The Indian equity market started on a strong note in October on further improvement in economic activities. The new ‘Unlock’ guidelines allowed reopening of theatres, dine-in at restaurants, resumption of metro services, among others, albeit at limited capacity. This cheered investor sentiments and consequently the benchmark indices soared close to its record high levels. However,…

Aggressive Hybrid Funds are equity-oriented hybrid funds having a mix of equity and debt instruments in their investment portfolio. A combination of these asset classes offers a high level of diversification, hence, lowering the risk as compared to a pure equity funds. The equity assets in this category of funds range between 65%-80% of its…

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…

Six months after Franklin Templeton wound up six of its debt schemes, the Karnataka High Court has pronounced its judgement in the case. If you recall, the Supreme Court had transferred all legal cases relating to winding up of the schemes to Karnataka High Court in June and directed that the matter be completed within…

“Is value investing dead?” Newspaper journalists and business channel anchors have been asking this question to their “experts” relentlessly. To join the bandwagon, some journalists are even including Value Funds (that follow the principles of value investing) in the list of investment propositions that investors should avoid. The data published by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) clearly…

The Association of Mutual Funds in India has issued a circular on nomenclature to be used by mutual funds distributors (MFD). According to the circular, MFDs can longer call themselves as advisors. As per Regulation 3(3) of the SEBI (Investment Advisers) Regulations, 2013 notified on July 3, 2020 – ‘No person, while dealing in distribution…

Diversification across geographical boundaries can help mitigate portfolio risk. Exposure to foreign equities can potentially give you higher returns when other economies grow at a faster pace than the domestic economy. It also enables you to exploit a particular opportunity only available in offshore markets. Moreover, it can act as a hedge against rising foreign…

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…

India reported its first COVID-19 case on January 30, 2020, in Kerala. Infections thereafter rose in many other states, and the Modi-led-NDA government eventually announced a nationwide lockdown. The effects of a lockdown were clearly visible on the economy. But the sector or theme that has benefited the most is Pharma and Healthcare. Since the March 23 low, the…

In May 2020, when the government announced an Atmanirbhar Bharat stimulus package of over Rs 20 lakh crore— purportedly equal to 10% of GDP, many investors couldn’t trust what they heard. But in reality, the package was nothing more than 1% of GDP, a damp squib! The government allocated Rs 1 lakh crore to the agriculture sector for building…