Dividend Payout not the Best Criteria to Judge MFs Schemes

Dividend Payout not the Best Criteria to Judge MFs Schemes

 

Mutual fund schemes generally boast about high dividends but mutual fund experts say picking a mutual fund scheme on the basis of its dividend payout may not be the best way to invest in the sector.

As per MF experts, comparing the quantum of dividends paid in short term is not the correct way to measure a fund’s performance.

The proportion of dividend depends on a number of factors, including the frequency of payouts over a certain period of time.

There are funds that have higher net asset value (NAVs) but lower dividends, while others have lower NAVs, higher dividends.

Moreover, many analysts believes that the consistency of dividend payout is important than the quantum of dividend.

Experts always insist investors to not to base their investment decision on the percentage of dividend paid in a short period.

Rather Investors should look for the track record of the fund in this regard over a longer period of time.

After the recent equity market bull-run, many equity funds have declared dividends up to 70 per cent.

So far in October, over a dozen of equity schemes have declared dividends.

Experts are of view that the quantum of dividend paid does not directly indicate the performance of the fund, especially in the short term.

Unlike equities, if a mutual fund scheme pays certain percentage of dividend, NAV of the scheme drops by the same proportion.
If investors go for dividend plans, they most probably miss the compounding opportunities over the long-term for short-term gains.

An Equity head of a mutual fund said “unlike debt funds, where the intention of an investor is to earn dividends on a regular basis, investors in equity funds,  do not always look for dividend”.

At times, the focus is more on capital appreciation.

Even Fund Managers of reputed firms have maintained quite often that they pay dividends every year irrespective of the market conditions and consistency have always been theirs primary concern not the quantum of dividend.

Record Fund Raising by India Inc,through QIPs, is on the Cards.

 

Record Fund Raising by India Inc,through QIPs, is on the Cards

 

 

Indian companies are all set to  raise record fund through share sales to institutional investors in the next few months as they attempt to reduce debt accumulated during their takeovers.

Hindalco, Aban Offshore and Tech Mahindra, which bought the scandal-hit Satyam Computer, will lead this record fund raising by India Inc.

Indian companies have approvals from shareholders to raise as much as Rs 68,000 crore by selling shares to institutional investors under the so-called qualified institutional placement route.

This is in addition to around Rs 26,000 cr that has been raised by companies such as real estate developer Unitech and Suzlon Energy in the last six months, thanks to the signs of economic revival and  record stocks rally.

India Inc raised as much as Rs 26,430 cr in the last thirty-six QIP issues since March this year, according to the analysis.

These companies which raised funds in the last six months still have room to raise another Rs 23,000 cr based on the approvals shareholders have given them.

There are several companies which have received approval for QIPs between June and October with a potential to raise as much as Rs 44,000 crore, but are yet to hit the market.

Hindalco, which is saddled with debt after it acquired Canada’s Novellis, plans to raise Rs 2,900 crore and Tech Mahindra plans to raise to partly repay the loan it took to buy Satyam Computer.

Essar Oil which is negotiating to buy Shell’s refineries in the UK plans to raise around Rs 9,000 cr, whereas JSW Steel has a mandate raise Rs 4,853 cr.

Shareholders’ approval is valid for a year and most of these companies took approval after June this year.

“The issues that have come till now got strong interest from institutional investors, and predominantly from foreign buyers who bought over 90% of the QIP issues.  Given the current market conditions and the kind of interest that Investors displayed in the Indian growth story, the proposed issues should be subscribed successfully,” said Jagannadham Thunuguntla, equity head, SMC Capitals.

The fund raising gets bigger when one takes into account the potential IPOs and government share sales which may run into billions of dollars more.

 

Vegetable Prices to Ease by January : Planning Commission

Hello Friends here we come up with the Latest Major Agri-Commodities updates from various parts of the country.

Vegetable Prices to Ease by January : Planning Commission

Planning Commission Deputy Chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia Sunday said he expected vegetable prices to ease by January.

“At the end of a bad monsoon, the big pressure is on vegetables.

The annual inflation rate for food articles was sharply higher at 13.39 percent for the week under review.

Similarly, the annual rise in the index for pulses was 23.44 percent and that for cereals was 11.15 percent.

