I remember my conversation with a client Mr Venkat in September 2018. He had called me from Singapore, soon after he read about the IL&FS debt crisis. Basically, he was concerned about his investments in liquid and debt mutual funds and wanted my insights on the event that had panned out. While talking to Mr…
Last year the COVID-19 pandemic had compelled the RBI to reduce policy repo rate by 115 bps and reverse repo rate by 155 bps within three months. In fact, the policy rates have been at a multi-year low for quite some time. Subsequently, in the bi-monthly monetary policy review that concluded on June 04, 2021,…
April 23, 2020 is the date that shocked about 3 lakh investors in debt mutual funds. It was the day when Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund took a drastic step of winding up six debt mutual fund schemes overnight citing poor liquidity condition in debt markets due to COVID-19 crisis. The chaos and confusion kicked in…
It is a common misconception among investors that debt instruments and debt funds are stable and safe. But the fact is debt or bond markets may not be the best place for low risk, light hearted investors. Debt instruments carry various kind of risks, such as credit risk, interest rate risk, etc. and can be…
Markets have bounced back sharply since its March 2020 lows. The S&P BSE Sensex has crossed 46,000 and is trading at an all-time high. Notably, the markets began the year 2020 on a positive note, but it was soon reeling under pressure due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We saw one of the worse market phases…
The Franklin Templeton Debt Fund Debacle seems to have changed investors’ perception about debt mutual funds. But has it really changed for the debt fund managers? Many distributors and mutual fund advisors actively promoted debt funds as an investment avenue to conservative investors looking for stability and regular income. Even retirees were convinced to park…
ESG is an evolving investment theme in India. It aims to pick quality companies by incorporating Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors and their impact throughout the investment process. Once a niche, ESG investing is now a fast-growing preference for investors across geographies and is a popular theme in developed countries. In fact, this was…
The Indian mutual fund industry seems to be going through a transition phase. With many actively managed funds struggling to keep pace with their respective benchmark indices over the last few years, investors have started shifting focus towards passively managed funds. The idea is to generate returns in line with the markets. Seeing the increase…
