Equity funds post worst quarter in nearly 3 years

REUTERS - Oct 4, 2011 India's diversified stock funds posted their worst quarterly performance in nearly three years, as rising interest rates, slowing economic growth and global debt worries led to a fall in key stock indices.
Read more on Reuters India.
Newspaper pickup - Financial Express.

Equity funds post worst month since January

Reuters - Sep 5, 2011 - India's diversified equity funds posted their biggest drop since the beginning of the year in August, falling nearly as much as the broader market, as exposure to small- and mid-sized firms and sectors such as financials dented performance.

Read more on Reuters India.

Newspaper pickup - Financial Express.

Mid, small-cap shares prop up MFs in July; gold funds shine

Reuters - Aug 2, 2011 - Diversified equity mutual funds fell less than the BSE Sensex in July, as significant exposure to shares of mid- and small-cap companies helped limit losses.

Read more on Reuters India.

BLOG: PF account access online – a model to follow?

With a 9.5 percent interest rate and attached tax benefits, provident fund (PF) is perhaps one of the most favoured investment avenues for salaried individuals.

Though some might still prefer to get their records updated from the post office manually or wait for their PF slips to verify entries, such value-added services will only encourage people to invest in these schemes.

Read more on Reuters India.

Capital goods help equity funds in May; bank funds struggle

Reuters - Jun 2, 2011 - Diversified equity funds managed to perform better than the broader market in May, as exposure to sectors like capital goods and healthcare helped unit values.

Read more on Reuters India.

Diversified equity funds underperform on higher cash

Reuters - Apr 4, 2011 - Diversified stock funds lagged the benchmark Sensex in March due to higher allocation to cash and exposure to mid- and small-sized companies.

Read more on Reuters India.

Mid-, small-caps dent diversified funds in Feb

(Reuters) - Mar 3, 2011 - India's diversified stock funds lagged the benchmark index in February, as exposure to mid- and small-cap shares and sectors like capital goods hurt net asset values.

Read more on Reuters India.

Newspaper Pickup - Economic Times.

Equity funds record worst monthly fall in over 2 years

Reuters - Feb 6, 2011 - Diversified stock funds mirrored losses in benchmark index in January with unit values recording their worst monthly performance since October 2008, data from global fund tracker Lipper showed.

Read more on Reuters India, Money Control.

Equity funds lag in December; sectoral funds shine in 2010

Reuters - Jan 8, 2011 - Most of diversified equity funds underperformed the benchmark 30-share BSE Sensex in December as high exposure to mid- and small-sized firms and sectors like financials hurt unit values.

Read more on Reuters India.

Newspaper Pickup - Economic Times.

PF not to be taxed at withdrawal under DTC - govt

Reuters - Jun 16, 2010 - Provident funds and pure life insurance products would not be taxed at the time of withdrawal under the new direct tax code (DTC), the government said on Tuesday in a revised discussion paper.

Read more on Reuters India.

IFCI's new infra bonds can help save additional tax

Reuters India - Aug 23, 2010 - The initial response to IFCI’s infrastructure bonds has been good, a company official said, with additional tax-saving incentive making them an attractive option for investors.

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Indian summer for consumer goods, pharma funds in May

Reuters - Jun 3, 2010 - Stock funds that invest in consumer goods and pharma sectors led mutual fund gainers in May, while diversified equity funds fell in line with the benchmark as key stock indices dropped on euro zone worries.

Read more on Reuters India.

POLL - Fund managers to make most of market fall

Reuters - May 31, 2010 - Domestic fund managers plan to retain or increase their exposure to stocks over the next three months, while auto companies and financials will be their top bets, a Reuters poll showed.

Read more on Reuters India.

Small, mid-caps help equity funds beat Sensex

(Reuters) - May 4, 2011 - Most of India's diversified equity funds outperformed the benchmark index in April, as a significant exposure to small- and medium-sized firms and sectors like financials boosted unit values.

Read complete story on Reuters India.

POLL - MFs plan to buy more stocks

Reuters (April 30, 2010) - Domestic fund managers plan to further increase their exposure to equities in the next three months, with financials and capital goods topping their list of sector picks, a Reuters poll showed.

Read complete story on Reuters India.

SEBI moves court in ULIP row - paper

India's capital market regulator moved the Supreme Court and some high courts to prevent any ex-parte decisions in the ongoing spat with the insurance regulator over unit-linked insurance products (ULIPs), a newspaper report said.

Read complete story on Reuters India.

SEBI bars 14 insurance firms from issuing ULIPs

By Aditya Kalra

NEW DELHI, April 10 (Reuters) - The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has barred 14 life insurance companies in India from issuing unit-linked insurance products (ULIPs) with immediate effect, according to a notice posted on its website.

Read Full Article on Reuters India

Pharma, banking funds top mutual fund gainers in March

By Aditya Kalra

NEW DELHI, April 5 (Reuters) - Sectoral funds investing in pharma and banks topped the performance charts among equity funds in March, while diversified stock plans lagged due to high exposure to cash and sectors like capital goods.

Read Full Article on Reuters India, Moneycontrol.com, Economic Times, Live Mint, Business Standard

Newspaper pickup - Business Standard

POLL - MFs see stocks rising; eye financials, energy

By Aditya Kalra

NEW DELHI, March 31 (Reuters) - Indian shares, which touched a 25-month high on Monday, could rise further in the June quarter with financials and energy stocks finding favour among domestic fund managers, a Reuters poll showed.

