Wealth, A Boon or A Sign Of Greed

  •   Sat, Jun 21 2025
  •   By David Pinto Prabhu

June 21, 2025

Sometime ago I was asked at a social gathering as to, what do I do? And my apt reply was, I make money for my clients. Well for someone like me who has been associated with Equities, Mutual Funds, Wealth Management for more than two decades now, my reply was indeed an honest one. But this particular reply did raise a few eyebrows and curiosity in many. There is somehow a bit of reluctance in most of us to discuss growing your money and creating wealth. While everyone wants to discuss roti, makaan aur kapada (considered to be the basics of life) many shun the topic of creating wealth. There is some level of guilt, some kind of greed associated with growing your money. But interestingly roti, makaan aur kapada need to be acquired by paying money!

Well, greed which can lead to exploitation should be constrained at all levels. But merely seeking to create wealth is not fundamentally greed. Wealth is something that is essential for a comfortable living. Wealth is not confined only at an individual level but also can be viewed at a societal level and even as a nation. A country which has created wealth offers the best living conditions for its citizens. We have seen how countries in the Middle East like Dubai, Bahrain, Kuwait or even the South Asian countries like Singapore and South Korea have transformed the living conditions of their citizens. These countries were open to leverage on their wealth and resources, connected with the external world and had an inherent desire to create more wealth at a macro level.

On the other hand, some countries who chose the communist ideology or those who had a closed mindset, have been lagging behind in terms of being an affluent society. There is poverty, unrest and uncertainty. Perfect examples would be countries like Cuba, Venezuela and a few eastern European economies. They missed out on the liberalisation and globalisation movement and thus missed out on creating wealth. Just look at North Korea against South Korea, who would like to be on North Korea’s side. Similar thing had unfolded in Germany when Germany was divided into East and West Germany. The East division chose the communist way and in due course succumbed.

Why look at other countries, just look at the growth of our own country, India. Post Independence, we were inclined to a socialist pattern and were governed to have an equitable distribution of wealth model rather than being wealth creators. Wealth creation was not a topic for discussion between 1947 & 1991. During this era, you were indirectly dissuaded not to create wealth by imposition of high taxes and scrutiny. This in turn generated unaccounted money (we love to call this as black money!), black marketing, smuggling and so on. Bollywood immortalised this by christening this channel of business as Dho number ka dhanda!

It was only in 1991, the economic liberalisation unveiled by the then Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao along with the then Finance Minister, the maverick, Manmohan Singh signalled the awakening of our economy. Until then we were part of a not so aspiring club known as the Third World Nations. 1990 was also a period of time when India had then pawned its gold reserves with the International Monetary Fund to pay for its imports. A similar situation of course on a larger magnitude unfolded sometime ago at Sri Lanka (2022), Pakistan (2023) and later at Bangladesh (2024). Today, India has transformed itself as a responsible economy, opened its doors to foreign companies (MNCs), attracted Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) and become the darling of the stock market investors. We have Fortune 500 companies setting up shops in India, domestic software companies mushrooming, pharma companies dominating the globe, automobile companies competing and exporting to the rest of the World and so on.

Just look at the erstwhile market leaders, the darlings of the 1980’s like HMT, Allwyn and a bunch of public sector companies who shun the path of wealth creation. Today they are non-existent and irrelevant. They did not remain relevant because they genuinely did not factor in creating wealth for the stakeholders.

So, what is evident from the above is that, wealth is needed for better economic prospects, for better living conditions and most importantly peaceful living. When a country creates wealth, it creates more jobs, it creates better living conditions, ushers in prosperity. This in turn creates ambitions, drives consumption and thus drives the economy. India, today will consider its huge population as a blessing in disguise. This is because this is this same economically growing population is what is driving consumption of goods and services and filling the exchequer via taxes.

Having said that creating wealth is essential, it is equally important to be responsible. The rich oil nations of the middle east are rich because they collaborated with the experts. They opened up to foreigners to aid their nation building. They were willing to consult on something that they did not understand. They also believed in creating wealth for all stakeholders. A similar thing is being witnessed in today’s Indian listed and unlisted companies. Promoters are doling out ESOPs, stock options to the talent that matters. The TATA group, Infosys are the best examples which created wealth for multiple stakeholders.

So, friends, wealth is essential for many a thing. I always say this to my team members. I cannot control the price rise of goods and services (inflation) but, I can definitely put my mind to work on growing my income and money to keep affording the same favourite items whose prices are rising. Who wants to be living in Pakistan or Sri Lanka today? We all want our country to have sustained economic growth, right? Then why not for yourself? Why is that one cannot be open to discuss growing your money. Hence, there should not be any feeling of guilt or shame when one discusses wealth creation. It is from this wealth one can meet his/her commitments, fuel more consumption, keep the economy going and thus propel progress.

Always reach out to an advisor who understands your investment goals, discusses risk and has past experience in handling adverse market conditions. One should not get carried away by short term successes in investing. One should have a long-term view when it comes to creating wealth with equities. We all know that Rome was not built in a day! Good advice and Patience are the key for creating wealth.

 

 
By David Pinto Prabhu
David Pinto Prabhu, currently a partner at Fisdom Private Wealth, is on a mission to simplify the clutter surrounding the dynamic nature of investments. He has over 20 years of experience in the field of investments. After starting his career with ING Investment Management (2004), he moved to J P Morgan Asset Management (2008), and was heading South India for its institutional business. He holds a PGDM degree from St Joseph’s College of Business Administration, Bengaluru, and a BCom degree from St Aloysius College, Mangaluru, where he is currently based. David can be contacted on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/david-pinto-29037a33 and Email: davidcasmir@gmail.com.
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