Chapter 3: Topic Profile

Comparison of Investment Avenues

WHAT IS INVESTMENT AVENUE Different investment avenues are available to investors. Mutual funds also offer good investment opportunities to the investors. Like all investments, they also carry certain risks. The investors should compare the risks and expected yields after adjustment of tax on various instruments while taking investment decisions. The investors may seek advice from experts and consultants including agents and distributors of mutual funds schemes while making investment decisions. Types of investor In continuation of the lessons Ive learned from Rich Dad Poor Dad author, Robert Kiyosaki, I will discuss today what he called Types of Investors According to him, there are two main types of investors: Average Investors and Professional Investors.

Average investors Buy packaged securities such as mutual funds, treasury bills, or real-estate-investment trusts.

Professional investors are more aggressivethey create investment opportunities or get in on the ground floor of new offerings, build businesses and marketing networks, assemble groups of financiers to fund deals too large for them to undertake alone, and pick the companies with the most promise for initial public offerings of stock

There are five different types of professional investors : The Accredited Investor As defined by Robert Kiyosaki, accredited investors are individual investor that earns at least $200,000 in annual income ($300,000 for a couple) and/or has a net worth of $1million. An accredited investor has access to many lucrative investments that, because o f t h e i r r i s k m a y b e l e g a l l y o f f - l i m i t s t o p e o p l e o f l e s s e r i n c o m e . A l t h o u g h u s u a l l y financially educated, accredited investors are not necessarily fully literate. They may be c o n t e n t w i t h s e c u r i t y a n d c o m f o r t r a t h e r t h a n w e a l t h , a n d m a y r e l y o n a d v i s o r s t o develop and implement their financial plans The Qualified Investor This investor is well versed in either fundamental or technical investing and so there a r e t w o t y p e s o f q u a l i f i e d i n v e s t o r s . The fundamental investor a nd technical investor.

Fundamental investing requires the ability to assess a companys potential by reviewing f financial statements, tracking the industry the company represents, and calculating how changes in interest rates and the economy as a whole could affect profitability. The fundamental investor uses financial ratios, which youll learn all about later, to assess the strength of a company he or she is considering as an investment. Technical investing is differentit is based on knowledge of the sales history of a companys stock, the mood of the market in general, and techniques such as short selling and options. The fundamental investor is typically an S in the CASH FLOW Quadrant because he or she will usually operate alone in evaluating stocks, either through examining fundamentals or using technical analysis in e v a l u a t i n g p o t e n t i a l investments. Unlike a fundamental investor, a technical investor (often a stock t r a d e r ) d o e s n o t necessarily look for well-run, profitable corporations. If people are rushing to invest in ascertain type of industry, say dot-com companies, the technical investor may jump on the bandwagon, regardless of whether these companies are showing earnings, let alone profits. Technical investing is thus more speculative than fundamental, but it can yield greater rewards. Regardless of investment style, qualified investors know how to make, or at least preserve, money in an up or down market

The Sophisticated Investor The goal of this investor is to build wealth by developing a foundation of assets that can generate high cash returns with minimum payment of taxes. Armed with the three Es education, experience, and excess cashthe sophisticated investor takes advantage of t a x , c o r p o r a t e , a n d s e c u r i t i e s l a w s t o p r o t e c t c a p i t a l a n d m a x i m i z e earnings. When operating from the B quadrant, the investor can c h o o s e t h e b e s t s t r u c t u r e o r e n t i t y through which to create assets. This entity provides some degree of control over the investment and also serves as a firewall between personal and business finances in the event of a lawsuit. Sophisticated investors exercise control over the timing of taxes and the character of their income. They know, for example, to defer paying taxes on capital gains from

reale s t a t e b y r o l l i n g o v e r p r o f i t s t o m o r e e x p e n s i v e p r o p e r t y . T h e y l o o k a t e c o n o m i c downturn as an opportunity to pay bargain basement prices for quality securities, and they create deals instead of simply waiting for the right one to come along. Sophisticated investors take risks but abhor gambling, hate losing but are not afraid to, are financially intelligent yet rely on experts to teach them more, own little in their names yet command great wealth. Although they become partners in real-estate ventures andl a r g e s h a r e h o l d e r s i n c o r p o r a t i o n s , t h e y l a c k o n e e s s e n t i a l s t r e n g t h : m a n a g e m e n t control over their assets. The Inside Investor. Building or owning a profitable business is the primary goal of this investor. Whether as an officer of a corporation or owner of a majority of its shares of s t o c k , t h e i n s i d e investor exercises some degree of management control. By running business systems from the inside, he or she learns how to analyze them from the outside and thereby becomes a sophisticated investor as well. Although inside investors have financial intelligence, they do not necessarily have financial resources and thus may not meet the definition of an accredited investor. If inside investors mind their own business and succeed, however, they can become no t o n l y a c c r e d i t e d investors but ultimate investors as well. The Ultimate Investor . The goal of the ultimate investor is to own a business that is so successful that shares a r e sold to the public. Making an initial public offering (IPO) is e x p e n s i v e a n d f u l l o f risks, yet it allows business owners to cash in on the equity they have built up in the company, while also raising money to pay down debt and fund expansions. The ultimate investor is one who has mastered every rule and enjoys playing the game for its own sake. Which type of investor do you belong? As for me, I am not even a professional investor. I am just an average investor. But with the continuous learnings that I feed my mind, I hope to become a professional investor someday and be able to reach the ultimate investor status.

Characteristics of investment
Certain features characterize all investments. The following are the main characteristics feature if investments: 1. Return: -All investments are characterized by the expectation of a return. In fact, investments are made with the primary objective of deriving a return. The return may be received in the f o r m o f y i e l d p l u s c a p i t a l a p p r e c i a t i o n . T h e

difference between the sale price & thepurchase price is capital appreciation. The dividend or interest re c e i v e d f r o m t h e investment is the yield. Different types of investments promise different rates of return. The return from an investment depends upon the nature of investment, the maturity period & a host of other factors. 2. Risk: Risk is inherent in any investment. The risk may relate to loss of capital, delay in repayment of capital, nonpayment of interest, or v a r i a b i l i t y o f r e t u r n s . W h i l e s o m e investments like government securities & bank deposits are almost risk less, others are more risky. The risk of an investment depends on the following factors. The longer the maturity period, the longer is the risk. The lower the credit worthiness of the borrower, the higher is the risk. The risk varies with the nature of investment. Investments in ownership securities like equity share carry higher risk compared to investments in d e b t i n s t r u m e n t l i k e debentures & bonds. 3. Safety: The safety of an investment implies the certainty of return of capital w i t h o u t l o s s o f money or time. Safety is another features which an investors desire for his investments. Every investor expects to get back his capital on maturity without loss & without delay. 4. Liquidity: An investment, which is easily saleable, or marketable without loss of money & without loss of time is said to possess liquidity. Some investments like company deposits, bank d e p o s i t s , P . O . d e p o s i t s , N S C , N S S e t c . a r e n o t m a r k e t a b l e . S o m e i n v e s t m e n t instrument like preference shares & debentures are marketable, but there are no buyers in many cases & hence their liquidity is negligible. Equity shares of companies listed on stock exchanges are easily marketable through the stock exchanges. An investor generally prefers liquidity for his investment, safety of his funds, a good return with minimum risk or minimization of risk & maximization of return.

INVESTMENT AVENUES IN INDIA There are a large number of investment instruments available today.
To make our lives easier we would classify or group them u n d e r 4 m a i n t y p e s o f investment avenues. We shall name and briefly describe them. 1. Financial securities: These investment instruments are freely tradable andnegotiab le. These would include equity shares, preference shares, con v e r t i b l e debentures, non-convertible debentures, public sector bonds, savings certificates, gilt-edged securities and money market securities. 2. Non-securitized financial securities: T h e s e i n v e s t m e n t i n s t r u m e n t s a r e n o t tradable, transferable nor n e g o t i a b l e . A n d w o u l d i n c l u d e b a n k d e p o s i t s , p o s t o f f i c e deposits, company fixed deposits, provident fund schemes, national savings schemes and life insurance. 3. Mutual fund schemes: If an investor does not directly want to invest in the markets, he/she could buy units/shares in a mutual fund scheme. These schemes are mainly growth (or equity) oriented, income (or debt) oriented or balanced (i.e. both growth and debt) schemes. 4. Real assets: Real assets are physical investments, which would include real estate gold & silver, precious stones, rare coins & stamps and art objects.B e f o r e c h o o s i n g t h e a v e n u e f o r i n v e s t m e n t t h e i n v e s t o r w o u l d p r o b a b l y w a n t t o evaluate and compare them. This would a l s o h e l p h i m i n c r e a t i n g a w e l l d i v e r s i f i e d portfolio, which is both maintainable and manageable

GROWTH OF SOURCES
GROWTH OF INDIAN EQUITY MARKET
The Indian Equity Market is more popularly known as the Indian Stock Market. The Indian equity market has become the third biggest after China and Hong Kong in the Asian region. According to the latest report by ADB, it has a market capitalization of nearly $600 billion. As of March 2009, the market capitalization was around $598.3 billion (Rs 30.13 lakh crore) which is one-tenth of the combined valuation of the Asia region. The market was slow since early 2007 and continued till the first quarter of 2009.

