tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44618289783341468892011-11-28T06:15:52.720+05:30<b> Insurance, property, gold, mutual funds, stock markets (Sensex, NIFTY), loans, deposits and financial planning </b> discussions for <b> NRI(Non Resident Indian), PIO (Person of Indian Origin) </b> and resident <b> Indians </b>. <b>ICICI, HDFC, Citibank, State Bank of India (SBI) </b> and others' views and products will be reviewed regularly.Indian Finance Commentatornoreply@blogger.comBlogger451100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461828978334146889.post-21583310382611127302008-06-02T11:39:00.002+05:302008-06-02T11:47:45.431+05:30

Spiralling prices of crude oil have been wreaking havoc with our pockets in more ways than one. Prices of products that need crude oil as a raw material have risen 30% since the beginning of this year.That's everything from toothbrushes to tyres.So,consumers have more to worry about than just the rise in petrol prices which looks imminent.

Indian Finance Commentatornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461828978334146889.post-59927335186568533102007-12-26T12:17:00.000+05:302007-12-26T12:25:40.613+05:30

Indian gold traders and jewellers are protesting the impending 'Hallmarking' regulations. Hallmarking is the process by which jewellers will have to certify the purity of gold they sell in jewellery. This regulation is expected to come into force on 1 January 2008. Traders/jewellers are up in arms claiming that the regulations have been put together without consulting them and operational issues

Indian Finance Commentatornoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461828978334146889.post-33992245067863598332007-12-13T21:29:00.000+05:302007-12-13T21:41:28.837+05:30

Why would anyone want to be CEO of Citigroup at this stage ? All Mr. Pandit, who recently accepted this uneviable job, has to look forward to is:1. Selling off businesses making a once revered corporate behemoth a smaller and probably a bank similar to many others2. Reducing headcount in huge numbers increasing hardship to countless families around the world3. People within the organization

Indian Finance Commentatornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461828978334146889.post-23187678474908973312007-12-11T14:10:00.000+05:302007-12-11T14:17:52.857+05:30

It appears that speculation has played a significant role in recent Sensex run-ups. Sharp price rise in some recent high performing stocks have not been backed by adequate delivery based volumes. For example, Reliance Capital, Essar Oil, Reliance Natural Resources Limited and Ispat Industries have attracted lower than average delivery based volumes. Reliance Capital had only 9% delivery based

Indian Finance Commentatornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461828978334146889.post-50918232659014012982007-12-10T15:33:00.000+05:302007-12-11T14:28:37.301+05:30

The fundamental concept in assessing whether you have adequate life coverage is to check that, should something unfortunate happen to the bread winner, your family continues to ideally get the current annual income. To get this amount right, you would therefore need to calculate the insurance payout that is required to get you current annual income when invested in relatively safe instruments.An

Indian Finance Commentatornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461828978334146889.post-85078770948586602962007-12-10T14:29:00.000+05:302007-12-10T15:14:10.678+05:30

Unit Linked Insurance Policies (ULIPs) are insurance policies that combine risk coverage with investing in the stock/debt markets. In effect, they are designed to behave as normal insurance policies plus mutual funds. An investor contribution to ULIPs gets invested in specific types of portfolios that he/she chooses. The policy typically pays back based on market returns on investments at the end

Indian Finance Commentatornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461828978334146889.post-30947213099134032502007-12-06T13:22:00.000+05:302007-12-07T09:52:26.020+05:30

India based technology companies like Infosys, TCS and Wipro are facing a serious challenge. From being hyped as darlings of the markets, they are now facing a situation where their stock prices have declined significantly while the Sensex has gone up significantly over the last year. For example, stock prices on 1 Dec 2006 and 1 Dec 2007 for various scrips are as follows:1. Infosys: Declined

Indian Finance Commentatornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461828978334146889.post-64708379793203615362007-12-05T13:46:00.000+05:302007-12-05T13:55:57.683+05:30

Following is an interesting article by Niranjan Rajadhyaksha in www.livemint.com. For those who have not experienced the new finance paper 'mint' in India, we strongly recommend including it in your regular diet:"Retirement saving mythsThe standard portfolio model is flawed because it ignores human capital, according to economist Joseph StiglitzCafe Economics Niranjan RajadhyakshaMost of the

Indian Finance Commentatornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461828978334146889.post-77539108143500600182007-12-04T14:40:00.000+05:302007-12-04T14:56:28.749+05:30

