What is an Investment App?
An investment app is a mobile application that will give information about the basics of investment, data about companies that are traded on the stock exchanges, mutual funds, and other schemes. Listed company data like quotes, corporate financials, and data of mutual funds are available on these apps. It can handle routine money matters, help you to track your spending, set and achieve financial goals. They can also give recommendations of the best mutual investments according to your risk profile. Most stockbrokers in India have investment apps with the facility of online trading. Several mutual funds also have websites that provide information about their various schemes.
INVESTMENT HISTORY IN INDIA
Traditional investing in India started by opening an account with a stockbroker. Till the mid-nineties, there was physical delivery of shares bought and sold in a stock exchange in the Bombay Stock Exchange, (BSE) which was the oldest stock exchange in Asia. The main mutual fund was Unit Trust of India, which had investors receiving income from the units issued by UTI.
The foundation of the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) in 1994 was the first major reform in the financial system. The electronic trading of shares was started, which led to an eventual closing of the primitive ring trading system. The old BSE was also forced to reform itself.
Then the introduction of dematerialization of shares, around 2000, was another major reform. There used to be a problem of signature differences in the physical delivery of shares, which would lead to a delay in the transfer of shares, creating investor problems. The facility of dematerialization eliminated these problems as well as led to the instant transfer of shares in a couple of days after a person had sold the shares. Earlier in the physical settlement, it used to take nearly a fortnight for an investor to realize his proceeds.
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GROWTH IN THE NUMBER OF RETAIL INVESTORS
The number of Demat accounts in India has risen to 6.21 crore with the growth of retail investors and a spurt in trading accounts with stockbrokers with the two depositories, National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) and Central Depository Services Limited (CDSL). More importantly, the growth in Demat accounts in the past year jumped by 41 per cent.
With the young generation being tech-savvy and not risk-averse, the easy availability of investment apps, the pursuit of alternate sources of income have all contributed to growth in retail investors in India. The work from home due to the Covid-19 has also led to a growth of retail investments.
The Mutual Funds industry has grown tremendously in all parameters like assets under management, the number of schemes, funds and fund houses. This happened after the sector was opened in 1993 to the private sector. Currently, there are more than 10 crore accounts in mutual funds in India. The daily trading activity in equities has also increased significantly in recent times.
GROWTH OF INVESTMENT APPS IN INDIA
The increase in smartphone penetration, availability of cheap internet and the availability of several investment apps and a spurt in low brokerage providing firms have all led to a growth in the number of investment apps. The low interest rates in bank fixed deposits have also led to an increase in trading, and also higher growth of investment apps.
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SIX WAYS TO SELECT THE RIGHT INVESTMENT APP
With the growth of investment apps, it becomes even more important to select the right investment app to get financial information and make investments in equity and mutual funds. This is more important because traders are doing their online trading themselves than through a phone call to a broker. This makes the process more transparent but also riskier as technology problems while trading can lead to losses.
- You have to think about your needs and make a list of your requirements. One may consider achieving their financial goals and another may need a user-friendly portal and the selection of an investment apps india is done accordingly.
- The fundamentals of online trading have to be studied. There has to be a knowledge of different types of markets, like equity market, derivatives and future markets, currency markets and commodity markets. All markets have different types of risks and an investor should be aware of them. Some investment apps provide educational audios and videos on their websites which help in increase in knowledge of the investors.
- The list of top investment platforms can be studied, which give the ratings of each broker. Reviews by customers on Google Play on the investment apps will help as they narrate their actual experience on trading and other aspects. The company’s past background and the directors.
- The investment app should provide all financial information. Some sites provide assistance in everything from how to use a platform to the ways of building a winning investment strategy. Sites that provide instant support like live chats and callbacks. A good investing app can give good investing tips and give various examples of smart decisions to enable a person to start planning and making strategies for their future. Many good apps also have information about various investment types apart from stocks like bonds, mutual funds and overseas investments which is now a growing trend.
- The opportunities and risks have to be compared. The investment platforms provide enough opportunities in various classes like stocks, Exchange -Traded Funds, options and currency. However, more options may lead to higher commission charges and thus lower returns.
- Initially, investment can be started in investment apps which give an option of trading for a short period brokerage free. Trading can be started for small amounts to understand the markets before investing a higher amount.