Recommended reading: Introduction to mutual funds The benefits of investing in mutual funds are: Professional management of the investments: Each Mutual fund appoints an experienced and professional funds manager and several research analyst, who research before investing, thus adding value to the common investor. These professional constantly keep track of the market changes and news, predict the impact they will have on the investments and take quick decision regarding the adjustments to be made in the portfolio. Low costs of Investments: Due to the large amount of funds manages, very low costs accrue per investor. Mutual fund achieves economics of scales in research, transactions and investments. It lowers the cost of brokerage, custodial and other charges. Diversification : A common investor has limited money, which he can invest only in a few securities and faces a great risk. If their values go down, the investor loses all his money. SinceContinue reading
Investment Options
Introduction to mutual funds
A Mutual Fund is a special type of investment institution which collects or pools the savings of the community and invests large funds in variety of Blue-chip Companies which are selected from a wide range of industries with the objects of maximizing returns/incomes on investments. Mutual Funds are basically a trust which mobilize savings from the people and invest them in a mix of corporate and government securities. Money collected by the investors is invested in various issues of primary and secondary markets in order to gain profits on such investments. A Mutual Fund is a Trust, which combines the investments of various investors having similar financial goals. The Trust issues units to the investors in the proportion of their investments. A fund manager then invests these funds in different types of assets, which provide returns in the form of dividends, interests, and capital appreciation. This is distributed to theContinue reading
Governance of the demutualized stock exchanges
In the past, in almost all the stock exchanges, the broker members of the governing boards have been critical in the governance of the stock exchanges. The reconstitution of the governing boards of the stock exchanges by SEBI, which reduced the broker representation on these boards to 50%, had helped in making the boards more independent and minimized the influence of brokers. However, in most stock exchanges on account of the brokers retaining posts of the officer bearers of the stock exchanges till recently viz. president, vice-president and treasurer, they continued to play a dominant role in the management of the stock exchange. The fall-out of this practice has been that most stock exchanges have failed to develop good corporate governance practices and strong management teams. This has not only been a perception but also a reality in most stock exchanges. Conflicts of interest have bedeviled the operations of theContinue reading
Bonus Issue of Shares – Meaning, Benefits and Motives
BONUS ISSUE OF SHARES When we invest the share capital in a business, we do so with the expectation of getting back not only our invested capital, but also a proportionate share of the surplus generated from operations, after all the other stakeholders have been paid their dues. Thus, collectively the business owes its shareholders, their invested capital as well as the surplus generated from operations. But in reality, while the business may pay us annual dividends, seldom is this surplus fully distributed away as dividends. Thus, the surplus which is retained in the business is still owed to us. This retained surplus is also reflected as retained earnings or reserves in the Balance sheet of a company. Together, share capital and reserves are known as equity or the net worth of a company. Over a period of time, the retained earnings of a firmContinue reading
Features of Life Insurance Contract
Human life is an income generating asset. This asset can be lost through unexpected death or made non functional through sickness or disability caused by an accident. On the other hand there is a certainty that death will happen, but its timing is uncertain. Life insurance protects against loss. Life insurance contract may be defined as the contract, whereby the insurer in consideration of a premium undertakes to pay a certain sum of money either on the death of the insured or on the expiry of a fixed period. The definition of the life insurance contract is enlarged by Section 2(ii) of the Insurance Act 1938 by including annuity business. Since, the life insurance contract is not an indemnity contract; the undertaking on the part of the insurer is an absolute one to pay a definite sum on maturity of policy at the death or an amount in installment forContinue reading
About the Investments in Mutual Funds
Mutual fund companies [also known as Asset Management Companies (AMCs)] collect funds from public (mainly from small investors) and invest such funds in market and distribute returns/surpluses in the form of dividends. Surpluses can also be reflected in higher Net Asset Value (NAV) of the scheme. In simple words, a mutual fund company collects savings of small investors (pool their money); the fund managers of the concern invest such pool of funds to market (securities); when returns are generated from such investment, passed back to the investors. This is how a mutual fund works. First an offer document (containing details of the scheme, its investment horizon and class(es) of securities it intends to invest etc.) is issued to the public. Then the collected money is pooled together to constitute a fund. This fund is managed by fund managers of AMC who take major investment decisions. A trust takes care thatContinue reading