MINT reports that banks in India have started using third parties called 'correspondents' to take banking services to the unbanked. The technology involves a bank correspondent carrying a hand held device that can credit or debit a smart card held by the customer. Correspondents can disburse small loans, collect small deposits, sell micro insurance and mutual fund products. These distributors

Indian Finance Commentatornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461828978334146889.post-2333592482787377922007-12-03T14:19:00.000+05:302007-12-03T14:26:14.052+05:30

IRDA (The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority, India), has directed insurers that the premium in any year should not be more than 75% than what was paid last year. Following deregulation of general insurance tariffs, medical insurance premiums were in some cases revised by 200% +. This led to many people discontinuing medical insurance and lodging complaints with the regulator.While

Indian Finance Commentatornoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461828978334146889.post-1880710158700159182007-11-29T12:40:00.000+05:302007-11-29T12:46:23.947+05:30

Maharashtra government has repealed the Urban Land Ceiling Act. Industry analysts see this as the precursor to a revolution in residential real estate around Mumbai. Around 15,000 acres is expected to become available for residential development in and around Mumbai. In addition, repealing of the act reduces cost of construction by Rs 200 per sq. ft. Experts feel that while this may not affect

Indian Finance Commentatornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461828978334146889.post-54812599626854323452007-11-26T12:44:00.000+05:302007-11-26T12:54:34.089+05:30

BSE's Sensex and NSE's NIFTY both are designed to track the Indian stock market. While the two indices are closely co-related (better than 0.9), there are some differences in the way the indices are calculated.NIFTY takes the full market capitalization of a company and divides it by the total market capitalization for all the stocks it tracks (50) to give the index weighting for the stock.

Indian Finance Commentatornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461828978334146889.post-35215422438873228192007-11-15T13:26:00.000+05:302007-11-15T13:40:22.620+05:30

High-end properties in Gurgaon, India may see a softening of prices. According to leading multinational real estate companies, significant number of high-end properties are expected to be finished by 2009 which could dampen prices. Further, approx 60% on buyers of such properties tend to be investors who look to exit at completion of the project.Meanwhile, office space rentals in Mumbai and Delhi

Indian Finance Commentatornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461828978334146889.post-24281499371222552062007-11-13T11:07:00.000+05:302007-11-13T11:15:06.690+05:30

Gold prices have softened in India. This has been driven by global cues of weaker crude prices, some stabilization is USD and falling global stock markets - all of which has led to some amount of profit booking in global markets. In India, end of the Diwali season has also seen a drop in demand for physical gold, though some traders believe that customers would be back after Labh Pacham which

Indian Finance Commentatornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461828978334146889.post-63199601617171614752007-11-13T10:48:00.000+05:302007-11-13T11:03:30.567+05:30

Mint, the new Indian finance newspaper, reports that land title guarantee schemes are being considered in three states: Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. This is being done to clean up 'title' issues which often hold up new developments as also lead to numerous court battles. In some cases today, a developer has to secure close to 40 year history of land ownership before he can be sure

Indian Finance Commentatornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461828978334146889.post-1097773019503601292007-11-12T13:02:00.000+05:302007-11-12T13:15:28.219+05:30

Sensex pundits now talk of structural problems, given the dive in the Indian stock market. This was the same bunch talking the Sensex to further highs past 20,000. If you had invested in the index at 20,000, you would be poorer by 7.86% in a very short period of time !Experts and market analysts are taken aback by today's industrial production growth figures that puts Sept 2007 growth at 6%+

Indian Finance Commentatornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461828978334146889.post-28195490397697766282007-11-08T12:01:00.000+05:302007-11-08T12:23:28.820+05:30

Insurance in India is set to become more price competitive, thereby taking less out of your financial planning budget.IRDA, the insurance regulator had freed the pricing regime for general insurance products (car, home, fire etc) on 1 Jan 2007. This led to massive discounts by insurance firms. The regulator then stepped in and capped discounts at 51%.Cap is being removed wef 15 November 2007,

Indian Finance Commentatornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461828978334146889.post-45810785880178926062007-11-07T11:48:00.000+05:302007-11-08T12:16:18.165+05:30

