The improvement in the performance of actively managed mutual fund (MF) schemes is acting as a key tailwind for the nearly Rs 50 trillion industry, Kotak Institutional Equities (KIE) said in a report. The report adds that the two largest listed asset management companies (AMCs) - HDFC and Nippon India - are likely to be the biggest beneficiaries. "The industry has a solid track record of delivering alpha on 10-year returns (70-80 per cent of assets under management (AUM) beat the benchmark), with shorter duration performance also on an upswing.
The top 10 fund houses are slowly losing ground to their smaller peers, even as they continue to hold the lion's share in the total assets under management (AUM) of the mutual fund (MF) industry, according to an analysis of the quarterly AUM for the past six years. These fund houses had an average AUM of Rs 38.8 trillion in the third quarter (Q3) of 2023-24, which is 79 per cent of the total industry AUM of Rs 49.2 trillion. The share has come down steadily since Q3 of 2019-2020, when the share stood at 84 per cent.
The board of director at their meeting held on Tuesday approved the proposal to discuss, negotiate and finalise the terms of acquiring 100 per cent or majority equity shareholding of Lotus India AMC, Religare said in a statement. The company has agreed to acquire Lotus India AMC from its majority shareholders, Alexandra Fund Management (an affiliate of Fullerton Fund Management Company Ltd) and Sabre Capital.
'It makes sense to have gold in one's portfolio keeping the political and economic risks of 2024 in mind.'
Paving the way for domestic asset management companies (AMCs) to invest directly in real estate, the Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi) today unveiled the much-awaited guidelines for real estate mutual funds (REMFs), which mandated that at least 35 per cent of the corpus of a scheme be invested directly in real estate assets.
'Asset allocation should be driven much more by long-term factors rather than the market scenario at any particular point in time.'
'Indian investors have always been debt-heavy but with growing financial awareness they are getting comfortable with equities.'
To become a sponsor-free AMC, a MF must have positive liquid net worth and net profit of at least Rs 10 crore in all of the preceding five years.
This is a good opportunity for long-term investors to pick quality small and midcap stocks at reasonable valuations.
Buying and selling of exchange trade fund (ETF) units worth less than Rs 25 crore will now have to take place compulsorily on the stock exchange platform, according to a new rule which comes into effect on Tuesday. The fresh norm, which comes into being after two deferments, is aimed at boosting liquidity and reducing tracking error. At present, investors directly deal with the asset management companies (AMCs) for purchase and redemption of ETFs - passive schemes that track a particular benchmark such as the Nifty50 index.
Infrastructure Development Finance Company has bagged Standard Chartered's asset management business in India for a total consideration of $205 million (around Rs 820 crore) in an all-cash deal. This deal, like the ill-fated UBS' bid last year, however, does not include StanChart's mutual fund distribution business, which the London-based bank will continue to pursue in India.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has just released a proposal to alter the regulations pertaining to the sponsor system for mutual funds. One of the reasons for the proposed changes is that there are two conflicting regulations that need to be clarified. The other reason is that the sponsor system may itself be outdated as it stands, and the proposed changes would allow new entities such as private equity funds and portfolio management services to enter this space.
Birla takes over as chairman after his group increased its stake to 51 per cent in November 2012 from the earlier 50 per cent.
HDFC Asset Management Company (HDFC AMC) reported a healthy profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 430 crore for the July-September quarter (Q2) of financial year 2023-24 (FY24). It rose 20.2 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) and decreased 8.4 per cent quarter-on-quarter (Q-o-Q). This was driven by good equity returns, leading to a sequential improvement in revenue yields.
Investors keen on mid and smallcap stocks but wary of volatility should consider multicap equity schemes over standalone midcap or smallcap schemes.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is discussing with mutual funds (MFs) a proposal on introducing new total expense ratio (TER) slabs linked to the total equity and debt assets by replacing the current ones that are linked to assets of an individual scheme. Senior MF executives confirmed that Sebi had held discussions on this matter with AMCs. Such a change is expected to lead to a lower TER cap for bigger asset management companies (AMCs).
