Having cleaned up their credit card portfolios and sensing a change in the economic environment, issuers such as SBI Cards, Standard Chartered and HSBC are seeing an increase in their credit card base at a marginal pace.
Only a seasoned investor, who is clued on and has the resources to hold on or pay back the broker, should take such chances.
While retaining the basic exemption limits at Rs 1.6 lakh (for individuals), Rs 1.9 lakh (for women) and Rs 2.4 lakh (for the retired), the slabs have been hiked substantially.
One indication of this was the fact that many large bond buyers stayed away from the Rs 12,000 crore auction conducted on August 7.
Financial planners say once the market starts moving up, investment decisions are based on greed and not fundamentals.
Income from distribution of third-party products such as insurance policies and mutual fund schemes is already under pressure because of the unfavourable economic climate.
Rate cut, increase in limit, withdrawal of processing charges are some of the pluses.
If you are looking to invest in this category of funds keep the following things in mind.
Banks' net interest margins under pressure due to moderate income from advances.
Banks have come to realise that recession or no recession, education loans are a low-risk business.
It is always a good exercise to know your borrowing limit before you start scouting for a home.
Balachandran M, Director of the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection, has little time to catch his breath. He and his team have been supervising recruitment of nearly 100 public sector bank employees every day.
The government's borrowing programme will adversely impact returns from debt funds. Choose your funds carefully.
With the Securities and Exchange Board of India abolishing the entry load on mutual funds, sector experts believe distributors are likely to aggressively push high-commission insurance products. The quashing, applicable from August 1, will bring down their commission to less than half of what they earn right now. The result is likely to be aggressive selling of, for one, unit-linked insurance plans (Ulips).
The trend has attracted the attention of fund managers who have resumed launching products targeted at HNIs.
Reliance Mutual Fund and UTI Mutual Fund have applied to Sebi to start schemes that will collect money directly from investors and buy units in Gold Exchange Traded Funds. Though at a slightly high cost, these schemes take away the hassle of maintaining demat and trading accounts with brokers. "These two factors were the biggest hindrance for gold ETFs," said Devendra Nevgi, ex-CIO, Quantum Asset Management. Nevgi started the gold ETF at the fund house.
Institutions that are supposed to promote and sell the product are more or less clueless about it even though it has been a month since the scheme was launched on May 1. Only few of the institutions that have been nominated to help investors enrol are aware of the procedures. There were no designated help desks. At best, one could only get the form.
Buying a cover at a late age is expensive; the benefits, too, are limited.
The market-linked health plans have advantages, but can hurt during downturns. This one is for the indisciplined investor.
The clauses on corporate debt restructuring (CDR) are being reworked in view of the huge foreign exchange exposure of several companies, which have already opted for restructuring debt or are on their way to seeking approval for one.
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