Desk Research
Desk Research
Desk Research
Prepared By:
Selin Patel(B-40)
Ketan Randive(A-40)
Aditya Purohit(D-37)
Nilesh Bhojwani(A-5)
Shubham Shelke(A-45)
Islmauddin(C-62)
CERTIFICATE
______________
We, the undersigned, are the students of Indira Institute of Management, Pune
(IIMP) pursuing the first year of the course of Master of Business Administration
under University of Pune; hereby, we declare that this report submitted is correct
and original as per our knowledge and is not reproduced or copied from any
source. I hereby also declare that this project work is not submitted to any other
college/university.
Selin Patel(B-40)
Ketan Randive(A-40)
Aditya Purohit(D-37)
Nilesh Bhojwani(A-5)
Shubham Shelke(A-45)
Islmauddin(C-62)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We take great pleasure in expressing our profound gratitude to our Desk Research
Guide Mrs. Aparna Jawalekar, who have taken keen interest and tremendous
enthusiasm in providing excellent guidance towards the completion of our Desk
Research Project. We would like to thank Dr. Pallavi Sajanapwar (HOD - MBA)
for giving us an opportunity to work on this Desk Research Project. And a whole
hearted Thanks to Dr. Pandit Mali, Director, IIM Pune for permitting us to
undertake this project work and guiding throughout the project span. Our deepest
gratitude to our parents, friends, classmates and those whom we might have
unknowingly forgot to mention.
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Phase I – 1964 – 87: In 1963, UTI was set up by Parliament under UTI act and
givenamonopoly.The first equity Fund was launched in 1986
A mutual fund is a scheme in which several people invest their money for a common
financial cause. The collected money invests in the capital market and the money, which they
earned, is divided based on the number of units, which they hold.
The mutual fund industry started in India in a small way with the UTI Act creating
what was effectively a small savings division within the RBI. Over a period of 25 years this
grew fairly successfully and gave investors a good return, and therefore in 1989, as the next
logical step, public sector banks and financial institutions were allowed to float mutual funds
and their success emboldened the government to allow the private sector to foray into this
area.
Mutual funds are easy to buy and sell. You can either buy them directly from the fund
company or through a third party. Before investing in any funds one should consider some
factor like objective, risk, Fund Manager’s and scheme track record, Cost factor etc.
There are many, many types of mutual funds. You can classify funds based Structure
(open-ended & close-ended), Nature (equity, debt, balanced), Investment objective (growth,
income, money market) etc.
Reliance Mutual Fund, UTI Mutual Fund, ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund, HDFC
Mutual Fund and Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund are the top five mutual fund company in India.
The main purpose of doing this project was to know about mutual fund and its
functioning. This helps to know in details about mutual fund industry right from its inception
stage, growth and future prospects.
It also helps in understanding different schemes of mutual funds. Because my study
depends upon prominent funds in India and their schemes like equity, income, balance as
well as the returns associated with those schemes.
The project study was done to ascertain the asset allocation, entry load, exit load,
associated with the mutual funds. Ultimately this would help in understanding the benefits of
mutual funds to investors.
OBJECTIVE:
To give a brief idea about the benefits available from mutual funds investment.
To give an idea of the types of schemes available
To discuss about market trends of mutual fund.
To study some of the mutual fund schemes
To study promotion strategies of mutual fund
If mutual funds are emerging as the favourite investment vehicle, it is because of the
many advantages they have over other forms and the avenues of investing, particularly for
the investor who has limited resources available in terms of capital and the ability to carry
out detailed research and market monitoring. The following are the major advantages offered
by mutual funds to all investors:
1. Portfolio Diversification:
Each investor in the fund is a part owner of all the fund’s assets, thus enabling him to
hold a diversified investment portfolio even with a small amount of investment that would
otherwise require big capital.
2. Professional Management:
Even if an investor has a big amount of capital available to him, he benefits from the
professional management skills brought in by the fund in the management of the investor’s
portfolio. The investment management skills, along with the needed research into available
investment options, ensure a much better return than what an investor can manage on his
own. Few investors have the skill and resources of their own to succeed in today’s fast
moving, global and sophisticated markets.
3. Reduction/Diversification of Risk:
When an investor invests directly, all the risk of potential loss is his own, whether he
places a deposit with a company or a bank, or he buys a share or debenture on his own or in
any other from. While investing in the pool of funds with investors, the potential losses are
also shared with other investors. The risk reduction is one of the most important benefits of a
collective investment vehicle like the mutual fund.
5. Liquidity:
Often, investors hold shares or bonds they cannot directly, easily and quickly sell.
When they invest in the units of a fund, they can generally cash their investments any time,
by selling their units to the fund if open-ended, or selling them in the market if the fund is
close-end. Liquidity of investment is clearly a big benefit.
7. Tax Benefits:
Any income distributed after March 31, 2002 will be subject to tax in the assessment
of all Unit holders. However, as a measure of concession to Unit holders of open-ended
equity-oriented funds, income distributions for the year ending March 31, 2003, will be taxed
at a concessional rate of 10.5%.
In case of Individuals and Hindu Undivided Families a deduction uptoRs. 9,000 from
the Total Income will be admissible in respect of income from investments specified in
Section 80L, including income from Units of the Mutual Fund. Units of the schemes are not
subject to Wealth-Tax and Gift-Tax.
Wide variety of Mutual Fund Schemes exists to cater to the needs such as financial
position, risk tolerance and return expectations etc. thus mutual funds has Variety of flavors,
Being a collection of many stocks, an investors can go for picking a mutual fund might be
easy. There are over hundreds of mutual funds scheme to choose from. It is easier to think of
mutual funds in categories, mentioned below.
A) BY STRUCTURE
B)BY NATURE
1. Equity Fund:
These funds invest a maximum part of their corpus into equities holdings. The
structure of the fund may vary different for different schemes and the fund manager’s
outlook on different stocks. The Equity Funds are sub-classified depending upon their
investment objective, as follows:
Diversified Equity Funds
Mid-Cap Funds
Sector Specific Funds
Tax Savings Funds (ELSS)
Equity investments are meant for a longer time horizon, thus Equity funds rank high
on the risk-return matrix.
2. Debt Funds:
The objective of these Funds is to invest in debt papers. Government authorities,
private companies, banks and financial institutions are some of the major issuers of debt
papers. By investing in debt instruments, these funds ensure low risk and provide stable
income to the investors
3. Balanced Funds:
As the name suggest they, are a mix of both equity and debt funds. They invest in
both equities and fixed income securities, which are in line with pre-defined investment
objective of the scheme. These schemes aim to provide investors with the best of both the
worlds. Equity part provides growth and the debt part provides stability in returns.
C) BY INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
Growth Schemes:
Growth Schemes are also known as equity schemes. The aim of these schemes is to
provide capital appreciation over medium to long term. These schemes normally invest a
major part of their fund in equities and are willing to bear short-term decline in value for
possible future appreciation.
Income Schemes:
Income Schemes are also known as debt schemes. The aim of these schemes is to
provide regular and steady income to investors. These schemes generally invest in fixed
income securities such as bonds and corporate debentures. Capital appreciation in such
schemes may be limited.
Balanced Schemes:
Balanced Schemes aim to provide both growth and income by periodically
distributing a part of the income and capital gains they earn. These schemes invest in both
shares and fixed income securities, in the proportion indicated in their offer documents
(normally 50:50).