He also said that “By December-January, you will see at least something (fall in prices) for vegetables, there will be a different position,” Ahluwalia added.

“It (vegetable) is not something you can import, but in general, certainly in management of public distribution system, we are in a strong position as far as stocks are concerned,” he contended.

“There is more than enough food stock in the country. We do not have to worry on that score.”

The Reserve Bank of India and the government have both warned that India’s annual rate of inflation based on wholesale price index for all commodities would rise to 6-6.5 percent by March, while the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council has pegged it at 6 percent.

In Other major Commodities Updates we can see that NMCE has kick started trading in gold guinea contract.

NMCE kicks starts trading in gold guinea contract:

National Multi Commodity Exchange of India (NMCE), the first commodity exchange of the country, has started trading in gold guinea contract to reach to the masses.

The commex has tied-up with Muthoot Group to set up multiple delivery centres.

The guinea would be a Muthoot branded BIS certified serially numbered,available in a tamper proof packing.

The purchase/delivery of the gold guinea will be made available through the Muthoot Finance’s 22 centers across the country, which include Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Jaipur, Mumbai, Indore, Delhi, Rajkot, Kanpur, Lucknow in the North and Trivandrum, Kollam, Kottayam, Calicut, Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Truichi, Bangalore, Mangalore, Hyderabad, Trichur.

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IPO News

·Astec Lifesciences IPO subscribed fully

The Astec Lifesciences IPO closed for subscription on 4th November. It received a mild response on the last day and was subscribed 1.56 times. The non-institutional investors’ portion got subscribed 3 times; retail segment was subscribed 2.36 times and QIB 0.61 times. The issue was of 75,00,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each for cash at a price of Rs 77-82 per equity share, aggregating Rs 57.75-61.50 crore. The company is engaged in the manufacture and sale of intermediates, active ingredients and formulations in the off patent–proprietary category with a focus on agrochemical and pharmaceutical sector.

·Rural Electrification Corp to divest 20% via FPO

P Uma Shankar, CMD of REC (Rural Electrification Corporation) said the company would be filing a draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with SEBI by mid-December 2009. The company will divest 20% via FPO (follow-on-public offering) including 15% fresh equity and 5% government stake dilution. The FPO of 17.17 crore shares will hit the market by February 2010 and the company will reserve 50% for QIBs, 15% for HNIs and 35% for retail investors.

·Intrasoft Technologies files IPO papers with SEBI

Intrasoft Technologies, owner of 123greetings.com has filed a draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for a public issue of 37,00,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each. The issue will constitute 25.12% of the post issue paid up capital of the company. The company intends to utilize the issue proceeds for branding & promotion; purchasing a corporate office at Kolkata and investment in technology infrastructure. Out of proceeds, it is planning to use over Rs 35 crore for above three purposes. For the period ended March 31, 2009, the company reported total income of Rs 10.52 crore and profit after tax of Rs 5.2 crore.

·GPL eyes IPO by end-Dec, to strongly focus on affordable housing

Godrej group company, Godrej Properties Limited (GPL), plans to hit the market with its IPO by end-December. A DRHP has been filed with SEBI for the purpose. The company proposes to issue fresh capital to the tune of around 13 per cent of its present capital. The proceeds of the issue will be used to fuel Godrej Properties’ expansion. The company’s thrust would be on affordable housing which will be its main growth-driver and in the future the revenue-mix of the company would be 80 per cent from residential housing (primarily affordable) and the balance from commercial realty.

·Coal India engages fund managers for IPO

State-owned Coal India Ltd has engaged large fund managers for its coming IPO which is likely to hit the market within a year. CIL, which had received Navratna status last year, was scheduled to get listed in the bourses within a three year period. Apart from this, it also planned to offer stock options to its over four lakh employees besides considering a proposal to issue shares to its former employees. Turning to coal imports, he said that coal import was increasing by 20 per cent annually. Import of coal was necessary since CIL could not meet the entire demand supply gap of coal.

