Personal Finance 2.01

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You readers have helped me and my small & young blog (not even one year old) to dream of constructing India’s first online weekly on personal finance. When you check it out, you’ll see a forum, an advisor’s directory, a blog and sections on Mutual Funds, Stocks, ETF, Insurance, etc.

And a section for Foreword too. I want you to contribute to that. I’ll be the happiest person to post your thoughts in that section.

I want you to give your personal finances a thought and check whether you are on the right track. Or are there things you would try to improve? What is the importance of money to you? Is it evil or a necessity? What is your expectation from the site?

These thoughts can form part of your foreword.

India, Personal Finance

Ajay Shah has uploaded this article by John Echeverri-Gent on the Politics of market microstructure [pdf] about the reforms of the Indian equity market. It is forthcoming in a book: India’s Economic Transition: The Politics of Reform, edited by Rahul Mukherji, Oxford, 2007.

Some excerpts out of the 30 odd pages:

• He examines the politics of equity market microstructure in India. It argues that officials in the Ministry of Finance generated much of the impetus for reform. Three factors motivated these officials to become agents of change. First, their experience made them acutely aware that public sector resources were inadequate to meet India’s developmental needs. Second, as the 1990s progressed they were increasingly aware of the global best practices that developedin the wake of technological change. Finally, the legal infrastructure that regulated Indian equity markets provided them tremendous authority over the exchanges. Under the Securities Contracts (Regulation Act) 1956, the Ministry of Finance enjoyed the power to grant or withdraw recognition to any stock exchange. It also had the power to direct the exchanges to make or amend their rules, supersede the governing body of any exchange, and suspend the business of an exchange.

• By 2001, reforms brought India up to par with the global standards for virtually every aspect of its equity market microstructure. The ‘open outcry’system that restricted trading to the floors of stock exchanges in India’s metropolises was replaced by screen-based, electronic order-book systems that instantaneously linked traders across the country through the world’s first satellite trading system. Virtually all trading took place on a dematerialized basis through a central depository. The deeply flawed account period settlement system was replaced by a T+2 rolling settlement that is one of the most efficient systems in the world, and badla or carry-forward trading gave way to a rapidly developing derivatives market. As a consequence of these changes, the total value of transactions in securities has grown dramatically over the last ten years from Rs 1.7 billion in 1994–5 to Rs 50.8 billion in 2003–4.

• All this is not to suggest that no problems remain. The micromarket structure of the primary market (despite its revival since 2003–4, in part because of the introduction of a screen-based book-building system) is still in need of reform. The share of household savings invested in securities is small and has declined since the early 1990s. The mutual fund industry remains underdeveloped, and the regulatory capacity of SEBI needs enhancement.

• Nonetheless, the transformation of Indian equity markets is a remarkably successful chapter in the story of India’s economic reform.Three factors help to explain this success. First, technological change in the form of electronic trading systems and the development of new financialproducts created substantial opportunity costs to maintaining the status quo. Second, in the context of India’s balance of payments crisis in 1991, officials in the Ministry of Finance were motivated by their growing awareness of global best practices to use their authority to modernize India’s capital market. Finally,India’s politicians and reformers in the Ministry of Finance had a relatively low ‘political cost-benefit ratio’ for reforming equity markets.

Go read the entire article here

Financial Literacy Series, India, Stocks

This news can make you feel that it should have been started in your time. The Government is thinking of starting a course on Investing in the schools in Std. XI/XII.

For me the first principle of investing is “better late than never”. But actually it is to “start early”. And when it comes to making money by investing, time is on the side of the youngsters. Investing and the stock market will play a vital role in the future, irrespective of what the youngsters choose to do with their life.

Whether they want to build a career in business, be a freelance artist, or whatever, knowing about managing their own money will give them freedom and choices in life that they wouldn’t otherwise have.

Actually investing is no rocket science that it is made out to be. Agreed that it is a bit complex, but the important aptitude too have is to “spot trends” and to “break away from patterns and convention”. And our youngsters excel in that.Moreover, you don’t need to be a car mechanic to learn driving. Operating a car and servicing them may need an effort to understand the mechanics of the car. But you need to understand the functions of the steering, gear, clutch and accelerator only to learn driving. Like investing, it may appear daunting for the newbie. But leave him on the steering for a week and there he goes.

