Thursday, July 31, 2014

Do not ignore debt mutual fund..!!!

Are you ignoring debt mutual fund at this moment…??


In these days most of the market expert and economist are very bullish on equity for investment. We are reading the news paper and watching business channel and the majority of people (including expert and common person) express the hope of rosy days. Everyone hope for better days (Achhe Din). I am also not against it. After all UPA govt mess, we the citizen of India have chosen the full majority government and hope for some good action in each front including economy, internal security, defense, foreign policy, social sector etc.

If we analyze, we will find that UPA-2 was worst than UPA-1. Increasing inflation, increasing fiscal deficit, higher interest rate has translated into the poor manufacturing growth, unemployment, and bad shape of economy. The slow decision making on many key issue has added the problem more and our GDP has reduced to almost 4.5% at the end of UPA-2 government.

After September, 2013 the announcement of PM candidate Mr. Narendra Modi from BJP, equity market has shown spectacular performance and it has been continued throughout election campaign till the budget which has presented by the newly elected government. Now the big question is whether this rally would be continued till the next couple of the year in the same manner or not. Mutual fund house, stock broker and equity market participants are still very bullish and positive about the share market performance in the next one or two year.

After analyzing  all the above past events, I have come with some key points for the investors which every investor should keep in mind before investment at the present scenario.

Do not expect or hope and magic from the new government in near term. This government has good intention and capacity to bring the economy on the right track but for this you will have to wait. Keep in your mind, there are no magic stick for economic reform. The government will take time like 2-3 years to repair the economy after that there may be come positive results.

I always say and write in my previous articles that equity investment is the best option for long term investment but for short term it will always volatile. So please do not enter in this market for some short term gain. There is always risk in the market in short term performance.

Do not try to time the equity market, you will lose the money in majority of the time. According to AMFI data, last year in June 2013 there was huge inflow in debt market and the inflow was very poor in equity market. Everyone can see the performances from last June to this June, equity asset class has outperformed to every available asset class. It means majority of speculator and market timer was wrong at the time of last June 2013.

We are seeing the same trend at this moment after the big market rally, now the inflow of fund has increased many folds in equity segment in compare with the inflow of last year at the same period and inflow has reduced surprisingly in the debt mutual funds. Here, you can see the very clear trend that majority of investor only try to time the market and want to make money in the short term.

In my suggestion, stick with your financial plan and keep investing in both assets equity and debt accordingly. Equity will always outperform to all the asset class in the long term. Do not ignore debt asset class at the present scenario. Do your proper asset allocation and avoid overweight towards any asset class particularly equity.

It seems, I should stop at this moment as the article has become lengthy already. We will discuss more in next articles.

If you want more information regarding investment or you have any other query about investment feel free to ask us.
Warm regards,

Arvind Trivedi
Certified Financial Planner


Thursday, July 17, 2014

Are you getting benefit for Achhey Din in Equity Market?

We all know the popular adage about putting one’s money where the mouth is. My experience of talking to investors and advisors in the last 6 months has taught me that we also need to put our money where our vote is!!! And by vote I don’t mean your or my individual vote – we needed to put money where our collective vote could have been!

This morning a leading national daily screams “FII inflows hit USD 5.7 bn (Rs 34,000 crs) in May” and then I see another financial daily, today as well, screaming “(Indian) Households puts two thirds of their savings in houses & gold”. Ouch!!!

Put Your Money Where Your Vote Is

Over the last 6 months we saw a lot of messaging on social media platforms like twitter and facebook about “achche din aane wale hai” in anticipation of a likely political change. There was a widespread feeling of dissatisfaction with the incumbent regime; talks of frustration with policy paralysis and resultant sluggishness in economic performance. Somewhere in September the popular Chief Minister of Gujarat, Mr. Narendra Modi was announced as Prime Ministerial candidate of the BJP and it was followed up with a 4 out of 5 states victory in state elections held in November 2013.
Sequence of events thus led to a belief; widespread again; that an industry and economy friendly (and hence market friendly) BJP had great prospects of forming a Government at the center under Mr. Modi’s leadership. The country showed a certain movement in belief and as we all know now the country voted in favour of a clear majority government after a gap of 30 years!
Now let’s look at what I mean by putting the money where the vote is. It is “we” the people who contributed to the “achche din aane wale hain” phenomenon by voting in large numbers in record turnouts. The “achche din” is yet to come but stock markets are forward looking in nature and in anticipation of the “achche din” the Nifty has already moved up 8% in May 2014 and nearly 15% since 2014 began.

