In the current times, because of the internet, social media and stricter guidelines by SEBI – gone are the days where ‘information or tips’ used to be the “alpha” for making money in the markets. Nowadays, listed companies have increased their communication with investors, they communicate with investors on a quarterly and annual basis by way of investor presentation, conference calls, annual reports, their own website, etc. Initiatives taken by SEBI and the penetration of social media platforms have been more and more beneficial for retail investors.
Now, retail investors have a higher chance of playing field with other big investors/institutions. Majorly, most of the so called “hidden gems” of the market are found by retail investors and are later discovered by institutions.

The “alpha” in this day and age is of how an investor or analyst perceives the available information, there are a lot of moving parts while researching a company. Information is available to everyone, but how you interpret it is the real challenge. Investing in a company doesn’t only pertain to its own financial performance, but also depends a lot on the domestic & international competitive environment, global macro environment, the threat of getting disrupted, government policies, and more.

During the 90s, the world was not so closely integrated whereas, the world is more economically integrated now, recessionary fears in the US, aging population in China, sanctions on Russian goods, cheaper exports from Bangladesh, and more such economies create an impact on the Indian companies’ current and future financial performance.

Successful investing has become more difficult but if you succeed, you generate higher “alpha” as compared to market benchmarks.