·PSU divestment back on govt agenda

Home Minister P Chidambaram announced on 5th November that all profitable PSU’s are to give 10% equity to the public sector. The

government has made it mandatory for all listed profitable PSUs to disinvest 10 % to public sector. All unlisted PSUs which do not have any accumulated losses and positive networth and have made profits would be listed. Hitherto, the policy was to put the sale proceeds in a National Investment Fund (NIF) and use only its dividends for social security schemes. But given the tight fiscal situation, a special dispensation is being made for the three-year period 2009-12. The corpus comprising deposits from April 2009 till March 2012 will now be available in full for investment as capital expenditure in specific social sector schemes determined by Planning Commission and Department of Expenditure.

Indian corporates use downturn to reduce costs

The global crisis changed the growth oriented goals of Indian businesses while there was a focus on operational effectiveness to ensure survival and companies undertook measures to achieve this as per a Price water house Coopers survey, Beyond the Downturn.

However, India Inc. seems to have mitigated the impact of the meltdown on their businesses with over 91% respondents executing vital cost reduction and 70% reviewing operational/working capital cycle.

Moreover, India Inc. is bullish about its prospects and is beginning to assay growth again with the economy appearing to be on a path to recovery.

Meanwhile, it is said that survey respondents ranked cash flow management, difficulty in forecasting results and maintaining employee morale during the downturn as key constraining factors.

Further, majority of the survey respondents identified benefit from achieving increased operational effectiveness by following cost reduction, reduction in working capital and optimization of supply chain as a significant opportunity resulting from the downturn.

On the other hand, strong domestic economy, stable banking and financial system and timely government intervention were seen as key factors responsible for the less impact of the downturn on India.

Additionally, 99% of respondents viewed growing demand/volumes as their key recovery expectation with new hiring/ capacity addition getting the second priority.

ICICI, SBI write off, sell debt to reduce bad loans

By restructuring the repayment terms of prospective bad loans and writing off loans in Q3, the leading banks are putting in check their non-performing assets (NPAs).

However, State Bank of India (SBI) restructured Rs 2,832 crore loans, while ICICI Bank did so with Rs 850 crore of loans. Further, SBI wrote off Rs 900 crore of bad loans in the first half of 2009-10 while ICICI has written off Rs 600 crore in Q2.

Moreover, the level of gross NPAs depends on the amount of write-offs/upgrades of NPAs hence; the more relevant figure is the absolute level of net NPAs while SBI’’s advances are growing faster than the system at 16%, but its NPAs are also growing.

Meanwhile, there is no need for concern as most loans are in the recoverable category and they stemmed from home loans, education loans and international business, which were closely related to the downturn.

In addition, the sale of bad loans also helped ICICI Bank ensure its gross NPAs were lower at Rs 9,200.89 crore at the end of Q2.

On the other hand, the bank restructured about Rs 4,800 crore of bad loans whereas in the next 2-3 quarters they should be able to clean up their balance sheet.

As for HDFC Bank, gross NPAs rose to Rs 2,025.88 crore at the end of Q2, about 20% higher than a year earlier while most of the bad loans on HDFC Bank’’s books are on account of the merger of Centurion Bank.

PORTFOLIO REBALANCING TO STAY ON TRACK

Portfolio re balancing is the process of bringing the different asset classes back into appropriate proportion following a significant change in one or more.

Over the time, as different asset classes produce different returns, the portfolio’s asset allocation changes. To recapture the portfolio’s original risk and return characteristics, the portfolio must be rebalanced to its original asset allocation.

The primary purpose of rebalancing is to maintain a consistent risk profile. Periodic rebalancing will help to avoid counterproductive temptations in the market.

For example, in this seemingly falling market, rather than an investor

Tempted to follow the crowd, who are busy dumping popular stocks; the imbalance created by erosion of the equity component can be used to book profits on debt portion and buy into equities to bring back the allocation to the original ratio.

The balancing act

To get the entire asset classes back to their original allocation percentages would entail the following:

·Selling part of the equities and investing the proceeds into debt and cash and vis-a-versa.

·Putting in fresh one-time investments into debt and cash to raise the allocation in the portfolio.

·Start a systematic investment plan skewed towards debt and cash.

Rebalancing controls risk

The investments in a portfolio will perform according to the market. As time goes on, a portfolio’s current asset allocation can move away from an investor’s original target asset allocation.

If left un-adjusted, the portfolio could either become too risky, or too conservative.