ICICI Bank is said to be withdrawing from lending small amounts (up to Rs 30,000) to sub-prime customers in India. This is seen as a response to press reports and judicial action regarding excesses their loan recovery agents have engaged in. ICICI is reported to have closed down 100 outlets focused on such small borrowers.Citibank has also tightened its processes for lending small amounts. It

Indian Finance Commentatornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461828978334146889.post-10286011123964491712007-11-06T10:48:00.000+05:302007-11-08T12:16:50.041+05:30

ICICI Bank in India has been fined Rs 50 lakhs for employing 'goons' to recover loans.Press Trust of India reports that the Delhi Consumer Commission fined one of India's leading banks, ICICI Bank Rs 50 lakhs for employing 'goons' to recover loans. The commission also deplored the intimidation tactics that ICICI's recovery agents were using on retail customers. In a recent case, some agents beat

Indian Finance Commentatornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461828978334146889.post-13333922021100520852007-11-06T10:20:00.000+05:302007-11-08T12:17:17.703+05:30

India mutual fund companies and foreign institutional investors (FII) appear to have been betting in opposite directions for most of the recent Sensex growth.ETIG data highlights this trend:When Sensex jumped from 14,000 to 15,000, FII sold shares (net sales) worth 2372.10 crores while Indian mutual fund companies bought shares worth Rs 2891 croresBetween 15000 and 16000, FII bought shares worth

Indian Finance Commentatornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461828978334146889.post-72759454005314058472007-11-05T11:16:00.000+05:302007-11-08T12:17:46.232+05:30

Gold prices continue to rise. On Friday, gold surged past US$ 800 per ounce in New York. Factors supporting rise in gold prices include:Rising oil pricesFinancial worries in the USInflation concernsWeakness in US dollarGeopolitical concernsPotential shortage of physical supplies to back paper traded goldContinuing physical demand from countries like India. Despite this rise, prices have not

Indian Finance Commentatornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461828978334146889.post-34256712588342319382007-11-03T11:17:00.000+05:302007-11-08T12:18:20.221+05:30

India related investments and savings sometimes throw up unusual challenges. A mutual fund investor in India learnt an important lesson the hard way.Mid Day Mumbai describes the case of a lady in Mumbai who invested money in State Bank of India (SBI)'s mutual funds through her broker in July 2007. In October, she called up the help line number to check her balance and was shocked to learn that

Indian Finance Commentatornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461828978334146889.post-79557526894674333242007-11-02T09:48:00.000+05:302007-11-02T10:32:47.712+05:30

State Bank of India (SBI) has finally succumbed to competitive and margin pressures and lowered its interest rates on fixed deposits. It has lowered its peak interest rate on the 550 day deposit by 25 bp to 8.75% from 9 November. More importantly, it has withdrawn its super - saver term deposit scheme carrying a 9% interest rate for deposit maturity of 4 to 5 years and 8.5% for over 5

Indian Finance Commentatornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461828978334146889.post-43096531124234247372007-10-31T13:05:00.000+05:302007-10-31T13:33:34.477+05:30

ICICI Bank and HDFC appear to differ on the potential impact of higher CRR (Cash Reserve Ratio) on India property loan rates.Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced yesterday that banks will have to increase Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) by 50 bp (0.5%), effective from Novermber 10. This means that banks will have to keep this additional percentage of their deposits as non-interest earning amount with

Indian Finance Commentatornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461828978334146889.post-45075172351190468972007-10-30T11:48:00.000+05:302007-10-30T11:56:08.645+05:30

Sensex reached 20000 yesterday (29 October). Only a few weeks ago, we were cheering while being sceptical of the 17000 level ! The following factors seem to have driven the market to this new all time high:FII (Foreign Institutional Investors) have 18 months to unwind their participatory note (PN) positions. This has led to many of them staying in the market and not withdrawing in a deluge as

Indian Finance Commentatornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461828978334146889.post-11788898599277122552007-10-29T15:50:00.000+05:302007-10-29T16:01:37.618+05:30

January 2007 saw the introduction of free pricing regime in the Indian insurance sector. This has meant that insurers are starting to 'price' risk more actively, particularly in health insurance. In practical terms, this impacts individuals who are covered by health insurance policies in the following ways:Premiums could have gone up by 30-100 %Larger portion on the medical costs need to be

Indian Finance Commentatornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461828978334146889.post-38056516962046661932007-10-26T10:44:00.000+05:302007-10-26T12:47:11.330+05:30

