Master And Student

What is Specialized Investment Fund (SIF) SEBI rolls out Specialized Investment Fund with Rs.10 lakh minimum investment. What is Specialized Investment Fund? This newly launched class aims to fill the space between mutual funds and PMS, offering a flexible and specialized option for investors who are willing to make riskier bets and seek higher returns. Why the Need for SIFs? Mutual funds, by nature, attract a wide range of investors and are governed by strict regulations to ensure broad accessibility and safety. They are more suitable for conservative investors or those with a lower risk appetite.   On the flip side, PMS offers tailored strategies but typically requires a significant minimum investment (Rs.50 lakhs and above) often too large for smaller investors, and with a complexity that may seem daunting for those without deep financial expertise.  This is where the SIF comes in. SIFs are designed for those who are more informed about the market, willing to take on a hig...

Trading holidays for the calendar year 2025. The National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) has notified trading holidays for the calendar year 2025 as below: Muhurat Trading will be conducted on Tuesday, October 21, 2025. Timings of Muhurat Trading shall be notified subsequently. The holidays falling on Saturday / Sunday are as follows:

 Mutual fund assets surge 35% in fiscal 2024 to a new high. According to recent report from AMFI, fiscal 2024 turned out to be one of the best years for the domestic mutual funds industry as assets under management (AUM) spurted by nearly Rs 14 lakh crore to a record Rs 53.40 lakh crore as of March 2024 compared with Rs 39.42 lakh crore as of March 2023. Women comprised ~23% of the investors based on their share of the AUM and men ~77%, while individual investors comprised ~60% as against institutional investors ~40%. Equity-oriented fund categories gain on inflows and mark-to-market (MTM) gains. As Nifty 50 gained 33%, most of the AUM increase are from MTM gains. Passive funds growth was muted around 27% as compared to Active funds. Another key take away is investors' adoption of systematic investment plans (SIPs).   SIP continues to rise with monthly net inflows at Rs 19,300 crore in March 2024. For fiscal year 2024, the net inflows through SIPs stood at nearly Rs 2 lakh cro...

Historically Sensex has given returns of about 15% per year, despite volatility and price fluctuations of about -20% to +60%. The following table shows S&P BSE Sensex historical data - start  & close values and the yearly returns of the sensex from 2000 to 2024. So far during the year the   index has hit an all-time high of  75,124   and despite markets hitting all time highs not all stocks make all-time highs. There are many stocks still below their highs. Stocks like HDFC Bank, ITC, Asian paints are still well below their highs and some of them have given low returns over last 3-5 years. Individual or Retail investors can achieve consistent returns through investing via mutual funds , whether it be active or passive. Chasing returns from individual stocks is futile. Be a wise investor !

Last year SEBI issued a circular effective April 1, 2024 regarding KYC norms for the securities market. This has created a lot of confusion among investors and intermediaries, whether who has to do rekyc and who need not? First check your KYC status from CVL KRA . If the 2nd column says KYC VALIDATED, then you are good to go - no action required. You can invest and redeem all the funds. If it says registered, you can invest in existing Fund houses. You have do rekyc to invest in new fund houses/ schemes. If it is on hold, you have to do rekyc.  You can do rekyc completely online from the AMC's websites, links of which are given below: Bandhan Mutual Fund - Bandhan Canara Robeco Mutual Fund - Canararobeco DSP AMC - Dsp Franklin Templeton Asset Management Franklintempletonindia HDFC Mutual Fund Hdfc ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund Icicipruamc Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund  Kotak SBI Mutual Fund  Sbi Investors having KYC status of  'Registered' or 'On Hold' can complete thei...

Costco Wholesale and Walmart are both starting to sell gold bars. First, Costco sold gold bars to its members looking to invest in more than bulk household purchases. Now the warehouse retailer is selling silver coins too. Walmart has also started selling precious metals such as gold and silver in its online store, following in the footsteps of Costco Wholesale. Against the backdrop of high inflation, gold has become the new favorite of American consumers. The value of gold and silver is expected to continue to climb in 2024 on expectations that the Federal Reserve will start cutting interest rates. Gold currently trades at $2255. Will Indian supermarkets sell gold?  Gold has been always been one of the favorite investments for Indians, as evident from the fact that Indian households hold over 21,000 tonnes of gold. Indians prefer to buy gold jewelry and this trend could change if Gold is sold in supermarkets. There are Gold ETFs and Sovereign Gold Bonds  (SGB) as well. Addi...

 As we all know, an index fund is a type of mutual fund or exchange-traded fund (ETF) with a portfolio constructed to match or track the components of a financial market index, such as the Nifty 50 Index. Tracking difference is the discrepancy between Index Fund/ ETF performance and index performance. Below is the ETFs and Index funds with high tracking error.  The above tracking error is since inception. ETFs and Index funds are considered to be low cost, but in here in India, the tracking difference are quite high and add to that expense ratio, the total works out to over 1-3% and higher in certain cases.  These ETFs and Index funds are no longer low-cost as one would expect them to be.