GROWTH OF MUTUAL FUND IN INDIA

By December 2004, Indian mutual fund industry reached Rs 1,50,537 crore. It is estimated that by 2010 March-end, the total assets of all scheduled commercial banks should be Rs 40,90,000 crore. The annual composite rate of growth is expected 13.4% during the rest of the decade. In the last 5 years we have seen annual growth rate of 9%. According to the current growth rate, by year 2010, mutual fund assets will be double. Let us discuss with the following table: Aggregate deposits of Scheduled Com Banks in India (Rs.Crore) Month/Yea Mar-98 Mar-00 Mar-01 Mar-02 r Deposits Change in % over last yr Source - RBI Mutual Fund AUMs Growth Month/Year MF AUM's Change in % Mar98 Mar00 Mar01 Mar02 Mar03 Mar-04 Sep-04 4-Dec 13762 6 45 15114 1 9 149300 1 Mar-03 Mar Sep-04 -04 4-Dec

60541 85159 98914 113118 128085 0 3 1 8 3 15 14 13 12 -

156725 162257 1 9 18 3

68984 93717 83131 94017 75306 26 13 12 25

over last yr Source AMFI

Some facts for the growth of mutual funds in India

100% growth in the last 6 years. Number of foreign AMC's are in the que to enter the Indian markets like Fidelity Investments, US based, with over US$1trillion assets under management worldwide. Our saving rate is over 23%, highest in the world. Only channelizing these savings in mutual funds sector is required. We have approximately 29 mutual funds which is much less than US having more than 800. There is a big scope for expansion. 'B' and 'C' class cities are growing rapidly. Today most of the mutual funds are concentrating on the 'A' class cities. Soon they will find scope in the growing cities. Mutual fund can penetrate rurals like the Indian insurance industry with simple and limited products. SEBI allowing the MF's to launch commodity mutual funds. Emphasis on better corporate governance. Trying to curb the late trading practices. Introduction of Financial Planners who can provide need based advice.

Description on Various Investment Avenues

Mutual Fund:-

Mutual fund is a pool of money collected from investors and is invested according to stated investment objectives Mutual fund investors are like shareholders and they own the fund. Mutual fund investors are not lenders or deposit holders in a mutual fund. Everybody else associated with a mutual fund is a service provider, who earns a fee. The money in the mutual fund belongs to the investors and nobody else. Mutual funds invest in marketable securities according to the investment objective. The value of the investments can go up or down, changing the value of the investors holdings.NAV of a mutual fund fluctuates with market price movements. The market value of the investors funds is also called as net assets. Investors hold a proportionate share of the fund in the mutual fund. New investors come in and old investors can exit, at prices related to net asset value per unit.

Emergence of Mutual Funds:-

Mutual Funds now represent perhaps the most appropriate investment opportunity for most small investors. As financial markets become more sophisticated and complex, investor need a financial intermediary who provides the required knowledge and professional expertise on successful investing. It is no wonder then that in the birthplace of mutual funds-the U.S.A.-the fund industry has already overtaken the banking industry, with more money under Mutual Fund management than deposited with banks. The Indian Mutual Fund industry has already opened up many exciting investment opportunities to Indian investors. Despite the expected continuing growth in the industry, Mutual Fund is a still new financial intermediary in India. History of Mutual Funds:-

In the second half of 19th century, investor in UK considered the stock market is good for the investment. But for small investor it is not possible to operate in the market effectively. This led to establishment of an investment company which led to the small investor to invest in equity market. The first investment company was the Scottish-American Investment Company, set up in London in 1860. Mutual Fund Industry in India:-

Mutual Fund is an instrument of investing money. Nowadays, bank rates have fallen down and are generally below the inflation rate. Therefore, keeping large amounts of money in bank is not a wise option, as in real terms the value of money decreases over a period of time. One of the options is to invest the money in stock market. But a common investor is not informed and competent enough to understand the intricacies of stock market. This is where mutual funds come to the rescue. A mutual fund is a group of investors operating through a fund manager to purchase a diverse portfolio of stocks or bonds. Mutual funds are highly cost efficient and very easy to invest in. By pooling money together in a mutual fund, investors can purchase stocks or bonds with much lower trading costs than if they tried to do it on their own. Also, one doesn't have to figure out which stocks or bonds to buy. But the biggest advantage of mutual funds is diversification. Diversification means spreading out money across many different types of investments. When one investment is down another might be up. Diversification of investment holdings reduces the risk tremendously. In 1963, the government of India took the initiative by passing the UTI act, under which the Unit Trust of India (UTI) was set-up as a statutory body. The designated role of UTI was to set up a Mutual Fund. UTIs first scheme, called. In 1987 the other public sector institutions set up their Mutual Funds. In 1992, government allowed the private sector players to set-up their funds. In 1994 the foreign Mutual Funds arrives in Indian market. In 2001 there is a crisis in UTI and in 2003 UTI splits up into UTI 1and UTI 2. The history of Indian Mutual Fund industry can be explained easily by various phases :-

Benefits of Investing in Mutual Funds

Professional Management: -

Mutual Funds provide the services of experienced and skilled professionals, backed by a dedicated investment research team that analyses the performance and prospects of companies and selects suitable investments to achieve the objectives of the scheme. Diversification: Mutual Funds invest in a number of companies across a broad cross-section of industries and sectors. This diversification reduces the risk because seldom do all stocks decline at the same time and in the same proportion. You achieve this diversification through a Mutual Fund with far less money than you can do on your own. Convenient Administration: Investing in a Mutual Fund reduces paperwork and helps you avoid many problems such as bad deliveries, delayed payments and follow up with brokers and companies. Mutual Funds save your time and make investing easy and convenient.

Return Potential: Over a medium to long-term, Mutual Funds have the potential to provide a higher return as they invest in a diversified basket of selected securities. Low Costs: Mutual Funds are a relatively less expensive way to invest compared to directly investing in the capital markets because the benefits of scale in brokerage, custodial and other fees translate into lower costs for investors. Liquidity: In open-end schemes, the investor gets the money back promptly at net asset value related prices from the Mutual Fund. In closed-end schemes, the units can be sold on a stock exchange at the prevailing market price or the investor can avail of the facility of direct repurchase at NAV related prices by the Mutual Fund. Transparency: You get regular information on the value of your investment in addition to

disclosure on the specific investments made by your scheme, the proportion invested in each class of assets and the fund manager's investment strategy and outlook. Flexibility: Through features such as regular investment plans, regular withdrawal plans and dividend reinvestment plans, you can systematically invest or withdraw funds according to your needs and convenience. Affordability: Investors individually may lack sufficient funds to invest in high-grade stocks. A mutual fund because of its large corpus allows even a small investor to take the benefit of its investment strategy.

Choice of Schemes: Mutual Funds offer a family of schemes to suit your varying needs over a lifetime.

Well Regulated All Mutual Funds are registered with SEBI and they function within the provisions of strict regulations designed to protect the interests of investors. The operations of Mutual Funds are regularly monitored by SEBI.

Disadvantages of Investing Mutual Funds:-

Professional Management: Some funds doesnt perform in neither the market, as their management is not dynamic enough to explore the available opportunity in the market, thus many investors debate over whether or not the so-called professionals are any better than mutual fund or investor himself, for picking up stocks.

Costs: The biggest source of AMC income is generally from the entry & exit load which they charge from investors, at the time of purchase. The mutual fund industries are thus charging extra cost under layers of jargon.

Dilution: Because funds have small holdings across different companies, high returns from a few investments often don't make much difference on the overall return. Dilution is also the result of a successful fund getting too big. When money pours into funds that have had strong success, the manager often has trouble finding a good investment for all the new money.

Taxes: When making decisions about your money, fund managers don't consider your personal tax situation. For example, when a fund manager sells a security, a capital-gain tax is triggered, which affects how profitable the individual is from the sale. It might have been more advantageous for the individual to defer the capital gains liability.

Types of Mutual Funds

Mutual fund schemes may be classified on the basis of its structure and its objective:By Structure:-

Open-ended Funds:An open-end fund is one that is available for subscription all through the year. These do not have a fixed maturity. Investors can conveniently buy and sell units at Net Asset Value ("NAV") related prices. The key feature of open-end schemes is liquidity.

Closed-ended Funds:-

A closed-end fund has a stipulated maturity period which generally ranging from 3 to 15 years. The fund is open for subscription only during a specified period. Investors can invest in the scheme at the time of the initial public issue and thereafter they can buy or sell the units of the scheme on the stock exchanges where they are listed. In order to provide an exit route to the investors, some close-ended funds give an option of selling back the units to the Mutual Fund through periodic repurchase at NAV related prices. SEBI Regulations stipulate that at least one of the two exit routes is provided to the investor.

Interval Funds:-

Interval funds combine the features of open-ended and close-ended schemes. They are open for sale or redemption during pre-determined intervals at NAV related prices.

