As the new financial year begins, tax planning becomes a priority for individuals aiming to optimise their savings and investments. Among the various tax-saving instruments available, ELSS mutual funds stand out as a powerful tool that combines tax benefits with the potential for wealth creation.
The investment horizon plays a vital role in investing. Talking specifically about mutual fund schemes, equity mutual funds may be more suitable for long-term financial goals. Equities may be volatile over the short term but carry the potential of wealth creation over the long term.
Not all asset classes have been winners consistently in the investing world since different asset classes may react differently to macroeconomic events. As such, asset classes like equities, debt, gold, real estate etc., tend to perform in their respective economic cycles.
While equities may perform better during periods of high economic growth, debt may perform better during periods of decreasing interest rate scenario. Similarly, gold may be a better performer when asset classes like equity and debt seem volatile and uncertain, as gold is considered a safer investment option.
When investing in mutual funds, one must choose the mutual fund schemes that best suit their financial goals and risk appetite. In addition, selecting the equity investments basis their market capitalisation is one of the selection criteria, as different market cap segments carry different risk-reward trade-offs.
Mutual funds are increasingly becoming the preferred option for retail investors, thanks to the growing awareness of this most transparent and professional money manager. The consistent monthly SIP inflows is a reflection of investor’s changing preference towards mutual funds. The data released by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) shows that investors channelised Rs. 10,351 crores in mutual funds through Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs) in September 2021 alone and Rs.
Debt funds are one of the five broad categories of mutual funds allowed by the Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Debt funds predominantly invest in debt securities and bonds. Such securities tend to provide income primarily through interest income from such securities.
One of the expectations from fixed income asset managers this time of the year is their annual forecasts on inflation, repo rate or government bond benchmarks. Forecasting typically involves answering the following question: “Given the data we see today, what will be the value of a variable at a period”. It is often said that forecasting exists to make astrology look good.
I am not a cook, but watching people cook, especially in a contest, is surprisingly captivating. Have you ever wondered that in a multitude of these Masterchef type contests, there would be a set of amateur chefs who would be given the same type of "wonderful" ingredients, but each would make a significantly different dish out of them, which would then lead to either win or lose in their pursuit of being the best Masterchef.
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) conducted an off-cycle meeting between 2nd and 4th May 2022 to reassess the evolving inflation-growth dynamics post the April MPC meeting & took the following actions:
The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted unanimously to hike the repo rate by 50 bps to 4.90%. Consequently, the standing deposit facility (SDF) rate stands adjusted to 4.65% from 4.15% and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate to 5.15% from 4.65%. The MPC maintained its “withdrawal of accommodation” stance while dropping the phrase “staying accommodative”, signaling a shift towards “neutrality”. The Governor reiterated that further monetary measures will be needed suggesting further rate actions to move towards a positive real rate in near term.
