Buy Chaos: Why Kashyap Javari Says Market Volatility Is An Investor’s Best Friend Right Now

When markets turn bad, most investors freeze. Kashyap Javari, fund manager and head of research at MK Investment Managers, does the opposite, and he thinks you should too.

His message emerging from the turmoil of March-April is unmistakable: the reforms we have just experienced are not warnings, they are invitations. Clients who have already seen payouts use March Dip to enter fresh positions or top up existing positions; April marked a significant return on Emkay’s portfolio and strategies.

“Volatility is always an investor’s friend if you use it properly,” Javari said. It’s a line that sounds simple until you actually have to act on it when the headlines are screaming.

Where he puts the money

Javeri is not buying the whole market. He is deliberately choosing lanes, and four areas are currently drawing his attention.

Auto accessories top the list. Emkay is adding exposure here. Capital goods remain a condition of conviction. As valuations have fallen meaningfully, private banks are focusing; Fears of deterioration in asset quality and margins have not materialized and Javeri does not see any change in the near term. A fourth pocket is pharma, particularly contract manufacturing and CDMOs, with big, sector-leading names in the space where he is “very happy to put money.”

Infrastructure, in particular, is one area where Emkay remains cautious despite the government’s aggressive push. The reason is structural: most infra companies sell almost entirely to the government or government-owned companies, creating a concentration risk that everyone is unwilling to take regardless of the strength of the order book.

Power is a yes, but with a twist. Instead of buying utilities directly, Emkay is investing in companies that supply components and equipment to the power sector. Cleaner balance sheets, stronger cash flows, and none of the risk of raw material or power-sale negotiations that utilities carry.

West Asia is a wildcard

Q1 will hurt. Javeri says bluntly. Supply chains are tightening, raw material costs are rising, and companies in all sectors are actively negotiating with consumers to pass on price increases — done in part, not in full. The impact of income is being seen.

But Javari’s answer is a lesson from history, not a warning. Cast your mind back to late February 2022; Russia invaded Ukraine, commodity prices rose and market sentiment collapsed. Crude peaked in June 2022. Within two months it was going back down. By the September and December 2022 quarters, earnings had bounced back quickly.

He sees the same playbook unfolding now. As the situation in the Strait of Hormuz settles, supplies normalize, raw material costs ease and earnings that stalled in Q1 rebound in the next quarter. The timeline is uncertain, no one knows whether it is weeks or months, but the direction, he argues, is not really in question.

The Nifty 500 and Nifty Midcap 150 have already reported 60 to 65 per cent of the market cap Q4 numbers and none of them are showing losses to West Asia yet. The pain is still ahead, not behind. This is why, in Javari’s framework, when the picture has become clear and prices have changed, the window of opportunity is now open rather than three months from now.

Investors who are waiting for certainty before committing capital are the same investors who missed April’s recovery after sitting out March. Those who leaned during the noise, among auto accessories, private banks, CDMO names and power equipment suppliers, are already sitting on the other side of that trade.

Instability gave them access. Patience will reward them.