Some news from the world of sports disturbed me recently. A super-talented left-hand batsman, Vinod Kambli once a star player in the Indian cricket squad, has now been struggling to make both ends meet. He started his career in the early 90s and shot to fame in no time. But he lost track soon after…
In the stock markets, 6 months is too short a time horizon to measure the performance of any equity mutual fund scheme. Thus, mutual fund investors shouldn’t expect their investments to do wonders for them in 6 months. But given the fast pace of events nowadays, a lot has happened over the last 6 months. At the…
Globally, we are in a QT (Quantitative Tightening) phase. Between March 2022 and July 2022, the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) hiked interest rates by 225 bps (basis points). Interestingly, the U.S. Fed was extremely gradual with its rate hikes during the last QT cycle. Fed took three years (from 2015 to 2018) to hike policy…
The equity markets in India and around most parts of the world have been very volatile for the last couple of months. Geopolitical tensions, the COVID-19 pandemic that still lingers amongst us, the outbreak of a new monkeypox virus, rising inflation, the central raising policy interest rates to control inflation, supply-chain disruptions, slowing economic growth,…
Bears seem to be tightening their grip on the global financial markets. The worries of investors are mounting with unprecedented global developments, thanks to the fallout effects of the Russia-Ukraine war, supply-chain disruptions, rising inflation, zero covid policy of China, and rising interest rates, amongst others. The World Bank has clearly highlighted the risk of…
Volatility in the stock markets has amplified in the recent past. For investors –particularly those who have never witnessed such vicissitudes –it’s been a nerve-wracking experience, akin to being on a rollercoaster full of up and downswings. Various factors are driving market volatility… Spiralling CPI inflation in India (above the RBI’s comfort limit), and many…
Smaller companies are lesser-known and undiscovered but could generate extraordinary returns for you, provided they are spotted right by conducting adequate research, and the investment is made at an opportune time — much before most other investors begin to chase them. They hold the potential to become tomorrow’s large-cap companies. However, not all smaller companies…
For want of a nail, the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe, the horse was lost; and for want of a horse, the man was lost- is an old adage. It highlights how ignoring the smallest of things can result in big disasters. Similarly, if we fail to pay attention to our investing…
Focused Funds seem to have lost their way over the last 2-3 years while some other sub-categories of equity mutual funds such as Small-cap Funds, Mid-cap Funds, Dividend Yield Funds, and Value Funds have outperformed. As per SEBI’s categorization rules, a Focused Fund is a type of open-ended diversified equity scheme investing in a maximum of 30 stocks and at…
To invest in commodities such as precious metals through mutual funds, Gold Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) was the only option. But after SEBI approved the launch of Silver Exchange Traded Funds, a new avenue has emerged for investors to park money in precious metals. ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund launched India’s first Silver ETF in January…