But Who is Benefiting from Our Votes

But who do you think has benefited by our newfound electoral activism. And who will benefit? Unfortunately, doesn’t look like it is going to be “we” the people who engineered this.
FIIs invested Rs 34,000 crs in May alone on the back of Rs 32,000 crs already invested from Jan to April 2014. FIIs invested over Rs 1 lakh crs each in calendar years 2012 and 2013 and their total inflow (not today’s value) into India is already over USD 150 bn or Rs 9 lakh crs cumulatively since 1991. Indian Equity market has been the best performing large market globally in 2014 and also in last 10 years and it now figures in the top 10 markets by market capitalization.
While FIIs have invested the numbers stated above, in the last 5 years domestic institutions including mutual funds have sold equities consistently on the back of outflows from Indian investors. Domestic holding of Indian equity has been on a rapid decline. For instance in FY2014, Indian equity mutual funds witnessed an outflows over Rs 10,000 crs as opposed to over Rs 1 lakh crores buying from FIIs. And this has been the trend for the most part of last 5 years.
The situation was very well captured by a friend of mine when he posted this on a popular social networking site on April 17, 2014: “Sensex @ 22000 … FII inflow $13.7 b ( 82200 crs ) . FIIs , promoters (Buyback ), smart investors buying heavily ….. Indian investors withdraw $ 8.9 b….. Selling Stocks & MF . Investors are busy in “Achchhey din aanewaley hai , Hum Modiji ko laanewale Hai….. ”
????????

Who Contributes to Indian Companies Profits

I know that we Indians are very proud of our country and its economic prowess. Question is: Is it good enough to be just proud or should we even benefit from it?
Let me explain with couple of examples. In the last 20 years we have seen the rise of private sector banks in India, one of the most visible signs of India’s growth and economic liberalization is the new and improved banking sector. Let’s take HDFC Bank. What do we gain when such a well regarded bank grows and we can see them spread around us easily accessible everywhere?
HDFC Bank employ a lot of our youngsters giving them better standard of living and hence ability to consume and contribute to growth; we all can avail of home loans and car loans so we own potentially bigger houses and drive bigger cars. We get access to banking facilities like internet banking which enables us to buy online and pay bills faster. So we contribute to the growth but who participates in this growth? The shareholders! Isn’t it logical for consumers to want to be shareholders? Likely consumers as shareholders is generally reflected in the “non-promoter non-institutional” holding of shares of a company.
So what is this number for a widely “consumed” banking service like HDFC Bank? The number stands at about 16% of market cap as on March 31, 2014. It has fallen from 24.5% on March 31, 2008. Another about 10% we hold through our insurance and mutual fund subscriptions so the total is about 26%. And what about foreigners? They own 51% of the bank through FII holdings and issue of depository receipts (ADR/GDR holdings). So we contribute to about 100% of the consumption of their services but only participate 26% in their profits. More than half of our contribution goes towards enriching foreigners from India’s growth.
Let’s take another example – that of Hindustan Unilever Ltd. We love buying their soaps, shampoos, biscuits, ice creams, washing powders et al. We contribute 100% to the consumption of their products, but how much do we participate in their profits? Hold your breath – its 14.5% and another 4% that we hold through our insurance and mutual fund subscriptions. So here’s another example of us contributing to 100% of the consumption and growth but participating in only a meager 18.5% of the profits.