The goal of rebalancing is to move the current asset allocation back in line to the originally planned asset allocation.

How often should one rebalance?

Though the frequency is entirely dependent on the investor, the portfolio size as well as market conditions will impact the overall returns’ expectation of the portfolio.

The main idea is that the periodic interval between successive rebalancing acts should be constant.

Some of the other factors affecting the rebalancing are:

Cost of transactions

If one decides to rebalance the portfolio once in six months, he needs to factor in short term capital gains, brokerages and entry exit loads. Hence, it is advisable to rebalance annually the long term portfolios and rebalance semi annually for the short term portfolios.

Volatility

High return volatility increases the fluctuation of the asset class weights around the target allocation and increases the risk of significant deviation from the target.

Greater volatility implies a greater need to rebalance. In the presence of time-varying volatility, rebalancing occurs more often when volatility rises.

Investors can also employ another trigger for asset rebalancing. They can decide to rebalance their portfolio, not according to time, but rather only when any asset class changes in allocation due to market movements, over a certain percentage.

Conclusion

Portfolio rebalancing is an important part of sticking to your game plan. You should look at your portfolio at least quarterly in terms of rebalancing and more frequently if you have had a significant gain or loss in any asset class.

At last asset rebalancing is a very important exercise for any disciplined investor who wishes to approach their investing in a systematic manner, while realizing their financial goals that they have set out to achieve.

Portfolio rebalancing is the process of bringing the different asset classes back into appropriate proportion following a significant change in one or more. Over the time, as different asset classes produce different returns, the portfolio’s asset allocation changes.

To recapture the portfolio’s original risk and return characteristics, the portfolio must be rebalanced to its original asset allocation.

The primary purpose of rebalancing is to maintain a consistent risk profile. Periodic rebalancing will help to avoid counterproductive temptations in the market. For example, in this seemingly falling market, rather than an investor tempted to follow the crowd, who are busy dumping popular stocks, the imbalance created by erosion of the equity component can be used to book profits on debt portion and buy into equities to bring back the allocation to the original ratio.

RBI’s Monetary Policy – Analyst View

Hello Friends, last month we witnessed loads of action with the RBI’s monetary policy being laid down.

Just an extension of our previous blog “RBI’s Monetary Policy Stance – Part 3”.

 

 

RBI Monetary Policies and Projections Part 4

 

In this Blog we would read the Analyst views with respect to the monetary point of view.

Analysis from the Analyst from monetary point of view:

Though there is a hike in SLR to 25 % but we think it will not have much more impact because the total investment book of commercial banks is already at 30.4% of total NDTL.

Although key rates of CRR, reverse repo and repo rates have been left unchanged, special repo facilities have been withdrawn.

Real estate loans provisioning are set to become more expensive.

NPA norms for banks have been tightened while liabilities of scheduled banks arising from transactions in CBLO with Clearing Corporation of India Ltd. (CCIL) will be subject to maintenance of CRR.

The RBI is thus attempting to withdraw liquidity from areas where excess liquidity had reached a point it was more than comfortable with, while also targeting better quality management of credit.

Another point is that in the policy stance, RBI has given first priority to keep a vigil on trends in inflation and to be prepared to respond swiftly and effectively through policy adjustments to stabilize inflation expectations.

Second, it will monitor the liquidity situation closely and manage it actively to ensure that credit demands of productive sectors are adequately met while also securing price stability and financial stability.

Lastly, RBI will maintain a monetary and interest rate regime consistent with price stability and financial stability, and supportive of the growth process.

In conclusion, it bears emphasis that the Reserve Bank is mindful of its fundamental commitment to price stability.

It will continue to monitor the price situation in its entirety and will take measures as warranted by the evolving macroeconomic conditions swiftly and effectively.

To conclude all the factors it seems that with the withdrawal of special liquidity measures together with an imposition of CRR in borrowing in CBLO market, RBI has taken a first to step towards controlling liquidity.

 

With prioritizing inflation it is expected that the next step of RBI could hike in CRR as it has also reduced the indicative growth of Broad money to 17% from 18%.

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Wheat Sowing Starts, to Gather Pace After Cane Fields Vacated

Hello Friends here we come up with the Latest Major Agri-Commodities updates from various parts of the globe.