Money Market Funds:The aim of money market funds is to provide easy liquidity, preservation of capital and moderate income. These schemes generally invest in safer short-term instruments such as treasury bills, certificates of deposit, commercial paper and inter-bank call money. Returns on these schemes may fluctuate depending upon the interest rates prevailing in the market. These are ideal for Corporate and individual investors as a means to park their surplus funds for short periods. Load Funds:A Load Fund is one that charges a commission for entry or exit. That is, each time you buy or sell units in the fund, a commission will be payable. Typically entry and exit loads range from 1% to 2%. It could be worth paying the load, if the fund has a good performance history. No-Load Funds:A No-Load Fund is one that does not charge a commission for entry or exit. That is, no commission is payable on purchase or sale of units in the fund. The advantage of a no load fund is that the entire corpus is put to work.

Tax Saving Schemes:-

These schemes offer tax rebates to the investors under specific provisions of the Indian Income Tax laws as the Government offers tax incentives for investment in specified avenues. Investments made in Equity Linked Savings Schemes (ELSS) and Pension Schemes are allowed as deduction u/s 88 of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The Act also provides opportunities to investors to save capital gains u/s 54EA and 54EB by investing in Mutual Funds, provided the capital asset has been sold prior to April 1, 2000 and the amount is invested before September 30, 2000.

Various types of Mutual Funds

Equity Funds: Equity funds are considered to be the more risky funds as compared to other fund types, but they also provide higher returns than other funds. It is advisable that an investor looking to invest in an equity fund should invest for long term i.e. for 3 years or more. There are different types of equity funds each falling into different risk bracket. In the order of decreasing risk level, there are following types of equity funds:-

AGGRESSIVE GROWTH FUNDS:In Aggressive Growth Funds, fund managers aspire for maximum capital appreciation and invest in less researched shares of speculative nature. Because of these speculative investments Aggressive Growth Funds become more volatile and thus, are prone to higher risk than other equity funds.

GROWTH FUNDS: Growth Funds also invest for capital appreciation (with time horizon of 3 to 5 years) but they are different from Aggressive Growth Funds in the sense that they invest in companies that are expected to outperform the market in the future. Without entirely adopting speculative strategies, Growth Funds invest in those companies that are expected to post above average earnings in the future.

SPECIALTY FUNDS: Specialty Funds have stated criteria for investments and their portfolio comprises of only those companies that meet their criteria. Criteria for some specialty funds could be to invest/not to invest in particular regions/companies. Specialty funds are concentrated and thus, are comparatively riskier than diversified funds. There are following types of specialty funds:

Sector Funds:Equity funds that invest in a particular sector/industry of the market are known as Sector Funds. The exposure of these funds is limited to a particular sector (say Information Technology, Auto, Banking, Pharmaceuticals or Fast Moving Consumer Goods) which is why they are more risky than equity funds that invest in multiple sectors.

Foreign Securities Funds:Foreign Securities Equity Funds have the option to invest in one or more foreign companies. Foreign securities funds achieve international diversification and hence they are less risky than sector funds. However, foreign securities funds are exposed to foreign exchange rate risk and country risk.

Mid-Cap or Small-Cap Funds:Funds that invest in companies having lower market capitalization than large capitalization companies are called Mid-Cap or Small-Cap Funds. Market capitalization of MidCap companies is less than that of big, blue chip companies (less than Rs. 2500 crore but more than Rs. 500 crore) and Small-Cap companies have market capitalization of less than Rs. 500 crore. Market Capitalization of a company can be calculated by multiplying the market price of the company's share by the total number of its outstanding shares in the market. The shares of Mid-Cap or Small-Cap Companies are not as liquid as of Large-Cap Companies which gives rise to volatility in share prices of these companies and consequently, investment gets risky.

Option Income Funds:While not yet available in India, Option Income Funds write options on a large fraction of their portfolio. Proper use of options can help to reduce volatility, which is otherwise considered as a risky instrument. These funds invest in big, high dividend yielding companies, and then sell options against their stock positions, which generate stable income for investors.

DIVERSIFIED EQUITY FUNDS: Except for a small portion of investment in liquid money market, diversified equity funds invest mainly in equities without any concentration on a particular sector(s). These funds are well diversified and reduce sector-specific or company-specific risk. However, like all other funds diversified equity funds too are exposed to equity market risk. One prominent type of diversified equity fund in India is Equity Linked Savings Schemes (ELSS). As per the mandate, a minimum of 90% of investments by ELSS should be in equities at all times. ELSS investors are eligible to claim deduction from taxable income (up to Rs 1 lakh) at the time of filing the income tax return. ELSS usually has a lock-in period and in case of any redemption by the investor before the expiry of the lock-in period makes him liable to pay income tax on such income(s) for which he may have received any tax exemption(s) in the past.

Equity Index Funds: Equity Index Funds have the objective to match the performance of a specific stock market index. The portfolio of these funds comprises of the same companies that form the index and is constituted in the same proportion as the index. Equity index funds that follow broad indices (like S&P CNX Nifty, Sensex) are less risky than equity index funds that follow narrow sectoral indices (like BSEBANKEX or CNX Bank Index etc). Narrow indices are less diversified and therefore, are more risky.

VALUE FUNDS:Value Funds invest in those companies that have sound fundamentals and whose share prices are currently under-valued. The portfolio of these funds comprises of shares that are trading at a low Price to Earnings Ratio (Market Price per Share / Earning per Share) and a low Market to Book Value (Fundamental Value) Ratio. Value Funds may select companies from diversified sectors and are exposed to lower risk level as compared to growth funds or specialty funds. Value stocks are generally from cyclical industries (such as cement, steel, sugar etc.) which make them volatile in the short-term. Therefore, it is advisable to invest in Value funds with a long-term time horizon as risk in the long term, to a large extent, is reduced.

EQUITY INCOME OR DIVIDEND YIELD FUNDS: The objective of Equity Income or Dividend Yield Equity Funds is to generate high recurring income and steady capital appreciation for investors by investing in those companies which issue high dividends (such as Power or Utility companies whose share prices fluctuate comparatively lesser than other companies' share prices). Equity Income or Dividend Yield Equity Funds are generally exposed to the lowest risk level as compared to other equity funds.

DEBT / INCOME FUNDS:Funds that invest in medium to long-term debt instruments issued by private companies, banks, financial institutions, governments and other entities belonging to various sectors (like infrastructure companies etc.) are known as Debt / Income Funds. Debt funds are low risk profile funds that seek to generate fixed current income (and not capital appreciation) to investors. In order to ensure regular income to investors, debt (or income) funds distribute large fraction of their surplus to investors. Although debt securities are generally less risky than equities, they are subject to credit risk (risk of default) by the issuer at the time of interest or principal payment. To minimize the risk of default, debt funds usually invest in securities from issuers who are rated by credit rating agencies and are considered to be of "Investment Grade". Debt funds that target high returns are more risky. Based on different investment objectives, there can be following types of debt funds:-

Diversified Debt Funds: Debt funds that invest in all securities issued by entities belonging to all sectors of the market are known as diversified debt funds. The best feature of diversified debt funds is that investments are properly diversified into all sectors which results in risk reduction. Any loss incurred, on account of default by a debt issuer, is shared by all investors which further reduces risk for an individual investor.

Focused Debt Funds: Unlike diversified debt funds, focused debt funds are narrow focus funds that are confined to investments in selective debt securities, issued by companies of a specific sector or industry or origin. Some examples of focused debt funds are sector, specialized and offshore debt funds, funds that invest only in Tax Free Infrastructure or Municipal Bonds. Because of their narrow orientation, focused debt funds are more risky as compared to diversified debt funds. Although not yet available in India, these funds are conceivable and may be offered to investors very soon.

High Yield Debt funds: As we now understand that risk of default is present in all debt funds, and therefore, debt funds generally try to minimize the risk of default by investing in securities issued by only those borrowers who are considered to be of "investment grade". But, High Yield Debt Funds adopt a different strategy and prefer securities issued by those issuers who are considered to be of "below investment grade". The motive behind adopting this sort of risky strategy is to earn higher interest returns from these issuers. These funds are more volatile and bear higher default risk, although they may earn at times higher returns for investors.

Assured Return Funds: Although it is not necessary that a fund will meet its objectives or provide assured returns to investors, but there can be funds that come with a lock-in period and offer assurance of annual returns to investors during the lock-in period. Any shortfall in returns is suffered by the sponsors or the Asset Management Companies (AMCs). These funds are generally debt funds and provide investors with a low-risk investment opportunity. However, the security of investments depends upon the net worth of the guarantor (whose name is specified in advance on the offer document). To safeguard the interests of investors, SEBI permits only those funds to offer assured return schemes whose sponsors have adequate net-worth to guarantee returns in the future. In the past, UTI had offered assured return schemes (i.e. Monthly Income Plans of UTI) that assured specified returns to investors in the future. UTI was not able to fulfill its promises and faced large shortfalls in returns. Eventually, government had to intervene and took over UTI's payment obligations on itself. Currently, no AMC in India offers assured return schemes to investors, though possible.

Fixed Term Plan Series: Fixed Term Plan Series usually are closed-end schemes having short term maturity period (of less than one year) that offer a series of plans and issue units to investors at regular intervals. Unlike closed-end funds, fixed term plans are not listed on the exchanges. Fixed term plan series usually invest in debt / income schemes and target short-term investors. The objective of fixed term plan schemes is to gratify investors by generating some expected returns in a short period.

