Even investors with sums as low as Rs 1,000 per month can start their investment journey.
Omkeshwar Singh, Head, Rank MF, a mutual fund investment platform, answers your queries.
Bond markets, global as well as domestic, are likely headed towards hard times over the next three to six months, as higher vegetable prices, rising fuel costs, and improved wages may keep inflation hot, believe analysts, who expect the yields to hit 7.5 per cent in the near-term from the current 7.234 per cent. In this backdrop, they suggest investors can put in money in funds/instruments with residual maturity of 4 to 6 years, while longer-term investors can allocate cautiously to the longer end in the range beyond 7 years.
rediffGURU and financial planning expert Colonel Sanjeev Govila will answer your personal finance-related questions.
Many promoters still consider the cash in the company as their money and are averse to sharing this pie with minority investors, points out Akash Prakash.
While financial planning is good for you, the process which a planner can put you through is not so great, observes financial planner P V Subramanyam.
Anil Rego, CEO, Right Horizons, answers your personal income tax queries.
Understand the pros and cons of SGBs before rushing to invest in them based on past returns.
Hybrid mutual fund (MF) offers, expected to drive higher investor interest after the change in debt fund taxation, are set to end 2023 with the slowest account growth in the past three years. Investment accounts in hybrid funds are up 5.7 per cent so far in 2023 compared with 7.6 per cent in 2022 and 20 per cent in 2021, shows the data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi). In 2020, the count had dipped 2.4 per cent.
ITC stock slipped over 4 per cent on Thursday (February 8) after British American Tobacco (BAT) said it could sell some of its stake in the company, recovering partially in trade. The stock of the cigarette-to-hotels conglomerate traded at Rs 420 levels, rising 1.3 per cent in intraday deals as compared to the S&P BSE Sensex that traded flat for most part of the day. The development, meanwhile, saw Jefferies downgrade the stock to 'hold' from 'buy' earlier with a target price of Rs 430, down a huge 17.3 per cent from its earlier price target of Rs 520.
The sharp surge in investment accounts (folios) in midcap and smallcap mutual funds (MF) in recent months is likely driven by the do-it-yourself (DIY) investors. In the first five months of the present financial year (FY 2024), net folio additions in direct MF plans (4.5 million) has outpaced that in regular plans (3.9 million), contrary to the trend seen in the previous three six-month periods. The net folio additions in direct plans in the five-month period (April-August 2023) is 40 per cent higher than the total additions made in the previous six month period.
Active largecap funds, which have the toughest job in terms of outperforming the benchmark, did better in 2023 as their bets in the mid and smallcap stocks paid off.
And if there are so many opportunities, why haven't they invested in them, asks Debashis Basu.
Independence Day was celebrated across states and Union territories on Thursday, as several chief ministers announced job schemes while some others vowed their support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of a Viksit Bharat by 2047.
Despite price correction, policies that support the yellow metal will remain in place in the foreseeable future.
'Generating employment requires a shift in policy.' 'If not, the country will face economic, social and political challenges in the coming years.'
rediffGURU Sunil Lala answers your MF-related queries.
The size of Budget 2024-25 has increased 6.1 per cent to Rs 47.66 lakh crore because of the rise in expenditure and higher allocation for capital expenditure and social sector schemes.
The government has decided to hold off introducing the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for additional sectors until it verifies the efficacy of existing initiatives. Top government officials have received mixed feedback on the scheme, including insights from the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, people aware of the matter said. "There are no new PLI schemes in the offing.
'It is the best avenue for investors who would like to take long-term exposure to gold.'
Investors should consider debt mutual funds, banks fixed deposits or high-rated corporate debt instruments.
The information and technology (IT) sector, which has been going through a rough patch lately, was among the top draws for equity mutual funds (MFs) in July. MF schemes together invested a net of Rs 1,800 crores in IT stocks last month after pulling out around Rs 700 crore from the sector in June, according to a report by ICICI Securities.
'A soft landing of the Indian economy would be a long-term positive for the equity markets.'
Small-cap funds have enjoyed a massive run-up over the past year. The category has turned in an average return of 109 per cent - the best-performing fund has yielded a humongous 201 per cent. Many investors, however, are concerned whether the category has turned risky after such a sharp rise.
Do you have financial planning queries? Ask rediffGURU Anil Rego.
Budget 2013-14: An analysis from the environment-development perspective
Investing heavily in a top-performing fund during good times can cause long-term pain. Don't invest lump sum at market peaks.
'A fair bit should be allocated towards fixed income.'
Following are comments from economists at leading financial institutions, banks and rating agencies on the interim Budget:
'Invest a part of your portfolio in a global currency that can't be printed, or meddled with -- gold,' suggests Chirag Mehta.
Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) selling spree continued as they dumped Indian equity worth over Rs 5,800 crore this month so far on rising interest rates and geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. This came after such investors withdrew Rs 24,548 crore in October and Rs 14,767 crore in September, data with the depositories showed. Before the outflow, FPIs were incessantly buying Indian equities in the last six months from March to August and brought in Rs 1.74 lakh crore during the period.
Around Rs 40,000 crore (Rs 400 billion) investment in the power sector is in limbo for want of government decision on allocation of natural gas to the proposed electricity stations.
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.
'Investors should allocate about 5% to 10% to such funds.'
Being more financially savvy helps women choose the right balance between consumption spending vs investing for future and can hold them in good stead as life hands out various twists and turns along the way, says Piyush Baranwal
Given the economic trends, it might make sense to allocate some savings to gold.
Multi-cap funds are best suited to exploit the present market scenario as they are free to invest across all market capitalisations and sectors, says Naveen Kukreja, CEO and co-founder, Paisabazaar.com.
Given the prevailing uncertainties, investors must maintain a 10-15 per cent allocation to gold in 2023.
Despite the uncertainties created by rising bond yields and oil prices, fund managers have been proactively deploying fresh flows into the equity market. The cash available with equity fund managers, which has remained lower at around 5 per cent in the past few months, hit a 16-month low of 4.8 per cent in September, shows a Motilal Oswal Financial Services report. Cash holdings in equity schemes had topped 6 per cent in February amid subdued equity market sentiment.
Hindalco is currently one of the frontrunners in the coal auction
