Dr Jignesh Shah and his wife Dr Jigisha Shah both are gynaecologists, working at the Jigisha Nursing Home in Ahmedabad. Son Ravi (26) and daughter Riya (25), both doctors, complete the Shah family.

Dr Jignesh Shah, 54, has been into equity markets and investing in IPOs since a long time and his relationship with the advisory firm, Dolfin Investments, goes back to the 1990s, when the firm was in its earlier avatar as a share broker.

Dolfin Investments was born as a mutual fund advisory firm in 2003 which gave a broad vision to assist the clients and encourage them to make use of mutual funds for long-term goals. While Dr Shah was earlier an equity investor, the firm advised him to invest in mutual funds.

“I was fortunate to be in the company of Dolfin Investments, as they encouraged me to invest in mutual funds, especially when such products were not so popular. This allowed me to channel my savings and investments in a diversified manner to lower the portfolio risk,” says Dr Shah.

Since he was aware about the risks of investing in equity markets, it allowed Dolfin to manage his portfolio more aggressively.

I became a Certified Financial Planner in 2010, and the concepts of savings and investments got more polished. The firm began its journey into financial planning with Dr Shah. Although the shift from one process to another was not an easy task, Dr Shah always kept faith in us, and looked forward for betterment.

Once the entire process was completed, there seemed a huge gap in goals related to emergency funds and children’s education. So, Dr Shah was advised to make regular investments in that direction through SIPs in Debt Mutual Funds. A periodic portfolio review also helped keep track of investment performance. Depending upon the market valuations, he was also advised to book profits and switch investments from equity funds to debt funds.

For Dolfin, it has been an evolving journey with Dr Shah through the years, as he kept fine-tuning his trading style. With experience in stock trading, his consistency has been improving. Later he found F&O trading an interesting space to generate profits at consistent rate. This was again a turning point in Dolfin’s journey.

As Dr Shah was taking exposure in equity, we decided to reduce his exposure in equity funds to balance the investment portfolio. A significant part of equity fund portfolio was switched to debt funds to rebalance his risk profile and align the debt-equity allocation.

Around six years back, both Ravi and Riya joined the graduation at an interval of one year and subsequent years went in taking care of the college fees of both the children. To manage the cash flows better, SIPs were started in debt funds to be redeemed at the time of fees payment. The journey was smooth only because we had complete clarity of his life goals.

Dr Shah continued to put money into debt funds as both Ravi and Riya were pursuing their Master’s degree. Debt funds helped him immensely in accumulation of funds. Dr Shah is planning to expand his hospital to a bigger place now, and with prudent financial planning with suitable risks, his dreams seem coming true after three decades of working career.

With the goals aligned with the investment portfolio, his dominant allocation in debt funds provides him confidence and safety for his near-term goals. While return on investment is secondary, his investments have generated 14.40 per cent CAGR throughout his journey even with predominant allocation in debt funds. This has effectively resulted in meaning-ful wealth creation for Dr Shah, who has always appreciated the firm’s practice and welcomed its suggestions.

Backed by years of experience, Dr Shah developed his own system for F&O and trading, called ‘RDX Strategy’. He has huge influence in both doctor and trader communities. He posts regularly on his Telegram Channel and Twitter (@bankniftydoctor) about trading. Being from the medical fraternity, Dr Shah understands the importance of health and is a firm believer of the fact that ‘Best of the health brings best of the wealth’. His children are frontline Corona warriors and facing utmost uncertainties in their lives. May God give his family utmost strength and success.

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While Dr Shah has been a learner all his life, his learnings from the investment journey are compiled here:

• Right Balance between Trading and Investment: It is very important to strike the right balance between trading and investments. Many people get carried away by the profits in trading and forgets importance of investing. Dr Shah has always been cautious and mindful about the allocation in trading and has never got carried away because of the trading profits. He has always believed that trading is not an easy money-making machine, and having the right allocation into investment helps in any short-term uncertainty and volatility.
• Plan Investments as per Short-term and Long-term Goals: An investment with a reason makes it more meaningful and stable. We always ask a simple question while taking new money: “When will you need it back?” This very simple question has allowed us to take right decisions. Until and unless there is a shortage in short-term goals, none of the allocation can be carried forward to long-term goals. One cannot compromise the investment risk in short-term goals since any intermittent volatility can jeopardise the entire plan and not a single rupee can be put into risk. Identification of short-term goals gives more clarity in allocating funds. And Dolfin has followed that process very sincerely and thoroughly.
• Importance of SIP in Debt Mutual Funds: Investing in equity funds through SIP is the most common practice nowadays. But hardly any emphasis is given to investing in debt funds. Debt funds play a very important role in short-term goals or requirements by providing reasonable safety and stability. We understood it very early and began investing in debt funds. In case of Dr Shah, SIPs in debt funds have helped immensely. Also, whenever markets gave opportunities, the firm would allocate some amount to equity funds as well, given that short-term goals are fulfilled.

Disclaimer

Financial Planning of Dr. Jignesh Shah is based on the “personal opinion and experience” of Narayan Khatri, Dolfin Investments. It should not be considered professional financial investment advice. No one should make any investment decision without first consulting their advisor and conducting research and due diligence.

Narayan Khatri, Dolfin Investments khatrinp@yahoo.com