GILT FUNDS:Also known as Government Securities in India, Gilt Funds invest in government papers (named dated securities) having medium to long term maturity period. Issued by the Government of India, these investments have little credit risk (risk of default) and provide safety of principal to the investors. However, like all debt funds, gilt funds too are exposed to interest rate risk. Interest rates and prices of debt securities are inversely related and any change in the interest rates results in a change in the NAV of debt/gilt funds in an opposite direction.

MONEY MARKET / LIQUID FUNDS:Money market / liquid funds invest in short-term (maturing within one year) interest bearing debt instruments. These securities are highly liquid and provide safety of investment, thus making money market / liquid funds the safest investment option when compared with other mutual fund types. However, even money market / liquid funds are exposed to the interest rate risk. The typical investment options for liquid funds include Treasury Bills (issued by governments), Commercial papers (issued by companies) and Certificates of Deposit (issued by banks).

HYBRID FUNDS:As the name suggests, hybrid funds are those funds whose portfolio includes a blend of equities, debts and money market securities. Hybrid funds have an equal proportion of debt and equity in their portfolio. There are following types of hybrid funds in India:

Balanced Funds: The portfolio of balanced funds includes assets like debt securities, convertible securities, and equity and preference shares held in a relatively equal proportion. The objectives of balanced funds are to reward investors with a regular income, moderate capital appreciation and at the same time minimizing the risk of capital erosion. Balanced funds are appropriate for conservative investors having a long term investment horizon.

Growth-and-Income Funds: Funds that combine features of growth funds and income funds are known as Growthand-Income Funds. These funds invest in companies having potential for capital appreciation and those known for issuing high dividends. The level of risks involved in these funds is lower than growth funds and higher than income funds.

ASSET ALLOCATION FUNDS: Mutual funds may invest in financial assets like equity, debt, money market or nonfinancial (physical) assets like real estate, commodities etc.. Asset allocation funds adopt a variable asset allocation strategy that allows fund managers to switch over from one asset class to another at any time depending upon their outlook for specific markets. In other words, fund managers may switch over to equity if they expect equity market to provide good returns and switch over to debt if they expect debt market to provide better returns. It should be noted that switching over from one asset class to another is a decision taken by the fund manager on the basis of his own judgment and understanding of specific markets, and therefore, the success of these funds depends upon the skill of a fund manager in anticipating market trends.

COMMODITY FUNDS:Those funds that focus on investing in different commodities (like metals, food grains, crude oil etc.) or commodity companies or commodity futures contracts are termed as Commodity Funds. A commodity fund that invests in a single commodity or a group of commodities is a specialized commodity fund and a commodity fund that invests in all available commodities is a diversified commodity fund and bears less risk than a specialized commodity fund. "Precious Metals Fund" and Gold Funds (that invest in gold, gold futures or shares of gold mines) are common examples of commodity funds.

REAL ESTATE FUNDS:Funds that invest directly in real estate or lend to real estate developers or invest in shares/securitized assets of housing finance companies, are known as Specialized Real Estate Funds. The objective of these funds may be to generate regular income for investors or capital appreciation.

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS (ETF):Exchange Traded Funds provide investors with combined benefits of a closed-end and an open-end mutual fund. Exchange Traded Funds follow stock market indices and are traded on stock exchanges like a single stock at index linked prices. The biggest advantage offered by these funds is that they offer diversification, flexibility of holding a single share (tradable at index linked prices) at the same time. Recently introduced in India, these funds are quite popular abroad.

FUND OF FUNDS:Mutual funds that do not invest in financial or physical assets, but do invest in other Mutual Fund schemes offered by different AMCs, are known as Fund of Funds. Fund of Funds maintain a portfolio comprising of units of other mutual fund schemes, just like conventional mutual funds maintain a portfolio comprising of equity/debt/money market instruments or non financial assets. Fund of Funds provide investors with an added advantage of diversifying into different mutual fund schemes with even a small amount of investment, which further helps in diversification of risks. However, the expenses of Fund of Funds are quite high on account of compounding expenses of investments into different mutual fund schemes.

FUND STRUCTURE AND CONSTITUENTS:Mutual funds in India have a 3-tier structure of Sponsor-Trustee-AMC .Sponsor is the promoter of the fund. Sponsor creates the AMC and the trustee company and appoints the Boards of both these companies, with SEBI approval. A mutual fund is constituted as a Trust. A trust deed is signed by trustees and registered under the Indian Trust Act. The mutual fund is formed as trust in India, and supervised by the Board of Trustees. The trustees appoint the asset management company (AMC) to actually manage the investors money. The AMCs capital is contributed by the sponsor. The AMC is the business face of the mutual fund. Investors money is held in the Trust (the mutual fund). The AMC gets a fee for managing the funds, according to the mandate of the investors. The trustees make sure that the funds are managed according to the investors mandate. Sponsor should have atleast 5-year track record in the financial services business and should have made profit in atleast 3 out of the 5 years. Sponsor should contribute atleast 40% of the capital of the AMC. Trustees are appointed by the sponsor with SEBI approval. Atleast 50% of trustees should be independent. Atleast 50% of the AMCs Board should be of independent members. An AMC cannot engage in any business other than portfolio advisory and management. An AMC of one fund cannot be Trustee of another fund.AMC should have a net worth of at least Rs. 10 crore at all times. AMC should be registered with SEBI AMC signs an investment management agreement with the trustees. Trustee Company and AMC are usually private limited companies. Trustees oversee the AMC and seek regular reports and information from them. Trustees are required to meet atleast 4 times a year to review the AMC the investors funds and the investments are held by the custodian. Sponsor and the custodian cannot be the same entity. R&T agents manage the sale and repurchase of units and keep the unit holder accounts. If the schemes of one fund are taken over by another fund, it is called as scheme take over. This requires SEBI and trustee approval. If two AMCs merge, the stakes of sponsors changes and the schemes of both funds come together. High court, SEBI and

Trustee approval needed. If one AMC or sponsor buys out the entire stake of another sponsor in an AMC, there is a takeover of AMC. The sponsor, who has sold out, exits the AMC. This needs high court approval as well as SEBI and Trustee approval. Investors can choose to exit at NAV if they do not approve of the transfer. They have a right to be informed. No approval is required, in the case of open-ended funds. For close-ended funds the investor approval is required for all cases of merger and takes over.

EQUITY SHARES

ABOUT SHARES:At the most basic level, stock (often referred to as shares) is ownership, or equity, in a company. Investors buy stock in the form of shares, which represent a portion of a company's assets (capital) and earnings (dividends). As a shareholder, the extent of your ownership (your stake) in a company depends on the number of shares you own in relation to the total number of shares available For example, if you buy 1000 shares of stock in a company that has issued a total of 100,000 shares, you own one per cent of the company. While one per cent seems like a small holding, very few private investors are able to accumulate a shareholding of that size in publicly quoted companies, many of which have a market value running into billions of pounds. Your stake may authorize you to vote at the company's annual general meeting, where shareholders usually receive one vote per share. In theory, every stockholder, no matter how small their stake, can exercise some influence over company management at the annual general meeting. In reality, however, most private investors' stakes are insignificant. Management policy is far more likely to be influenced by the votes of large institutional investors such as pension funds.

a) STOCKS SYMBOLS:A stock symbol, or 'Epic' symbol, is the standard abbreviation of a stock's name. You can find stock symbols wherever stock performance information is published - for example, newspaper stock listings and investment websites. Company names also have abbreviations called ticker symbols. However, it's worth remembering that these may vary at the different exchanges where the company is quoted.

b) PERFORMANCE INDICATORS:Here is a list of the standard performance indicators

Performance Indicator

Definition

Closing price High and low day 52 week range Volume and low Net change the

The last price at which the stock was bought or sold The highest and lowest price of the stock from the previous trading The highest and lowest price over the previous 52 weeks The amount of shares traded during the previous trading day High The difference between the closing price on the last trading day and closing price on the trading day prior to the last

THE STOCK EXCHANGES:A marketplace in which to buy or sell something makes life a lot easier. The same applies to stocks. A stock exchange is an organization that provides a marketplace in which investors and borrowers trade stocks. Firstly, the stock exchange is a market for issuers who want to raise equity capital by selling shares to investors in an Initial Public Offering (IPO). The stock exchange is also a market for investors who can buy and sell shares at any time. a) Trading shares on the stock exchange: As an investor in the INDIA, you can't buy or sell shares on a stock exchange yourself. You need to place your order with a stock exchange member firm (a stockbroker) who will then execute the order on your behalf. The NSE AND BSE are the leading stock exchange in the INDIA. Trading is done through computerized systems. b) The trading process:If you decide to buy or sell your shares, you need to contact a stockbroker who will buy or sell the shares on your behalf. After receiving your order, the stockbroker will input the order on the SETS or SEAQ system to match your order with that of another buyer or seller. Details of the trade are transmitted electronically to the stockbroker who is responsible for settling the trade. You will then receive confirmation of the deal.

c) Types of shares available on the stock exchange:-

You cannot trade all stocks on the stock exchange. To be listed on a stock exchange, a stock must meet the listing requirements laid down by that exchange in its approval process. Each exchange has its own listing requirements, and some exchanges are more particular than others. It is possible for a stock to be listed on more than one exchange. This is known as a dual listing.

