'Investors' decisions should reflect their financial goals, risk tolerance, and the amount of gold already present in their portfolio.'
With the RBI infusing Rs 7.5 lakh crore in liquidity -- and possibly more in the future -- the short- to medium-term corporate bond market is expected to benefit.
'By investing in a basket of funds, FoFs can help minimise the impact of underperforming funds, thus reducing overall investment risk.'
The mutual fund (MF) industry had an action-packed 2023 as it tackled the scrapping of tax benefits for debt fund investors and surging flows into equity funds.
'A 20 per cent equity allocation to ESG funds is a good start.' 'As more evidence on ESG performance builds, investors may increase allocations.'
'It makes sense to have gold in one's portfolio keeping the political and economic risks of 2024 in mind.'
'If their allocation to certain segments have become high due to strong returns over the past three-four years, they should rebalance their portfolios and bring them in line with their long-term asset allocation.'
All investors should ideally have a 10 to 15 per cent allocation to gold. Whether they invest in gold ETFs or SGBs should depend on their investment horizon.
State-owned insurer Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) on Tuesday posted a 38 per cent increase in net profit to Rs 19,013 crore in the fourth quarter ended March 2025 helped by lower expenses. The country's biggest insurer had earned a profit of Rs 13,763 crore in the corresponding quarter a year earlier.
The return filed could be treated as defective, invalid, or even be considered as not filed at all.
Gold is an excellent asset class for diversification and should be included in all long-term portfolios.
Mutual funds have launched a clutch of new fund offers in the silver ETF (exchange traded fund) category this year and collected Rs 1,400 crore in assets after the introduction of the newly-created investment asset class by market regulator Sebi in 2021. Further, fund houses including Kotak Asset Management Company have filed draft documents with the markets regulator to float silver ETF as well as silver ETF fund of funds for investors, information with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) showed. These NFOs (new fund offers) are providing an opportunity to the investors to digitally invest and own silver which is easily tradable during market hours.
The number of companies had touched a low of 792 in July 2020 amid heightened uncertainty because of COVID-19.
Value mutual funds have witnessed robust investor interest, garnering Rs 22,757 crore in inflows in 2024, nearly double the amount seen in 2023, fueled by impressive returns generated by the segment. This surge reflects a shift in investor focus towards fundamentally strong yet undervalued stocks.
'If rate cuts happen, bond yields will come down and investors will make mark-to-market capital gains on them.'
Trump's sweeping tariffs and penalties on China-built ships have turned global shipping into the front line of economic war, observes Shyam G Menon.
Given the prevailing uncertainties, investors must maintain a 10-15 per cent allocation to gold in 2023.
Stick to low-cost ULIPs launched in the past few years. Go with an insurer with a good investment team and solid track record of long-term returns, suggests Sanjay Kumar Singh.
Only investors who understand the significance of ESG investing should enter these funds for the long term, advises Sarbajeet K Sen.
'Gold prices thrive on volatility and more so when the stock markets trend downward.'
'They can transition from short to long-duration funds when the yield curve normalises.'
Despite its recent underperformance, gold must be a part of your portfolio.
While mid-cap and small-cap funds have given category average returns of 73.3 per cent and 89.8 per cent respectively over the past year, large-cap funds' returns have been lower at 53.9 per cent, points out Sarbajeet K Sen.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India's move directing asset management companies (AMCs) to invest more in their new fund offerings (NFOs) could force the industry to go slow on new product launches. At present, AMCs have to invest one per cent of the amount raised during a NFO or Rs 50 lakh, whichever is less.
'Avoid going overweight on gold. But maintain a 10 per cent allocation via sovereign gold bonds,' Bajaj Capital MD Sanjiv Bajaj tells Sarbajeet K Sen.
Increasing awareness about mutual funds, ease of transactions through digitisation and sharp surge in equity markets have aided asset management companies to add a staggering 3.17 crore investor accounts in 2021-22, with experts saying the trend is likely to continue this fiscal as well. This was a significant rise from 2020-21 when 81 lakh accounts (or folios in mutual fund parlance) were opened, data with the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi) showed. The ongoing financial year too appears to be promising in terms of folios as increase in investor accounts will enable people to move beyond fixed deposits and savings accounts, said Priti Rathi Gupta, founder of LXME, a financial platform for women.
The RBI under former governor Shaktikanta Das resisted pressures to cut interest rates through 2024 as it kept its 'Arjuna's eye' trained on inflation, but the central bank under a new detail-oriented head will soon have to take a call if it can continue sacrificing growth. Das, a career bureaucrat who in 2016 oversaw Prime Minister Narendra Modi's highly disruptive demonetisation move, left a lasting legacy as he demitted office towards the end of 2024 after expertly navigating monetary policy for six years, the highlight of which was steering India's recovery through the pandemic.
Financial planners advise against putting capital to work by anticipating what might go up or down.
Led by a new generation of entrepreneurs, India's family offices are shifting from traditional investments in physical and tangible assets like real estate to investing in technology, healthcare, and retail stocks. This new wave of family offices is engaging in stock market investments, including pre-IPO placements and secondary market operations. "Born into a world of technology, the next generation, especially those born after 2000, view technology as equally crucial as finance for running a business.
'Gold could benefit from the resulting risk aversion, as happened last year.'
These schemes are a good choice for investors contemplating a large investment in equity funds. Instead of investing all the money in one go, they can do so in a staggered manner by parking it in these schemes and then transferring it to equity mutual funds through a systematic transfer plan.
Even as the returns of mutual fund (MF) schemes have improved considerably in the past three months, addition of new investors has remained in the slow lane for the MF industry. According to industry data, during the first six months of CY 2023, MFs onboarded only 1.6 million new unique investors, in stark contrast to the 4.7 million investors added during the same period last CY and the 2.4 million in 2021. It is noteworthy, however, that the current additions for this year have doubled in comparison to the figure of 800,000 seen in 2020.
Investors not comfortable investing directly may take the mutual fund route, where they get exposure to a diversified portfolio of bonds.
Investors should allocate 10 to 15 per cent in their portfolios to gold through sovereign gold bonds.
If bank and service provider are not compliant, pay manually, or give standing instruction linked to bank a/c, suggests Bindisha Sarang.
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.
The Union Cabinet has cleared disinvestment of the country's largest insurer LIC and a panel headed by the finance minister will now decide on the quantum of stake dilution, a senior official said on Monday. The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) had in January appointed actuarial firm Milliman Advisors LLP India to assess the embedded value of LIC ahead of the IPO (initial public offering), which is touted to be the biggest public issue in Indian corporate history. The Budget amendments to the LIC Act has been notified and the actuarial firm is expected to finalise the embedded value of the life insurer. Under the embedded value method, the insurance company's present value of future profit is also included in its present net asset value.
Move 10 per cent of your portfolio to the yellow metal.
Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) February 8 for the first time ever crossed the Rs 7 trillion market capitalisation, as the stock price of state-owned insurer hit a new high of Rs 1,144,45, on rallying 10 per cent on the BSE. The board of directors of the Corporation are scheduled to meet today i.e. February 8, 2024, to consider a proposal for declaration of interim dividend for the financial year 2023-24 (FY24). The board will also consider and approve the unaudited financial results for the quarter and nine-month period ended on December 31, 2023.
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.
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