We Are Major Now

With your continued patronage, we have scaled a new height.

Today, Mainstream Investments is turning 18.

When in 2005, when I along with my wife Pamita launched this company, many of my well-wishers advised us not to take the plunge. We were just married and taking the uncertainties of a new business along with the mounting expense of running a newly married life was quite difficult they felt in their right earnest. But with some conviction, we went ahead with a Private Limited company right from the start. Pvt Ltd companies have to follow a lot of compliances along with substantial maintenance costs.

I had the motorcycle then but the visitor card read “director of the company”.  Thankfully we had the blessings of our initial clients who could see the conviction of our idea and willingness to serve honestly. Hopefully we have maintained their trust with our dedication and integrity.

During this long period, Mainstream had seen many different phases of the market. We had seen the heady period of 2005 to early 2008 when the market jumped from 6000 to 21000 and then we saw the huge collapse when the market plummeted to less than 8000. 2008 was really a scary time when we struggled to keep our business floating. The other big challenge came during the early days of Covid when again the market collapsed by 39% followed by massive lockdown and fear psychosis.

But, we were determined to remain in this business with a “come what may” attitude mainly because of the trust of our clients. Also, we knew the funny nature of the stock market which compensated for the losses very soon. In 2009 the market rebounded by almost 100% and we are back in the race.

Now with the completion of 18 years, we can look back and recall some of the satisfying accomplishments in our journey-

– We have pioneered the concept of systematic transfer plan (STP) for our clients when even the mutual funds were not trained to carry out these transactions.

– We have been providing a goal oriented financial planning process called AWAKEN which transforms the power of investments in a very big way.

– Our service motto is to complete the client service on that day itself.

– During the big meltdowns of the stock market, we proactively advised our clients to rebalance their portfolio. We believe that every market downturn can be used as an opportunity if we have a good system in place.

– During the downturn of the market, we always remained in touch with our clients. In fact during such a period, our responsibility becomes even bigger to continuously engage with the clients.

– We believe that investment is the way of life. We motivate our clients to remain lifelong investors.

– We have observed that the biggest challenge for the clients is to stay invested for a long time. Only by staying invested for the long term, you can reap the power of compounding. Our system is designed to help our clients become test match players instead of T-20 dashers.

Some of the interesting moments during our journey-

1) One of my client’s daughter had just started her career. He made her start one small SIP when I happened to meet him in 2005. Since then her fascination with SIP continued .Today her portfolio is worth Rs 4 Crores.

2) One of the clients started a very small SIP of Rs 1,000. Over the years, he continued his modest SIP and later his wife also started saving though small SIP. He bought two flats in Noida mainly from the portfolio he built over the years.

3) After filling the application forms for investment, one new client went to a temple and did a Sai pooja. Those investments worked real wonders and today after 17 years, they have multiplied by10 times. Prayers and faith in God does work wonders!

4) We have some clients who have been maintaining their regular monthly from the portfolio itself. Over the period, their portfolio grew substantially despite taking regular monthly income.

One such client not only takes regular income but his portfolio also grew by nearly 2.5 times in the last 18 years.

5) One of my clients Invested 10 Crores through us and through some of the banks. In 2008,when the market crashed, he exited despite my strong advice not to do so. He incurred 50% losses. Subsequently, I knew that he again started investment and built a decent portfolio through some other advisor. But during covid he again pressed the panic button and sold his investments at 40% loss. Some clients must be told very clearly not to come close to the stock market.

6) One of our clients kept his investment in liquid funds for more than 14 years. He never got convinced that this is a good market to invest in equity funds. Too much market analysis is a sure shot recipe for paralysis.

7) With more than 23 years in this field overall, I am currently serving the third generation of a few families.

There are many more interesting titbits of our journey which we shall continue to share in future as well. Of Course the coming time will be equally interesting so there will be a lot to add in terms of interesting anecdotes.

Let me state a few numbers-

Portfolio we are managing- Approx. 200 Crores.

Total clients we serve- 672

Number of clients who are running their SIPs- 180

Number of clients who have built more than 1 Crore portfolio only through SIPs- 40

Number of clients who are taking comprehensive financial Planning AWAKEN- 50

But this is only the start. With your continued trust and love, we will continue to scale new heights together and achieve the coveted balance of health, wealth and wisdom.

Thank you once again from the bottom of my heart for giving us the opportunity to serve you.

Manoj Pandey

CFP