No-Load Funds:
A No-Load Fund is one that does not charge a commission for entry or exit. That is,
no commission is payable on purchase or sale of units in the fund. The advantage of a no
load fund is that the entire corpus is put to work.
OTHER SCHEMES
Tax Saving Schemes:
Tax-saving schemes offer tax rebates to the investors under tax laws prescribed from
time to time. Under Sec.88 of the Income Tax Act, contributions made to any Equity Linked
Savings Scheme (ELSS) are eligible for rebate.
Index Schemes:
Index schemes attempt to replicate the performance of a particular index such as the
BSE Sensex or the NSE 50. The portfolio of these schemes will consist of only those stocks
that constitute the index. The percentage of each stock to the total holding will be identical to
the stocks index weightage. And hence, the returns from such schemes would be more or less
equivalent to those of the Index.
An equity mutual fund is an open or close ended fund that invests primarily in stock allowing
investor to buy into the fund and thus buy a basket of stock more easily than they could purchase
the individual security.
Thematic fund
An open-ended scheme which invests at least 80% of its total assets in a particular sector or
theme such as Banking, IT or Pharma. These funds are a risky investment option as their returns
are dependent on a performance of single sector/theme but if timed correctly, can also give
extremely high returns.
Rights of Trustees:
• Approveeach of the schemesfloated by theAMC.
• The right to request any necessary informationfrom the AMC.
• May take corrective actionif they believe that the conduct of the fund's business
is not in accordancewith SEBIRegulations.
• Have the right to dismiss theAMC,
DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL
Mutual Funds are primary vehicles for large collective investments, working on
the principle of pooling funds.
A substantial portion of the investments happen at the retail level.
Agents and distributors are a vital link between the mutual funds and investors.
Agents
- Is a broker between the fund and the investor and acts on behalf of the principal.
- He is not exclusive to the fund and also sells other financial services. This in a way
helps him to act as a financialadvisor.
Distribution Companies
- Is acompanywhich sells mutual funds on behalf of thefund.
- It has several employees or sub-broker underit.
- It manages distribution for several funds and receives commission for its services.
Agent Commissions
Companies Selected
2.2 HDFC MUTUAL FUND
1. Company Name: HDFC
2. Profile: Investment Management Company
3. Company belongs to which sector? Financial services
4. Establishment year: 1999
5. Brief of the company: We believe that one life is all you have, to be
the best you can be. And this belief fuels the
primal desire to create a bigger, better reality
every day, of course with the access to means
as a precondition.
Today, we’re the most diversified non-bank in
the country financing the widest set of
outcomes. The cornerstone of our success lies
in understanding your issues and pain points
in acquiring the means (finance) you need to
be your best self. By keeping your at the
centre, we’ve created products and services to
help you make your tomorrow better.
6. Name of CEO/MD of the company: Mr. MilindBarve
7. Is it multinational company? No
8. Head office/Corporate office Mumbai
9. Is it NSE/BSE listed? Yes. Both BSE and NSE
10. What is their current share price? (in 1560 rs NSE
Rupees)
11. Products and Services offered: Gold ETF,,ThematicEquity,Hybrid,Theme
based Debt,Duration Based Debt
12. Major Competitors: L&T mutual funds, ICICI PRUDENTIAL, Sbi
Mutual Fund Etc.
13. Customer Segments: The company chose to aggressively target the
consumer lending segment post 2008, at a
time when most lenders were exited the space,
enabling it to gain leadership position.
14. Brand Endorsement: For the fourth year in a row, HDFC Bank has
turned out to be India’s most valuable brand,
almost doubling its brand value since the
ranking began in 2014 from $9.4bn to $18.0bn
according to the BrandZ™ Top 50 Most
Valuable Indian Brands 2017 by WPP and
Kantar Millward Brown. The study mentioned
that India’s most valuable brands have
increased their brand value by 21 per cent to
$109.3bn last year. This compares with a 2 per
cent decline in 2016 and is well ahead of the 8
per cent value increase of the BrandZ™ Top
100 Most Valuable Global Brands 2017. The
data shows that consumers perceive HDFC
bank as increasingly innovative.
15. Understanding of the job description: HDFC Asset Management Company Ltd. is a
privately owned investment manager. The
firm manages equity, fixed income, and
balanced mutual funds for its clients. The firm
manages equity, fixed income, balanced, and
real estate portfolios.
Philosophy:
The HDFC ASSET MANGEMENT - We believe, that, by giving the investor long-term
benefits, we have to constantly review the markets for new trends, to identify new growth sectors
and share this knowledge with our investors in the form of product offerings. We have come up
with various products across asset and risk categories to enable investors to invest in line with
their investment objectives and risk taking capacity.
Mission:
To be a dominant player in the Indian mutual fund space recognized for its high levels of ethical
and professional conduct and a commitment towards enhancing investor interests.
2.2.2 Brief profile of Top management
1. CEO and Managing Director-Mr.MilindBarve
MilindBarve is the MD & CEO at HDFC Asset Management Company. He joined the company
in 2005. Barve was responsible for the management of HDFC`s Treasury portfolio and for
raising funds from Financial Institutions and Capital Markets. He was also head of marketing for
retail deposit products and responsible for investment advisory relationships for Commonwealth
Equity Fund Mutual Fund and Invesco India Growth Fund. Mr.Barve is a Graduate in Commerce
and an Associate Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.
2. CFO- Mr.PiyushSurana
In particular, the Company will undertake CSR activities as specified in Schedule VII to the
Companies Act, 2013, but will not be limited to the following:
HDFC Asset Management Company Limited (AMC) is a subsidiary of HDFC Ltd. Being a part
of the HDFC group, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an important part of AMC's culture
and value systems. AMC had set up a separate Corporate Social Responsibility Fund with the
object of participating and supporting projects undertaken by Non-Governmental organizations
(NGOs), community groups and others; for social/philanthropic causes, investor centric
initiatives, well before the CSR provisions / rules were effective under the Companies Act, 2013
(Act).
As an Investment Manager to HDFC Mutual Fund, one of our unique initiative for CSR was
launching series of Cancer Cure Funds partnering with Indian Cancer Society (ICS) to provide
financial assistance to the needy cancer patients for their treatment by tapping those investors
who would be willing to donate part of the dividend or entire dividend declared, if any, under the
scheme for this purpose.
A robust monitoring and risk management process ensures checks and balances at every stage.
Here is what happens through every step of our proprietary investment process - GEM.
1. Generation of ideas: Analysts and fund managers actively identify new ideas: For equity
investing, the search spectrum includes investment team meetings, meetings with a company's
management, competitors, suppliers, industry experts, regulators, external research and reports.
And for fixed income funds, investment ideas are born out of team strategy meetings, in-depth
interaction with issuers and market participants, macro analysis and internal and external
research ideas.
2. Evaluation of companies: Filters such as liquidity, market capitalisation ownership and other
parameters help identify opportunities, which are then thoroughly evaluated for profitability,
business attractiveness, competitive positioning, balance sheet strength, management track
record, corporate governance and valuations for equities. Thorough credit or issuer analysis and
macro analysis underpins the evaluation framework for identifying issuers and instruments for
fixed income portfolios.
