Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey. (File photo)Launching its nationwide investor-awareness initiative, Project Jagrook, from Chandigarh on Monday, SEBI chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey urged investors to beware of investment frauds and use regulated products, channels and entities instead of relying on anonymous tips, finfluencers or exaggerated claims about returns.Pandey advised investors to follow five basic habits — invest only in products they understand, start early and stay invested to allow compounding to work, diversify their investments and not mistake fixed returns for risk-free investments.“Instead of asking, ‘Which product gives the highest return?’, first ask, ‘What am I investing for?’” he said.Stating that “more savers are becoming investors”, Pandey said mutual fund assets have grown sharply from ₹12 lakh crore in 2015-16 to around ₹87 lakh crore today, at an average annual growth rate of about 21 per cent over the past 10 years.“Our message is simple: Do not invest because someone told you to. Do not invest because everyone else is investing. Invest, because you understand,” he said.Referring to a large-scale survey on awareness of securities-market products and actual market participation, Pandey said only 36 per cent of investors had high or moderate knowledge of the securities market.The survey found that awareness was far wider than actual participation. While 63 per cent of households were aware of at least one securities-market product, only about 9.5 per cent actually participated in the market, he said.Story continues below this adIt also highlighted a clear urban-rural divide, with securities-market participation standing at 15 per cent in urban India compared with only 6 per cent in rural India.“Fewer than one per cent of those surveyed had attended an investor-awareness programme. Yet, 91 per cent of those who attended found it useful. The challenge, therefore, is not only content but also reach,” Pandey said.He added that people wanted to learn in Hindi as well as regional languages, with social media, mobile apps and television or digital advertising emerging as the preferred channels.Awareness of SEBI’s investor-centric initiatives also remained low. Only 6 per cent of the respondents knew about SEBI’s grievance-redressal mechanisms, although 88 per cent of those who had used them were satisfied with the outcome, he said.Story continues below this adSpeaking about Project Jagrook, Pandey, an alumnus of Panjab University, said, “The success of the project will not be measured by the number of people who view it, but by the number of informed investors it creates.”He emphasised that the initiative aims to make investing simple and understandable by stripping away complex financial jargon.Sandip Pradhan, Whole-Time Member, SEBI; Kamlesh Chandra Varshney, Whole-Time Member, SEBI; Sundeep Sikka, Chairman, Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI); and PU Vice-Chancellor Prof. Meenakshi Goyal and UBS Chairperson Prof. Meena Sharma were present at the pan-India launch hosted by the University Business School (UBS).Addressing the launch of SEBI’s regional office in Chandigarh, SEBI Whole-Time Member Sandip Pradhan highlighted Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs) as opportunities for retail investors to participate in the real estate sector.Story continues below this adPU Vice-Chancellor Prof. Meenakshi Goyal highlighted the university’s commitment to academic excellence and interdisciplinary collaboration, and said the university was focused on transforming knowledge into life skills beyond the classroom.