Risk in equity investment comes from short term or long term?

Risk in equity investment comes from short term or long term?

Equity is risky. Only in short term or mid term or in long term? Many expert say risk in equity is only in short term but my view is risk in equity is every time. Before disagreeing with me I request please read the whole article.

First what does risk means to me. Its uncertainty or unpredictability of the outcome from the expectation. Long term is made of many short term and some medium term.

Risk can come from global factors, geo political factors, economic factors, industry factors, market factors, natural factors, different investors behavior factor etc. when so many factors affect billions of participants in market who react differently no one can predict the direction in short term. Market reflects changing sentiment, mood of the market and so can any one predict first what will happen and how the moods of billions will change?

Why I said long term because long term is eternal and for respective individual it is till he is alive. A corporate in whose share one invest is also said to be perpetual but does everything remain the same always? Management changes, competitors strength changes, industry landscape changes, company financial changes. Things goes from bad to worse or bad to good or good to bad and even worse also. The same thing can be said about equity mutual fund also.

Whenever I read many saying this investment is for long term so I don’t need to bother whats happening in short term is wrong. Long term has to be quantified in terms of years. Many times short term extreme underperformance affects so much that there is no revival in long term. Today many of the top companies of 80s and 90s are seen nowhere in competition.

There is only one truth about long term which is in long term your money should grow and be safe also. Stop loving the company or fund or even fund manager but be concerned only about your money in investment.