We are the Darling of Foreign Investors

Out of the entire market capitalization of the top 200 companies of India as represented by BSE 200 index, promoters own 57% and FIIs own over 21% as on March 31, 2014. We Indians – directly plus our investment in insurance and mutual funds hold just about 20%. If export oriented or international business income of these companies for a moment is assumed to be 20% of total earnings, we can say that we contribute 80% of the consumption but we participate in only 20% of the profits.
We are the darling of foreign investors – I hope you now understand why. We are very good at contributing but very bad at participating!!! We are very proud of India’s growth, we love to enrich others from India’s growth but we do not want to be rich ourselves.
About 300 years back, the East India Company came to India and forcibly took over a lot of our business. That was not fair on us but at least we have the luxury of blaming them for setting us back. But this time around who are we going to blame? Any guesses?
Let me end by telling you Equity investing has always been presented as an instrument to make larger return. The juncture where we find ourselves today, it appears to be an instrument of expressing patriotism and participating in India’s growth. Else let’s stop singing those “achche din aane wale hain” slogans because “achche din” are just going to pass us by!!!

Source: This is a guest post by Mr Aashish Somaiyaa, MD, Motilal Oswal AMC Ltd which appeared on Network FP website on July 05, 2014. The views are strictly personal.
 

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Budget hit Debt Mutual Fund Market

Budget hit Debt Mutual fund Market

In this budget, the debt oriented mutual fund has got tax shock by finance minister. In his budget proposal the finance minister has proposed to raise long term capital gain to 20% from 10%. The long term investment period has been defined 36 months now for non equity mutual funds or debt mutual funds. Before budget, the long term period was 12 months. Stunned by changing in tax rule for non equity funds, the fund houses has deferred their forthcoming issues and even some fund houses have returned the money to the investors which they had collected last week.

While interest income on fix deposit is taxable as per tax slab, returns from debt funds were taxed at 10% if hold more than 1 year. Now, returns from FMPs and other non equity mutual funds held for less than 3 year will be taxed as normal tax slab applicable to the investors.

The worst thing is that according to finance minister statement, it would be implemented from 1st April, 2014. For example, if one investor who is in 30% tax slab and invested in 1 or 2 year FMPs or in debt mutual funds with 10% tax in mind. Now he will be paid 30% tax instead of 10% if the 1-2 year FMP matured after 2014. One or two year FMPs schemes have got worst affected.

Now the fund houses and 1-2 years debt fund investor are looking towards government for some relief statements.

If you want more information regarding investment or you have any other query about investment feel free to ask us.
Warm regards,

Arvind Trivedi
Certified Financial Planner


Budget Impact on Agriculture and Auto Sector

Budget Impact on Agriculture and Auto Sector

We had discussed main points of budget 2014-15 in our earlier blog. Now we are going to discuss its impact on important sectors. First we will take about budget impact Agriculture sector.

Agriculture Sector:
The finance minister has affirmed to achieve 4% growth in agriculture which is good for the sector. In our country, majority of population is still depends on agriculture. It is very essential to grow agriculture for nation’s economic health. In 2014-15, the total agriculture credit has been set to Rs 8 lakh crore. NABARD will target 5 lakh farmers through financing.

Under the Interest Subvention Scheme for short term crop loans, the banks are extending loans to farmers at a concessional rate of 7%. The farmers get a further incentive of 3% for timely repayment. This Scheme will be continued in 2014-15. Price stabilization fund of Rs 500 cr would be made to keep food prices in check. It is positive for food price management.

Overall tone of the budget was favorable for the agri sector however there is nothing specific for any related companies.

Auto Sector:
The extension of excise duty cut which has been announced on 30th June 2014 will continue till 31st December 2014. This is expected to result in pick up in demand for the overall sector. Increase in tax exemption limit from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 2.5 lakh will lead to increase in disposable income and thereby boost demand for automobiles. A manufacturing company that invests more than Rs 25 crore in any year in new plant and machinery would get investment allowance at the rate of 15%.  The benefit would be available for three years for investments upto 31.03.2017.

Overall efforts have been made to revive the demand for automobile sector; though nothing specific has been announced. An increase in disposable income and focus on rural spending is likely to result in some pickup in demand for the overall sector. Investor can buy Escorts with price target of Rs 156.