3. Manufacturing or Monitoring of portfolios: Among all the ideas that are generated and
evaluated, the fund manager picks those that have the most potential. Portfolios are monitored
continuously to ensure that they are positioned to meet their investment objectives and are within
the set risk framework. A fund manager may decide to exit a holding on achieving the price
target or for other reasons such as weakened business prospects or credit, or if better investment
opportunities wait in the wings
A. Introduction
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the commitment of companies to provide resources
and support activities focused on enhancing economic and social development. It is the effort
made by companies to improve the living conditions of the local area in which they operate and
the society at large. The activities taken up as part of corporate social responsibility reflect the
intent to create a positive impact on society without seeking any commensurate monetary
benefits. CSR has been a long-standing commitment of the ICICI Group (the Group) and forms
an integral part of the Group’s activities. ICICI Foundation for Inclusive Growth (ICICI
Foundation) was established in 2008 with a view to significantly expand the ICICI Group’s
activities in the area of CSR. Over the last few years ICICI Foundation has developed significant
projects in specific areas, and has built capabilities for direct project implementation as opposed
to extending financial support to other organisations. The Company’s objective (either directly or
through ICICI Foundation) is to pro-actively support meaningful socio-economic development in
India and enable a larger number of people to participate in and benefit from India’s economic
progress. This is based on the belief that growth and development are effective only when they
result in wider access to opportunities and benefit a broader section of society. The Corporate
Social Responsibility Policy (CSR Policy) of the Company sets out the framework guiding the
Company’s CSR activities. The Policy also sets out the rules that need to be adhered to while
taking up and implementing CSR activities.
B. Scope of Corporate Social Responsibility policy
The Policy would pertain to all activities undertaken by the Company towards fulfilling its
corporate social responsibility objectives. The Policy would also ensure compliance with section
135 of the Companies Act, 2013 read with Schedule VII, related rules and circulars (the Act).
C. Corporate Social Responsibility Activities
The CSR Committee of the Company would consider and approve the projects or programmes
that the Company should undertake as CSR in India. The Company could also contribute to the
Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund or any other fund set up by the Central Government for
socio-economic development and relief. Any project or programme that is exclusively for the
benefit of the Company’s employees would not be considered as CSR.
1. Skill development and sustainable livelihoods Enabling India’s youth to gain skills that can
provide employment is key to realizing the potential of India’s demographic dividend and
driving inclusive growth. Improving employability of the youth from lower-income sections of
society is hence an important focus area. The ICICI Academy for Skills (ICICI Group Initiative)
has been set up across the country to provide job-oriented skill training to youth. Several centres
have been set up across the country. In this initiative, ICICI Foundation is also leveraging the
skills and training capabilities of large corporates in developing training modules in their
respective domains. ICICI Foundation is also liaising with corporates and businesses to get the
trained youth employed, through a job portal. The Company shall also offer skills in financial
literacy to the trained youth.
2. Education Education represents a critical area of action to realise India’s growth potential as
also makes it inclusive, by enabling children from all sections of society to have access to quality
basic education that equips them for taking up higher education or job-oriented skill training. At
the same time, India’s institutions of higher learning also require investment in capacity building
to support India’s growing and evolving needs and become global centres of excellence. The
Company, either directly or through not-for-profit entities including ICICI Foundation, shall
work with state governments and other not-for-profit organisations to improve the quality of
education in government and municipal schools, which account for the vast majority of
schoolgoing children in the country.
3. Financial inclusion The Company believes that to improve the overall economic condition of
the low-income population and to empower them with means to overcome adversities or
inequalities, access to financial services is an important factor. Increasing the participation of the
rural population as well as the urban poor and migrant workers in the economic mainstream and
the formal financial system is imperative for India to leverage its growth potential. The
Company’s initiatives in this area include using various channels like its distributor network, and
leveraging technology to spread awareness about financial services. 8
4. Health care The healthcare challenge in India spans a number of dimensions, including access
to affordable healthcare for the poor; awareness of health issues and available facilities/benefits
among the less privileged segments of society and specific vulnerable sections of the population,
and child malnutrition, which impairs the capacity of a child to lead a healthy and productive
life. Addressing these challenges is essential to achieve the objective of inclusive growth. The
Company shall either directly or tie-up with ICICI Foundation to enhance the availability of
affordable healthcare to low income households, improve health seeking behaviour among
lowincome and vulnerable groups through higher awareness and improve child nutrition. The
Company will support initiatives to make available clean and safe drinking water.
5. Sanitation Assuring basic hygiene for one and all in India is a major task. Poor sanitation
affects the health of the people of the country. Women are the most affected by lack of proper
sanitation. Majority of the diseases arise due to lack of clean water and sanitation and due to
improper solid and liquid waste management. The Company believes in promoting better human
health and improved quality of life among people through improved sanitation measures. The
Company shall either directly or tie-up with ICICI Foundation to improve sanitation levels in
various regions through the schools and/or through participation in ‘Swatch Bharat Mission’ or
through any other programme.
6. Support employee engagement in CSR activities The Company supports the involvement of
its employees in CSR activities. The Company will encourage employees to participate in CSR
activities of the Company and ICICI Foundation.
7. Capacity building for corporate social responsibility ICICI Foundation will promote
incubation of expertise for implementing corporate social responsibility initiatives. It will also
work towards providing a platform for organisations engaged in social initiatives, and discussion
and thought leadership on critical challenges to inclusive growth. The Company will support
ICICI Foundation in its initiatives that promote individual and corporate philanthropy.
8. Other areas The Company will continue to provide support to specific needs such as during
natural disasters, through financial as well as logistical support.
15 Current News Of the company The positive turn in macro factors, a continued
earnings recovery, and sustained liquidity are likely
to help equities deliver double-digit returns in 2019,
according to NavneetMunot, Chief Investment
Officer, SBI Mutual Fund.
2.4.2TOP MANAGEMENT
Mr.AshwaniBhatia
(MD)
Mr.Ashwani Bhatia is an Officer in the rank of Chief General Manager of State Bank of Ind
ia (SBI) and is on deputation to SBI Funds Management Private Limited since July 09, 2018.
Mr. Bhatia started his career with SBI in 1985 as Probationary Officer. Over a period of 33 years
with SBI, he has traversed through various functions and assignments. Before joining SBI Funds
Management Private Limited, his last assignment was Chief General Manager (Officer on
Special Duty), Corporate Centre in SBI, Mumbai (February 2018– July 2018), where he was
responsible for revamping of Credit Structure and processes of the Bank.
Mr.JashwantRawal
( Indepent Director)
Mr.JashvantRaval is a Practicing Chartered Accountant and is the Principal Partner of JCR &
Co. since its inception in 1972. He has over 43 years of experience in statutory audit, internal
audit, consultancy & investigation etc. Mr.Raval has extensive experience in statutory & internal
audit of various companies including Banking / financial companies as well as advising for
obtaining approval from RBI for Foreign Direct Investments, joint ventures and loans in foreign
currency and rupee loans, Government of India’s approval for external commercial borrowings,
long term finance from Financial institutions, divestments and obtaining required permissions
(Overseas), investment companies abroad on tax laws and compliance in India (Overseas) etc.
He has also handled fraud investigations in a co-operative bank, public company, investigation in
a public interest litigation covering allegation of misappropriation of public issue money,
investigation of a person notified by the Custodian under the Special Courts (TORTS) Act, 1992
etc. Mr.Raval is also a Director on the Board of JCR Consulting Private Limited.
