Ask rediffGURU and PF expert Milind Vadjikar your insurance, stocks, mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
Vedanta group chairman, Anil Agarwal, 69, is well known for his business journey from a scrap dealer from Bihar to a London-based globe-girdling metal and oil and gas conglomerate with revenues of $19 billion. Now his abilities to keep his group from over-leveraging itself will be put to the test. Over the years, Agarwal, now based in London, set up the conglomerate via acquiring iron ore producer Sesa Goa, Cairn's oil producing assets in India, and Electrosteel Steel.
Opinions vary, but fund managers remain bullish.
Since April there have been no new NFOs because of the delay in the implementation of the new norms around pooling of funds.
Maybe Modi could ask a patriarch of the stature of the late G D Birla to flesh out the details of a new company to manage government land privatisation.
The planned deal will reduce Reliance Capital's stake in Reliance Life Insurance to 51 per cent from 74 per cent.
After a short-term blip, mutual funds (MFs) are back to adding new systematic investment plan (SIP) investors at a record high pace, which was seen during the financial year 2021-22 (FY22). During the first six months (H1) of this financial year (FY24), MFs have added a net 77 million SIP accounts compared to 56 million during the same period of FY23. The net additions this year are a tad higher than the 76.5 million additions in H1 of FY22.
Private consumption is back driven by festive spending, and the medium-term economic outlook remains bullish as the innate strength of the macro-fundamentals reasserts itself, the Reserve Bank Bulletin said on Wednesday. Global economic activity remained resilient during Q4:2024 amidst fragile confidence and rising protectionism, said an article on 'State of the Economy' published in the November Bulletin.
Rather than investing directly in shares, opt for mutual funds and/or portfolio management schemes that will invest in global markets on behalf of their investors.
Food delivery major Swiggy has received approval from its shareholders for a $1.25 billion initial public offering (IPO), according to filings made with the Registrar of Companies sourced by Tofler. The Bengaluru-based firm plans to raise as much as Rs 3,750 crore (around $450 million) via a fresh issue and up to Rs 6,664 crore (around $800 million) through an offer-for-sale (OFS) component, the filings stated.
The key assets put on the block include its entire stake in Reliance General Insurance Company, the third-largest private sector insurer, and a 49 per cent stake in Reliance Nippon Life Insurance, a joint venture with Nippon Life, which is among the top five private-sector insurance companies.
'Expectations are high regarding the change in LTCG with respect to equity investments.'
'Banks may find small ticket size lending economically unviable due to the cost of branch operations.'
'If rate cuts happen, bond yields will come down and investors will make mark-to-market capital gains on them.'
NSE's Ramakrishna and ING Vysya Bank's Bhandari front runners for the post.
'Your decisions should not be driven by your view on the market, but by your objectives, risk appetite, and time horizon.'
India's biggest non-bank finance company, Bajaj Finance (BAF), is set to raise capital after a gap of four years. On October 5, the board of directors will meet to approve the fund raise by way of preferential issue and/or qualified institutional placement (QIP) subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals. The move, analysts said, comes ahead of expectations, and could be in the wake of simmering competition in the consumer lending space, especially with the launch of Jio Financial Services (Jio Fin). "While we still do not have finer details on the game-plan of Jio Financial, it has plans to initially foray into consumer and merchant lending.
The culture of these firms is alien to the Indian financial system. Distressed assets funds are known for their ruthless recovery ethics. Slicing and dicing a company and selling it on a piecemeal basis is their usual practice. This is something Indian banks are finding a little uncomfortable.
BlackRock has again reduced the valuation of its share in edtech firm Byju's - this time to about $1 billion, TechCrunch reported on Friday, citing disclosures made by the US-based asset manager. This is 95 per cent less than its peak valuation of $22 billion in 2022. The markdown comes at a time when the company is facing a multitude of challenges, including securing fresh capital, delays in financial reporting and legal disputes with lenders.
Senior bankers anticipate discussions on issues related to technology, cyber security, and customer protection.
'2025 is the year to build a portfolio for the future. Focus this year should be on valuations and visible growth.'
'Institutional ownership, by December 2018, had increased 37.5% from approximately 22% in early 2009,' points out Amit Tandon.
The finance minister was speaking after launching the maiden IDF scheme of IIFCL Mutual Fund in New Delhi on Tuesday.
'If private capex has to kick in, there should at least be 2-3 years of visibility.'
When there are two wills produced before the court, which one will be executed?
Unfazed by the Supreme Court upholding winding up of the company, shareholders of Devas Multimedia will continue to seek seizure of Indian government assets abroad to collect $1.2 billion the firm has been awarded by arbitration tribunals for cancellation of a satellite deal but are open for talks to settle the issue, their counsel said. "The decision by the Supreme Court does not change anything. The Modi government and the Indian courts cannot rewrite the facts. "Their flimsy allegations of fraud will never stand up in courts outside of India," said Matthew D McGill, partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, and lead counsel for several Devas' shareholders.
Despite taking a hit on profitability amid the pandemic, companies with strong balance sheets are gaining market share because of consolidation in their respective sectors.
Payouts to key management personnel in non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) are under the banking regulator's scrutiny. Top industry officials said this is a follow-through on the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) circular of April 29, 2022, which asked NBFCs in the "middle" and "upper" layer of its four-tiered scale-based regulatory (SBR) framework to put in place a board-approved compensation policy.
'Like every Budget, this time, too, there is chatter around tinkering with the long-term capital gains tax.' 'Investors may not want to jump into the markets until there is clarity on this front.'
In a falling market, the value of your investment keeps going down. However, the reduction in value is purely a notional loss if you remain invested. When you redeem in a falling market, the notional loss becomes a permanent loss, explains Anamika Pareek.
Fundraising activity in the upcoming financial year 2022-23 may even surpass FY22 when 52 Indian companies raised a record Rs 1.11 trillion via initial public offerings (IPOs). According to a note by PRIME Database, 54 companies (including LIC) plan to raise Rs 1.4 trillion and currently hold the Securities and Exchange Board of India's (Sebi's) approval. Another 43 companies, the note said, are looking to raise about Rs 81,000 crore but waiting for Sebi nod.
With debt woes and a legal case in the US courts, educational technology (edtech) giant Byju's is expected to be laying off more employees, according to media reports. According to The Morning Context report, Byju's intends to lay off 1,000 employees. This number, however, could not be confirmed by Business Standard independently. A spokesperson for the company declined to comment on the reports.
Close to 21.5 per cent of this will be sold to Japan's Nippon Life, which will then become the sole promoter of the fund house.
'No human bias is involved as happens in active funds.'
If a fund manager moves on to another fund or resigns from the concerned asset management company, is that a sign to sell your holdings in the fund or discontinue your SIP? Read on...
An interview with executive director V Srinivasa Rangan.
Former IPL boss Lalit Modi has questioned the entry of private equity firm CVC Capital Partners in the Indian Premier League due to its investments in companies linked to betting activities.
The OCCRP report alleges that at one point, EIFF and EMRF held free-floating shares ranging from 8 per cent to nearly 14 per cent in the four Adani Group companies.