The ideas behind investing are really very basic. And you don’t need to know everything before you start putting some money. For the teenager, the biggest enemy is `inertia ; the tendency to do nothing’, says Bamford. To combat this, take a few steps to learn about investing, and then take a few steps to actually do it! “These can be the most profitable steps you’ve ever taken.” Janet Bamford in Street Wise from Bloomberg Press (www.bloomberg.com). “The great thing about investing is that you can start slowly, bit by bit, and get more deeply involved as you learn more.”Critics might argue that teaching teenagers the nuances of financial markets is putting too much pressure too soon.

But being protective of our children may hinder their growth. Throwing the baby into the swimming pool and letting him learn swimming might seem heartless. But it actually helps the child.Ultimately it is important for all of us to take responsibility for one self.

Managing your money is critical in the game of life. And instead of learning theory of history, civics, etc, investing will be one practical aspect of our education. And maybe it will help the youngsters to face the “fear” of stock market and the “greed” that it brings along, and make them better investors than us.

Bring on the course fast, GOI.

Financial Literacy Series, India

I need to go through a financial literacy programme and I am making that effort. So do you, dude.

I’ve hated finance. Maybe because I was not able to understand the jargons and the maths. But I guess ignoring personal finance worsens the situation. And the only way to get maximum out of your personal finance is to look it into its eye and grapple with it. You will come out stronger.

If you think it’s too early for you to bother, let me tell you that the first principle of investing is to start early and see the magic of compounding. College grads, fresh MBAs and guys under 25, the smart thing to do is to start now.

Do you think that you have mastered the basics but are not able to use it to your advantage, it’s time to put your thinking cap on and review your strategies. Learn from your failures. Often we tend to get stricken by some deadly internal enemies which Kartik Jhaveri details here.

Some of you guys would be rich enough not to be bothered about these mundane things. But have you ever given a thought that you are in a position to contribute to the nation’s economy by being more efficient about your finances. Wealth has the unique ability to create more wealth. Are you using that power?

Before I move on, let me articulate the background to this financial literacy programme that I am so smitten about. The following facts and questions keep on humming in my mind:

1. Equities give the best returns and you are putting your money in a professionally managed corporate organisation. Compare this with your insurance products which give much lesser returns and your money is invested in the Government which is inefficient with your money, to say the least.
2. However the total AUM under Mutual Funds is about Rs 3.5 lakh crores while LIC alone manages funds worth more than Rs 6 lakh crore. Yes it’s true that LIC has been there for over 50 years and has a huge distribution reach. But it has hardly tapped the huge insurance potential that India has.
3. Financial experts scoff at ULIP saying that it’s very expensive compared to Mutual Funds. But LIC collected more than Rs 25000 crore in 2006-07 and it’s total fund under ULIP is approx 40000 crore which is more than UTI’s AUM of approx 39000 crore (since existence)

All this and more points to widespread financial illiteracy at all levels. Be it college grads, software geeks, MBAs, Engineers, even CFA/Economists( they are experts at business finance or government finance) and even Financial advisors (they rarely have a holistic view), everyone needs to be literate about his personal finances.

And there are over 700 mutual funds, 5000 stocks, 300 insurance policies and hundreds of other financial products to choose from!!

Interested! And the literacy programme that I have in mind will have the following details:

• Financial planning basics.
• Financial markets.
• Financial products like Mutual Funds, Stocks.
• Research reports, Financial analysis, technical analysis.
• Insurance : Basics, Company review, product review.
• ETF : Basics, Company review, product review.
• Bonds : Basics, Company review, product review.
• Tax Planning : Basics, product review.
• Retirement Planning : Basics, product review.
• Children’s education. : Basics, Company review, product review.
• Calculators :Budgeting, Networth, Loan, Asset allocator, Risk analyser,etc.

Any suggestions. And if you are interested why don’t you subscribe to my RSS feed or by email. And tell your friends too. I’ll cover them one at a time. [ I need to learn them and then only I can share it with you ]

Btw, if your eyebrows are tensed up and you are thinking why I am making so much effort working on this financial literacy programme, I’ll tell you my secret. It’s for the website I dream of every day and night!! The site launches in August’07.

Asset Allocation, Budgeting, ETF, Financial Literacy Series, Index Funds, India, Insurance, Investing, Mutual Funds, Personal Finance, Planning, Stocks

Open letter to SEBI by Personalfn.com, a financial planning initiative. It can be reached at info@personalfn.com. I have their permission to reproduce the article.

Dear Mr. Chairman:

The fact sheet of a mutual fund scheme that is released by its Asset Management Company (AMC) is a vital source of information for investors. However, in our view, the information provided by AMCs in these fact sheets is often inadequate and/or incoherent.