2.4.3CSR POLICY
In every financial year, in which AMC has a net worth of rupees five hundred crore or more, or
turnover of rupees one thousand crore or more or a net profit of rupees five crore or more it will
spend at least two per cent ( or such amount / percentage as may be changed from time to time
under the act) of its average net profits (calculated in terms of the applicable provision of the
Act) made during the three immediately preceding financial years towards CSR activities in
accordance with the Policy. If AMC fails to spend the amount as stipulated in any financial year,
then the reason for not spending the same will be provided in the Directors report of the Board.
In case of any change in the stipulations in the Act, the same will be applicable to the Policy.
GUIDELINES FOR MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS
The AMC can grant donations to registered trusts / Society/Foundations/ NGOs/ Charitable
institutions registered as Societies or Public Charitable Trusts or a Company established either
by itself or along with its holding entity, subsidiary company or associate company or along with
any other company or holding or subsidiary or associate of such other company under section 8
of the Act or by such institutions in terms of the Act or undertake CSR activities for
implementing its socially oriented projects.
CSR ACTIVITIES
CSR Activities covers the following areas:
i. eradicating hunger, poverty and malnutrition, promoting preventive health care and
sanitation and making available safe drinking water;
ii. ii. promoting education, including special education and employment enhancing vocation
skills especially among children, women, elderly and the differently abled and livelihood
enhancement projects;
iii. iii. promoting gender equality, empowering women, setting up homes and hostels for
women and orphans; setting up old age homes, day care centres and such other facilities
for senior citizens and measures for reducing inequalities faced by socially and
economically backward groups; 3
iv. iv. ensuring environmental sustainability; ecological balance, protection of flora and
fauna, animal welfare, agroforestry, conservation of natural resources and maintaining
quality of soil, air and water.
v. v. protection of national heritage, art and culture including restoration of building and
sites of historical importance and works of art; setting up public libraries; promotion and
development of traditional arts and handicrafts;
vi. vi. measures for the benefit of armed forces veterans, war widows and their dependents;
vii. training to promote rural sports, nationally recognized sports, paralympic sports and
Olympic sports;
vii. viii. contribution to the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund or any other fund set up by
the Central Government for socio-economic development and relief and welfare of the
Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, other backward classes, minorities and women;
viii. ix. contribution or funds provided to technology incubators located within academic
institutions which are approved by the Central Government;
ix. x. rural development projects.
x. xi. slum area development
xi. xii. It also covers other activities which may be notified by the Ministry of Corporate
Affairs from
CEO
Mr. A. Balasubramanian is the Chief Executive Officer for Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC Limited
and has been with the organization since 1994.
He brings with him over 26 years of experience in the Mutual Fund industry as Portfolio
Manager both in Fixed Income and Equity. Prior to assuming the role of the CEO in 2009, Bala
served as Chief Investment Officer from 2006-2009.
As CEO, Bala currently oversees more than US$ 33 billion (as of February 2019) Assets Under
Management at Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC which is one of the largest Asset Manager in India.
He also oversees global mandates through its subsidiary company in Singapore and Dubai,
having assets of more than USD 2 billion (as of February 2019), apart from overseeing Alternate
Investment Funds, Real Estate and PMS.
A very active contributor towards taking Indian Mutual Fund industry on a high growth path,
Bala is closely associated with key Industry Bodies.
He has done his BSc in Mathematics and MBA, apart from being an Alumnus of IIM Bangalore
and Harvard through Advanced Management Programme
2.5.3CSR POLICY
For us at Aditya Birla Capital, reaching out to under served communities is part of our DNA. We
believe in the trusteeship concept. This entails transcending business interests and grappling with
the “quality of life” challenges that under served communities face, and working towards making
a meaningful difference to them.
Our vision is - “To actively contribute to the social and economic development of the
communities in which we operate. In so doing build a better, sustainable way of life for the
weaker and marginalized sections of society and raise the country’s human development
index”- Mrs.Rajashree Birla, Chairperson, Aditya Birla Centre for Community Initiatives
and Rural Development.
All projects are identified in consultation with the community in participatory manner, literally
sitting with them and gauging their basic needs. We recourse to the participatory rural appraisal
mapping process. Subsequently, based on a consensus and in discussion with the village
panchayats, and other stakeholders, projects are prioritized.
Arising from this our focus areas that have emerged are Education, Health care, Sustainable
livelihood, Infrastructure development, and espousing social causes. All of our community
projects/programmes are carried out under the aegis of The Aditya Birla Centre for Community
Initiatives and Rural Development. Our activities are in line with Schedule VII of the companies
Act, 2013.
RNAM’s philosophy with respect to Corporate Governance envisages the attainment of the
highest levels of transparency, accountability and equity, in all facets of its operations and in all
its interactions with its stakeholders, including shareholders, employees, the government, lenders
and the society. The Company believes that all its operations and actions must serve the
underlying goal of enhancing long-term shareholder value.
RNAM’s philosophy of Corporate Governance is guided by the following core principles-
Transparency - To maintain highest standards of transparency in all aspects of interactions &
dealings;
Compliances - To timely comply with all the applicable laws and regulations, in letter & spirit;
Ethical Conduct - To conduct the affairs of the company in an ethical & just manner; and
Stakeholders’ Interests - To promote the interests of all stakeholders including that of the unit
holders, shareholders, employees, vendors and the community at large.
RNAM’s Board comprises of a just & right mix of individuals, who are well-experienced in their
respective fields & who have a huge and visible credibility alongside their respective names.
Fifty percent of RNAM’s Board is Independent.
Apart from exercising their experience & diligence on the company’s business, RNAM’s Board
has a very high degree of focus on the matters concerning compliances and Corporate
Governance.
The meetings of the Board are conducted in a professionally conducive manner and the thrust is
always there on the principles of complete & fair disclosures, core compliance & accountability.
The Board also ensures that the affairs of the company are always conducted within the
permitted regulatory framework and in the interest of its stakeholders. The Board monitors the
financial performance of the Company and ensures that the financial results are prepared in
accordance with the generally accepted accounting principles and is reported to shareholders and
regulators on a timely and regular basis.
All the critical policies of the company are reviewed & approved by the Board of Directors, at
least once a year or as and when required. Similarly various operational committees of the
company’s senior management, which are required for making the day to day decisions, are also
constituted with the prior approval of the Board and the decisions taken by these committees are
further put up before the Board for their noting.
Further, in line with the statutory requirements, a Audit committee is also in place which
comprises of all the board of directors of the company as its members. The role of the audit
committee is to review the internal control systems and the annual financial statements of the
company.
Further, in accordance with the applicable provisions and as a matter of good Corporate
Governance, the Company has appointed various auditors namely auditor for the various mutual
fund schemes of Reliance Mutual Fund, statutory auditor and internal auditor, all being agencies
of repute and standing. These auditing agencies periodically submit their report, which are
placed before the audit committee for discussion, review and implementation of
recommendations.
The Company appropriately and timely discloses the required information to its prime regulator
i.e. SEBI and other relevant authorities and its unit holders.
RNAM’s Corporate Governance philosophy envisages attainment of highest levels of integrity,
accountability, performance and ethical behavior in all facets of business and one of the most
critical organizational motto’s is to instill and nurture the culture of “Total Compliance” across
the organization.
2.6.2 TOP MANAGEMENT
CIO
Manish Gunwani is CIO - Equity Investments at Reliance Mutual Fund. Manish graduated from
IIT Chennai with a B.Tech and has a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from IIM
Bangalore.
Manish has 21 years of work experience primarily in equities spanning roles in equity research
and fund management. He has also co-founded a technology company in the document
management space.
