Most Preferred Investment Avenues: An Empirical Study of Rajkot City

Abstract

This study is about the various investment avenues. This study primarily employed the weighted average method, based on respondents' preferences. There are three types of preference, i.e. most preferred, moderately preferred, and least preferred. This study utilises primary-based data, specifically 100 questionnaire forms. The study analyses the ranking among investment avenues and the wise distribution of respondents using the weighted average method. This study shows the behaviour of investors among selected investment avenues. This study focused on understanding the behaviour of households as investors in various financial instruments, which are traded in markets regulated by SEBI and other instruments. As investors, the households evaluate multiple options, including those traded in formal markets under regulation. To this end, the study has examined various financial savings instruments. The study is based on a random sampling of 100 household respondents in Rajkot city. It is estimated that there are 24.5 million investors in India. The study highlights the relatively low participation rates of households in the securities market, despite growth in the investor population over the past decade. In this study there is deeper analysis of the economic wellbeing of the Indian population flowing through socio-economic and demographic indicators at the level of the household (e.g. rural–urban, sector of employment, primary source of income, state of residence, social group), and chief earners (their occupation, education, and age, etc.). These have a significant bearing on earning, spending, and saving.