Insurance
People need insurance in the first place. An insurance policy is primarily meant to protect the income of the familys bread earners. The idea is if any one or both die their dependents continue to live comfortably. The circle of life begins at birth follower by education, marriage and eventually after a lifetime of work we look forward to life of retirement. Our finances too tend to change as we go through the various phases of life. In the first twenty of our life, we are financially and emotionally dependents on our parents and there are no financial commitments to be met. In the next twenty years we gain financial independence and provide financial independence to our families. This is also the stage when our income may be unable to meet the growing expenses of a young household. In the next twenty as we see our investments grow after our children grow and become financially independent. Insurance is a provision for the distribution of risks that is to say it is a financial provision against loss from unavoidable disasters. The protection which it affords takes form of a guarantee to indemnify the insured if certain specified losses occur. The principle of insurance so far as the undertaking of the obligation is concerned is that for the payment of a certain sum the guarantee will be given to reimburse the insured. The insurer in accepting the risks so distributes them that the total of all the amounts is paid for this insurance protection will be sufficient to meet the losses that occur. Insurance then provide divided responsibility. This principle is introduced in most stores where a division is made between the sales clerk and the cashiers department the arrangement dividing the risks of loss. The insurance principle is similarly applied in any other cases of divided responsibility. As a business however insurance is usually recognized as some form of securing a promise of indemnity by the payment of premium and the fulfillment of certain other stipulations

Types of insurance Term insurance plans Term insurance is the cheapest form of life insurance available. Since a term insurance contract only pays in the event of eventuality the life cover comes at low premium rates. Term insurance is a useful tool to purchase against risk of early death and protection of an asset. Endowment plans Endowment plans are savings and protection plans that provide a dual benefit of protection as well as savings. Endowment plans pay a death benefit in the event of an eventuality should the customer survive the benefit period a maturity benefit is paid to the life insured. Whole of life plans A whole of life plan provides life insurance cover to an individual up to a specified age. A whole of life plan is suitable for an individual who is looking for an extended life insurance cover and /or wants to pay premium over as long as tenure as possible to reduce the amount of upfront premium payment. Pension plans Pension plans allow an individual to save in a tax differed manner. An individual can either contribute through regular premiums or make single premium investments. Savings accumulate over the deferment period. Once the contract reaches the vesting age , the individual has the option of choosing an annuity plan from a life insurance company. An annuity is paid till the life the lifetime of the insured or a pre-determined period depending upon the annuity option chosen by the life insured. Unit Linked Insurance Plans Unit linked insurance plan (ULIP) is life insurance solution that provides for the benefits of risk protection and flexibility in investment. The investment is denoted as units and is represented by the value that it has attained called as Net Asset Value (NAV). The policy value at any time varies according to the value of the underlying assets at the time. In a ULIP, the invested amount of the premiums after deducting for all the charges and premium for risk cover under all policies in a particular fund as chosen by the policy holders are pooled together to form a Unit fund. A Unit is the component of the Fund in a Unit Linked Insurance Policy. The returns in a ULIP depend upon the performance of the fund in the capital market. ULIP investors have the option of investing across various schemes, i.e, diversified equity funds, balanced funds, debt funds etc. It is important to remember that in a ULIP, the investment risk is generally borne by the investor. In a ULIP, investors have the choice of investing in a lump sum (single premium) or making premium payments on an annual, half-yearly, quarterly or monthly basis. Investors also have the

flexibility to alter the premium amounts during the policy's tenure. For example, if an individual has surplus funds, he can enhance the contribution in ULIP. Conversely an individual faced with a liquidity crunch has the option of paying a lower amount (the difference being adjusted in the accumulated value of his ULIP). ULIP investors can shift their investments across various plans/asset classes (diversified equity funds, balanced funds, debt funds) either at a nominal or no cost.

Expenses Charged in a ULIP Premium Allocation Charge: A percentage of the premium is appropriated towards charges initial and renewal expenses apart from commission expenses before allocating the units under the policy. Mortality Charges: These are charges for the cost of insurance coverage and depend on number of factors such as age, amount of coverage, state of health etc. Fund Management Fees: Fees levied for management of the fund and is deducted before arriving at the NAV. Administration Charges: This is the charge for administration of the plan and is levied by cancellation of units. Surrender Charges: Deducted for premature partial or full encashment of units. Fund Switching Charge: Usually a limited number of fund switches are allowed each year without charge, with subsequent switches, subject to a charge. Service Tax Deductions: Service tax is deducted from the risk portion of the premium.

GOVERNMENT SECURITIES
Government securities(G-secs) are sovereign securities which are issued by the Reserve Bank of India on behalf of Government of India,in lieu of the Central Government's market borrowing programme. The term Government Securities includes: Central Government Securities. State Government Securities Treasury bills

The Central Government borrows funds to finance its 'fiscal deficit'.The market borrowing of the Central Government is raised through the issue of dated securities and 364 days treasury bills either by auction or by floatation of loans. In addition to the above, treasury bills of 91 days are issued for managing the temporary cash mismatches of the Government. These do not form part of the borrowing programme of the Central Government Types of Government Securities Government Securities are of the following types:Dated Securities : are generally fixed maturity and fixed coupon securities usually carrying semi-annual coupon. These are called dated securities because these are identified by their date of maturity and the coupon, e.g., 11.03% GOI 2012 is a Central Government security maturing in 2012, which carries a coupon of 11.03% payable half yearly. The key features of these securities are: They are issued at face value. Coupon or interest rate is fixed at the time of issuance, and remains constant till redemption of the security. The tenor of the security is also fixed. Interest /Coupon payment is made on a half yearly basis on its face value. The security is redeemed at par (face value) on its maturity date.

Zero Coupon bonds are bonds issued at discount to face value and redeemed at par. These were issued first on January 19, 1994 and were followed by two subsequent issues in 1994-95 and 1995-96 respectively. The key features of these securities are: They are issued at a discount to the face value.

The tenor of the security is fixed.

 The securities do not carry any coupon or interest rate. The difference between the issue price (discounted price) and face value is the return on this security. The security is redeemed at par (face value) on its maturity date. Partly Paid Stock is stock where payment of principal amount is made in installments over a given time frame. It meets the needs of investors with regular flow of funds and the need of Government when it does not need funds immediately. The first issue of such stock of eight year maturity was made on November 15, 1994 for Rs. 2000 crore. Such stocks have been issued a few more times thereafter. The key features of these securities are: They are issued at face value, but this amount is paid in installments over a specified period. Coupon or interest rate is fixed at the time of issuance, and remains constant till redemption of the security. The tenor of the security is also fixed. Interest /Coupon payment is made on a half yearly basis on its face value. The security is redeemed at par (face value) on its maturity date.

Floating Rate Bonds are bonds with variable interest rate with a fixed percentage over a benchmark rate. There may be a cap and a floor rate attached thereby fixing a maximum and minimum interest rate payable on it. Floating rate bonds of four year maturity were first issued on September 29, 1995, followed by another issue on December 5, 1995. Recently RBI issued a floating rate bond, the coupon of which is benchmarked against average yield on 364 Days Treasury Bills for last six months. The coupon is reset every six months . The key features of these securities are: They are issued at face value. Coupon or interest rate is fixed as a percentage over a predefined benchmark rate at the time of issuance. The benchmark rate may be Treasury bill rate, bank rate etc. Though the benchmark does not change, the rate of interest may vary according to the change in the benchmark rate till redemption of the security. The tenor of the security is also fixed. Interest /Coupon payment is made on a half yearly basis on its face value. The security is redeemed at par (face value) on its maturity date.

Bonds with Call/Put Option: First time in the history of Government Securities market RBI issued a bond with call and put option this year. This bond is due for redemption in 2012 and carries a coupon of 6.72%. However the bond has call and put option after five years i.e. in year 2007. In other words it means that holder of bond can sell back (put option) bond to Government in 2007 or Government can buy back (call option) bond from holder in 2007. This bond has been priced in line with 5 year bonds.

Capital indexed Bonds are bonds where interest rate is a fixed percentage over the wholesale price index. These provide investors with an effective hedge against inflation. These bonds were floated on December 29, 1997 on tap basis. They were of five year maturity with a coupon rate of 6 per cent over the wholesale price index. The principal redemption is linked to the Wholesale Price Index. The key features of these securities are: They are issued at face value. Coupon or interest rate is fixed as a percentage over the wholesale price index at the time of issuance. Therefore the actual amount of interest paid varies according to the change in the Wholesale Price Index. The tenor of the security is fixed. Interest /Coupon payment is made on a half yearly basis on its face value. The principal redemption is linked to the Wholesale Price Index.