During his stint at ICICI Prudential AMC, he managed two flagship funds of the mutual fund
whose assets grew from $1bn to $5bn in 5 years. One of the funds grew from $50m to $3bn
becoming the second largest fund in the industry. As deputy CIO he was instrumental in various
aspects of asset management including setting up research processes, product strategy,
developing talent of the team etc.
Manish has immense experience in equity research and has also spent two years working in a
portfolio management company whose focus was midcaps.
Having traveled extensively across the world, Manish has attended many global investment
conferences and seminars
CEO
Mr.SundeepSikka is the Executive Director & Chief Executive Officer of Reliance Nippon Life
Asset Management Limited (RNLAM). Sundeep has held both Vice-Chairman and Chairman
positions of the industrial body AMFI (Association of Mutual Funds in India). He joined
RNLAM in 2003 and has handled various positions through which he has been instrumental in
building domestic and international operations of the company.
Key positions/memberships:
Member of Technical Advisory Committee on Money, Foreign Exchange & Government
Securities Markets:Reserve Bank of India
RNLAM is India’s largest asset manager, managing and advising assets across Mutual Funds,
Managed Accounts, Pension funds and Offshore strategies. It is part of the Reliance Group
which is among India’s top three private sector business houses. RNLAM’s shareholders also
include Nippon Life Insurance, holding a 44.57% stake in the company. Nippon Life Insurance
is the world’s 7th largest life insurer and is the number 1 private life insurance company in Asia
as well as in Japan.
RNLAM has more than 20 years of wealth creation experience exhibiting active and passive
strategies with a large distribution network in India along with a global reach across Singapore,
Mauritius and Dubai. Our clients include retail investors, financial institutions, banks, trusts,
corporate and government entities. RNLAM has a well rounded portfolio of schemes under
various categories such as Equity, Debt, Liquid and Gold.
RNLAM has proven its commitment to the development of the asset management industry, being
the only AMC in India holding mandates to manage funds of both Employees' Provident Fund
Organization (EPFO) and National Pension System (NPS).
.
Give India: ‘Give India’ is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to raising funds for NGOs
having strong credentials. Through this voluntary program, an employee can contribute a
minimum amount of Rs. 200 from his/her salary for a cause - educating a child, or helping a
blind person see, or a disabled person walk, and many more. ‘Give India’ has also ensured that
we get a regular progress/feedback report on how the employee's donation is being utilized.
Since the past ten years, GiveIndia has been instrumental in facilitating a culture of giving and in
empowering the nation’s underprivileged. Over 50,000 employees from over 150 corporations
participating in the Payroll Giving Programme have experienced tremendous amount of
satisfaction in bringing a bright ray of hope in the clouded lives of the needy.
At RNAM too, many employees have already volunteered to be a part of this experience, sharing
a part of their good fortune with the underprivileged and transforming their lives. We highly
encourage employees to join and experience the Joy of Sharing! You would really be amazed to
know how your monthly payroll contributions as small as Rs. 300/- or Rs. 200/- per month can
make a HUGE difference and add tremendous joy to the lives of the underprivileged. Donors
also get to select the various causes for donating their money. Give India also provides details of
required reports, details of beneficiary, etc.
Reclothe: Reliance Group is one of the few organizations that have the stated objective of being
a socially responsible organization. At Reliance Group, we believe we are the caretakers of
today's world in which the future generations would flourish. We believe in touching lives of all
those around us, sharing and involving our stakeholders as our partners in progress/ growth. Over
the last six years, Reliance Group has organized clothes and utilities collection campaigns across
India, under the title of ‘Reclothe’. The objective is to institutionalize an annual ‘Reclothe’,
utilities and book collection campaigns for the underprivileged through collection of quality
clothes/utilities including books by Reliance employees and other stakeholders.
1.SEBI
The Securities and Exchange Board (SEBI) is the designated regulatory body for finance and
markets in India. The primary function of the board is to protect the interests of the investors in
securities and promote and regulate the securities market. SEBI has laid the ground rules for
investors to become aware of the functioning of the mutual funds by providing necessary
information. They serve to simplify the broad spectrum of mutual fund schemes that may often
seem quite confusing to the investors. The guidelines on the merger and consolidation of mutual
fund schemes issued by SEBI are aimed at simplifying the process of comparing various mutual
fund schemes that are on offer by fund houses.
2. The structure of mutual funds as per SEBI guidelines
The SEBI guidelines define the Guarantor as one who, in his capacity as an individual or in
partnership with a different entity or entities, launches a mutual fund. The role of the guarantor is
to make revenue by putting together a mutual fund and handing it to the fund manager.
A sponsor sets up the mutual funds as per the guidelines of the Indian Trust Act, 1882, for Public
Trust. They are responsible for listing with the SEBI, having provisions for resource
management and ensuring the functioning of the fund takes place as per the SEBI guidelines.
The Trustee or Trust is established through a trust deed that is implemented by the sponsors of
the funds and is accountable to all the investors of the mutual fund. The trustee company is
regulated by the Indian Companies Act 1956, while the firm and the board members are overseen
by the Indian Trust Act, 1882. The Investment management of the trust is done through an Asset
Management Company which is to be listed as per the regulations of Companies Act of 1956.
The categorization and rationalization of mutual funds into these five broad categories ensures
that the mutual fund houses are only able to have one scheme in each sub-category, with some
exceptions. The categorization helps in simplifying the selection of funds and works in the best
interest of the investors by allowing them to evaluate their risk options prior to making informed
decisions about investing in the right scheme. Following this consolidation of schemes, the
investors can take a more informed decision without much hassle or confusion. In order to fulfill
this purpose, SEBI has come up with some guidelines to help the retail investors in their mutual
funds’ investment decisions.
d. Permission of only one scheme in each category, except for Index Funds/ Exchange Traded
Funds (ETF), Sectoral/Thematic Funds and Funds of Funds.
e) Assign a time dimension to the investment schemes It is advisable for the investors to assign a
time frame to each scheme to encourage the financial growth of the plan. It may help in
containing the volatility and fluctuations in the market if the plans are maintained stably over a
period of time.
6. How will the new categorization Impact an investor. This scheme is fashioned to help the
investors in the following ways:
a. This may reduce the number of schemes on offer, thereby, making it comparatively easier to
choose
b. It may have some schemes get merged with the others
c. It may cause your expense ratio to fall due to the higher AUM per scheme
With the number of funds available and the changes brought about, it can get a little confusing
for a new investor to keep up. This is where ClearTax comes to your aid. Contact us for any
queries you may have regarding the SEBI guidelines for investing in mutual funds.
HDFC ----
HDFC Mutual Fund has settled a case of violations with Securities and Exchange Board of India.
The violations included maturity of a security purchased by a scheme exceeding the maturity of
the scheme; difference in TER for direct and regular plans being lower than the commission paid
to the distributors in certain schemes; NAVs of certain schemes not being published on HDFC
Mutual Fund website for a certain period of time; and error in valuation of unlisted equity shares
of a company.
The allegations were based on a probe on the schemes for the period April 2014 to March 2016.
HDFC Mutual has settled the case by paying a fine of Rs3.79 crore to the capital market has
regulator
ICICI Prudential ----
ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company and its chief executive have settled the case of
violation of mutual fund regulations with market regulator Sebi over its investment in ICICI
Securities IPO (initial public offering) by paying Rs 96.76 lakh as settlement fees.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India had initiated adjudication proceedings against the
asset manager and its CEO. It had issued show-cause notice in this regard on July 13 alleging
violations of mutual fund guidelines.
