We at iMetanoia

Our Raison D’être

As investors, we have been disappointed in the approach existing firms have taken to serving the retail investor. When you listen to the masters speak about investing, you understand exactly what needs to be done to be successful. You need to do your homework in finding good stocks, buy at a reasonable price, ensure risk appropriate asset allocation and then don’t make the numerous behavioral mistakes that get us in trouble – real simple! After reading your fifth book on Buffet’s or Lynch’s or Bill Miller’s investment wisdom you head straight for your investment service with the zeal of a new convert. There you find platforms that do nothing to help you achieve any of this. You realize quickly that while doable these may not be practical for hobbyists to implement. Great, but what if you still want to stay actively engaged with the investment process? After all, it is your financial future we are talking about. iMetanoia is a turn of the millennium financial services firm that is focused exclusively on you – the individual investor. Increasingly, individuals are taking more ownership of their investing lives. This is being accompanied by the phasing out of defined benefit pensions, long the cornerstone of retirements. The message is clear: the individual bears all risks. This could not have come at a better time. Today it is feasible to confidently approach investing and manage your portfolio, which just a few years ago was the exclusive preserve of professionals. Metanoia is a Greek word that stands for a paradigm shift of the mind and captures the essence of the changes in investing that the firm hopes to be a driving part of. At iMetanoia, we recognize that no two investment goals are exactly alike. That is why we focus our resources – people, technology and capital – on tailoring strategies to address the individual needs. Our research is driven by analytical rigor and a commitment to objectivity. These elements work to ensure that our recommendations reflect the best information available and adhere to our members’ best interests.

Who will benifit from iMetanoia?

iMetanoia is not for everyone. It would be of value to investors who want to be engaged in actively shaping and remaining in control of their financial lives. These are investors who find the process of investing interesting and would like to develop a competence in it. We are convinced that investment is as much behavioral as it is fundamental and with that view, we place a lot of emphasis on understanding your investment style and the ability to grow in a community of people on the same journey.

Our Philosophy

Most people receive limited investing training through their formal education. The professionals do their bit to mystify the process, where people are intimidated to ask the basic questions; preferring instead to let the experts deal with it. We believe expertise is overrated. Genuine expertise is hard to come by, especially for the individual investor. Even if you did have access to genuine expertise, the institutional conflicts of interest neutralize any such advantage. If it is important enough, do it yourself. And we can’t think of anything more important than your financial security.

Our Bias

The thrill of hunting for stocks and seeing it grow is perhaps as important to a devoted investor as the money it offers. This is also the reason for a large portion of the losses in any portfolio as people chase the next big thing. There is then the additional temptation to time the market – extract that last paisa from an idea. Statistically, a very active management style shows no greater return over the long run than a buy and hold strategy. And if you include transactions cost and taxes it has consistently underperformed. We say this on the strength of long years of investing and having made all the dumb mistakes! The best investors are people who seen at least one full-circle. They have experienced both the euphoria of a market peak and the sober drubbing of a sell-off and are still committed to investing. We have a bias towards investing for value. This is interesting, as most people would consider this a truism. But the fact is Value is only valued in a bear market. To us this means that we are not chasing the ticker. There is good reason for this bias. In a market where the individual investor does have the informational or transactions edge, focusing on a good company at a good price represents the greatest opportunity. Like you, we have subscribed to a lot of the ‘I have a proprietary methodology that I cannot share but will make you tons of money’ pitches. We have always lost money because at the first instance when the model does not do what it is supposed to, we bail, mostly at a loss. You could say that we are not very trusting of things we do not understand.

Our Medium

Technology has the unique characteristic of allowing us to improve the quality while at the same time reducing cost to you. Technology allows us to not just deliver the services but to make the process more engaging. While you can access all our products in print there are some features that you can experience in its full power only through an electronic interface.

Our Promise

Our members understand value. While working towards a financial future is challenging, the more important thing here is to ensure quality. Our goal is not to provide a cheap product - If you pay nothing for advise, it is likely to be worth just as much! What we do commit to is to deliver a product that is world class, wrapped in a service that exceeds your expectations.

Our Expectation

You have embarked on a very important journey. No one said it was going to be easy! Like any new area, there is a learning curve. This is the part where you have to persevere a little to begin to form mental maps, understand the language and develop conviction to take an independent view. Pace yourself; investing years are measured in decades! As you start seeing some of your strategies play out, you would begin to enjoy the process. Hold us to our promise; participate actively in the feedback loop. Your thoughts and guidance would help us improve our offerings. Informed members are our best members. Respect the intellectual property: We are a start-up that has worked hard to develop a product we believe you will come to love. Your subscriptions ensure that we can continue to work on the next generation of products. Please do not share your subscription information or unlawfully share research. Help us ensure that undesired activities are brought to light.