistent foreign institutional investor outflows and India lagging peers such as Korea, Taiwan and the US in recent months, Damani argued that fears of a slowdown in domestic investor participation were overstated.“Whenever foreigners sell, someone is buying those stocks. Domestic investors understand Indian businesses best, and they are backing Indian companies with conviction,” he said.FIIs have offloaded domestic equities worth Rs 2.06 lakh crore in 2026, remaining net sellers for the third successive month-to-date. They have sold shares worth Rs 14,231 crore, so far this month. In less than five months, foreign investment outflow has surpassed 2025 figures of Rs 1.66 lakh crore.
Also read: FIIs sell over Rs 2 lakh crore worth of Indian equities in 2026. What lies ahead?Nifty is down over 7% on an year-to-date basis even as its Asian peers like Shanghai Composite (4%), Nikkei 225 (21%) and Kospi (74%) have outperformed the headline index. Its Wall Street rivals like Dow (2.5%) and Nasdaq Composite (13%) have also fared better.
Echoing a similar sentiment, Abakkus Asset Manager Founder Sunil Singhania said India’s economic model remains fundamentally stronger because of its consumption-led growth engine, though he acknowledged that India has not yet emerged as a dominant player in sectors such as semiconductors and deep technology.
“There is no doubt that several global companies have done phenomenally well in AI and semiconductors. But consumption and people ultimately sustain economies, and India remains one of the strongest long-term consumption stories globally,” Singhania said.
Both investors repeatedly stressed the importance of patience and compounding, warning retail investors against chasing speculative returns or shifting between trending asset classes.
“There is no secret to wealth creation. The real secret is compounding,” Damani said during the audience interaction, adding that investors should focus on quality businesses and allow investments time to grow.
Sectoral opportunities
Damani remains bullish on defence, infrastructure, logistics and energy-linked businesses, arguing they could emerge as long-term beneficiaries in an increasingly fragmented geopolitical environment.
“The world has changed. Every country now wants stronger self-defence and supply-chain independence,” he said, adding that investors would need to reposition portfolios for a changing global order.
Asset allocation: Gold/silver
The two investors also pushed back against the growing retail fascination with gold and silver following the sharp rally in precious metals.
Singhania called gold and silver as non-productive assets while emphasising the importance of equities, referring to them as growing assets. He recommended only limited allocation towards precious metals.
(Disclaimer: The recommendations, suggestions, views, and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times.)
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