So
the 2012 Akshaya Tritiya came and went…you would need to give it to the ingenuity
of the marketing talent of Indian jewellers who converted this auspicious day where they
laugh all the way to the bank at the cost of the customers breaking into their
bank. Reports suggest that the Jewellers were a disappointed lot this year as they
could not maintain the 20% YoY growth in the Akshaya Tritiya sales owing to the
high price of Gold !!!
While
reams and reams have been written by MBA whiz kids about “Is Gold an asset class
for Investment?” ,this question is a “no-brainer” in India. “The Missus Association
of India” (with support from Jewellers Association of India) have passed a
resolution judging the Gold as the indisputable asset class.This resolution is
not based on the “number-crunching” by the MBA Whiz kids, but solely based on
the emotional intelligence of the Missus Association questioning the “husbands
association” with the eternal question “What have I gained in my life after marriage?” So, on the D-day,one has no option but to go with the Gold. As a result
of the serious (economic) ramifications ,Akshaya Tritiya is turning out to be India’s equivalent of “Where-were –you-when-Kennedy-was-shot?” moment…year after year.
Before
being branded a MCP by feminists let me put forward my solution that may help address the Akshaya Tritiya conundrum. Gold Exchange Traded
Fund popularly called as Gold ETF. I use Gold ETF to buy gold monthly (as
little as 1 share which is 1 gram of gold) over an year in anticipation of the D-Day.You
would need a Demat account to purchase from a scheme of Gold ETF.
The
key advantage of a gold ETF is the affordability as it allows to buy gold in
trickle (I can hear the “Yea” scream from the husbands).While this by itself is a
clincher for Gold investment through ETFs,there are other advantages as well.The important
one being the purity factor.Gold ETFs assure purity of 99.5% with no associated
headache of selling the Gold.The third advantage is the Low risk factor as Gold
ETFs are issued in the demat form (I can hear “Nays” from the Missus group).The
fourth advantage is the easy liquidity as ETF can be bought/sold on the exchanges
like any other share at a price quoted at the bourse.And finally the price transparency, the price of a Gold ETF is the price of 1 gm
of pure gold. You no longer have to deal with mind boggling “back-of-the
envelope” calculation of the Jeweller.
So
Invest in Gold ETF systematically and make the Akshaya Tritiya a monthly affair
rather than an Yearly one.