Features of Government Securities Nomenclature The coupon rate and year of maturity identifies the government security. Example: 12.25% GOI 2008 indicates the following: 12.25% is the coupon rate, GOI denotes Government of India, which is the borrower, 2008 is the year of maturity. Eligibility All entities registered in India like banks, financial institutions, Primary Dealers, firms, companies, corporate bodies, partnership firms, institutions, mutual funds, Foreign Institutional Investors, State Governments, Provident Funds, trusts, research organisations, Nepal Rashtra bank and even individuals are eligible to purchase Government Securities. Availability Government securities are highly liquid instruments available both in the primary and secondary market. They can be purchased from Primary Dealers. PNB Gilts Ltd., is a leading Primary Dealer in the government securities market, and is actively involved in the trading of government securities. Forms of Issuance of Government Securities Banks, Primary Dealers and Financial Institutions have been allowed to hold these securities with the Public Debt Office of Reserve Bank of India in dematerialized form in accounts known as Subsidiary General Ledger (SGL) Accounts. Entities having a Gilt Account with Banks or Primary Dealers can hold these securities with them in dematerialized form. In addition government securities can also be held in dematerialized form in demat accounts maintained with the Depository Participants of NSDL.

Minimum Amount

In terms of RBI regulations, government dated securities can be purchased for a minimum amount of Rs. 10,000/-only.Treasury bills can be purchased for a minimum amount of Rs 25000/only and in multiples thereof. State Government Securities can be purchased for a minimum amount of Rs 1,000/- only. Repayment Government securities are repaid at par on the expiry of their tenor. The different repayment methods are as follows : For SGL account holders, the maturity proceeds would be credited to their current accounts with the Reserve Bank of India. For Gilt Account Holders, the Bank/Primary Dealers, would receive the maturity proceeds and they would pay the Gilt Account Holders. For entities having a demat acount with NSDL,the maturity proceeds would be collected by their DP's and they in turn would pay the demat Account Holders.

Day Count For government dated securities and state government securities the day count is taken as 360 days for a year and 30 days for every completed month. However for Treasury bills it is 365 days for a year. Example : A client purchases 7.40% GOI 2012 for face value of Rs. 10 lacs.@ Rs.101.80, i.e. the client pays Rs.101.80 for every unit of government security having a face value of Rs. 100/- The settlement is due on October 3, 2002. What is the amount to be paid by the client? The security is 7.40% GOI 2012 for which the interest payment dates are 3rd May, and 3 rd November every year. The last interest payment date for the current year is 3 rd May 2002. The calculation would be made as follows: Face value of Rs. 10 lacs.@ Rs.101.80%. Therefore the principal amount payable is Rs.10 lacs X 101.80% =10,18,000 Last interest payment date was May 3, 2002 and settlement date is October 3, 2002. Therefore the interest has to be paid for 150 days (including 3rd May, and excluding October 3, 2002) (28 days of May, including 3rd May, up to 30th May + 30 days of June, July, August and September + 2 days of October). Since the settlement is on October 3, 2002, that date is excluded. Interest payable = 10 lacs X 7.40% X 150 = Rs. 30833.33. 360 X 100 Total amount payable by client =10,18,000+30833.33=Rs. 10,48,833.33 Benefits of Investing in Government Securities No tax deducted at source

Additional Income Tax benefit u/s 80L of the Income Tax Act for Individuals Qualifies for SLR purpose Zero default risk being sovereign paper Highly liquid. Transparency in transactions and simplified settlement procedures through CSGL/NSDL

Methods of Issuance of Government Securities Government securities are issued by various methods, which are as follows: Auctions: Auctions for government securities are either yield based or price based. In an yield based auction, the Reserve Bank of India announces the issue size(or notified amount) and the tenor of the paper to be auctioned. The bidders submit bids in terms of the yield at which they are ready to buy the security. In a price based auction, the Reserve Bank of India announces the issue size(or notified amount), the tenor of the paper to be auctioned, as well as the coupon rate. The bidders submit bids in terms of the price. This method of auction is normally used in case of reissue of existing government securities.

The basic features of the auctions are given below: Method of auction: There are two methods of auction which are followedUniform price Based or Dutch Auction procedure is used in auctions of dated government securities. The bids are accepted at the same prices as decided in the cut off. Multiple/variable Price Based or French Auction procedure is used in auctions of Government dated securities and treasury bills. Bids are accepted at different prices / yields quoted in the individual bids. Bids: Bids are to be submitted in terms of yields to maturity/prices as announced at the time of auction. Cut off yield: is the rate at which bids are accepted. Bids at yields higher than the cut-off yield is rejected and those lower than the cut-off are accepted. The cut-off yield is set as the coupon rate for the security. Bidders who have bid at lower than the cut-off yield pay a premium on the security, since the auction is a multiple price auction. Cut off price: It is the minimum price accepted for the security. Bids at prices lower than the cut-off are rejected and at higher than the cut-off are accepted. Coupon rate for the security remains unchanged. Bidders who have bid at higher than the cut-off price pay a premium on the security, thereby getting a lower yield.

Price based auctions lead to finer price discovery than yield based auctions. Notified amount: The amount of security to be issued is notified prior to the auction date, for information of the public. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may participate as a non-competitor in the auctions. The unsubscribed portion devolves on RBI or on the Primary Dealers if the auction has been underwritten by PDs. The devolvement is at the cut-off price/yield.

Underwriting in Auctions For the purpose of auctions, bids are invited from the Primary Dealers one day before the auction wherein they indicate the amount to be underwritten by them and the underwriting fee expected by them. The auction committee of Reserve Bank of India examines the bids and based on the market conditions, takes a decision in respect of the amount to be underwritten and the fee to be paid to the underwriters. Underwriting fee is paid at the rates bid by PDs , for the underwriting which has been accepted. In case of the auction being fully subscribed, the underwriters do not have to subscribe to the issue necessarily unless they have bid for it.

If there is a devolvement, the successful bids put in by the Primary Dealers are set-off against the amount underwritten by them while deciding the amount of devolvement. On-tap issue This is a reissue of existing Government securities having pre-determined yields/prices by Reserve Bank of India. After the initial primary auction of a security, the issue remains open to further subscription by the investors as and when considered appropriate by RBI. The period for which the issue is kept open may be time specific or volume specific. The coupon rate, the interest dates and the date of maturity remain the same as determined in the initial primary auction. Reserve Bank of India may sell government securities through on tap issue at lower or higher prices than the prevailing market prices. Such an action on the part of the Reserve Bank of India leads to a realignment of the market prices of government securities. Tap stock provides an opportunity to unsuccessful bidders in auctions to acquire the security at the market determined rate. Fixed coupon issue Government Securities may also be issued for a notified amount at a fixed coupon. Most State Development Loans or State Government Securities are issued on this basis. Private Placement The Central Government may also privately place government securities with Reserve Bank of India. This is usually done when the Ways and Means Advance (WMA) is near the sanctioned limit and the market conditions are not conducive to an issue. The issue is priced at market

related yields. Reserve Bank of India may later offload these securities to the market through Open Market Operations (OMO). After having auctioned a loan whereby the coupon rate has been arrived at and if still the government feels the need for funds for similar tenure, it may privately place an amount with the Reserve Bank of India. RBI in turn may decide upon further selling of the security so purchased under the Open Market Operations window albeit at a different yield. Open Market Operations (OMO) Government securities that are privately placed with the Reserve Bank of India are sold in the market through open market operations of the Reserve Bank of India. The yield at which these securities are sold may differ from the yield at which they were privately placed with Reserve Bank of India. Open market operations are used by the Reserve Bank of India to infuse or suck liquidity from the system. Whenever the Reserve Bank of India wishes to infuse the liquidity in the system, it purchases government securities from the market, and whenever it wishes to suck out the liquidity from the system, it sells government securities in the market. National Savings Certificate National Savings Certificate, popularly known as NSC, is a time-tested tax saving instrument that combines adequate returns with high safety. NSCs are an instrument for facilitating long-term savings. A large chunk of middle class families use NSCs for saving on their tax, getting double benefits. They not only save tax on their hard-earned income but also make an investment which are sure to give good and safe returns. How to Invest National Savings Certificates are available at all post-offices. The application can be made either in person or through an agent. Post office agents are active in nooks and corners of the country. Following types of NSC are issued: Single Holder Type Certificate: This can be issued to: (a) An adult for himself or on behalf of a minor (b) A Trust. Joint 'A' Type Certificate: Issued jointly to two adults payable to both holders jointly or to the survivor. Joint 'B' Type Certificate: Issued jointly to two adults payable to either of the holders or to the survivor. Who can Invest An adult in his own name or on behalf of a minor A trust Two adults jointly Denomiations and Limit National Savings Certificates are available in the denominations of Rs. 100 Rs 500, Rs. 1000, Rs. 5000, & Rs. 10,000. There is no maximum limit on the purchase of the certificates. So it is for you to decide how much you want to put in the NSCs. This is of course a huge benefit for you can decide as much as your budget allows.

Maturity Period of maturity of a certificate is six years. Presently interest paid is 8 % per annum half yearly compounded. Maturity value of a certificate of any other denomination is at proportionate rate. Premature encashment of the certificate is not permissible except at a discount in the case of death of the holder(s), forfeiture by a pledgee and when ordered by a court of law. Tax Benefits Interest accrued on the certificates every year is liable to income tax but deemed to have been reinvested. Income Tax rebate is available on the amount invested and interest accruing under Section 88 of Income Tax Act, as amended from time to time. Income tax relief is also available on the interest earned as per limits fixed vide section 80L of Income Tax, as amended from time to time.

