Aaryam Mathur had a portfolio but he didn't have a clue

Aaryam Mathur thought he was clever. And for a while, we let him believe it.

A couple of index funds, some "blue-chip" stocks (God, that term), and a few buzzy IPOs that made it into every WhatsApp investing group last year. He called it his "core and satellite" strategy, like he was building ISRO 2.0 from his drawing room in Worli.

In reality? It was a mess. A well-dressed, overconfident, spectacularly concentrated mess.

The shock came not from a market crash, but something far more humiliating—a Sunday afternoon spent actually checking his portfolio. For the first time in ages, he pulled up the Value Research Portfolio tool and entered every fund, every stock, every last little punt he'd forgotten to delete from his trading app.

And the diagnosis? A big, ugly, entirely self-inflicted case of tech bloat.

Seventy per cent of his portfolio was in technology.

That's not exposure. That's addiction.

He hadn't noticed. None of them ever do. The bros who say things like, "I'm into long-term wealth creation," and then go all-in on whatever Sequoia is pushing this quarter. He thought he was diversified because the logos were different. Because one fund was "large cap" and the other said "innovation" on the brochure.

But the underlying holdings? Practically twins. Every fund cuddling the same five tech giants. His direct stocks only made it worse. Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, HCL Tech—he was trying to build a tech ETF from scratch and didn't even know it.

The Portfolio tool was the first thing that ever told him the truth.

One tab—Analysis—and the façade cracked. Brutal. It broke everything down without mercy. Sector exposure, concentration risk, even how much of his so-called "diversified" mutual funds were just repackaged copies of each other.

For someone like Aaryam, who lives off the illusion of control, this was a brutal awakening. And frankly, long overdue.

Because diversification isn't about owning a hundred things. It's about not being blindsided. It's about resilience. And if you've got 70 per cent of your capital leaning on one sector, you're not investing. You're praying.

To his credit, he didn't melt. He sat with the data. He didn't call his relationship manager or post a panicked tweet. He just started rebalancing—slowly, deliberately, like an adult. Trimmed the fat. Added exposure to sectors that weren't moving in sync with the Nasdaq. Brought in a little debt, because sometimes the most radical thing a man can do is be boring.

And the result? He's fine. Not a genius. Not Warren Buffett with abs.

But finally...fine.

The real shift wasn't in the numbers. It was in the way he started to think. He stopped performing intelligence. He stopped confusing curation with conviction. He realised he'd been looking at labels, not allocations. And that's how most portfolios rot, not always from recklessness, but from self-deception.

This isn't about Aaryam. He's just one of many. A little better dressed, maybe. But the same type. People who say "I don't check my portfolio every day" as if it's a flex, not a red flag. People who confuse busyness for strategy. Who download one report, half-read a fund factsheet, and call it research. *sigh*

You don't need to be brilliant to avoid this. You just need to look. Really look. At everything you own, in one place. Strip the branding. Forget the hashtags.

And ask yourself: What am I actually invested in?

That's what the Value Research Portfolio tool forces you to do. It doesn't care if you're a DIY trader or a "wealth-tech enthusiast." It doesn't care if you're using jargon or if your SIPs are trending. It shows you the overlap. It shows you the exposure. And it shows you, very clearly, where your confidence might be hiding some very dumb bets.

So yes! Aaryam Mathur had a portfolio. And he thought he had a plan. But a plan isn't a moodboard. It needs substance. And most people won't realise how shallow theirs is until it's too late.

Aaryam is a lucky chap. Caught it in time.

You? You may not be so lucky.

Run the numbers. Face the mirror. And if the analysis makes you squirm, good. That's where it starts.

Financial delusion is boring. Precision is chic.

So if you're done performing diversification and ready to understand where your money actually is—set up your portfolio.

Let the tool do what your gut can't. Let it show you the overlaps, the blind spots, the risks you didn't know you were courting.

Start tracking now. Quiet and smart, like someone who finally gets it.

Start tracking now

Also read: How often is too often?

This article was originally published on May 19, 2025.