Risk Involved in Stocks that You Should Know: Let me be very honest with you. Investing in the stock market is risky. If you think that investing in stocks is as safe as cash or bank deposit, then you are completely wrong.

Although historically speaking, stock market investment has given the best returns compared to gold, bond, funds, or other options. However, the return from the market is not guaranteed and you may even lose your entire money in stocks.

“Successful Investing is about managing risk, not avoiding it.” -Benjamin Graham, Father of Value Investing

Now, I’m not trying to scare you. But I’m just highlighting the fact. Over 90% population loses money in the stock market. Why? Because they do not understand the different types of risk involved in the stocks.

A beginner who starts swimming knows that it’s dangerous if he goes in the deep water before proper training. He knows that he might even get drawn into the water. However, when it comes to the stock market, people just ignore the different types of risks involved in stocks and are ready to dive in immediately.

Nevertheless, if you know the risk, the chances are that you can mitigate it or at least can have a back plan.

That’s why, in this post, I’m going to explain the 7 types of risk involved in the stocks that you should know. Further, please read the article till the end as there is a bonus in the last section.

7 Common Types of Risk Involved in Stocks

Here are 7 common types of risk involved in stocks that every stock investor should know:

1. Market risk

This is also called systematic risk and is based on the day-to-day price fluctuation in the market.

The market index Sensex and Nifty goes up and down throughout the day. And many a time, it may affect the returns from a stock. For example, if the market is going down at a time, then it might pull down the prices of even some good stocks.

Moreover, in the short term, market risks are higher compared to the long term.

QUICK READ – Why Do Stock Prices Fluctuate? Explained In Detail

2. Business Risk

The second type of stock risk comes from the business. This risk can be escalated if the business is not doing well. Reasons like the failure of management, poor quarter-by-quarter results, or your misjudgment in picking a company come under business risk.

However, you can mitigate this risk by diversification. The chance of one business not performing well is ‘high’ compared to 5 such companies. Hence, if you are keeping 5 stocks in your portfolio, instead of one, you can reduce the business risk.

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3. Liquidity Risk

Before investing in a stock, you should definitely check how solvent the company is. Companies with high debts may find it hard to pay their bills. Many times, they might even cut the dividends or in the worst case, may go bankrupt. Liquidity risks are involved in all businesses.

4. Taxability Risk

The government changes taxes all the time and hence taxes may increase or decrease in the particular industry where you invested. The change in taxation can affect the stock price.

Further, there are few industries that are taxed comparatively higher than others, and hence, their net profit after tax may be less. Further, as taxation is controlled by the government, there is not much that the management or the investors can do.

Also read: What are the Capital Gain Taxes on Share in India?

5. Interest Rate Risk

The open market or global market interest rates changes from time to time. And this can positively or adversely affect the stocks depending on the direction in which the interest rate is moving.

For example, when the interest rates are high, a company might find it difficult to borrow money (at high rates). Further, the bond market declines as the interest rate increases, which may also affect corporate bonds.

6. Regulatory Risks

There are a number of regulations imposed in the different industries which must also be termed as the risk involved in stocks. For example, Cigarettes, telecommunication, beverages, pharmaceutical, and a few other industries are highly regulated.

If a pharmaceutical company loses any of its drug manufacturing rights/permission because of a regulatory effect, then it will definitely affect the company’s profit and hence, the stock price.

7. Inflationary Risk

With an increase in inflation, the price of raw materials will increase, which can affect the production cost. Many companies involved in commodities like oil, soya bean, etc are affected a lot by inflationary risk.

Further, for a few industries, the inflation rate is too high. For example, education and healthcare.

The tuition fee for schools and colleges are increasing at a very fast rate. Although, it might sound good in the short term as these industries will make money from the inflated price. However, in the long run, it might have an adverse effect on the retention of the customers.

Also read: Fundamental vs Technical Analysis of Stocks

Bonus: A few other risks

Besides the above-mentioned 7 risks involved in stocks, here are a few other risks that are worth mentioning.

• Social and political risk: Many companies face problems due to social and political risks. For example, Tata Motors shifted its Tata-Nano plant from West Bengal to Sanand- Gujarat because of political reasons, which cost a lot of money to Tata.
• Credit Risk: The risk that the company who issued the bond won’t be able to pay the interest or repay the principal at maturity and may find it hard to buy/sell goods.
• FII/DII investments: The investment by big players can also be counted as the risk involved in stocks. If the foreign direct investment/ domestic investment decreases in a company, and they start selling their stocks, then it might adversely affect the share price of that company.
• Currency and exchange rate risk: Many companies who deal across nations or the companies involved in import/export may face a problem with increased dollar prices. Therefore, the currency and exchange rate fluctuations might increase risk in these companies.

Closing Thoughts

There are a number of risks involved in stocks. Nevertheless, if you understand the basic concept behind the risk involved in stocks, you can control the amount of risk you want to take.

Moreover, the risk is reduced over the long term. A short-term fluctuation won’t hurt your portfolio in the long run. Further, most of the short-term market fluctuations, and political, or social risks will be nullified while investing for a duration of 10-15 years.

Overall, yes!! There are a number of risks involved in the stock market. Nevertheless, risk-takers are awarded in the stock market if they take ‘smart’ calculated risks.

That’s all. I hope this post is useful to you. Please comment below on which risk involved in stocks can hurt your portfolio the most.

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Kritesh Abhishek

Kritesh (Tweet here) is the Founder & CEO of Trade Brains & FinGrad. He is an NSE Certified Equity Fundamental Analyst with +7 Years of Experience in Share Market Investing. Kritesh frequently writes about Share Market Investing and IPOs and publishes his personal insights on the market.