ATM and Internet banking have been around in India for a while. While both modes have had some success, penetration and use levels have been moderate. While ATMs offer convenience, they pose a perceived security threat in India given instances of mugging around them. Senior citizens and women appear reluctant to use ATMs if they have a choice to go to a branch and withdraw money in safety. The

Indian Finance Commentatornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461828978334146889.post-46736643041137758192007-10-23T12:45:00.000+05:302007-10-26T12:51:23.264+05:30

The National Housing Bank (NHB) has launched an index that seeks to track real estate price growth in major cities in India. It is intended to be a broad guide to identify real estate price trends in various areas. The index is called NHB Residex and is expected to be calculated every six months. The first data set tracks prices in key cities between 2001 and 2005:Residex for select cities (

Indian Finance Commentatornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461828978334146889.post-58574285717676634972007-10-22T13:08:00.000+05:302007-10-26T12:51:52.202+05:30

SEBI is said to be probing the role of various parties, especially top foreign portfolio investors, in the Sensex collapse of 17 October 2007. The stock market (BSE) crashed by 1700 points within minutes of market opening on the back of relatively small volumes. The regulator seems to suspect that trades may have been done at way off market prices with some of the same investors coming in to buy

Indian Finance Commentatornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461828978334146889.post-21156007711966393092007-10-19T17:17:00.000+05:302007-10-26T12:52:34.413+05:30

If the draft guidelines issued by the government last month take effect, private provident funds will have more flexibility in how they can invest the funds at their disposal.A summary of the key changes proposed in the guidelines:Amount that may be invested in shares of companies listed on the BSE or NSE (subject to being rated “investment grade” by at least one agency) or in Equity Linked

Indian Finance Commentatornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461828978334146889.post-72032666286539110342007-10-17T12:46:00.000+05:302007-10-17T13:14:05.067+05:30

SEBI introduced a paper on Tuesday that seeks to restrict Offshore Derivative Instruments' (Participatory Notes) involvement in the Indian stock market. The regulator's philosophy behind this move seems to be to slow the recent deluge of foreign capital flows into the stock market that sent the Sensex to a record high of 19000.Participatory Notes (PN) have been popular with foreign investors who

Indian Finance Commentatornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461828978334146889.post-67934365287698756992007-10-17T10:04:00.000+05:302007-10-31T14:13:56.590+05:30

Non Resident Indians (NRI) and Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) remit several billions of dollars to India each year. A lot of this is in the form of small amounts sent to family members.There’s a chance that for some of you who have been at the receiving end, the process of getting money from overseas could have been an inconvenient experience. The traditional ways of remitting money come with

Indian Finance Commentatornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461828978334146889.post-82765512857219719112007-10-15T14:27:00.000+05:302007-10-26T12:53:08.474+05:30

HDFC, ICICI, SBI and other banks have announced lowering of their home loan rates. Some of them have emphasized that this lowering is a 'festival offer' and applicable to new customers applying for variable rate home loans over the Diwali period.Fixed rates continue to remain high. By itself, this is an interesting issue - if banks believed that interest rates have begun a downward trend, they

Indian Finance Commentatornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461828978334146889.post-37693759962477949762007-10-08T16:37:00.000+05:302007-10-08T16:58:51.238+05:30

Internationally, gold prices have risen strongly since 1999. Today’s spot price is the range of US$ 735 per ounce. It must be remembered that despite this rise, prices have not reached the peak reached in 1980 (US$ 850 per ounce on 21 January 1980). Recent price rise appears to be driven by global financial worries, lowering US interest rates and strong demand in China and India.Gold prices in

Indian Finance Commentatornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461828978334146889.post-90748202381263110702007-10-05T12:14:00.000+05:302007-10-26T12:53:40.682+05:30

Home loan rates in India have started dropping, real estate prices have been soft for 9 or so months – you must be wondering whether this is the right time to buy that house or apartment/flat in India. Here are some thoughts for you to keep in mind:1. It is recognized that there is a shortage of dwelling units in India. Sustained lowering in interest rates can reignite demand and therefore raise

Indian Finance Commentatornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461828978334146889.post-70110103988014964212007-10-03T09:47:00.000+05:302007-10-26T12:54:04.799+05:30

