Hi!
You seem to be in a double mind and confused about proper investments to yield reasonable returns. You should know, some bare facts :
1. Whether it is an Equity cash/derivative market or Gold/commodity market, it is a market after all, and shall fluctuate trending up or down.
2. One should NEVER block all the sum at one shot and one should NEVER put all the eggs in one basket. Meaning that do not block your complete funds in one time investment either in Equity or Gold or FDs or whatever.
3. As per my information, there are broking houses, who take up Portfolio management services for their clients. These houses do the trading on your behalf to earn you income for which they charge a commission, naturally.
4. I believe that a minimum amount one should have for such Portfolio management is about Rs 25 lacs.
5. Therefore, you could check with proper broking houses, preferably avoiding any and every bank offering such services [ICICI-HDFC-HSBC-Kotak-etc] and to start with check with all the brokers like ShareKhan, India Infoline, Motilal Oswal, Anand Rathi, Angel Broking. These names you could find on Traderji if you could spend half hour for searching.
6. Again, IF the minimum amount is Rs 25 lacs, then ideally you should choose 2 separate houses, investing half of your capital in each of them.
7. With the uptrending market, you should be in a position to get back few lacs in 2-3 months, which you yourself can invest partially in Gold, Partially in FDs, and likewise.
Even after handing over the money to brokers under Portfolio management scheme, you will be in a position to check the value of your investment every day over the net, because almost every broking firm has this facility.
This check you MUST keep. Afterall, it is YOUR money and you should be bothered about it the most.
God has given thinking power to each individual. So think and act in a manner you feel is the correct way. Do listen to others and consider their opinions. But ultimate decision should NOT be based on who gave it. It should be the one YOU find as the correct one.
Good Luck !
SS