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July 03, 2002
Mutual Funds Chat

' It's the ideal time to start investing in equities'

'An exposure to equity will give very handsome returns from the current levels. If you are an aggresive investor, go for sector funds which are investing in basic core industries,' says Chandan Desai.

paresh : What criteria should an investor have before choosing on a particular mutual fund?
Chandan Desai Head-Equity J.M. Capital Manangement : Investor has to look at managment style of fund manager ( growth/value etc) and past performance for last 3-6 months

paresh : How do you decide on equities to buy? Do you have any benchmarks?
Chandan Desai Head-Equity J.M. Capital Manangement : We have many criteria for stock selection like management quality, projected NP growth, return on net worth etc. But the most important is management quality and the current valuation levels. We normally pick up the stocks which have 10 : 30 risk-return profile.

antzy : Tell me, do you not thnk that because of UTI investors are scared of mutual funds. How do we know that private mutual funds won't go the same way as UTI. Atleast with UTI, there is hope of govt bailout
Chandan Desai Head-Equity J.M. Capital Manangement : The main problem with UTI has been assured schemes and their non-NAV based buying/selling of US-64 units. None of the the private sector MFs have assured schemes and you can be rest assured that all of them buying/selling their units at NAV. Hence, problem like UTI will never happen at these open ended NAV based schemes

Curious : Despite burning its hands, why does UTI still continue to hold ICE sector stocks prime.. all most of its portfolios reveal that..
Chandan Desai Head-Equity J.M. Capital Manangement : UTI has been facing redemption pressure for quite some time and they have sold off many stocks where thay were making good profits. Hence, selling list has had more of non-ICE stocks and thus weightage of ICE stocks has remained either stagnant/gone up

antzy : What is the weightage of tech stocks in your portfolio?
Chandan Desai Head-Equity J.M. Capital Manangement  : We are holding 5% IT in our equity fund and 3% in JM balanced fund

raman : Which is your favorite sector to invest in? and what do you thnk of the importance being given to ITES stocks on the market?
Chandan Desai Head-Equity J.M. Capital Manangement  : Currently, we are very bullish on oil & gas, pharma and commodities. We are not very bullish on IT but it is true that IT enabled services will outperform the tech sector

HesitantInvestor : Frankly, i know nothing of the stockmarket. Friends say I should forget individual stocks and invest in Mutual Funds. Do you think this is sane advice? Which fund should I go for? I am a risk-averse, middle income dreamer.
Chandan Desai Head-Equity J.M. Capital Manangement  : I think your friend has given you correct advice. Your money will fetch better returns if you invest through MFs. Since you are a risk averse investor, put 80% of your money in debt funds( if possible in AAA funds) and 20% in diversified equity fund which is a moderate risk player.

Kamini : My husband's a spendthrift but I am keen we invest some money for the future. What word of advice do you have for a housewife like me? We can manage to save about Rs 10,000 a month. Please take me seriously.
Chandan Desai Head-Equity J.M. Capital Manangement  : As you have stated that your husband is a spendthrift, you will have to adopt a safe investment strategy. Hence, you should invest around 85-90% in debt and money market funds. Put only 5-10% in equity as you cannot take high risk

Dheeraj : Hi Chandan... I am keen on investing in Mutual Funds, but cant seem to decide which one to go for... could u advice me on different criteria for selecting a particular fund
Chandan Desai Head-Equity J.M. Capital Manangement  : This is the ideal time to start investing into equity market. You will have to bifurcate your investment amount in 2 parts in debt and equity. But do take an exposure to equity as it will give very handsome returns from these levels. If you are an aggresive investor, go for sector funds which are investing in basic core industries.If you want to take moderate risk, go for diversified equity fund. For steady income, go for debt funds

Deepak : Chandan, I have a surplus sum of around Rs.50,000 that I have received as PF. Need your inputs on where I should invest it... mutual funds?? if mutual funds, which one? if not... where???
Chandan Desai Head-Equity J.M. Capital Manangement  : Hi Deepak ! Your investment profile will have to match your age profile and risk appetite. But I suggest that being PF money, you should invest 70% of this money in debt and money market mutual funds can yield steady returns and allocate around 30% to equity funds, especially equity funds with moderate risk profile

atmesh76 : I have heard about MF and want to know about their SIP ( Systematic Investment Plan ), is it taxable ? can you please explain me in detail ?
Chandan Desai Head-Equity J.M. Capital Manangement  : Most of the MFs are today having SIP by which you can invest a predetermined sum on a monthly basis. This helps you to average your investment in declining market and gives a very good returns when the market enters bull phase. SIPs reduce risk profile of your investment and is able to give a regular return over long term.