Read Full Article on Reuters India

Exploring the term insurance, mutual fund combo

By Aditya Kalra

NEW DELHI, Feb 3, 2010 (Reuters) - Opting for a life insurance term plan and investing in tax funds could be the winning combo for insurance seekers looking for overall higher returns.

Read the full article on the Reuters India Website

Investors flee arbitrage funds as returns drop

By Aditya Kalra
NEW DELHI, Feb 19, 2010 (Reuters) - A near one-way surge in the Indian equity markets has left fund managers with fewer opportunities in the arbitrage domain, denting returns and leading to a fall in fund assets.

Read the complete story on the Reuters India Website, Moneycontrol.com, BusinessWorld

Creating your own capital protection plan

In the current scenario, investors can look at creating a capital protection plan on their own, which can safeguard their capital and possibly earn higher returns with some exposure to equity mutual funds.

Read the complete on the Reuters India Website

Banks, consumer help equity funds better benchmark in Oct

By Aditya Kalra
NEW DELHI, Nov 4, 2009 (Reuters) - All but one of diversified stock funds posted negative returns in October, tracking the benchmark's worst performance in a year, but their exposure to financials and consumer goods softened the blow.

Read the complete story on the Reuters India Website

FMPs back in vogue as returns seen as attractive

By Aditya Kalra

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Money managers in India are scrambling to launch fixed maturity plans (FMPs) on hopes the prospect of better returns than liquid funds will help revive interest in one of the most popular fund categories of 2008.

Read the complete story on Reuters India Website, Economic Times, BusinessWorld

Newspaper pickups -- Business Standard and Financial Express

Govt payout acts as stimulus, sparks consumption

By Aditya Kalra
NEW DELHI, Sep 1, 2009 (Reuters) - Life has changed for Deepika Chatterjee. She plans to buy a house, travel in a chauffeur-driven car and no longer hesitates before buying expensive airline tickets.

Read full story on the Reuters India Website, LiveMint

Newspaper Pickup -- Financial Chronicle

Higher lock-in for ULIPs seen helping tax funds

By Aditya Kalra

NEW DELHI, Aug 31, 2009 (Reuters) - India's tax funds are poised to improve market share as the proposed hike in lock-in period for rival unit-linked insurance plans (ULIPs) make mutual funds the most liquid equity tax-saving instrument.

Read the full story on Reuters India Website, LiveMint, Financial Chronicle

Newspaper Pickup -- Business Standard

Equity funds revise loads to deter early investor exit

By Aditya Kalra

NEW DELHI, June 18, 2009 (Reuters) - Money managers in India are revising the load structure of their equity funds to discourage investors from early redemptions after a recent surge in equity markets boosted their unit values.

Read the complete story on the Reuters India website

Get ready to file your IT returns

By Aditya Kalra

NEW DELHI, June 3, 2009 (Reuters) - With the July 31 deadline looming large, salaried individuals should be gearing up to file their income tax returns for 2008-09.

Read the complete story on the Reuters India Website

FMPs go out of favour as SEBI rules bite

By Aditya Kalra

NEW DELHI, May 29, 2009 (Reuters) - Fixed maturity plans (FMPs) that controlled more than a fifth of the Indian mutual fund industry's assets in September are now losing out to a series of regulatory changes that make them a tough sell for fund houses.

Read the complete story on the Reuters India Website, Financial Chronicle

Tax funds shy away from dividend payout; flows slump

By Aditya Kalra

NEW DELHI, Mar 17, 2009 (Reuters) - Indian money managers, who have historically used dividends as a ploy to lure investors to tax-saving stock funds, are shying away from payouts this year, as a savage share market decline limits distributable surplus.

Read the complete story on Reuters India Website, Economic Times, Financial Chronicle

Newspaper pickups

Business Standard / Mint / Financial Chronicle

Gold ETFs spark investors' fancy as prices surge

By Aditya Kalra

NEW DELHI, Feb 20, 2009 (Reuters) - India's gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are witnessing a sharp spurt in volumes as investors, hurt by steep losses in stock portfolios, bet on the yellow metal trading near record levels.

Read the complete story on Reuters India Website

Demystifying taxes on your investments

By Aditya Kalra

NEW DELHI Feb 9, 2009 (Reuters) - Paying taxes is as important a part of your financial planning as saving tax. Knowing how your investments are to be taxed can help you select the right investments to meet your financial goals.

Read the complete story on Reuters India Website

Mutual funds assets slump as investors stay away

By Aditya Kalra

NEW DELHI, Jan 27, 2009 (Reuters) - A slump in the Indian equity markets has put the brakes on its mutual fund industry with investors avoiding an asset class traditionally regarded as a safe entrypoint into the volatile stock market.

Read the complete story on Reuters India Website

Taxing times as year end looms

By Aditya Kalra
NEW DELHI, Dec 24, 2008 (Reuters) - It’s the time of the year when investors, especially the salaried class, rush to complete their tax saving formalities.

Read the complete story on Reuters India Website

Swinging Sensex scorches investors

By Aditya Kalra
NEW DELHI, Nov 21, 2008 (Reuters) - Things were going quite well for Sanjeev Jain.
For nearly twenty years, the stock market had been kind to this investor from Chandigarh, helping him lead a comfortable life with his profits.

Read complete story on Reuters India Website

Investing beyond equities

By Aditya Kalra
NEW DELHI, Oct 1, 2008 (Reuters) - Is the worst over for Indian stock markets? – A question that boggles all equity investors today. With the Sensex slipping over 30% this year, the thought of investing in such a market is bound to give jitters.

Read the complete story on Reuters India Website