Subsequently, the fund house sought settlement of securities law violations through the consent
mechanism.
SBI MF----
SBI MF settles Padmini Tech case with Sebi for Rs 140 mn via consent route
October 01 2018
SBI Mutual has settled a case with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) through the
consent mechanism. The SBI-backed fund house paid a hefty sum of Rs 140 million as
settlement charges and another Rs 6.2 million towards Sebi's Investor Protection and Education
Fund.
As per the settlement order, the proceedings were initiated through the show cause notice dated
May 28, 2013, for 'fraudulently concealing important facts while dealing in the shares of
Padmini Technologies'.
While the order didn't disclose the details of the violation, as per past reports, the case pertained
to SBI MF's transactions in shares of Padmini Technologies in the early 2000s, which was
allegedly manipulated by Ketan Parekh. Reports suggest the case was also part of a probe by the
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The settlement order also observed that the applicant (SBI MF) had undertaken that it has
implemented enhanced policies and procedures to prevent securities laws violations. "... it has
also submitted that they (SBI MF) will appoint/retain an independent consultant to review
policies and procedures and has arranged to provide enhanced training and education to its
employees," the order added.
Promotion--
Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI), the trade association of mutual funds in India,
launched a media and communication campaign, as a part of the investor awareness outreach
program. The campaign aims to position mutual funds as a preferred investment option for
potential investors.
SEBI has mandated mutual funds to set apart 2 basis points for investor education. Half of this
amount is shared with AMFI for better utilisation of the funds. AMFI has utilised the fund to
start the new media campaign.
The campaign- “Mutual Funds Sahi Hai”- appears in different media such as TV, Digital, radio,
print, cinema and outdoor hoardings in different languages. With everyday situations as the
backdrop, the campaign tries to communicate to prospective investors that mutual funds are the
right option for them.
The campaign was launched by G. Mahalingam, whole time member, SEBI. “It is for the first
time in the history of financial services that all industry participants have come together to
promote the category. This campaign makes it easy for common public to understand about
mutual funds and dispels many myths around them,” Mahalingam said while launching the
campaign.
“There is a need to encourage households to shift from physical savings to financial avenues,
especially mutual funds. With this objective in mind, under SEBI’s guidance, AMFI has
launched this investor awareness outreach program. I am sure the public will find these simple
but powerful messages very thought provoking and will be encouraged to start investing in
mutual funds,” said A Balasubramian, AMFI Chairman.
Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) doubled the maximum investment by angel
funds in venture capital undertakings to Rs 10 crore (US$ 1.37 million).
The Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) is targeting nearly five-fold growth in assets
under management (AUM) to Rs 95 lakh crore (US$ 1.30 trillion) and a more than three times
growth in investor accounts to 130 million by 2025.
India’s GDP is expected to grow 7.5 per cent in 2019-20. This is on account of India’s attempt to
implement reforms to unlock the country's investment potential to improve the business
environment, liberalised FDI policies, quick solution to the corporate disputes, simplified tax
structure, and a boost in both public and private expenditure.
Chapter 4 –Financials of top firms in India
HDFC
Balance sheet
SOURCES OF FUNDS :
APPLICATION OF FUNDS :
Fixed Assets
PL Statement
INCOME :
EXPENDITURE :
Balance sheet
As at As at
Sahara Banking and Financial Services Fund
ended 31/03/2017 ended 31/03/2016
LIABILITIES
1 Unit Capital 228.62 336.86
2 Reserves & Surplus
2.1 Unit Premium Reserve (141.89) (136.40)
2.2 Unrealised Appreciation Reserve 168.33 85.89
2.3 Other Reserve 304.76 341.95
3 Loans & Borrowings – –
4 Current Liabilities & Provisions
4.1 Provision for doubtful Income/Deposits – –
4.2 Other Current Liabilities & Provisions 5.30 7.79
TOTAL 565.12 636.09
ASSETS
1 Investments
1.1. Listed Securities:
1.1.1 Equity Shares 553.64 623.79
1.1.2 Preference Shares – –
1.1.3 Equity Linked Debentures – –
1.1.4 Other Debentures & Bonds – –
1.1.5 Securitised Debt securities – –
1.2 Securities Awaited Listing: – –
1.2.1 Equity Shares – –
1.2.2 Preference Shares – –
1.2.3 Equity Linked Debentures – –
1.2.4 Other Debentures & Bonds – –
1.2.5 Securitised Debt securities – –
1.3 Unlisted Securities – –
1.3.1 Equity Shares – –
1.3.2 Preference Shares – –
1.3.3 Equity Linked Debentures – –
1.3.4 Other Debentures & Bonds – –
1.3.5 Securitised Debt securities – –
1.4 Government Securities – –
1.5 Treasury Bills – –
1.6 Commercial Paper – –
1.7 Certificate of Deposits – –
1.8 Bill Rediscounting – –
1.9 Units of Domestic Mutual Fund – –
1.10 Foreign Securities – –
Total Investments 553.64 623.79
2 Deposits – –
3 Other Current Assets
3.1 Cash & Bank Balance 7.72 6.51
3.2 Reverse Repo Lending – –
3.3 CollateralizedBorrowingandLendingObligation(CBLO) – –
3.4 Others 3.76 5.79
4 Deferred Revenue Expenditure – –
(to the extent not written off)
TOTAL 565.12 636.09
MARKET SHEAR
(1) Indian
Bodies Corporate - - - - - -
(2) Foreign
Individuals (Non-Residents - - - - - -
Individuals / Foreign
Individuals)
Bodies Corporate - - - - - -
Institutions - - - - - -
(1) Institutions
Insurance Companies - - - - - -
Market Makers - - - - - -
(2) Non-Institutions
Bodies Corporate - - - - - -
Individuals - - - - - -
(1) - - - - - -
(2) - - - - - -
Sub Total - - - - - -
ICICI
Icici Prudential Mutual Fund bought shares in
(1) Indian
Individuals / - - - - - -
Hindu Undivided
Family
Bodies Corporate - - - - - -
Financial - - - - - -
Institutions /
Banks
Any Others - - - - - -
(Specify)
(2) Foreign
Individuals (Non- - - - - - -
Residents
Individuals /
Foreign
Individuals)
Bodies Corporate - - - - - -
Institutions - - - - - -
Qualified Foreign - - - - - -
Investor
Any Others - - - - - -
(Specify)
Sub Total - - - - - -
(1) Institutions
Venture Capital - - - - - -
Funds
Foreign - - - - - -
Institutional
Investors
Foreign Venture - - - - - -
Capital Investors
Nominated - - - - - -
investors (as def.
in Ch. XA of SEBI
(ICDR)
Regulations)
Market Makers - - - - - -
(2) Non-
Institutions
Bodies Corporate - - - - - -
Individuals - - - - - -
Individual - - - - - -
shareholders
holding nominal 0
share capital up
to Rs. 1 lakh
Qualified Foreign - - - - - -
Investor
(1) - - - - - -
(2) - - - - - -
Chairman N.A
CEO / MD N.A
CIO N.A
Chairman N.A
CIO N.A
Chairman N.A
CIO N.A
1.Fiscal policy:
Fiscal policy means the use of taxation and public expenditure by the government for
stabilization or growth of the economy.
Main Objectives of Fiscal Policy in India
To maintain and achieve full employment.
To stabilize the price level.
To stabilize the growth rate of the economy.
