What is Investment

 

Investment is a term frequently used in the fields of economics, business management and finance. It can mean savings alone, or savings made through delayed consumption. Investment can be divided into different types according to various theories and principles.



When an asset is bought or a given amount of money is invested in the bank, there is anticipation that some return will be received from the investment in the future.

There are a number of definitions of investment. While dealing with the various options of investment, the defining terms of investment need to be kept in mind.

According to economic theories, investment is defined as the per-unit production of goods, which have not been consumed, but will however, be used for the purpose of future production. Examples of this type of investments are tangible goods like construction of a factory or bridge and intangible goods like 6 months of on-the-job training. In terms of national production and income, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has an essential constituent, known as gross investment.

Investment in Terms of Business Management:

According to business management theories, investment refers to tangible assets like machinery and equipments and buildings and intangible assets like copyrights or patents and goodwill. The decision for investment is also known as capital budgeting decision, which is regarded as one of the key decisions.

Investment in Terms of Finance:

In finance, investment refers to the purchasing of securities or other financial assets from the capital market. It also means buying money market or real properties with high market liquidity. Some examples are gold, silver, real properties, and precious items.

Financial investments are in stocks, bonds, and other types of security investments. Indirect financial investments can also be done with the help of mediators or third parties, such as pension funds, mutual funds, commercial banks, and insurance companies.

Personal Finance:

According to personal finance theories, an investment is the implementation of money for buying shares, mutual funds or assets with capital risk.

Real Estate:

According to real estate theories, investment is referred to as money utilized for buying property for the purpose of ownership or leasing. This also involves capital risk.

Commercial Real Estate:

Commercial real estate involves a real estate investment in properties for commercial purposes such as renting.

Residential Real Estate:

This is the most basic type of real estate investment, which involves buying houses as real estate properties.

 

Return On Investment

 

Return on investment or ROI refers to how money can be received from investments. It is represented as a ratio of money earned or suffered as a loss in an investment in association to the invested amount of money.

The money, which is earned, is known as profit, interest, net income or gain. The money lost is known as loss. The return on investment (ROI) is normally expressed as a percentage.

The amount of money that is invested is termed as capital, asset or principal. Return can either be positive or negative, which means return can either mean a profit or loss. Return on investment can be calculated on previous or present investment and it is also applied for calculating the estimated rate of return of future investment. Return on investment (ROI) is frequently used on an annualized or yearly basis.

Return on investment is implemented for the comparison between the returns, which are expected to yield on investments, if the comparison cannot be performed conveniently with the help of monetary values.

Return on investment is also known in a number of names, for example the rate of return (ROR), rate of profit or simply return. The ROI measures the ability of a particular company to utilize its assets for the purpose of generation of extra value for the shareholders. ROI is estimated as Net Profit/Net Worth.


This valuation method is frequently used in accounting processes.

The return on investment can be improved in the following ways:

  • By decreasing expenses
  • By increasing profits
  • By speeding growth

The different formulas for calculating the ROI are the following:

Return on investment is equal to gain from investment minus cost of investment divided by cost of investment. In this case, the cost of investment is deducted from the gain from investment and then it is divided by the cost of investment. The result is represented as a ratio or percentage.

ROI= Net Income/Book Value of Assets

Or, ROI= Net Income + Interest (1-Tax Rate)/Book Value of Assets

Return on investment or ROI is a highly popular measurement due to its convenience.

The factors on which the ROI depends for its amplification are the following:

  • The term of the project (the bigger, the more the increase)
  • The rate of depreciation
  • Capitalization policy
  • The time lag between the disbursement of money and the recovery of money (the more the time lag, the more the increase)
  • The rate of appreciation of investment

Essential of Investment

 

Essentials of investment refers to why investment, or the need for investment, is required. The investment strategy is a plan, which is created to guide an investor to choose the most appropriate investment portfolio that will help him achieve his financial goals within a particular period of time.

An investment strategy usually involves a set of methods, rules, and regulations, and is designed according to the exchange or compromise of the investor's risks and returns.

A number of investors like to increase their earnings through high-risk investments, whilst others prefer investing in assets with minimum risk involved. However, the majority of investors choose an investment strategy that lies in the middle.

Investment strategies can be broadly categorized into the following types:

  • Active strategies: One of the principal active strategies is market timing (an investor is able to move into the market when it is on the low and sell the stocks when the market is on the high), which is applied for maximizing yields.
  • Passive strategies: Frequently implemented for reducing transaction costs.

One of the most popular strategies is the buy and hold, which is basically a long term investment plan. The idea behind this is that stock markets yield a commendable rate of return in spite of stages of fluctuation or downfall. Indexing is a strictly passive variable of the buy and hold strategy and, in this case, an investor purchases a limited number of every share existing in the stock market index, for example the Standard and Poor 500 Index, or more probably in an index fund, which is a form of a mutual fund.

Additionally, as the market timing strategy is not applicable for small-scale investors, it is advisable to apply the buy and hold strategy. In case of real estate investment the retail and small-scale investors apply the buy and hold strategy, because the holding period is normally equal to the total span of the mortgage loan.

 

Investment Planning

 

The basic idea behind any form of investment planning is to maximize future financial returns for future security. In formulating a financial plan, an individual investor must carefully consider his or her choices before making any decision.

Investment planning involves considering many possible financial options that could be used to secure the desired financial future. Often groups of individuals get together for the purpose of investment planning.

Investment plans require careful scrutiny of the financial market. It is mostly the responsibility of the particular firm to make the decision on the matter of management of money, which could be utilized in meeting long term asset investment plans or for gathering working capital.



An integral part of financial planning is the system a particular investor uses to decide how much and in what ways to invest. Another important task is to ascertain the source from where the money could be obtained.

Yet another important aspect of investment planning is analyzing the development and performance of investments in a particular span of time. This could help the investor by cutting down on the amount of uncertainty involved in the process. Investment planning also helps investors in channeling their funds in the right direction.

An important reason for investment planning is planning for retirement. Investment calculators have proven to be a useful tool in helping people plan in advance for their retirement.

 

Investment In India

 

India is one of the top five economies in the world in terms of market potential and is placed above countries like France, Italy, Russia and the United Kingdom. India is also ranked as the third biggest economy in Asia in terms of gross domestic product. All these make investment in India a lucrative option for the investors across the world.

The investment market in India offers lots of possibilities for the investors as the level of purchasing power is improving over time. The investors stand to gain in each and every areas of business in India. However the response from the outstation investors has been lukewarm compared to other countries like China.

Investors in Europe consider the Indian investment market to be a favorable option in spite of the persistent political turmoil in this part of the world. There are certain factors that have been acting as deterrents for outstation investors in India like official problems, power cuts and infrastructural inadequacies.

It is expected that India would pretty soon be counted amongst the three best economies in the world and this suggests that there would be huge inflow of foreign funds in the Indian investment market. The recent boom in IT sector has played a crucial role in expanding the domain of Indian investment market.

In order to gain benefits from investment in India it is imperative that the prospective investors do not think of any short-term profits as any financial gain could only be accrued from long-term investment. The organizations willing to invest in India need to undertake extensive research so as to understand the workings of the Indian investment market.


It is highly necessary for the prospective investors to have an accurate understanding of the complications as well as the potential of the Indian market in order to be successful in long run.