Sub Categories of Active Equity Management

Some of the major sub categories of the two major style of active equity management (top down and bottom up) are listed below; Growth managers: Growth managers can be classified as either top-down or bottom-up. The growth managers are either divided into large capitalization or small capitalization. The growth managers buy securities that are typically selling at relatively high P/E ratios, due to high earnings growth rate, with the expectation of continued high earnings growth. The portfolios are characterized by high P/E ratios, high returns, and relatively low dividend yields. Market timers: The market timer is typically a set category of top-down investment style and comes in many varieties. The basic assumption is that he can forecast the market i.e. when it will go up or down. In the sense he market timer is not too distant than the technical analyst. The portfolio is not fully invested in equities. Rather Continue reading

Importance and need of merchant banking in India

Important reasons for the growth of merchant banks has been development activities throughout the country, exerting excess demand on the sources of fund for ever expanding industries and trade, thus leaving a widening gap unabridged between the supply and demand of invisible funds. All financial institutions had experienced constrain of resources to meet ever increasing demands for demands for funds frame corporate sector enterprises. In such circumstances corporate sector had the only alternative to avail of the capital market service for meeting their long term financial requirement through capital issue of equity shares and debentures. Growing demand for funds put pressure on capital market that enthused commercial banks, share brokers and financial consultancy firms to enter into the field of merchant banking and share the growing capital market. As a result all the commercial banks in nationalized and public sector as well as in private sector including foreign banks in Continue reading

Profits and Gains of Business or Profession

Meaning of Business and Profession                               Business simply means any economic activity carried on for earning profits. According to Sec 2(3) business is “any trade, commerce, manufacture or any adventure in the nature of trade commerce and manufacture”. Any transaction with a motive of selling at profits included under this concept. It is not necessary that there should be a series of transaction in a business and it should be carried on permanently.                             Profession is an occupation requiring purely intellectual skills or manual skills controlled by the intellectual skill of the operator. e.g. Lawyer, doctor, engineer etc.   So profession refers to those activities where the livelihood is earned by the persons through their intellectual or manual skill.         Continue reading

Levels of International Strategy

The globalization of the economy, internationalization of businesses and emergence of new markets are all key themes in contemporary business. Whereas international business may once have been the province of organisations with sufficient scale and reach, these types of companies — typically multi-national corporations – no longer have a monopoly on this kind of business. Increasing numbers of firms, of varying scale, are confronted with compelling reasons for expanding their activities across multiple national boundaries. In some cases, such motivation includes the knowledge that success in international markets is a pre-requisite for survival; if competitor organisations succeed in international markets, they may achieve the scale and liquidity which affords them sustainable competitive advantage. There are mainly three levels of international strategy. They are; Corporate Strategy Business Strategy Functional Strategies Short description of these three are given bellow, 1. Corporate Strategy: Corporate strategy attempts to define the domain of businesses the Continue reading

Variable Compensation Program – Types, Pros and Cons

Performance Related Pay is a kind of a payment system which relates the wages and salaries with the performance of an employee. It includes incentive payments, merit pay, etc. Performance Related Pay is also known as Variable Compensation. Variable compensation programs are customized in such an order that, as said before, the performance of the employees depicts their incomes. It does not depend on his/her designation in an organization. These programs are designed to motivate individuals and groups that contribute effectively, as they differentiate between performers and non-performers. Many companies believe that a variable compensation program enhances productivity and motivates employees. The American Management Association, based on a study of 83 companies, concluded that grievances had dropped by 83%. absenteeism by 84% and lost – time by 64%, after variable pay programs were introduced in these firms. Variable compensation is also one of the employee involvement programs. Such programs make Continue reading

Sensory Branding

In today’s highly competitive global environment, companies, on a constant basis, have to find new ways to position their brands in consumers’ mind. No amount of advertising and sales promotions can do any good if a brand does not confer a distinctive benefit. Brands need to be geared up to provide a complete package of functional, sensory and emotional experiences. Touching and triggering all the five senses of the consumers–touch, smell, sight, sound, and taste — creates a compelling brand experience. The more multi-sensory appeal that a brand has, the higher is the number of sensory triggers activated and resultantly, higher the bonding between the brand and the consumer. Sensory branding attempts to foster a lasting emotional connect between the brand and the consumer, using a deliberate design and deployment of interaction with the senses. In brand communication, all the five senses need to be evoked to create optimum impact Continue reading