The following report from IBNlive illustrates the scary nature of this evolving business:" By IBNlive.comWednesday October 3, 09:01 AM New Delhi:Standing tall at 5 ft 11 inches, Lucky is a daunting and an imposing sight on the streets of Delhi. This 38-year-old has just started a detective agency of his own, but that's only a front for his real job. Lucky is a recovery agent. Big private banks

Indian Finance Commentatornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461828978334146889.post-67311026703724012082007-10-02T09:28:00.000+05:302007-10-26T12:54:47.424+05:30

Exuberance in stock markets (Sensex), of the type seen recently in India, often leads to individual investors behaving in one of two ways:Investing with the herdNever finding the right level to enter the market !Both these outcomes have the potential to be painful for individual investors. When you invest with the herd, you are never really sure if you are picking ‘yesterday’s’ good news and

Indian Finance Commentatornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461828978334146889.post-60161617321820419652007-09-29T09:33:00.000+05:302007-10-26T12:55:27.784+05:30

When you are toying with your first business idea, the initial costs and procedural encumbrances associated with company formation in India may deter you. While a company (private or public limited) structure offers its directors and promoters a certain amount of security should things turn sour with the business, a sole proprietorship format can work just fine under the right conditions.In India

Indian Finance Commentatornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461828978334146889.post-50853848089957291482007-09-26T14:36:00.000+05:302007-10-26T12:56:17.110+05:30

In an earlier post, we mentioned that HDFC was looking to lower home loan rates. They have since announced their revised home loan rates: 1. 'Special' rate of interest of 10.5% for customers availing of floating rate home loans. This is 0.75% lower than HDFC's regular rates2. This offer is available for all loans disbursed on or before 31 Oct 20073. However, interest rate for fixed rate loans is

Indian Finance Commentatornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461828978334146889.post-81675571354104450172007-09-26T13:36:00.000+05:302007-10-26T12:56:41.598+05:30

The T20 world cup has been won, people are ecstatic and roads in Mumbai have been suitably jammed at this afternoon's victory parade. Investment gurus think there is a rising tide of good cheer what with the world cup and Sensex at 17,000. Some of the braver ones talk of 19,000 !You must be feeling rich if you have stayed with the stock market roller coaster over the last few years. On the other

Indian Finance Commentatornoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461828978334146889.post-20167203512974996472007-09-24T10:24:00.000+05:302007-10-26T12:57:13.283+05:30

There has been pressure in recent times for Indian banks to lower deposit rates. However, reports suggest that SBI is hesitant to do so as it seeks to continue to grow the deposit business. Therefore, one can still secure around 9% pa interest rates on deposits with SBI. Other banks are seeking to lower deposit interest rates but can't really do so if SBI maintains this position. On the other

Indian Finance Commentatornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461828978334146889.post-51787531403369891172007-09-21T15:24:00.000+05:302007-10-26T12:57:39.645+05:30

So you think, you are well on your way to building wealth. Let us do a test to measure your current Net Worth:1. Start with current market value of your major physical assets: house you are living in (if owned) + investment properties + bullion/jewelry. etc.2. Add current market value of liquid and movable assets: mutual funds, stocks, bonds, bank accounts, derivatives, deposits, retirement

Indian Finance Commentatornoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461828978334146889.post-82349406736246044622007-09-20T15:35:00.001+05:302007-09-20T15:41:42.428+05:30

Technorati Profile' Personal Finance in India' at http://kuberlike.blogspot.com/ has moved to this blog.

Indian Finance Commentatornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461828978334146889.post-16077513357486826312007-09-19T21:00:00.000+05:302007-10-26T12:58:02.577+05:30

We were asked to clarify issues surrounding reverse mortgages. Please note that each country will have specific features for the product that need to be understood based on where the property is situated. Our comments are specific to the product in India.The National Housing Bank (subsidiary of Reserve Bank of India) has described the principles of the product in a presentation dated Feb 2007.

Indian Finance Commentatornoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461828978334146889.post-35590109926096585732007-09-19T20:57:00.000+05:302007-10-26T12:58:24.160+05:30

Retirement is a financial challenge for most. What one saves through working life can seem less than adequate for the 'peaceful' years of retirement. Increasing life spans make it critical for people to plan for 25 + years of retirement, inflation continues to erode savings and interest rates continue to moderate as the Indian economy matures. What should you do if you are intent on having a

Indian Finance Commentatornoreply@blogger.com1