Simple Equation

Short Term Income Funds – A good option now

Posted by Harish Rao at 
Consider the following scenarios : a. You kept aside some funds for buying a house, but have deferred it given the uncertainty. The funds are idling in your bank. b. Your savings are steadily accumulating in the bank as your risk appetite has deserted you and you have stopped investing in equity. c. You have made windfall gains over the past 6 months...

More>>

Selling the Sizzle, the Insurance Way

Posted by Harish Rao at 
Happy New Year Folks. Sell the sizzle, not the steak - Elmer Wheeler This depression era sales aphorism seems to be the main inspiration behind many advertising campaigns in India. However, Jeremy Bullmore, a member of WPP's Advisory Board and a former Chairman of the Advertising Association feels that the time may have come to douse the sizzle...

More>>

Investment Prophecy for 2009

Posted by Harish Rao at 
While doing some crystal ball gazing for 2009, I thought about a few likely scenarios (may be proven unlikely) that may confront us over the next 12 months. 1. The Equity market may drift along the 9000-10000 Sensex band with a few periods of excessive volatility (going down to 7000 or rising to 12000). This scenario would unsettle most investors, who...

More>>

Where are the customers’ yachts?

Posted by Harish Rao at 
This is the title of a 1955 book based on a question posed by a visitor to Wall Street on seeing the yachts owned by Wall Street brokers, bankers and investment advisors. Recently a friend of mine sent me a SMS with an interesting tidbit. A couple of investment advisors we knew, featured in a list of India's highest paid executives. Though I have...

More>>

Be careful, very careful

Posted by Harish Rao at 
Three very unsettling events unfolded over the past few days. The Madoff Ponzi scheme, the bail-out to the real estate sector and finally the attempted heist in Hyderabad. All three bring out - in varying intensity - the worst facets of modern day business : greed, lack of regulatory oversight, vested interests, abdication of responsibility. The Madoff...

More>>

Real Estate Mutual Funds….Now?

Posted by Harish Rao at 
Real Estate Mutual Funds (REMFs) received the nod from the Finance Ministry earlier this year and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had infact released it's notification on April 16 th , 2008. Preliminary perusal of the notification shows that SEBI has framed practical rules and regulations after much thought. Some of the highlights...

More>>

You know it’s a recession in India when…

Posted by Harish Rao at 
The technical indicator of a recession is two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth, as measured by a country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). By no stretch of imagination is India witnessing a recessionary phase. However, I thought of just how much life would change if indeed we were to experience a recession. Letting my imagination run...

More>>

The Mutual Fund AUM riddle

Posted by Harish Rao at 
AUM is pronounced OM in the fund management industry. Why not? It is the most important metric in the fund management industry. AUM is Assets Under Management and is usually expressed in Crores of Rs. The figure is provided by Asset Management Companies (AMCs) to AMFI (Association of Mutual Funds in India) on the first business day of every subsequent...

More>>

Economic Crisis, Mumbai Tragedy and Market Volatility

Posted by Harish Rao at 
Volatility is probably the single biggest reason why most Indians are not resolute equity investors. Long used to assured returns from bank deposits, PPF and other small savings schemes, the sheer unpredictability of equity returns has made many potential investors view it with suspicion. In fact, for much of the ‘80s and ‘90s, the most popular equity...

More>>

Thrift - A lesson learnt in Mumbai

Posted by Harish Rao at 
We have just witnessed yet another unfortunate and cowardly terror attack on India's most vibrant city. Will the city's administrators at last learn a lesson on counter terrorism? I suspect not, for they will remain as inert as ever, letting rogue elements tarnish the name of a great city. I for one will always remember a lesson that a Bombayite...

More>>

Lessons from our masters

Posted by Harish Rao at 
John Train's Money Masters Of Our Time is a popular investment book for all portfolio manager wannabes. There are interesting nuggets about the styles of various legends like T. Rowe Price, Julian Robertson, George Soros etc. In short, there is a lot to learn from the Masters. ( read review here ). So, what can we learn from our Money Masters in...

More>>

Now, this is really weird.

Posted by Harish Rao at 
The Realty sector continues to amaze. It must be said, the lack of logic in their arguments is consistent. The chairman of the real estate industry leader conceded there was a big problem in the sector, but put the blame on high interest rates for the customer and lack of liquidity for the developer. However in the same summit where these comments were...

More>>

Life @ Rs. 18 per day

Posted by Harish Rao at 
You love your city. Mumbai. Delhi. Bangalore. Pune. Chennai. Wherever. You love the food joints, you have your favourite high street shopping hang outs. You know the best place for books, for ice-creams, for films, for a squeeze. Whatever. Chances are that your wallet would have at least Rs. 500. (There is always a credit/debit card for contingencies...

More>>

That indescribable word

Posted by Harish Rao at 
For any serious lover of trivia, one essential tome has been the David Wallechinsky / Amy Wallace bestseller The Book of Lists. There is a section that contains the best 18 untranslatable words - words in various languages that have no English equivalent. For eg. Dohada in Sanskrit means ‘Unusual cravings and appetites of a pregnant woman'. Or Schadenfreude...

More>>

Who wears the pants in the house?

Posted by Harish Rao at 
Sarah Vine advises the readers of The Times, UK on beauty. But on Sept 19, 2008, she wrote one of the most interesting articles on the current financial meltdown. And she did not see anything beautiful in it. Her assessment was simple. There was just too much testosterone in the market. Given the predominantly male texture of the financial market, this...

More>>

More Posts Next page »