FAANG stocks are among the biggest names in Winvesta’s assets under management, but investors are looking at other stocks as well. In fact, the most held stock on the platform is not a FAANG name but Tesla, Prateek jain, co-founder and chairman of Winvesta – said in an interview with Kshitij Anand from Zeebiz.

Prior to Winvesta, Prateek worked for Deutsche Bank for 11 years, in Singapore and New York. He led the global energy trading portfolio for Deutsche, creating several new businesses and sources of income.

Edited excerpts:

Q) What a year this has been for Indian stock markets, especially when it comes to investing in international stocks. How do you sum up the trend in 2021?

A) The trend is definitely on the positive side. More and more Indians are seeking access to foreign stocks and that is a good sign.

For the year, the S&P 500 outperformed the Indian benchmark Nifty 50, gaining 26%, compared to 22% for the Nifty50 in 2021.

More and more Indians have successfully invested in the US stock markets. This is clear from the fact that for Winvesta as a platform, Assets Under Management (AUM) have increased by 300% in the last 12 months.

If I had to sum up the trend for the US stock market in 2021, it would be the “rise of the retail investor”.

Q) What should investors’ strategy be in the face of a potential US Fed interest rate hike in 2022?

A) The US Federal Reserve has hinted that it could hike interest rates at least three times in 2022. It also announced a cut to its bond buying program.

The prospects for a potential easy cash withdrawal were evident as so-called growth stocks like Square, Affirm, among others, suffered a correction following the announcement.

These growth stocks have given way to value stocks. The trend is expected to be similar in 2022, with rising interest rates, money is expected to return from growth stocks to value stocks.

Q) What is the kind of money that circulates in the different markets?

A) As of September 14, the total market capitalization of the US stock market increased 19% year-to-date to $ 51 trillion. The second largest market was China with $ 12.4 trillion, followed by Japan ($ 7.43 billion), Hong Kong ($ 6.52 billion) and the United Kingdom ($ 3.68 billion). dollars). Indian stock markets are now the sixth largest in the world with a market capitalization of $ 3.4 trillion.

Q) What is the trend you see in India – ETFs or stocks? What does the trend suggest for the year 2021?

A) The trend in 2021 has been much more oriented towards equities than towards ETFs. For Winvesta, ETFs represented 13-14% of our assets under management in 2021.

If markets consolidate further in 2022, long-term investors may consider a transition to ETFs and that number may increase.

Q) What are the new stocks outside of FAANG that Indian investors are investing in?

A) Yes, FAANG stocks are among the biggest names in Winvesta’s assets under management, but investors are looking at other stocks as well. In fact, the most owned share on the platform is not a FAANG name but Tesla.

Other names where investors are looking to put money to work are AMD, Airbnb, Freshworks, new names in electric vehicles like Rivian and Lucid, Palantir and Riot Blockchain, among others.

Q) What kind of IPOs / new companies are likely to hit the US markets in 2022?

A) 2021 was a banner year for IPOs in the United States, even for companies that went public through the PSPC route. Many companies are also set to go public in 2022.

One of the main ones is Reddit, which caused a stir through the meme stock craze in early 2021. This company has confidentially filed for an IPO.

Other names include The Fresh Market, which went private in 2016 and is looking to have another shot as a public company.

Others include Discord, which offers instant messaging, video and voice calling across gaming platforms, Databricks, Ascensus, Instacart, ThoughtSpot, and Stripe.

Q) Any new products you are planning to launch or have recently launched?

A) Recently, Winvesta became the first platform in India to launch global multi-currency accounts for Indians. Multi-Currency Account (MCA) allows users to save, transact, and invest in over 35 currencies, including US Dollar, British Pound, and Euro.

The MCA has become a platform to facilitate overseas investment, and also allows the user to save a large number of transaction costs, which was not possible before. To this day, Winvesta remains the only company in India to do so.

At the end of November, Winvesta also became the first company to launch a UPI functionality for global remittances. The feature helps India-based clients deposit funds through UPI and net banking to fund their global investment accounts.

This was done in collaboration with our partners as part of the RBI Regulatory Cohort. Besides the ease of transaction, the process also reduces the fixed fee to Rs 0 from Rs 2,500 that Indians would otherwise pay for such fund transfers.

Q) What is the trend you see for industries like electric vehicles, technology as well as blockchain? What kind of money is increasing in these areas? And what are the best companies?

A) EV companies are here to stay, as evidenced by the traction seen in IPOs like Rivian and the price movement seen after that.

However, it will also come down to how well they are able to deliver on the promises they have made and how things are going on the pitch. Investor interest is palpable in these stocks, as Rivian and Lucid are among the few stocks beyond FAANG where investors in the Winvesta platform have invested money.

The same is true for blockchain as its adoption is increasing globally. However, these types of stocks could face some pressure in 2022 as interest rates rise and money flows back into value-oriented securities.

(Disclaimer: The views / suggestions / advice expressed here in this article are solely by investment experts. Zee Business suggests that its readers consult their investment advisers before making a financial decision.)