Investing in stocks directly requires some expertise and time to monitor the portfolio carefully.
A better option is to invest in mutual funds which gets you a professional fund manager doing the job for you. By investing in direct plans, you avoid commissions that help you shave 1.5% or so each year resulting in a corpus that is larger by upto 40%.
You can invest in a mix of equity/debt as per your risk profile too.
Having said that, if you are still keen on stocks, then go for those that meet the following criteria:
- Debt free
- High return on capital employed (ROCE)
- Consistent profit growth over the last 10 years
- Strong brand
- A good management team