kvsmadhu : Hi Chandan, I have about 1 lac rupees of liquid cash. Of this, i use 25,000 rupees for online trading etc. I want to invest about 30,000 in mutual funds. I can afford to take a higer risk because i'm just 27 yrs old and earn handsomely. Can you please suggest how i should go about investing in Mutual Funds?
Chandan Desai Head-Equity J.M. Capital Manangement  : Being only 27 years old, you should go for aggresive equity and sector funds which have potential of supernormal returns.You should go for basic industries or core sector funds which are expected to well as most of the commodity cycles are turning or have turned for good.

pramod : Hi chandan, what type of scrips do u invest in your basic fund
Chandan Desai Head-Equity J.M. Capital Manangement  : JM Basic Fund is a petrochemical sector fund and in line with our policy of investing in leading and highly liquid stocks, we invest in leaders in this sector

satya : What are the best performing schemes in your fund portfolio
Chandan Desai Head-Equity J.M. Capital Manangement  : Our JM Income Fund, which is a bond fund has been a star performer since last 3 years with many awards and almost continous CPR-1 ranking.Our petrochemical sector fund, JM Basic Fund has also given a very superlative return on a consistent basis even in a depressed market scenario

Sathya : What is your opinion on Hughes Tele
Chandan Desai Head-Equity J.M. Capital Manangement  : Hughes Tele is a telecom major which ahs entered Indian telecom market in the recent past. But any telecom company will take a few years time to start showing bottom line results. Hence, one can look at it as a long tern investment bet.

mut : Hi which pharma comany does your mutual fund think of investing in
Chandan Desai Head-Equity J.M. Capital Manangement  : We are very bullish on pharma sector and have invested in leading domestic pharma companies which have proven credentials on R & D front. We are also comfortable with leading MNC pharma companies on account of their attractive valuation

atmesh76 : Hi Chandan , can you tell me about third party investors like Franklin Templeton ? How safe are their schemes ?
Chandan Desai Head-Equity J.M. Capital Manangement  : Franklin Templton is a well respected fundhouse in the global investment community. But their schemes carry the same amount of risk profile as any other mutual fund scheme. As all private sector MFs are nav based, you need not worry about problems like UTI with any of them

mut : How much time u see for tech shares to be bullish again
Chandan Desai Head-Equity J.M. Capital Manangement  : The recovery of tech sector is linked to recovery of US economy to a great extent. Hence, a broad recovery does not seem to be on cards. However, certain niche segments of tech sector like BPO can do well in near future

rshenoi : I heard debt gilt funds pay very high. How true is this
Chandan Desai Head-Equity J.M. Capital Manangement  : Though debt and gilt fund have generated very good returns in the last one year, this may not remain the same in future. The superior return of debt/gilt funds were based on declining interest rate scenario i.e. specific rate cuts that took place in the last year. With near stabilisation of interest rates, these funds may not generate same kind of returns

Ktendulkar : Many fund managers are recommending investors to invest in equity fund now days that mean they are expecting equity markets to do well. Then why shouldn't I invest in eqities directly than depending on mutual fund managers
Chandan Desai Head-Equity J.M. Capital Manangement  : Most of the Fund Managers are looking forward to unfolding of a new bull phase in the coming months. But this time fund managers have already put in place the risk control mechanism. Hence, the risk-return profile of investment through MF will be far more superior than direct investment

yogendrajoshi : What do u feel about investing in Petro fund at this point ?
Chandan Desai Head-Equity J.M. Capital Manangement  : We are very bullish on the complete oil & gas sector which includes petrochemicals, refineries etc. Hence, one can surely invest in Petro funds at this juncture and expect substantial returns over medium to long term

veekay_kumar : Chandanji, what do you feel will be the fate of small mutual funds? Are there chances of mergers and acqusition in the mutual fund industry.
Chandan Desai Head-Equity J.M. Capital Manangement  : Yes, the consolidation in MF industry has already started and smaller funds will either have to grow in a rapid manner or merge with bigger players. Marginal players cannot survive over a long term.

deepakkurup : Seeing the way Xerox ,Worldcomm have been going, do u think Indian Companies can be left far behind
Chandan Desai Head-Equity J.M. Capital Manangement  : In the past everybody used to crib about corporate governance in India and used to praise level of corporate governance in US. But I think, today the scenario has changed completely. We have improved a lot in this area and US has gone down. Though we have still a long way to go we are on a rising wheel here.

Manish : What do u feel abt indian economy
Chandan Desai Head-Equity J.M. Capital Manangement  : Indian economy is surely showing signs of turnaround. The recent numbers where core sector has shown growth of 5.5% is very encouraging and with most of commodity cycles turning for better, the future of Indian economy appears to be quite bright.

xcv : Hi chandan, can you tellme means to increase my monetary gains. I do save around 20k permonth. I am looking at medium risk and good return with high liquidity. Which funds should i look at?
Chandan Desai Head-Equity J.M. Capital Manangement  : The money market schemes of all private sector mutual funds are very safe and carry negligible or no risk. Hence you should invest in them. We at JMMF also have this product. Bye for now. It has been a pleasure chatting with all of you. Happy Investing to u all !

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