After the Franklin Templeton episode, investor confidence has been shaken. Known brands have become more relevant to investors, as long as this psychological impact lasts.
'Investors should restrict themselves to a few category schemes with high quality portfolios apart from overnight and liquid funds.'
R Sukumar of Franklin Templeton Invetments (India) continues to be positive on the longer term prospects of the market although he feels that rising interest rates and inflation could pose as a problem in the short term.
'Looking at the speed at which changes were made post the Franklin Templeton issue, we are awaiting more stricter norms in the months to come.'
Schemes among the six wound up by the fund house had given a loan of Rs 518 crore against non-convertible debentures to the firm in March 2019, according to ED's chargesheet.
We expect the Indian equity market to continue attracting interest from local as well as foreign investors. This is because India's economy is expected to continue to record sustained economic growth.
'MFs acted as reckless lenders and not as prudent investors.' 'Clearly, how debt funds are being run is a systemic issue,' warns Debashis Basu.
A strong influx of 11 equity new fund offers (NFOs) in June, particularly within the thematic space, helped mutual funds collect Rs 14,370 crore - the highest ever via such introductory offers. This surpassed the previous high recorded in July 2021, where four NFOs accumulated Rs 13,709 crore, with ICICI Prudential MF's flexicap NFO alone mobilising Rs 9,808 crore.
Investors keen on mid and smallcap stocks but wary of volatility should consider multicap equity schemes over standalone midcap or smallcap schemes.
'The shifts in US involvement in global conflicts and geopolitical alliances could introduce uncertainties.'
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.
'We know that returning money to unitholders at the earliest is the first and most important step towards resurrecting our brand and regaining investor trust.'
In a statement, the central bank said heightened volatility in capital markets in reaction to Covid-19 has imposed liquidity strains on mutual funds (MFs), which have intensified in the wake of redemption pressures related to closure of some debt MFs and potential contagious effects therefrom.
When evaluating bonds, returns shouldn't be the sole factor. Pay close attention to the bond's credit rating. It should ideally be AA or higher.
Despite the toned-down estimates, Sukumar Rajah, MD and CIO -- Asian Equities, Franklin Templeton Investments, tells Business Standard that India maintains the lead in economic growth vis-a-vis most of its peers and the regulatory risk will reduce.
There are various mutual fund schemes to choose from, such as equity-diversified funds, mid- or small-cap funds, debt funds and so on.
'Investors should do proper analysis before putting in their money in NFOs as most new launches are in the high-risk thematic space.'
By contrast, the fraud enabled Raju's kin and aides to make hundreds of crores, charges CBI.
The Indian markets have risen 5.2 per cent in the last five days, but Mobius, who has one of the largest exposures to India among Brazil, Russia, India, China (BRIC) countries, says he cannot say the correction is over in the Indian markets.
Forget Starbucks coming into India. Witness the expansion of Caf Coffee Day, which is set to mushroom across the country.
Distressed by the falling spree of Indian equities, fund managers are looking at various avenues of diversification. At a time when emerging markets, including India, are vulnerable to global cues and are more coupled, frontier markets showless or almost no correlation. Franklin Templeton was the first to spot an opportunity and has already filed for a MENA fund (Middle East North Africa Fund), which will invest in some of the frontier markets.
Mark Mobius, the 71-year old investment guru and executive chairman of Franklin Templeton Investments, has a positive view on the Indian market and feels that stock valuations have become attractive after the 27 per cent cut in benchmark equity indices since late January.Stating that it was difficult to predict the end of the current phase, Mobius said he expected the decoupling to continue in the long term.
'Investors looking at the next 6-12 months can be certain that the Fed will maintain its easing cycle, and we expect the overall environment to be conducive for fixed income investments for portfolio diversification.'
If you don't have enough time to study the market, go for mutual funds, says personal finance expert Rahul Goel.
Some historical evidence on why sector funds cannot form the core of your portfolio.
Chief Investment Officer of Prudential ICICI, Nilesh Shah discusses the current situation of the market in terms of inflows, valuations and the general consensus on the market.
As the stock markets scale new peaks almost every day in a pre-poll rally, a vast majority of Indian investors expect a further rise in equities in the current year, says a survey.
In fact, the current market scenario provides more value investment opportunities. So, it is positive for mutual funds.
Several mutual funds (MFs) have recently approached the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as they renew efforts to increase their overseas investment limit. In June 2022, the capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) permitted MFs to invest in foreign stocks within the aggregate mandated limit of $7 billion after a correction in stocks. One of the proposals shared with the RBI is to link MFs' foreign investment limit to the country's foreign exchange reserves.
After Chanda and Deepak Kochchar, the Kudvas are the second power couple in the financial world to come under the regulatory glare.
Small and midcap schemes may impose restrictions on redemptions, cap employee withdrawals, and increase the exit load, while ensuring a proportionate liquidation of the portfolio during market crises to safeguard the interests of all investors. These measures have been outlined in the investor protection policies recently put out by mutual fund (MF) trustees. The policies for small and midcap schemes were prepared by MF trustees following directives from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) earlier this month.
Floating-rate mutual funds are back in demand after a year-long period of consistent outflows. In the past three months, investors have poured over Rs 6,100 crore into these debt schemes, indicating a reversal in fortunes for the category that recorded outflows for 11 consecutive months (May 2022 to March 2023), totalling Rs 32,250 crore. Floating-rate funds invest at least 65 per cent in floating-rate instruments, which have their interest rates linked to the Reserve Bank of India repo rate.
Transcript of the market chat held on January 3.
At these high levels, remaining invested in the market is the best bet for small investors, says Ramesh Shrichand Damani.
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