To maintain equilibrium in the Balance of Payments.
To promote the economic development of underdeveloped countries.
A capital gain is a difference between your purchase value and sale value. For instance, if you
have invested Rs 1 lakh in a mutual fund and it is now valued at Rs 1.5 lakh, your capital gain is
Rs 50,000. Mutual funds taxation will only apply on this gain, if you sell your units in the fund.
There is no tax on unrealized or only accrued gain.
The mutual funds taxation depends on how long you have held the fund and what type of
fund it is.
Aggressive Hybrid
1 year 15% 10%
Equity Fund
Long-term capital gains on equity mutual funds are exempt up to Rs 1 lakh per annum. For
example, if your long-term capital gains in FY 2018-19 are Rs 1.5 lakh, only Rs 50,000 will be
taxable.
You can also adjust the gains in one fund against the losses in another mutual fund in the same
year, if they are both short term or they are both long term. You can adjust short term capital
losses against both long term and short term capital gains. You can adjust long term capital
losses only against long term capital gains.
Budget 2019: no sops for mutual funds, but tax breaks bring cheer
The mutual fund industry was not expecting much from the interim budget 2019. But it nursed a
faint hope that the finance minister might rollback LTCG tax on equity mutual funds. The
industry also believed that a likely hike in basic tax exemption limit might help the industry
indirectly. On LTCG tax, the industry was in for disappointment. However, income tax sops
announced in the budget made up for `it.
The finance minister did not refer to LTCG tax in his budget speech, but he brought heer to both
the mutual fund industry and investors by announcing a slew of tax sops. The finance minister
said those with a taxable income of up to Rs 5 lakh need not pay any tax at all.
The finance minister also pointed out that if the person invests Rs 1.5 lakh under Section 80C of
the Income Tax Act, the exemption limit would balloon to Rs 6.5 lakh. He also increased the
standard deduction available to salaried taxpayers to Rs 50,000 from Rs 40,000.
The mutual fund industry preferred to overlook the setback on LTCG tax and focused on income
tax sops as they believe the industry stands to gain from it. The industry believes that taxpayers
would invest more out of their savings which will boost the assets managed by mutual funds.
“Generally, the budget is good from consumption point of view. There were a lot of tax benefits,
lot of benefits to the farmers and indirect tax benefits in real estate,” says JineshGopani, Head -
Equity, Axis Mutual Fund.
“I think it is not a euphoric budget, but it is not negative. It is neutral and in line with market
expectations, so I am assuming the markets to be where it is. Market is still trying to understand
the breakup of the money allotted. We are still waiting to read the fine print. Disinvestment
target has been put at Rs 90,000 crores. It is looking like a far cry given the last year and year
before that also,” says LashmiIyer, chief investment officer of debt and head of products, Kotak
Mutual Funds
“We are looking at the fiscal deficit number which will have an impact on the monetary policy.
What will the RBI do now is the question. Markets will be in a little bit of limbo right now. The
govt has not gone frivolous with the numbers which is positive. The global macro is positive. I
am not very confident that there will be a rate cut but certainly there is a case to change the
stance from calibrated tightening to neutral. I am still asking investors to stay in short-duration
funds,” adds Lakshmi Iyer.
Mutual fund participants were hoping for a rollback of LTCG tax. They believed that the finance
minister might do away with the tax as the amount collected was not very significant. However,
the finance minister hasn’t referred to the tax in his budget speech.
The then finance ministerArunJaitely re-introduced LTCG tax on equity mutual funds in his last
budget. The finance minister taxed long-term capital gains of over Rs 1 lakh in a financial year at
a flat rate of 10 per cent. “In view of grandfathering, this change in capital gain tax will bring
marginal revenue gain of about Rs 20,000 crores in the first year. The revenues in subsequent
years may be more,” the finance minister had said in his budget speech.
Indexation:
Indexation applies to long term capital gains in non-equity mutual funds. It reduces your tax rate
to adjust for inflation. The taxable gain is reduced after factoring the Cost Inflation Index (CII)
published by the Income TaxDepartment every year.
For example assume that you buy a debt fund in 2010 for Rs 100 and sell it in 2014 for Rs 150.
Since you have sold it after three years, the gain is long term and a tax of 20% with
indexation will apply. The Cost Inflation Index (CII) in FY 10 was 148 and the CII in FY 14 was
200. As a result your purchase price for tax purposes will rise to 200/148 = 135 and your
taxable gain will be 150 – 135 = 15. The tax payable will be 20% of 15 = Rs 3. Hence even
though you have made a gain of Rs 50, your actual tax is only 3 after applying indexation.
Dividends:
Equity fund dividends are taxed at 10%. Non-equity fund dividends are taxed at 28.84%. In both
cases this tax called Dividend Distribution Tax (DDT) is deducted before paying you the
dividend. Hence you do not have to pay any additional tax. However your actual returns will be
reduced due to the DDT.
There is no TDS (Tax Deducted at Source) on mutual fund capital gains or dividends, except for
NRIs. However, dividends are paid to you after deducting Dividend Distribution Tax (DDT).
The entire tax is deducted before paying you the dividend and hence the dividend is not taxable
in your hands.
Mutual Funds also deduct Securities Transaction Tax (STT) on equity funds and hybrid equity
funds (those with more than 65%) when you sell a mutual fund. This is deducted at a rate
0.001%. You do not have to pay it separately but it will reduce your returns to a small extent.
An Asset Management Company is a Non-Banking Finance Company licensed by the SECP for
the management of mutual fund and for the benefit of the unit holders.
2: Participants:
Participants are the ones investing in a mutual fund and anyone holding valid Indian
computerized national identity card is eligible to become participant to a mutual fund.
3: Trustee:
A trustee in the case of Mutual funds is a holding service who has administrative power for
managing the money, property or assets used in mutual funds. The trustee can be an individual
person, member of the board of directors, a company or a bank appointed with the approval of
the SECP. They are trusted to make decisions in the beneficiary’s best interest.
4: Custodian:
A custodian generally acts as a caretaker or watchdog mainly responsible for monitoring the
operations of the mutual fund and actions of the fund manager and other parties related to the
mutual fund. A custodian ensures that a mutual fund is being managed in accordance with the
requirements stipulated under the regulatory framework and the constitutive documents of the
mutual fund.
5: Registrar:
A registrar of a mutual fund may be an individual or a firm / company. The AMC may itself act
as a registrar, or appoint the registrar to perform following functions:
Exim Bank has, so far, been largely a debt provider with practically no exposure to equity
funding of projects:
NEW DELHI, MARCH 19
Exim Bank of India may consider providing equity- and quasi-equity support for projects in
Africa, said its Managing Director David Rasquinha.
“This is an idea that has come before us. We will explore it. I don’t see Exim Bank putting
equity directly out of our balance sheet or as a standalone activity. But we may create a fund-of-
funds and channelise funds along with other investors into select sectors in Africa,” Rasquinha
told BusinessLine.
Exim Bank has, so far, been largely a debt provider with practically no exposure to equity
funding of projects.
“If we provide equity- or quasi-equity support, we will be a core investor or an anchor investor.
Given our name and experience in Africa, we should be able to catalyse other investors,” he said.
The idea that Exim Bank should consider equity support for African projects (with Indian
industry involvement) came from African countries at the just-concluded 14 CII-Exim Bank
Africa Conclave in the Capital.
Rasquinha said there is an increasing clamour from African countries that they need outside
players like Exim Bank of India to consider providing equity- and quasi-equity support.
