Why Indians stay clear of stock markets

A crisis of confidence is at the heart of many Indians’ aversion to stocks, an investor survey commissioned by the market regulator found, tracing its roots to the limited success of various investor outreach programmes.

- Neha Joshi

The result: Many investors remain vulnerable and ignorant about their rights.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (Sebi’s) first such survey, conducted by research firm Kantar across 90,000 households across 400 cities and 1,000 villages, showed that a large number of investors exit the market following financial losses, while a staggering majority is ignorant of official channels for grievance redressal.

The findings point to a glaring mismatch between investors’ learning preferences and the methods currently employed for financial education. The demand for digital-first education is overwhelming, yet participation in official programmes is negligible.

The survey indicates that 70% of respondents prefer receiving educational content via social media and 60% through mobile apps. Despite this, less than 1% of those surveyed have ever attended a formal Investor Education Programme. Even among this small group, only 21% found them “highly useful.”

Compounding the outreach challenge is a profound linguistic divide, with a combined 94% of respondents preferring materials in Hindi or other regional languages over English (5%).