Your Real Risk Profile Lives in Your Bank Statement — SkimNews
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- Ajay Pruthi, founder of PLNR and a Sebi-registered investment advisor, argues risk profiles should reflect actual transaction behavior during downturns rather than self-reported questionnaire answers
- Alok, 38, from Vadodara — labeled an aggressive investor on paper — redeemed ₹9 lakh and halted his SIPs in March 2020 after a 20% portfolio drop in three weeks, selling almost exactly at the bottom
- Sunita, 45, from Kochi, paused her SIPs during a market fall and only restarted three years later, after the recovery was already over
- Nikhil, 29, from Jaipur, kept buying a stock that had fallen 15%, an example of what Pruthi calls fear disguised as aggression
- Pruthi identifies four 'fear fingerprints' — stoppers, sellers, double-downers, and obsessive checkers — each needing a different structural fix: SIP automation, a visible safety bucket, hard position limits, or enforced distance from trading apps
- Pruthi recommends writing down what you actually did during past money scares and designing the plan for the '2 am version' of yourself rather than the 'Sunday afternoon version'
Why it matters: For Indian retail investors whose risk questionnaires are filled out in calm moments but whose real money decisions happen under panic, this reframes financial planning around behavioral evidence rather than self-image — and the ₹9 lakh Alok redeemed at the March 2020 bottom, plus the years Sunita missed while paused, show how a misaligned risk profile turns into measurable, avoidable loss.
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