India's total value of defence production breached Rs 1 trillion-mark in the fiscal year 2022-23 (FY23), up 12 per cent year-on-year (YoY). At the bourses, this has been well reflected in related-stocks from the sector as they gained considerable ground during this period. Shares of Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL), Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders, MTAR Technologies, Bharat Electronics (BEL), and Bharat Dynamics (BDL) have skyrocketed up to 160 per cent in a year, as against a 14 per cent jump in the S&P BSE Sensex.
Omkeshwar Singh, Head, Rank MF, a mutual fund investment platform, answers your queries.
rediffGURU and financial planning expert Colonel Sanjeev Govila (retd) answers your personal finance-related questions.
'Given that debt AIFs, by nature, target a higher portfolio return, it is likely to attract investors like HNIs, family offices, etc, looking for a higher yield debt product.'
Industry players say they have learnt from the bitter experience of 2008 and have far better checks and balances in place to avoid an encore.
Omkeshwar Singh, Head, Rank MF, a mutual fund investment platform, answers your queries.
Investors not comfortable investing directly may take the mutual fund route, where they get exposure to a diversified portfolio of bonds.
Diversified entity ITC Ltd on Monday said it will demerge its hotels business by incorporating wholly-owned subsidiary ITC Hotels Ltd, paving way to attract appropriate investors and strategic partners. With the company's hotels business maturing over the years, the company said the vertical is ready to chart its own growth path as a separate entity in the fast-growing hospitality industry. "The Board of Directors of ITC Ltd at its meeting held on July 24, 2023, evaluated and discussed various alternative structures for the hotels business.
The hard truth is that unless you start investing for your children in advance, in appropriate investment avenues, you are risking their future aspirations.
While the market may remain volatile this year, analysts expect equities to deliver positive returns by outperforming inflation and government bonds, supported by the fiscal stimulus in the US.
Investors with high risk appetite must stay invested while risk-averse investors can consider profit booking.
Bajaj Finance was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, dropping over 9 per cent, followed by Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, HDFC, ICICI Bank and M&M. Reliance Industries, however, capped the losses by rallying over 3 per cent. Sun Pharma, Hero MotoCorp, L&T, PowerGrid and Bajaj Auto were also among the gainers.
'Historically, the markets tend to perform well during election years as governments aim to increase spending and call attention to growth.'
Manage investments between debt, domestic equity, international equity, real estate and gold, advises Harsh Roongta.
Investors should consider debt mutual funds, banks fixed deposits or high-rated corporate debt instruments.
Institutional investment in real estate jumped nearly 9-fold during the April-June quarter to $1.35 billion, mainly driven by the inflow of funds in the warehousing projects, according to property consultant JLL India. In its 'Capital Markets Update Q2 2021', JLL India reported that institutional investors deployed $1,357 million in real estate during the second quarter of the 2022 calendar year as against a mere $155 million in the year-ago period.
'Decide on an asset allocation you are comfortable with and stick to it for the long term.'
'...over the long-term can be done only by investing in equities.' 'And during weak macros, one needs t1o allocate more than drawing it down, because they offer the best entry point.'
Alternative investment funds (AIFs) - pooled investment vehicles catering to high net worth individuals (HNIs) - saw a 30 per cent increase in investment commitments during financial year 2022-23 (FY23). At the end of March 2023, the total investment commitments raised stood at Rs 8.33 trillion, up Rs 1.92 trillion from Rs 6.41 trillion at the end of March 2022. A commitment is the money clients are willing to put into AIFs.
Mutual funds (MFs) are set to be net sellers of Indian equities for the first time in the past seven financial years, having sold stocks worth about Rs 1.27 trillion so far in 2020-21 (FY21), making it the highest net sales on record in a financial year. MFs had been net buyers in the previous six financial years, including purchases of over Rs 1.41 trillion in FY18, Rs 88,152 crore in FY19, and Rs 91,814 crore in FY20. The last time they offloaded Indian equities was in FY14, when they net sold stocks worth Rs 21,159 crore. In contrast, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have ramped up buying in FY21, purchasing more than Rs 2.6 trillion worth of shares.