If you want more information regarding investment or you have any other query about investment feel free to ask us.
Warm regards,

Arvind Trivedi
Certified Financial Planner

Friday, July 11, 2014

Union Budget: 2014-15

Union Budget: 2014-15
Overall budget is in positive direction and will support revival of economy. Our finance minister has kept positive direction for fiscal prudence by maintaining 4.1% fiscal deficit target and further reducing it for coming years. Budget is positive for sectors like Banking, Infra, Real Estate. FM has also given some respite to taxpayers by giving few reliefs like increase in lower exemption tax bracket, increasing the limit for investments under 80C, increasing the Deduction limit on account of interest on loan. All the above measures will leave more money in the hand of individuals. We are mentioning here the key points from the budget.

The fiscal deficit target for FY15 has been maintained at 4.1% and an ambitious target has been set for FY16 at 3.6% and FY17 at 3%.


  • Retrospective tax rules have not been changed. All the cases will be scrutinized by high level committee.

  • Personal Income-tax exemption limit raised by Rs. 50,000/- that is, from Rs. 2 lakh to Rs.2.5 lakh in the case of individual taxpayers, below the age of 60 years. Exemption limit raised from Rs.2.5 lakh to Rs.3 lakh in the case of senior citizens. 
  • Investment limit under section 80C of the Income-tax Act has been raised from Rs.1 lakh to Rs.1.5 lakh.
  • Deduction limit on account of interest on loan in respect of self occupied house property has been raised from Rs.1.5 lakh to Rs.2 lakh.
  • To remove tax arbitrage, rate of tax on long term capital gains increased from 10% to 20 % on transfer of units of Mutual Funds, other than equity oriented funds.
  • Incentives for Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITS) with complete pass through for the purpose of taxation and will support financing of real estate and real estate sector. A modified REITS type structure for infrastructure projects as the Infrastructure Investment Trusts (INVITS) attract long term finance from foreign and domestic sources including the NRIs.
  • Requirement of the built up area and capital conditions for FDI to be reduced from 50,000 sq me to 20,000 sq m and from USD 10 mn to USD 5 mn respectively for development of smart cities.
  • 10 year tax holiday extended to the undertakings which begin generation, distribution and transmission of power by 31.03.2017.
  • Investment allowance at the rate of 15% to a manufacturing company that invests more than Rs.25 cr in any year in new plant and machinery. The benefit to be available for three years i.e. for investments upto 31.03.2017.
  • FDI in insurance and defence sector has been increased upto 49% from current 26%.
  • Target of NH construction of 8500 km will be achieved in current financial year.
  • Excise duty increased from 12% to 16% on pan masala, from 50% to 55% on unmanufactured tobacco and from 60% to 70% on gutkha and chewing tobacco.
  • Excise duty on cigarettes has been increased in the range of 11% to 72% across segments with higher burden on cigarettes with lower then 65 mm.
  • Full exemption from excise duty is provided to various equipment and material used in solar plant.
  • Central Excise duty on branded petrol is being reduced from 7.5 per litre to Rs 2.35 per litre.
  • Excise duty reduced from 12% to 6% for footwear in price range from Rs 500 to Rs 1000. Footwear below Rs 500 is exempt from excise. And Footwear over Rs 1000 will continue to attract 12% Excise duty.
  • Colour picture tubes have been exempted from basic customs duty to make cathode ray TVs cheaper and more affordable to weaker sections. To encourage production of LCD and LED TVs below 19 inches in India, basic customs duty on LCD and LED TV panels of below 19 inches has been reduced from 10 % to Nil.


FM has also mentioned lot of wish list in the budget relating to new urea policy, GST, capital for banks, 4% agriculture growth, coal supply, and power etc.

We will discuss further about impact of budget on the sectors. If you want more information regarding investment or you have any other query about investment feel free to ask us.
Warm regards,

Arvind Trivedi
Certified Financial Planner

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Railway Budget – 2014: Key Points