Wheat sowing starts, to gather pace after cane fields vacated

 

Wheat sowing starts, to gather pace after cane fields vacated:

Sowing of wheat, the biggest foodgrain grown during the rabi season, has started in some parts of the country.

The crop has been planted in around 25.7 lakh hectare till November 5, almost 9.4% less than the same period last year.

Though wheat sowing has got off to a slow start this year, but still there is not much concern as the delay is mainly due to late harvesting of kharif crops.

Sowing of rapeseed has also started on a weak note and till Thursday, around 3.48 lakh hectares of land has been brought under the crop as against 6.65 lakh hectares sown during the same period last year.

In Other major Commodities Updates we can see that Mentha oil futures have turned weak and Corn and soybeans have fell for the third straight day.

Mentha oil futures turn weak:

Mentha oil futures prices fell by 0.30 per cent today as traders indulged in profit-booking at higher prices amid fall in demand in the spot market.

Increased arrivals from producing belts in Uttar Pradesh also put pressure on the prices.

At the MCX counter, mentha oil for November contract declined by 0.30 per cent to Rs 533.60 a kg clocking business volume in 201 lots.

Similarly, mentha oil for delivery in December contract eased by 0.26 per cent to Rs 540.20 a kg in business turnover in 53 lots.

Fall in mentha oil prices was mostly due to profit-taking by speculators and subdued trend in spot markets.

Corn, Soybeans Fall as Warm, Dry Weather May Speed U.S. Harvest:

Corn and soybeans fell for the third straight day on speculation that warm, dry weather will hasten U.S. harvesting, boosting supplies for food and feed producers.

Weather conducive to field work is expected across the Midwest in the next 15 days.

About 49 percent of U.S. soybeans and 75 percent of the corn remained to be gathered as of Nov. 1, according to government estimates.

Grain and oilseed markets also fell on reduced investment demand for raw materials as an inflation hedge.

The rising unemployment rate is not good news for demand.

Corn futures for December delivery fell 9.5 cents, or 2.5 percent, to $3.67 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade.

The decline pared the week’s gain to 0.3 percent, the fourth increase since Oct. 2.

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Indian Stocks Rose After Govt Approved Disinvestment Plans

Indian Stocks Rose After Govt Approved Disinvestment Plans

Indian stocks rose, extending the benchmark index’s longest string of gains in five weeks, after the government approved a plan to sell more shares in state- controlled companies, helping it raise funds to boost spending.

MMTC Ltd., India’s biggest state-owned trading company, surged 20 percent, the most in 10 months.

Rico Auto Industries Ltd., an auto component maker that supplies General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co., climbed 5.1 percent after workers ended a 45-day strike.

The Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index, or Sensex, rose 94.38, or 0.6 percent, to 16,158.28.
The measure this week gained 1.7 percent, snapping two weeks of losses.

The S&P CNX Nifty Index on the National Stock Exchange rose 0.6 percent to 4,796.15.
The BSE 200 Index added 1.1 percent to 2,011.08.

“The disinvestment move will help moderate India’s fiscal deficit,” said Jagannadham Thunuguntla, head of equities at SMC Capitals Ltd. in New Delhi.

“Also, it may help in higher GDP growth led by increased government spending.”

MMTC soared 20 percent to 36,146.85 rupees, the most since Dec. 17.
State Trading Corp., the No. 2, leapt 15 percent to 353.6 rupees.

NMDC Ltd., India’s largest iron-ore producer, climbed 10 percent to 338 rupees. 

Hindustan Copper Ltd., India’s biggest copper miner, 99.59 percent state-owned, gained 10 percent to 256.35 rupees.

Budget Deficit

The government owns 99.33 percent in MMTC and 91.02 percent in State Trading, while it holds 98.38 percent in NMDC, according to filings to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The government will use the money raised from the sale of shares of state companies for social spending.

India’s fiscal deficit reached 6 percent of gross domestic product in the year ended March 31, surpassing the 2.5 percent government target.

The key Sensitive stock index has more than doubled from this year’s lowest level, in March.

Govt’s stand to sell state assets and accept more overseas funds into insurance and banking, has strengthened, after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh resounding re-election victory in May.