At Personalfn, we have always championed the cause of investors. To that end, we present a wish list for disclosure of information in mutual fund fact sheets.

1. Expense ratio The ratio represents the expenses charged by the AMC to the mutual fund for various purposes like investment fees, marketing and selling expenses including agents’ commission and transaction costs among others. These expenses eat into the returns clocked by the investor; expenses in fact have a very significant impact on long-term returns of the scheme. Given its importance, the expense ratio should be published in the fact sheet every month. At present only a handful of AMCs follow such a disclosure policy.

2. Portfolio turnover ratio The portfolio turnover ratio is a measure of how frequently stocks have been bought and sold by the fund manager. The same can offer investors an insight into the fund manager’s investment style. Of course, a higher ‘churn’ also has an implication on the expense ratio. There is a need to ensure that AMCs disclose portfolio turnover ratios in the monthly fact sheet. More importantly, the same needs to be computed in a standard manner. Among the AMCs that choose to reveal portfolio turnover ratios, some make use of a rolling 12-Mth period for the computation, while others consider the financial year as the starting point.

3. Average portfolio maturity It is common to find debt fund fact sheets mentioning the portfolio’s average maturity. As the name suggests, the figure denotes the time to maturity for all the debt instruments in the fund’s portfolio expressed as an average. Conversely, there are others which simply mention the duration (the unit for which is a time period i.e. days/months as well). However, duration (albeit vital) is a distinct measure from the average portfolio maturity. Duration is the tenure for which a portfolio of bonds or a bond must be held, for the investor to be immune to interest rate changes. There is a need to ensure that all debt funds disclose both their average maturities and durations in their fact sheets. Also a standard computation method must be followed so that investors can conduct a meaningful comparison between like schemes across fund houses.

4. Fund manager profile The fact sheets should unambiguously declare the fund manager responsible for every mutual fund scheme along with his profile. Similarly, the period for which he has been managing the given scheme should be mentioned as well. This will prove particularly relevant in situations wherein a successful fund manager, who was responsible for an impressive performance, has been replaced by another fund manager. Investors who are about to get invested in the scheme based on its track record, should be made aware that a new fund manager is now in charge.

5. Is the fund manager invested in the scheme? It is always comforting for consumers to know that the “cook eats his own cooking”. Similarly, a fund manager investing in a fund managed by him can be source of confidence for investors. The monthly fact sheet should have a disclosure in terms of whether or not the fund manager is invested in the scheme.

6. Unambiguous investment objectives Investment objectives like “to achieve log-term capital appreciation” are commonplace in the mutual funds segment. Such objectives are inconclusive and offer no aid to a prospective investor who is contemplating investing in the fund. An ideal investment objective must be unambiguous and comprehensive.
For example, the objective could read, “a growth-styled fund, the fund aims to achieve long-term capital appreciation by investing predominantly (at least 70% of assets) in stocks from the large cap segment. Long-term being defined as at least 5 years and companies with a market capitalisation of over Rs 50 bn (Rs 5,000 crores) at the time of investment qualifying as the large cap segment. The fund can also invest upto 30% of its assets in debt/money market instruments for defensive considerations”.

A rigidly defined investment objective ensures that the investor is decidedly aware of the investment proposition offered by the fund and can make an informed investment decision. The regulator should make this mandatory. Furthermore, the Board of Trustees can at preset time intervals (say semi-annually) offer their comments on the AMC’s adherence/success in achieving the stated investment objective.

7. Portfolio disclosure AMCs have increasingly stopped disclosing entire portfolios in their fact sheets (the printed versions, which are sent to investors). For example, in the case of equity funds most fact sheets simply reveal the top 10 stock holdings. So the fact sheet for an equity fund which holds say 50% of net assets in the top 10 stock holdings doesn’t reveal half the portfolio. Similarly there is also a case for more meaningful disclosure. Related sector holdings can be clubbed to reveal the true diversification levels in the fund’s portfolio. For example, holdings in related sectors like Auto and Auto Ancillaries can be clubbed and shown under a common heading i.e. Auto.

The regulator should make it mandatory for schemes to disclose their complete portfolios and also to follow a standardised classification of companies into sectors.

We believe that the inclusion of the aforementioned disclosure norms will go a long way in furthering the cause of investor empowerment.

Index Funds, India, Investing, Mutual Funds

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Asset Allocation, Budgeting, ETF, Index Funds, India, Insurance, Investing, Mutual Funds, Personal Finance, Planning, Stocks