A market portfolio can look very different depending on how often you check it. Radhika Gupta, Edelweiss MD and CEO, says the problem may not always be volatility itself, but how frequently investors watch it.
Gupta shared a post on X explaining how easy access to real-time investment data can change the way investors think about their money.
“Data helps us make better decisions. But it can also shorten our time horizon,” Gupta said.
She said that people often hold traditional investments and valuable possessions for years without checking their value every day.
Think about a fixed deposit, a private business or even an expensive bottle of whisky. People generally do not get a live update on their value every few minutes.
Gupta noted that investors can hold such assets patiently because they do not see their prices constantly moving on a screen.
“Think about the things we hold patiently: FDs, single malts, private businesses, even ancestral furniture in our homes. None of them come with a live NAV flashing on our phones every second,” she wrote.
Stocks and mutual funds, however, are different. Their prices and net asset values are easily available at any time, often just a tap away.
“Stocks and mutual funds are different. We can check them anytime. And because we can, we do,” Gupta said.
This constant access can influence how investors experience market movements.
A fund or stock may not have fundamentally changed simply because its price has moved during the day. But seeing those movements repeatedly can make the investment feel much more uncertain.
“Here’s the irony: volatility rises the more often you look. The investment hasn’t changed. Only the frequency of observation has,” Gupta said.
Her point is not that investors should ignore their portfolios. Rather, the frequency of checking should match the type of investment and the time horizon for which it was made.
Gupta suggested that investors should evaluate an investment over the period it was designed for.
“Maybe the answer is to evaluate investments over the horizon they were designed for. An overnight fund can be judged daily. An equity fund probably can’t,” she wrote.
For equity investors, short-term price movements can therefore offer a very incomplete picture of a long-term investment.
This is particularly relevant for investors who keep checking their portfolios during periods of market volatility. Seeing frequent gains and losses can create the urge to react, even when the original investment plan has not changed.
Gupta made the point more relatable by comparing financial investments with something most people are unlikely to check every day — their home.
“On a lighter but no so light note, imagine if your house had a live NAV,” she wrote.
The value of the house would not actually become more volatile simply because its price was displayed on a screen. But knowing its value every minute could change the owner’s behaviour.
“It wouldn’t become more volatile. You’d just notice the volatility more,” Gupta said.
She added that homeowners might start checking the value repeatedly, comparing it with their neighbours’ properties and worrying about whether they had paid the right price.
“The house wouldn’t have changed. Only your experience of owning it would,” she wrote.
The broader message is simple: having more information does not always mean having a better investment experience. For long-term investors, knowing when to look, and when to leave the portfolio alone, can be just as important as knowing what they own.