Public Provident Fund

Public Provident Fund, popularly known as PPF, is a savings cum tax saving instrument. It also serves as a retirement planning tool for many of those who do not have any structured pension plan covering them. The balances in PPF account cannot be attached by any authority normally. How to Open Account Public Provident Fund account can be opened at designated post offices throughout the country and at designated branches of Public Sector Banks throughout the country. Who can Open Account The account can be opened by an individual in his own name, on behalf of a minor of whom he is a guardian. Tabs on Investment Minimum deposit required in a PPF account is Rs. 500 in a financial year. Maximum deposit limit is Rs. 70,000 in a financial year. Maximum number of deposits is twelve in a financial year. Maturity The maturity period of the account is 15 years. Rate of interest is 8% compounded annually. One deposit with a minimum amount of Rs.500/- is mandatory in each financial year. The amount of deposit can be varied to suit the convenience of the account holders. The account holder can retain the account after maturity for any period without making any further deposits. In this case the account will continue to earn interest at normal rate as admissible till the account is closed.

The account holder also has an option to extend the PPF account for any period in a block of 5 years at each time, after the maturity period of 15 years. Lapse in Deposits If deposits are not made in a PPF account in any financial year, the account will be treated as discontinued. The discontinued account can be activated by payment of the minimum deposit of Rs.500/- with default fee of Rs.50/- for each defaulted year. Premature Closure or Withdrawl Premature closure of a PPF Account is not permissible except in case of death. Nominee/legal heir of PPF Account holder cannot continue the account after the death. Premature withdrawal is permissible in the 7th year of the account subject, to a limit of 50% of the amount at credit preceding three year balance. Thereafter one withdrawal in every year is permissible. Account Transfer The Account is transferable from one post Office / bank to another and from post Office to bank or from a bank to a post office. Tax Benefits Deposits in PPF are eligible for rebate under section 80-C of Income Tax Act. The interest on deposits is totally tax free. Deposits are exempt from wealth tax.

BONDS
A bond is a debt security, in which the authorized issuer owes the holders a debt and, depending on the terms of the bond, is obliged to pay interest (the coupon) and/or to repay the principal at a later date, termed maturity. It is a formal contract to repay borrowed money with interest at fixed intervals.[1] Thus a bond is like a loan: the issuer is the borrower, the bond holder is the lender, and the coupon is the interest. Bonds provide the borrower with external funds to finance long-term investments, or, in the case of government bonds, to finance current expenditure. Certificates of deposit (CDs) or commercial paper are considered to be money market instruments and not bonds. Bonds must be repaid at fixed intervals over a period of time Bonds are issued by public authorities, credit institutions, companies and supranational institutions in the primary markets. The most common process of issuing bonds is through underwriting. In underwriting, one or more securities firms or banks, forming a syndicate, buy an entire issue of bonds from an issuer and re-sell them to investors. The security firm takes the risk of being unable to sell on the issue to end investors. However government bonds are instead typically auction. The most important features of a bond are:

Nominal, principal or face amount the amount on which the issuer pays interest, and which has to be repaid at the end. Issue price The price at which investors buy the bonds when they are first issued, which will typically be approximately equal to the nominal amount. The net proceeds that the issuer receives are thus the issue price, less issuance fees. Maturity date The date on which the issuer has to repay the nominal amount. As long as all payments have been made, the issuer has no more obligations to the bond holders after the maturity date. The length of time until the maturity date is often referred to as the term or tenor or maturity of a bond. The maturity can be any length of time, although debt securities with a term of less than one year are generally designated money market instruments rather than bonds. Most bonds have a term of up to thirty years. Some bonds have been issued with maturities of up to one hundred years, and some even do not mature at all. In early 2005, a market developed in euros for bonds with a maturity of fifty years. In the market for U.S. Treasury securities, there are three groups of bond maturities: short term (bills): maturities up to one year; medium term (notes): maturities between one and ten years; long term (bonds): maturities greater than ten years. Coupon The interest rate that the issuer pays to the bond holders. Usually this rate is fixed throughout the life of the bond. It can also vary with a money market index, such as LIBOR, or it can be even more exotic. The name coupon originates from the fact that in the past, physical bonds were issued which had coupons attached to them. On coupon dates the bond holder would give the coupon to a bank in exchange for the interest payment.

The quality of the issue, which influences the probability that the bondholders will receive the amounts promised, at the due dates. This will depend on a whole range of factors. Indentures and Covenants An indenture is a formal debt agreement that establishes the terms of a bond issue, while covenants are the clauses of such an agreement. Covenants specify the rights of bondholders and the duties of issuers, such as actions that the issuer is obligated to perform or is prohibited from performing. In the U.S., federal and state securities and commercial laws apply to the enforcement of these agreements, which are construed by courts as contracts between issuers and bondholders. The terms may be changed only with great difficulty while the bonds are outstanding, with amendments to the governing document generally requiring approval by a majority (or super-majority) vote of the bondholders. High yield bonds are bonds that are rated below investment grade by the credit rating agencies. As these bonds are more risky than investment grade bonds, investors expect to earn a higher yield. These bonds are also called junk bonds. coupon dates the dates on which the issuer pays the coupon to the bond holders. In the U.S. and also in the U.K. and Europe, most bonds are semi-annual, which means that they pay a coupon every six months. Optionality: Occasionally a bond may contain an embedded option; that is, it grants option-like features to the holder or the issuer:

Callability Some bonds give the issuer the right to repay the bond before the maturity date on the call dates; see call option. These bonds are referred to as callable bonds. Most callable bonds allow the issuer to repay the bond at par. With some bonds, the issuer has to pay a premium, the so called call premium. This is mainly the case for high-yield bonds. These have very strict covenants, restricting the issuer in its operations. To be free from these covenants, the issuer can repay the bonds early, but only at a high cost. Putability Some bonds give the holder the right to force the issuer to repay the bond before the maturity date on the put dates; see put option. (Note: "Putable" denotes an embedded put option; "Puttable" denotes that it may be putted.) call dates and put datesthe dates on which callable and putable bonds can be redeemed early. There are four main categories. A Bermudan callable has several call dates, usually coinciding with coupon dates. A European callable has only one call date. This is a special case of a Bermudan callable. An American callable can be called at any time until the maturity date. A death put is an optional redemption feature on a debt instrument allowing the beneficiary of the estate of the deceased to put (sell) the bond (back to the issuer) in the event of the beneficiary's death or legal incapacitation. Also known as a "survivor's option". sinking fund provision of the corporate bond indenture requires a certain portion of the issue to be retired periodically. The entire bond issue can be liquidated by the maturity date. If that is not the case, then the remainder is called balloon maturity. Issuers may either pay to trustees, which in turn call randomly selected bonds in the issue, or, alternatively, purchase bonds in open market, then return them to trustees. convertible bond lets a bondholder exchange a bond to a number of shares of the issuer's common stock. exchangeable bond allows for exchange to shares of a corporation other than the issuer. Fixed rate bonds have a coupon that remains constant throughout the life of the bond. Floating rate notes (FRNs) have a coupon that is linked to an index. Common indices include: money market indices, such as LIBOR or Euribor, and CPI (the Consumer Price Index). Coupon examples: three month USD LIBOR + 0.20%, or twelve month CPI + 1.50%. FRN coupons reset periodically, typically every one or three months. In theory, any Index could be used as the basis for the coupon of an FRN, so long as the issuer and the buyer can agree to terms. Zero-coupon bonds don't pay any interest. They are issued at a substantial discount to par value. The bond holder receives the full principal amount on the redemption date. An example of zero coupon bonds are Series E savings bonds issued by the U.S. government. Zero-coupon bonds may be created from fixed rate bonds by a financial institutions separating "stripping off" the coupons from the principal. In other words, the separated coupons and the final principal payment of the bond are allowed to trade independently. See IO (Interest Only) and PO (Principal Only). Inflation linked bonds, in which the principal amount and the interest payments are indexed to inflation. The interest rate is normally lower than for fixed rate bonds with a comparable maturity (this position briefly reversed itself for short-term UK bonds in December 2008). However, as the

