Adding Value To Our Practices (And Your Investments)

A peek into the finest ethos practised at DSIJ.

Information’s pretty thin stuff unless mixed with experience, said Clarence Day in The Crow’s Nest. This has been particularly applicable to us as an information provider. 27 years of experience has gradually evolved us into a more refined publication. Making sense of a dynamic world and communicating it to the readers has been the core of our services and this experience has resulted in a set of best practices that has been evolving. 

The framework of our functioning stands on the policy of actionable advice. We try and influence the decisions of readers regarding where to invest and the right time and level to invest and exit. Keeping this policy in mind, we provide for independent, unbiased and thoroughly researched content on various asset classes like stocks, mutual funds, gold, real estate, fixed income securities and commodities.

Our content generation is well-planned with a forward vision. The trick of right investments stands in being able to time the markets well and we strive to recognise these trends before catch on. We work towards making content highly relevant and theme it accordingly so that the readers can make the most of their money. Keeping in mind that it’s the hard earned money of the investors that we are talking about, we follow a stringent process to ensure perfection.

Following a combination of top-down and bottom-up approach, our dedicated team of researchers bring expertise and in-depth knowledge in each sector. Quantitative and qualitative methods are used for rigorously studying market dynamics and presenting them in a simplified manner. The sources used for this data are trusted and the information is scrutinised with utmost care.

Apart from this, views are taken from people who are in the business and running the business. Getting first-hand insights from these stalwarts builds substantial validation around trends – historical, current and future. The mandate of conducting these extensive discussions with top industrialists, fund managers and business persons helps us fill in the information gap that readers have with their current/prospective investments.

To ensure the correctness, sensibility and logic of the analysis, proofreading takes place at multiple stages in the process. Writers check for their own inconsistencies, peer reviews are carried out, senior inputs are incorporated and they are worked on by editors. This ensures inclusion of multiple viewpoints and additions thus resulting in a report that is least on errors and most on sensible information.

The presentation of content is evolving from a technical and stereotypical manner to conversational and journalistic. Sub-editing the text goes through reading for logical structure, improving links between different themes, rewriting opening sentences, use of better words and thus overall adherence to certain linguistic standards and conventions. An effort is made to keep the presentation simple and interesting. The overall offering has to transform into a lucid, crisp and concise reading that is information packed.

Together, this product is packed and cosmetically enhanced in a way that it appeals to our readers. We are moving towards a classy look and transforming styling to match international standards. Graphically, it is made sure that the theme is consistently flowing into the information provided from cover to cover.

Bringing all of this together, considering the fact that Dalal Street Investment Journal is a fortnightly publication, requires a great deal of coordination and process management. Putting various pieces of time-sensitive information and transforming that into a package is a job that has to be well executed, repeatedly. Having refined these processes over a span of 27 years, we stick to timelines at every stage of production – from idea to print.

In publishing an investment magazine, timing every step posses a big challenge, given the dynamic nature of the markets. While we anticipate market movement, we make sure our content carries the perspective of time horizon, which is also clearly communicated to the readers. Moreover, in an effort to make communication more efficient, we send stock-specific recommendations carried in the magazine via messages on the mobile phone numbers of subscribers. Any updates on recommended stocks are communicated through this channel due to the fortnightly nature of the magazine. The idea is to help readers take the right decisions at the right time.

Interaction is particularly important in the media business and catering to the queries of investors is a continual process followed by the team. We receive loads of queries through various channels and it is, as we consider, our responsibility to cater to these by providing for well-researched expert advice.

Considering interaction, nothing's better than an online front. We have recognised this potential of the web world and thus keep investors updated on the DSIJ website. Building on the channels of providing information - global and domestic, we track developments across sectors and companies adding value to them by analysing their implications. The online portal provides spot on information about stock movements and market reactions.

We recently covered the Union Budget 2013 on our website and across the social media. The developments were posted as they were happening and thus received a heartening response to our effort.

Information has the nature of being present. But decoding it and filtering it is the key to making optimum use of information. The task of patching bits of information into an actionable call on a timely basis is what requires experience. The experience that we have developed and have embedded into our practices is to add value to our operations and thus to your investments.