Decisions should not be based on feelings, such as optimism or pessimism about the stock market or specific investment products, suggests Avinash Luthria.
During Abe's tenure, Japan had announced support for a number of major projects. These included the bullet train project between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, besides allocations for a freight corridor between Mumbai and New Delhi.
'It is crucial to understand that the ultimate goal of your investments isn't to pay lesser tax, but to create long-term wealth for you and your family,' says Satyen Kothari, founder and CEO, Cube Wealth.
Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) may require at least five more years to comply with the minimum public shareholding of 25 per cent beyond the current exempted timeline of 2027. Formal communication in this regard had been shared recently with the finance ministry, underlining LIC's roadmap, plans of further dilution of stake, current norms around public float, and challenges ahead, a government source familiar with the matter said. "Going forward, we will have to take a call, along with Sebi (Securities and Exchange Board of India) and the Department of Economic Affairs on the roadmap for minimum public shareholding (MPS).
Over 85 per cent of SIP AUM, or Rs 5.8 trillion, is in equity schemes, compared to just Rs 6,100 crore in debt.
'There is no need to do anything, let your SIPs get deducted every month, and stick to your allocation between equity, fixed income and emergency funds and your risk covers.'
Populism gains momentum during election periods, and this trend is evident in at least four states: Telangana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
The steady inflows from systematic investment plans (SIPs) into mutual funds (MFs), coupled with outflows from debt schemes, has propelled the share of SIPs in the total assets being managed by the industry to a new high of 17.1 per cent in February. SIPs are used predominantly by retail investors. Nearly seven of every 10 SIP accounts are in equity-oriented active MF schemes.
And if there are so many opportunities, why haven't they invested in them, asks Debashis Basu.
'The pace of disbursement and project recommendation picks up as the tenure of the House draws near and usually all amount is released.'
Foreign portfolio investors' (FPIs') net investment in the domestic debt market in October was the third highest during the current calendar year as foreign investors rushed to lock in higher returns amid global uncertainty and geo-political tensions, market participants said. FPI inflows in debt stood at Rs 6, 322 crore in October against Rs 768 crore in September, according to data on the National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL). Market participants said that the majority of the inflows were channelled through corporate bonds.
Gold exchange traded funds (ETFs) witnessed a net outflow of Rs 199 crore in January, making it the third monthly withdrawal in a row, with investors preferring equities over other segments on buoyant record SIP flow. This was in comparison to a net outflow of Rs 273 crore registered in the segment in December and Rs 195 crore in November. Prior to that, Gold ETFs attracted Rs 147 crore in October, data with Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi) showed.
Corporate India is busy restructuring - through mergers, demergers and splits. That seems to be the new normal as CXOs and boards brainstorm on how to create assets and value. The pitch rose significantly during the third quarter of this financial year (FY24), translating into $32.9-billion worth of such deals - the highest quarterly total since the HDFC Bank-HDFC merger announced in FY22 Q2.
Steep volatility in the markets has made fund managers cautious, awaiting opportunities to deploy the cash.
'At the policy's maturity, the total premium is refunded.'
Stockmarket Gurus Raamdeo Agrawal, Manish Gunwani, S Naren and Nilesh Shah discuss their favourite themes for the New Year.
Affordable pricing, a variety of themes, and the ease of transacting are among key reasons that have made smallcases a hit among young investors.
Why did the company zero in on RBL Bank to understand the business of banking? While the M&M investors heaved a sigh of relief, one gentleman must have been all smiles after this, RBL Bank MD and CEO R Subramaniakumar, notes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Investors must, however, be prepared for volatility in ELSS, cautions Sanjay Kumar Singh.
It is not the job of regulators to ensure that users make profits. It is not the job of regulators to prevent people from making losses. It is not the job of regulators to prevent people from doing stupid things, argues Ajay Shah.