Madhabi Puri Buch, the first female chairperson of Sebi, doesn't plan to rest on her laurels in her third and final year in office and has set out an ambitious goal, such as moving towards a same-day and instantaneous settlement cycle for the secondary market.
Mutual funds are looking to tap into the special opportunities theme ahead of the results of the general election results and the continued uncertainty on the geo-political and interest rate fronts. Two fund houses - WhiteOak Capital and Samco - are set to launch special opportunities funds next week. Kotak MF has also filed papers with the regulator to launch a scheme in the same category.
Besides these entities, IDBI Capital was shortlisted by the interim pension regulator PFRDA for acting as a fund manager and asked to submit bids.
Debt mutual fund (MF) schemes, which witnessed relatively muted inflows in the past three years, saw a surge in investor interest in April amid election-induced volatility in the equity markets. Active debt funds garnered nearly Rs 66,000 crore net inflows in April, most at least since December 2020.
rediffGURU Nikunj Saraf suggests considering small-cap, mid-cap, and multi-cap mutual funds.
Smallcap mutual funds recorded net outflows for the first time in 30 months in March as investors pulled out money after the markets regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), warned against "froth" in the mid and smallcap space. Active equity mutual fund (MF) schemes raked in Rs 22,600 crore in March. The March inflow is 16 per cent lower than the two-year high inflow of Rs 26,860 crore in February, shows data from the Association of MFs in India (Amfi).
Until now, these platforms were either working through an investment advisory (IA) or stockbroking licence.
Most market analysts are expecting the momentum to shift towards 'quality' and 'growth' stocks in 2024 after the outperformance of 'value' stocks over the past three years. 'Value' stocks are generally well-established companies with steady profits that are trading at a discount to what they are intrinsically worth. Companies in sectors such as commodities, industrials, commercial vehicles and public sector units (PSUs) fall in this bracket.
Opinions vary, but fund managers remain bullish.
Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd on Saturday decided to divest up to 10 per cent of its stake in HDFC Asset Management Company.
Since MAAFs invest across multiple asset classes, they offer diversification.
The government on Thursday cleared the long-awaited sale of the UTI Asset Management Company to three state-owned banks and the LIC at a price of Rs 1,237 crore.
An improved showing of mutual funds (MFs) is helping the industry attract distribution talent at a brisk pace. The industry has onboarded a net of 11,600 individual distributors in the first seven months of 2023-24 (FY24) compared to just 5,555 distributors in the whole of 2022-23 (FY23), according to data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India. Like most financial products, MFs also have significant reliance on individual distributors to sell their products, even as digital platforms are gaining popularity.
Net inflows into two of the 'lower risk' equity funds - largecaps and flexicaps - outpaced the flows into smallcap funds during January 2024 for the first time in 17 months. This is an indication that investors may now be shifting to the relatively safer largecap stocks after a sharp run up in the mid and smallcap spaces. Net inflows into large and flexicap funds were at Rs 3,730 crore last month against Rs 3,260 crore by smallcap schemes.
The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) had decided to pull down the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj flyover constructed by the AEIPL in the city's Hatkeshwar locality at a cost of Rs 44 crore and commissioned in 2017.
'The market should maintain optimism on the back of range-bound oil prices, a robust fiscal balance sheet, a better-than-expected monsoon, and moderating inflation.'
On May 6, the fund house had issued a statement where it had stated that it had launched a suo motu investigation two months ago to probe potential irregularities.
'Even where we are now today, the growth rates are very good, but we need to get to 8-9 per cent growth in the years to come.'
Since April there have been no new NFOs because of the delay in the implementation of the new norms around pooling of funds.
'The deal pipeline across products is robust for 2024.'
rediffGURU Dev Ashish answers your personal finance and mutual fund queries.
The change in debt fund taxation is seen as boosting the demand for hybrid funds. It is no surprise then that asset management companies (AMCs) have launched a raft of new products in the multi-asset category. However, they seem to be divided on the asset mix and approach. The multi-asset space, which provides fund houses ample scope to innovate, has seen five launches in as many months.