“This (providing equity support) is something new to us. We have certain RBI permission to
look at this. But they date back to prior period, and so we have to examine it afresh,” he said.
Three notable global index mutual funds follow world stock indexes. The three funds all have
low costs to investors and have had solid returns compared with the indexes they track. All
returns are annualized and based on data for the period ending Dec. 31, 2015.
The fund uses the FTSE Global All Cap Index as a benchmark. The index contains large-, mid-
and small-cap companies in a capitalization-weighted index. The weighting factor makes this
index highly biased to large-cap U.S. multinational corporations. Nine large U.S. corporations
make up 7.05% of the portfolio, and 55.5% of its assets are invested in North America.
Investors in the Total World Stock Index fund benefit from low investment costs. The fund is no-
load with no 12b-1 fee and a low expense ratio of 0.27%. The fund has an annualized total return
over three years of 7.73% and 6.17% over five years. Investors should not expect very high long-
term returns from this broad-based, passively managed fund. The total return over a longer time
period should be almost equal to world real economic growth added to the world inflation rate.
The Northern Global Sustainability Index Fund puts a twist on global index investing by
bringing environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into the decision-making process.
The fund uses the MSCI World ESG Index as a performance benchmark. The companies in the
index are large- and mid-cap companies that meet standards pertaining to their social
responsibility, ethics and treatment of the environment. Fund managers must invest at least 80%
of net assets in common stocks included in the index with the goal of equaling the return of the
index.
The Global Sustainability Index Fund is a low-cost fund for investors. It is a no-load fund with a
low expense ratio of 0.31%. There is a 2% redemption fee, but that only applies to investors who
liquidate their investment in less than 30 days. The redemption fee is meant to discourage
market-timed trading of the fund's shares.
This Morningstar four-star rated fund has an annualized total return of 9.68% over three years
and 7.46% over five years. This appears to be a victory over Vanguard’s non-ESG index fund,
but the difference could be attributed to the fact that the MSCI World ESG Index does not
include small-cap stocks.
The AQR Global Equity Fund is not an average mutual fund. Individuals must invest a minimum
of $5 million. That minimum can drop to $100,000 if the investor has a properly qualified
retirement plan. Investors who work with investment advisors that have a relationship with AQR
Funds may face lower minimums as set by their financial advisors.
The AQR Global Equity Fund seeks to track the MSCI World Index. The MSCI World Index
only includes companies from developed markets and does not provide any exposure to
emerging markets. The portfolio managers are not restricted to investing in common stock; they
can make extensive investments in derivatives. Nine of the top 10 holdings, as of Nov. 30, 2015,
were various stock market index futures that represented 23.69% of the fund's net assets. This is
hedge fund-style trading within a mutual fund.
Despite the riskier trading strategy, this no-load fund receives a Morningstar rating of four stars.
The fund has an expense ratio of 0.9% and annualized total returns of 10.85% over three years
and 8.62% over five years. Investors should seriously consider whether the extra return is worth
the extra risk.
New York based money manager, Alliance Bernstein, has built a reputation of being one of the
leading investment experts. They currently manage $490 Billion in assets, have 47 locations
across 21 different countries, have close to 3,500 employees, and is currently traded on the New
York Stock Exchange (NYSE: AB).
But not all of their news has been good news. In October of 2003, a lawsuit was filed against the
money manager for engaging in, “improper trading practices, in concert with certain institutional
traders, which caused financial injury to the shareholders of the Alliance Bernstein Funds.”
Specifically, the firm, “permitted certain investors, including defendants Canary Capital Partners,
LLC and Canary Investment Management, LLC to illegally engage in “timing” of the Alliance
Bernstein Funds whereby these favored investors were permitted to conduct short-term, “in and
out” trading of mutual fund shares, despite explicit restrictions on such activity in the Alliance
Bernstein Funds’ prospectuses.”
This incident was part of a much wider class action lawsuit against 27 individual fund
management companies that were engaging in similar behavior. It has become known as
the “2003 mutual fund scandal.” Alliance Bernstein (formerly known as Alliance
Capital) settledwith the Securities and Exchange Commission for $250 Million in December of
2003.
Although they have been involved in class action lawsuits that defrauded certain investors, it
doesn’t quite speak to their actual investment acumen. Firms may make mistakes, but are still
excellent money managers, right? This article is going to dissect Alliance Bernstein’s fund lineup
in attempts to uncover the truth about how great of money managers they actually are
impact Five trends in technology that will have a big on Mutual Fund:
In last few years, AMCs, RTAs, industry associations such as AMFI (MF Utility) and stock
exchanges have developed online platforms. These platforms enable investors to transact online
in mutual funds.
One such platform promoted by AMFI, MF Utility (MFU) reported transaction of Rs. 1800 crore
every day. Over the last two years, the trade volumes on MFU have grown five times indicating
the growing popularity of online transaction platforms.
In a recent press release, BSE Star MF an exchange platform reported a growth of over 540% in
the last 2 years.
NSE NMF II, which clocked 76 lakh transactions in the last financial year, has already processed
45 lakh transaction this year.
This rapid growth in business witnessed by these online trading platforms is a clear indicator of
changing transaction landscape.
2: Social media:
Use of social media as a communication channel is gaining wide acceptance in the asset
management industry. Many fund houses are using social media holistically to create awareness
about their products and services, engage with clients, resolve their queries and understand
investor needs.3
3: E-commerce platforms:
The reach of mutual funds will increase exponentially across the country if e-commerce
platforms receive permission to sell mutual funds.
A recent study by IBEF (India Brand Equity Foundation) found that there are 1-1.2 million
transactions per day in e commerce retailing. The market size stands at US$ 38.5 billion as of
2017 and is expected to grow at 20.09% CAGR over the next decade. The mutual funds too can
benefit from the wider reach of these platforms.
4: Robo advisory:
Robo advisory firms use analytics to devise automated programmes, which dispense financial
planning advice to investors. As per the CFA Fintech Investment Survey of 2016, introduction of
financial automated advice tools will have tremendous impact on the asset management industry,
and especially the advisory community. A white paper by FINEXTRA stated that while robo
advisory is unlikely to result in extinction of advisors, it will clearly change their role and the
adoption of robo has implications for the technology and business models of established wealth
managers. In developed markets, robo advisory firms are gaining favour amongst the millennials.
Moreover, they are providing low cost investment solutions to clients. Currently with most
Indians being amateur investors who need hand holding, we may see prominence of hybrid
models where the robo does the initial investment analysis while the advisor adds the final inputs
and provides a personal touch, said the study.
Data reigns supreme. Using big data analytics mutual funds can statistically analyse the actions
of investors. This will help them get deeper insights on the investor behaviour and devise new
strategies.
The big technology companies are using data to increase sales. Mutual funds too might be able to
offer customised investment solutions to different investors using big data analytics, the report
added.
Corporate wars
1 www.economictimes.com 1-03-18
2 www.cleartax.in/s/sebi-mutual-fund-guidelines 1-03-18
3 www.wikipedia.com/mutualfunds 2-03-18
4 www.investopedia.com 2-03-18
5 www.moneycontrol.com 3-03-18
6 www.capitaline.com/ 3-03-18
7 www.paisabazzar.com/ 4-03-18
8 www.toffeler.com 4-03-18
9 www.rbi.org.in 5-05-18
10 www.ibef.org/economy/domestic-investments 5-05-18