Railway Budget – 2014: Key Points

Bullet trains: The Railway Minister proposed introduction of bullet trains between Mumbai and Ahmedabad. He also proposed setting up of Diamond Quadrilateral Network of high-speed trains connecting major metros and growth centers.
High-speed trains: Railways plans to increase speed of trains to 160-200 km per hour in nine select sectors: Delhi-Agra, Delhi-Chandigarh, Nagpur-Bilaspur, Goa-Mumbai, Chennai-Hyderabad, Delhi-Kanpur, Delhi-Pathankot, Mysore-Bangalore-Chennai, and Nagpur-Secundrabad.
FDI in Railways: To mobilise resources for infrastructure upgradation and high-speed trains, the minister said it would seek Cabinet approval for foreign direct investment (FDI) in building rail infrastructure. He however said FDI would not be allowed in railway operations.
Periodic hike in rail fares: Though Mr Gowda did not announce any fare hikes, he said periodic revision in passenger fare and freight rates will be linked to revisions in fuel prices in order to insulate the Railway revenues from fuel cost escalation. In his post-budget briefing, Mr Gowda said the Railways would continue with the Fuel Adjustment Costs (FAC) formula under which there will be periodic hike in fares and freight rates once in six months, if there is a hike in fuel cost.
Wi-Fi in select trains and stations: To improve passenger convenience, the Railways will provide Wi-Fi services in A1 and A category stations and in select trains. Besides that platform and unreserved tickets can also be bought through internet.
Improvement in e-ticketing services: Railway e-ticketing services will be improved to support 7,200 tickets per minute and allow 1.2 lakh simultaneous users.
Better cleanliness: To improve cleanliness measures, the minister provided a 40 per cent higher allocation and proposed outsourcing of cleanliness services at 50 major stations. He also said onboard housekeeping would be extended to more trains and CCTVs would be utilized to monitor stations' cleanliness.
Pre-cooked food: The Railways will introduce pre-cooked and "ready-to-eat meals of reputed brands" on trains across the country. In addition to providing filtered (RO) drinking water on trains and at stations, the minister vowed strict action, including the cancellation of contracts, for any vendors who are found supplying unhygienic food to passengers.
New trains: Railways proposes to introduce 58 new trains including five Jansadharan trains, five premium Trains, six AC express trains, and 27 express trains. (See list of trains)
Dedicated freight corridor projects: For eastern (Ludhiana, Punjab, to Dankuni, West Bengal) and western (Mumbai-Delhi) dedicated freight corridor projects, the Railways will target awarding of construction contracts for nearly 1,000 km this year. 

If you want more information regarding investment or you have any other query about investment feel free to ask us.
Warm regards,

Arvind Trivedi
Certified Financial Planner


Wednesday, July 2, 2014

SIP Role in Financial Planning

SIP Role in Financial Planning

When we make our financial plan, we set some future financial goals and to reach those goals we also make some investment strategy. Systematic Investment Plans (SIP) is the best way to invest for your goals. In SIP investment we invest a fix amount in predefined regular time frame. The amount would be deducted from your bank account on the fix date of your choice. You can choose any mode of payment like monthly, quarterly or your specified mode. Here we will discuss some SIP related points which will be beneficial for you.

Assign your financial goal:
As we have discussed about in earlier post that every investment should have some purpose. Link your each SIP to a particular financial goal like children’s marriage and education, your retirement corpus, purchase new vehicle or house, foreign holiday tour etc. Your asset mix should have according to your investment time frame like if your goal is more than 10 year far from now then your asset allocation more tilted towards equity.

SIP Timing:
Many investors want to time the share market, however it does not make any sense in the view of return. If you invest in 4 different funds then divide your SIP date in different weeks in a month. Doing this you will take benefit of the volatility of the market. Monthly SIP is the best mode for salaried person. There are many modes available in the schemes like fortnight, daily quarterly and half yearly etc.

Increase your SIP Amount:
Every year when your salary increase, your SIP amount also should increase in line with increment. Most of the investor miss it and stay invested as per earlier mandated amount. With each increment in your salary you should increase your SIP amount also. It is called step up SIP. If you do not have a particular amount for SIP in current situation for a particular future goal the go with step up SIP and increase SIP amount every year to achieve your goal.

Portfolio Revision:
Every year you should review your portfolio. It does not means that the changes in investment strategy. It means if you are approaching near to your goal then decrease your equity portfolio and transfer it towards debt to avoid market volatility. If a particular asset class has performed very well then you can rebalance your portfolio according to your time, age and goal.

Invest in SIP is the best strategy to achieve your financial freedom. If you have any query or doubt, feel free to ask us.
Warm regards,

Arvind Trivedi
Certified Financial Planner