Apart from the emotional value attached to buying gold, the yellow metal offers protection against inflation, interest rate spikes, currency and geopolitical risks, says Anamika Pareek.
For the third month running, investors opened over four million new demat accounts in February, showing growing household confidence in stock markets and their increased risk appetite. Over 13.12 million new demat accounts have been opened in the last three months, taking the total count close to the 150-million mark. Demat accounts are needed for trading and holding shares electronically.
To invest in the stock market and buy equity, you need three things
Dwaipayan Bose highlights the similarities and contrasts between ETFs and Index Funds.
Sebi directs freezing of all demat accounts not linked to Aadhaar by December 31
Regarding the applicability of stamp duty on redemption of mutual fund (MF) units, Sebi said, "Redemption is not liable to duty as it is neither a transfer nor an issue nor a sale." However, switching in mutual fund would attract stamp duty. "The issue of fresh units in the switched scheme would attract stamp duty even though there is no physical consideration paid or transfer of ownership," Sebi said.
'To be able to sail through such volatilities, it is prudent to focus on quality.'
New investors should gradually build a 5 to 10 per cent allocation to gold.
The share of equity and investment funds in the total financial wealth of households increased by more than 50% between 2011-2012 and 2022-2023.
The total number of unique investors directly investing in the stock market has surged to 80 million for the first time, with the latest 10 million additions taking place in just eight months, according to data shared by the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the country's largest bourse. "The 80 million unique PAN (permanent account number) investors correspond approximately to around 50 million unique households in India amounting to around 17 per cent households directly investing in the Indian stock market via NSE's extensive nationwide network of trading members," said the exchange. In 2021, the number of domestic households were pegged at 300 million.
'If the portfolio growth rate is higher, take this loan. If it is lower, liquidate your investments.'
'Liquid ETFs help in cash management by enabling a smooth transition between equity and cash within the same settlement cycle, as they trade in the same segment as equity.'
Anamika Pareek answers five most frequently asked questions about investing in silver ETFs
Markets regulator Sebi on Wednesday ordered attachment of bank accounts as well as share and mutual fund holdings of Rana Kapoor, former MD and CEO of Yes Bank, to recover dues of over Rs 1 crore. The decision has been taken after Kapoor failed to pay the fine imposed on him. Sebi, in September 2020, had levied a fine of Rs 1 crore on Kapoor for not making disclosures regarding a transaction of Morgan Credit, which was an unlisted promoter entity of Yes Bank.
We have millions of newbie investors who are clueless about how to handle sudden and severe adverse market reactions, which arrive from time to time, observes Debashis Basu.
Aadhaar-based verification and video-based in-person verification for e-KYC have made investing in mutual funds a breeze
Most investors should have a 5% to 10% allocation to gold for diversification. They should stagger their investments to mitigate timing risk.
Mutual funds (MFs) added systematic investment plan (SIP) accounts at a record pace in 2023 with the net additions in the calendar year surpassing 15 million - 24 per cent higher than the 2022 tally of 12.2 million, according to data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi).
Commodity investments can help you diversify your portfolio in asset classes other than equity and debt, says Dwaipayan Bose.
Do you have financial planning queries? Ask rediffGURU Kirtan A Shah.
rediffGURU Samkit Maniar answers readers' personal income tax queries.
'Understand how wedding expenses fit into your overall financial situation.' 'Evaluate how different levels of spending will impact other goals like retirement, travel, or housing.'
Swift gains on Dalal Street this year have also led to a sharp surge in shares of equity market intermediaries like depositories, exchanges, and registrar and transfer Agents (RTAs). The stock prices of BSE, CDSL, CAMS, and KFin Technologies are up 24-283 per cent so far in 2023 when compared to a 9 per cent rise in the benchmark Nifty index. With the market buoyancy expected to keep up the pace, analysts believe these stocks are a good long-term bet despite the sharp rally, which can trigger an intermittent correction.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday asked banks and other financial institutions to ensure that their customers must update nominees to help resolve the problem of unclaimed money in future. "I want the banking system, the financial ecosystem including the mutual funds, stock markets to keep in mind that when someone deals with his (customer's) money, the organisations will have to think about the future and ensure that customers nominate their heirs, give the name and address," Sitharaman said speaking at the Global Fintech Fest (GFF) in Mumbai. According to a report, the banking system alone has more than Rs 35,000 crore of unclaimed deposits, while the overall quantum of the unclaimed money is said to be more than Rs 1 lakh crore.
Dwaipayan Bose examines the seven important factors that investors about exchange traded funds must know before they start investing/trading in them.
In an online chat with readers on August 10, Vidya Bala, Vidya Bala, head of mutual fund research at FundsIndia, answered their queries. For hose who missed the chat, here is the transcript.
Anil Rego, CEO, Right Horizons, answers your personal income tax queries.
'It is the best avenue for investors who would like to take long-term exposure to gold.'
Anil Rego, CEO, Right Horizons, answers your personal income tax queries.
After 'mutual funds sahi hai', it could be the turn of something like 'stock market sahi hai'. Ahead of what will be India's biggest initial public offering, expected later this year, the government and the insurance major are planning a high-decibel awareness campaign for retail investors to ensure their participation in large numbers. "It may be along the lines of the highly successful campaign on mutual funds," an official privy to the developments said. The campaign will mainly target investors in tier II and tier III cities, and will be organised through the vast network of LIC agents to make the policyholders aware about investing in stock markets.
Jio Financial Services, the demerged financial services unit of Reliance Industries, will be listed on bourses on August 21, according to an exchange notification. Jio Financial Services Ltd (JFSL) demerged from Reliance last month and is currently listed under a dummy ticker after its price discovery at Rs 261.85 but there is no trading happening in the scrip. The listing on BSE and NSE has been scheduled a day before FTSE Russell plans to drop JFSL from its indices.
India's mutual fund (MF) industry had barely any retail footprint when it completed 50 years in 2013. MFs had Rs 7 trillion in assets under management (AUM) in March 2013, of which around Rs 5 trillion was in institution-focused debt funds. By comparison, bank deposits in the country stood at Rs 67.5 trillion around the same time.
COVID-19 forced people to work from home turned into the fuel for new demat accounts, observes Debashis Basu.
Rebalance your portfolio in case it has become overweight on equities vis-a-vis your strategic asset allocation.
If the nominations are not in place, the heirs need to go through a lengthy process to get access to the money cautions Bindisha Sarang.
Influenced by ads like 'Make money sitting at home', 'Make Rs 10 lakh with just Rs 1,000', to YouTube influencers promoting 'pump-and-dump' stocks, a vast majority of small investors who mushroomed during the COVID-19 period are losing money in reckless overtrading in the market, cautions Dr V K Vijaykumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
'Younger investors start their journey with very little capital so they are risking less while they have a lot of time to experiment and learn early on.'
'Largely, new demat accounts are now being opened by the younger crowd, particularly GenZ.' 'This is great news since younger investors start their journey with very little capital, so they are risking less.'
Retail investors have gained significant heft in the past year amid a sustained uptick in Indian equities. The share of retail investors in companies listed on the NSE reached an all-time high of 7.32 per cent in the quarter ended December 31, 2021, up from 7.13 per cent in the previous quarter and 6.9 per cent a year ago, the data from PRIME Infobase shows. This was despite the Nifty's 1.5 per cent decline during the quarter.
Investing in ETFs is similar to buying and selling shares on exchanges through your trading account, points out Ashwani Bhatia, MD and CEO, SBI Mutual Fund.
