Ask rediffGURU and PF expert Nitin Narkhede your mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
'For the next two years, we expect the bulk of earnings growth contribution from sectors like financials and energy, where the outlook remains positive, while the sectors which are linked to domestic consumption and are currently witnessing strains on margins have low salience for Nifty earnings.'
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According to the BofA Merrill Lynch fund manager survey for October, investors are concerned that global economic recovery could falter, while emerging market confidence have started to rebuild.
Investors should view the increase in the LTCG tax rate in conjunction with the increase in capital gains exemption from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.25 lakh, which will provide some relief.
The 44-player industry logged assets under management of Rs 26.33 lakh crore in October-end, as compared to Rs 27.04 lakh crore by November end, representing a growth of 3 per cent. Among debt-oriented schemes, overnight funds received flows worth about Rs 20,650 crore, the highest among the fixed-income segment last month.
It has also proposed that CEO and managing director Salil Parekh be granted annual performance-based stock incentives in the form of restricted stock units worth Rs 10 crore under the 2019 Plan.
'Returns can be very variable in equity markets.' 'That is why I tell small investors don't put 100 per cent of your money in equities, even if you are young.'
The mutual fund industry continued with the positive momentum in the September quarter, attracting Rs 34,765 crore, although it was a massive reduction as against the Rs 1.85 lakh crore inflow in the preceding quarter, primarily due to withdrawal from debt segment. Most of the asset classes saw net inflows during the July-September period of the current financial year barring the fixed-income or debt segment, which witnessed net outflows. Overall, flows started on a strong note during the quarter under review, with net inflows of Rs 82,467 crore in July, which dipped to Rs 16,180 crore in August and ended with a disappointing Rs 63,882 crore of net outflows in September, according to a report by Morningstar India.
Bharti Airtel has quietly narrowed its adjusted gross revenue (AGR) market share gap with Reliance Jio, the country's largest player in the game, in the last three years. Despite Jio's aggressive entry into 4G and now into 5G, Airtel's gap with Jio, which was 6.4 percentage points in Q1 of FY21 and went up to 7.2 percentage points in Q1 of FY22, has fallen to only 4.4 percentage points in Q1 of FY24. Currently, Reliance Jio's AGR market share is 41.6 per cent while Airtel's is at 37.2 per cent.
Emerging market equities have delivered stellar returns over the last few years, outperforming their developed market peers since this new bull market began in end 2002.
Despite the rally in equities over the last few years, India, according to Christopher Wood, global head of equity strategy at Jefferies, is still in early stages of an equity cult. Any changes to the capital gains tax for equities - both long-term and short-term - in Budget 2024 scheduled to be announced on July 23, he believes, can trigger a bigger correction that what the markets witnessed post the Lok Sabha election outcome on June 4 that saw the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lose majority, though it was able to form the government with the help of coalition partners.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday announced income tax relief for the middle class, a Rs 2 lakh crore outlay for job creation schemes over the next five years and a spending splurge for states run by her party's new coalition partners as she unveiled the Modi 3.0 government's first budget after the general elections.
Between the new schemes and existing pension funds from mutual fund houses, the latter seems like a better option for conservative investors
'Volumes in F&O trading had gone up rapidly and, in a way, the increase in STT on F&O will protect investor interest.'
The 2023 Budget set off a downtrend in the listed life insurance company stocks. The key reason was a proposal to tax income from insurance policies (other than unit-linked insurance plans or ULIPs) with a premium, or aggregate premium, of above Rs 500,000 per annum. This impacted the traditional savings profile since it affected the returns for these products.
Unlike the previous visit, where TDP MPs accompanied Naidu to meetings, sources termed the current visit as "low profile", with one-on-one meetings with key Union ministers.
Few finance ministers announce any taxation measure that could upset the stock market. Ms Sitharaman decided to take that risk, observes A K Bhattacharya.
Experts advise getting back to equities, as the outlook on the yellow metal and real estate is weak.
The RBI's decision to tighten norms for unsecured personal loans is credit positive because lenders will need to allocate higher capital for such loans, thus improving their loss-absorbing buffers, Moody's Investors Service said on Monday. The Reserve Bank last week raised risk weights on unsecured retail loans, credit cards and lending to non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) by 25 percentage points. Moody's said unsecured loans have been growing rapidly in the past few years, exposing financial institutions to a potential spike in credit costs in case of sudden economic or interest rate shocks.
Given its features as a retirement product (long lock-in and compulsory annuitisation), investors should have other investments they can fall back on in case they need funds
Nineteen per cent of global fund managers remain bullish on India, suggests the latest BofA Asia Fund Manager Survey (FMS). A total of 249 panelists with $656 billion worth of assets under management (AUM) participated in the survey between February 2 and 8, BofA said. Two hundred and nine participants with $568 billion AUM responded to the global FMS questions, while 145 participants with $331 billion in AUM responded to the regional fund manager survey (FMS) questions, BofA said.
'An equity-based index fund should be held for more than five years to average out market volatility and achieve financial goals.'
Global liquidity and focus on Asia is causing the markets rally.
'Set aside around six months' monthly expenses for emergencies.' 'Keep this money in safe and liquid options, such as liquid funds and fixed deposits.'
Do you have financial planning queries? Ask rediffGURU Anil Rego.
The one total disaster scenario for global markets has always been if investors lose confidence in dollar-based assets.
Buying stocks during bad times can lead to good returns.
According to the BofA-ML Fund Manager Survey for January, asset allocators assigning more funds to equities than at any time since February 2011, while their confidence in the world's economic outlook has reached its most positive level since April 2010.
'India's fundamentals are a lot better (than those of other emerging market economies).' 'India will suffer (witness a fall in its stock market) what I call the second order effect.' 'And the second order will happen when these funds (belonging to macro and hedge fund investors and which have leveraged Japanese yen-carry trades), because they lose money elsewhere as lot of their positions were financed by borrowing Japanese yen, will have to book profits in investment destinations where they are making money, including in markets like India.' 'They (these investors) will have to effectively sell in countries like India and which is the consequence (the crash in equity markets) that Indian markets might see.'
In a major operation on Thursday, the Central Bureau of Investigation officer arrested Andhra Pradesh Excise Minister M Venkatramana in the disproportionate assets case involving YSR Congress chief Jaganmohan Reddy.
What stood out in his 15-year journey as a member of the political executive at the Centre was his glowing record as India's most successful and effective finance minister. Both as prime minister and finance minister, he understood the importance of gradualism, except when the economy or the polity was in a crisis.
A comprehensive look at one of the most-preferred tax-saving investment option for the salaried class
Also, relying disproportionately on your risk tolerance to shape your asset-allocation strategy carries its own big risk.
You can look at equity-oriented balanced funds.
'...you evaluate three key factors before committing your money.'
Switch combines a redemption transaction and a purchase transaction into one
Coal industry expert Sunjoy Joshi tells Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com that the NDA's e-auction of coal blocks will not solve the fundamental problems that dog the industry.
'Our advice is to put money into equities now rather than staying away.'
'We now look at divestment as an opportunity for maximising the value of public assets, not necessarily as a short-term resource-raising measure.'