principal amount grows, the payments increase with inflation. The government of the United Kingdom was the first to issue inflation linked Gilts in the 1980s. Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) and I-bonds are examples of inflation linked bonds issued by the U.S. government. Other indexed bonds, for example equity-linked notes and bonds indexed on a business indicator (income, added value) or on a country's GDP. Asset-backed securities are bonds whose interest and principal payments are backed by underlying cash flows from other assets. Examples of asset-backed securities are mortgagebacked securities (MBS's), collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs) and collateralized debt obligations (CDOs). Subordinated bonds are those that have a lower priority than other bonds of the issuer in case of liquidation. In case of bankruptcy, there is a hierarchy of creditors. First the liquidator is paid, then government taxes, etc. The first bond holders in line to be paid are those holding what is called senior bonds. After they have been paid, the subordinated bond holders are paid. As a result, the risk is higher. Therefore, subordinated bonds usually have a lower credit rating than senior bonds. The main examples of subordinated bonds can be found in bonds issued by banks, and asset-backed securities. The latter are often issued in tranches. The senior tranches get paid back first, the subordinated tranches later. Perpetual bonds are also often called perpetuities. They have no maturity date. The most famous of these are the UK Consols, which are also known as Treasury Annuities or Undated Treasuries. Some of these were issued back in 1888 and still trade today, although the amounts are now insignificant. Some ultra long-term bonds (sometimes a bond can last centuries: West Shore Railroad issued a bond which matures in 2361 (i.e. 24th century)) are virtually perpetuities from a financial point of view, with the current value of principal near zero. Bearer bond is an official certificate issued without a named holder. In other words, the person who has the paper certificate can claim the value of the bond. Often they are registered by a number to prevent counterfeiting, but may be traded like cash. Bearer bonds are very risky because they can be lost or stolen. Especially after federal income tax began in the United States, bearer bonds were seen as an opportunity to conceal income or assets. [2] U.S. corporations stopped issuing bearer bonds in the 1960s, the U.S. Treasury stopped in 1982, and state and local tax-exempt bearer bonds were prohibited in 1983. [3] Registered bond is a bond whose ownership (and any subsequent purchaser) is recorded by the issuer, or by a transfer agent. It is the alternative to a Bearer bond. Interest payments, and the principal upon maturity, are sent to the registered owner. Municipal bond is a bond issued by a state, U.S. Territory, city, local government, or their agencies. Interest income received by holders of municipal bonds is often exempt from the federal income tax and from the income tax of the state in which they are issued, although municipal bonds issued for certain purposes may not be tax exempt. Book-entry bond is a bond that does not have a paper certificate. As physically processing paper bonds and interest coupons became more expensive, issuers (and banks that used to collect coupon interest for depositors) have tried to discourage their use. Some book-entry bond issues do not offer the option of a paper certificate, even to investors who prefer them. [4]

Lottery bond is a bond issued by a state, usually a European state. Interest is paid like a traditional fixed rate bond, but the issuer will redeem randomly selected individual bonds within the issue according to a schedule. Some of these redemptions will be for a higher value than the face value of the bond. War bond is a bond issued by a country to fund a war. Serial bond is a bond that matures in installments over a period of time. In effect, a $100,000, 5year serial bond would mature in a $20,000 annuity over a 5-year interval. Revenue bond is a special type of municipal bond distinguished by its guarantee of repayment solely from revenues generated by a specified revenue-generating entity associated with the purpose of the bonds. Revenue bonds are typically "non-recourse," meaning that in the event of default, the bond holder has no recourse to other governmental assets or revenues. [edit] Investing in bonds Bonds are bought and traded mostly by institutions like pension funds, insurance companies and banks. Most individuals who want to own bonds do so through bond funds. Still, in the U.S., nearly 10% of all bonds outstanding are held directly by households. Sometimes, bond markets rise (while yields fall) when stock markets fall. More relevantly, the volatility of bonds (especially short and medium dated bonds) is lower than that of shares. Thus bonds are generally viewed as safer investments than stocks, but this perception is only partially correct. Bonds do suffer from less day-to-day volatility than stocks, and bonds' interest payments are often higher than the general level of dividend payments. Bonds are liquid it is fairly easy to sell one's bond investments, though not nearly as easy as it is to sell stocks and the comparative certainty of a fixed interest payment twice per year is attractive. Bondholders also enjoy a measure of legal protection: under the law of most countries, if a company goes bankrupt, its bondholders will often receive some money back (the recovery amount), whereas the company's stock often ends up valueless. However, bonds can also be risky: Fixed rate bonds are subject to interest rate risk, meaning that their market prices will decrease in value when the generally prevailing interest rates rise. Since the payments are fixed, a decrease in the market price of the bond means an increase in its yield. When the market interest rate rises, the market price of bonds will fall, reflecting investors' ability to get a higher interest rate on their money elsewhere perhaps by purchasing a newly issued bond that already features the newly higher interest rate. Note that this drop in the bond's market price does not affect the interest payments to the bondholder at all, so long-term investors who want a specific amount at the maturity date need not worry about price swings in their bonds and do not suffer from interest rate risk. Price changes in a bond will also immediately affect mutual funds that hold these bonds. If the value of the bonds held in a trading portfolio has fallen over the day, the value of the portfolio will also have fallen. This can be damaging for professional investors such as banks, insurance companies, pension funds and asset managers (irrespective of whether the value is immediately "marked to market" or not). If there is any chance a holder of individual bonds may need to sell his bonds and "cash out", interest rate risk could become a real problem. (Conversely, bonds' market prices would increase if the prevailing interest rate were to drop, as it did from 2001 through 2003.) One way to quantify the interest rate risk on a bond is in terms of its duration. Efforts to control this risk are called immunization or hedging.

Bond prices can become volatile depending on the credit rating of the issuer - for instance if the credit rating agencies like Standard & Poor's and Moody's upgrade or downgrade the credit rating of the issuer. A downgrade will cause the market price of the bond to fall. As with interest rate risk, this risk does not affect the bond's interest payments (provided the issuer does not actually default), but puts at risk the market price, which affects mutual funds holding these bonds, and holders of individual bonds who may have to sell them. A company's bond holders may lose much or all their money if the company goes bankrupt. Under the laws of many countries (including the United States and Canada), bondholders are in line to receive the proceeds of the sale of the assets of a liquidated company ahead of some other creditors. Bank lenders, deposit holders (in the case of a deposit taking institution such as a bank) and trade creditors may take precedence. There is no guarantee of how much money will remain to repay bondholders. As an example, after an accounting scandal and a Chapter 11 bankruptcy at the giant telecommunications company World com, in 2004 its bondholders ended up being paid 35.7 cents on the dollar. In a bankruptcy involving reorganization or recapitalization, as opposed to liquidation, bondholders may end up having the value of their bonds reduced, often through an exchange for a smaller number of newly issued bonds. Some bonds are callable, meaning that even though the company has agreed to make payments plus interest towards the debt for a certain period of time, the company can choose to pay off the bond early. This creates reinvestment risk, meaning the investor is forced to find a new place for his money, and the investor might not be able to find as good a deal, especially because this usually happens when interest rates are falling.

COMMODITIES
A commodity is a normal physical product used by everyday people during the course of their lives, or metals that are used in production or as a traditional store of wealth and a hedge against inflation. For example, these commodities include grains such as wheat, corn and rice or metals such as copper, gold and silver. The full list of commodity markets is numerous and too detailed. The best way to trade the commodity markets is by buying and selling futures contracts on local and international exchanges. Trading futures is easy, and can be accessed by using the services of any full or on-line futures brokerage service. Traditionally, there is an expectation when trading commodity futures of achieving higher returns compared to shares or real estate, so successful investors can expect much higher returns compared to more conventional investment products. The process of trading commodities, as mentioned above, must be facilitated by the use of trading liquid, exchangeable, and standardized futures contracts, as it is not practical to trade the physical commodities. Futures contracts give the investor ease of use and the ability to buy or sell without delay. A futures contract is used to buy or sell a fixed quantity and quality of an underlying commodity, at a fixed date and price in the future. Futures contracts can be broken by simply offsetting the transaction. For example, if you buy one futures contract to open then you sell one futures contract to close that market position. The execution method of trading futures contracts is similar to trading physical shares, but futures contracts have an expiry date and are deliverable.Futures contracts have an expiry date and need to be occasionally rolled over from the current contract month to the following contract month.

The reason is because the biggest advantage to trading commodity futures, for the private investor is the opportunity to legally short-sell these markets. Short-selling is the ability to sell commodity futures creating an open position in the expectation to buy-back at a later time to profit from a fall in the market. If you wish to trade the up-side of commodity futures, then it will simply be a buyto-open and sell-to-close set of transactions similar to share trading. The commodity markets will always produce rising of falling trends, and with the abundance of information and trading opportunities available there is no reason for any investor to exclusively trade the share market when there is potential profits from trading commodity futures. The increased use of commodity trading vehicles in investment management has led practitioners to create investable commodity indices and products that offer unique performance opportunities for investors in physical commodities. As is true for stock and bond performance, as well as investment in managed futures and hedge fund products, commodity-based products have a variety of uses. Besides being a source of information on cash commodity and futures commodity market trends, they are used as performance benchmarks for evaluation of commodity trading advisors and provide a historical track record useful in developing asset allocation strategies. However, the investor benefits of commodity or commodity-based products lie primarily in their ability to offer risk and return trade-offs that cannot be easily replicated through other investment alternatives. Previous research that direct stock and bond investment offers little evidence of providing returns consistent with direct commodity investment. commodity-based firms may not be exposed to the risk of commodity price movement. Thus for investors, direct commodity investment may be the principal means by which one can obtain exposure to commodity price movements.

The commodities that are traded in the market Gold Copper Silver Sugar Wheat Zeera Guar

Data Analysis General instruments of investment avenues

120 100 80 60 40 20 0 EQUITY SHARES MUTUAL FUNDS BONDS INSURANCE FIXED DEPOSIT YES NO