The Economic Times Wealth - October 23 2023

NG 3.7 PubDate: 23-10-2023 Zone: ETWealthDelhi Edition: 1 Page: DETWDFP User: satyam.
shukla Time: 10-20-2023 20:33 Color:
THE ECONOMIC TIMES

DELUSION OF
DERIVATIVES
P7
www.etwealth.co | Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi, Pune | Volume 13 No. 43 | October 23-29, 2023 | 24 pages | `8
HOW NOT TO
OVERSPEND
AT SALES Find out ways to avoid
retailer tricks and cognitive
biases that make you binge
during the festive season. P2
MIXED ‘CORRECTION IS DOWNSIDE

SIGNALS NOT A WORRY, RESISTANCE OF
FROM BUT A BUBBLE STOCKS A GOOD
BOND FUND IN SMALL CAPS BET AGAINST
MANAGERS COULD BE’ VOLATILITY
P10 P11 P12
NG 3.7 PubDate: 23-10-2023 Zone: ETWealth Edition: 1 Page: ETWDP2 User: manish.kumar10 Time: 10-20-2023 23:26 Color:
cover story
02 The Economic Times Wealth October 23-29, 2023
How not to
overspend
at sales Find out ways to avoid retailer tricks
and cognitive biases that make you
binge during the festive season.
Festival 2023 saw 9.5 crore customer visits can override rational decision-making.”
by Riju Mehta in the first 48 hours, with Prime mem-
Bombarded with Firm in their belief that value purchases
S
bers shopping 18 times more in the first lurk behind every click and the rare oppor-
ale may not be your regular 24 hours of early access than the average ‘blockbuster deals’, tunity to save cannot be missed at any cost,
crusty four-letter word, but it daily purchases. This, as Myntra’s sale shoppers often end up overspending. While
packs quite a punch. Within sniff- waits in the wings to unleash its offerings, ‘instant discounts’, all purchases are not necessary, even the
ing distance of festive season,
it sends adrenaline racing and
and countless other online marts cash in
on the sale fever.
‘no-cost EMIs’, shop- discounts and rebates may not pan out into
actual savings. So, how do you stop your-
minds gearing to succumb to temptation. The blitzkrieg that starts with mas- pers are ill-equipped self from going overboard and ensuring
Triggering a spending mania that grips sive online sales in October, lingers on that the deals are worth availing of?
the entire nation, it knocks over well-laid till the end of the year, peppered with to resist the urge to To address the reckless bingeing, it’s
budgets, disrupting cash flows and rela-
tionships, while lifting the fortunes of
offline sales across malls and markets.
Bombarded with ‘blockbuster deals’, ‘in-
spend during sales. important to understand why consum-
ers behave in this manner, which of their
retailers and sellers. stant discounts’, ‘up to 89% off’, ‘no-cost the ways to do so is to spend,” says Dinesh impulses and biases are exploited by re-
So, it’s no surprise that Flipkart’s The EMIs’ and cashback offers, customers are Rohira, CEO and Founder, 5nance. Agrees tailers, and what they can do to overcome
Big Billion Days sale, from 8-15 October ill-equipped to resist the urge to spend. Dr. Prerna Kohli, Clinical Psychologist these. The cover story this week looks at
this year, recorded 1.4 billion customer vis- “It’s impossible not to be swept up in the and Founder, MindTribe.in: “Sales and these issues in the hope that the readers
its, with its Plus memberships reportedly hoopla created by the big brands and peo- discounts tap into customers’ emotions, gain an insight into their spending trig-
witnessing a 60% increase over last year’s ple around you. Also, everyone wants to making them feel excited and happy about gers and learn to make more prudent pur-
sale. Meanwhile, Amazon’s Great Indian feel good around festival time and one of their purchases. This emotional response chase decisions.
NG 3.7 PubDate: 23-10-2023 Zone: ETWealth Edition: 1 Page: ETWDP3 User: satyam.shukla Time: 10-20-2023 19:59 Color:
cover story
The Economic Times Wealth October 23-29, 2023 03
BANDWAGON EFFECT Cognitive biases at work in sales ANCHORING BIAS

This is a phenomenon where This bias makes a person trust
Here are the behavioural biases that drive you into buying and overspending.
people do something mainly and rely on the first piece of
because others are doing it, information he comes across to
regardless of their own beliefs. make decisions.
AT SALE The noise and hoopla AT SALE Almost every
created around sales like The e-commerce site on sale offers
Big Billion Days or Great Indian items with discount (-25%), MRP
Festival, with multi-media (`500), which is crossed out,
advertisement blitz, gives the and price on offer (`375). You
impression that everyone is will be tempted by the discount
buying, and nobody wants to be and become anchored on `500,
left out of a good thing. considering `375 to be a great
deal even though you may
be able to buy the item
for `300 at your local
CONFIRMATION BIAS grocer.
This is the tendency to

look for and interpret
SCARCITY BIAS
information in a way This is a tendency to
that it reaffirms or fits value and want the
in with our existing things we believe are
beliefs. limited in number.
AT SALE You enter AT SALE The moment you
an online or offline see the words ‘offer expires
tomorrow’, ‘limited time deal’
sale convinced that you
will get good bargains
SUNK COST FALLACY or ‘offer valid till stocks last’
because that’s what you you are pushed into an urgency
This is a bias that makes a person unwilling to mode, wherein you scurry to
have been made to believe
let go of an endeavour or item just because he buy a thing you could easily
by ads. So, when you see a
has invested resources in it. have done without.
3-in-1 detergent pack at only
AT SALE When you specially visit a mall where a
5% discount and even though
Diwali sale is on and spend two hours going through
you don’t need it in such a large False urgency: The best way to spur a
the vast array of items on display, you are bound to
quantity, you will still buy it hesitant customer to buy is to inform
buy things even if you don’t need them because you
because you already believe that him that the product, deal or discount
have invested too much time, money and energy
it is a value purchase. may not last very long. Also known
in the entire exercise and will be unable to leave
without buying anything. as scarcity bias, this trick shows up
in the form of messages like ‘only one
left in stock’, ‘offer till stocks last’ and
WHY ARE SHOPPERS DRAWN the ‘buy now, pay later’ option, or no-cost countdowns showing how much time
TO FESTIVE SALES? RESTRAINT BIAS EMIs, or pre-fed credit card details on the you are left with to purchase an item,
Big retail brands, e-commerce players and website, make the purchase process pain- among many others.
marketeers not only exploit people’s prefer- This is the tendency to overestimate less and quick. This draws people to explore
ence to make purchases in the festive sea- one’s self-control and ability to restrain endless spending categories, ranging from Family packs: A good trick to make
son, but also their inherent biases. So even one’s impulses. mobile phones and clothes to home appli- shoppers buy more is offering prod-
though many people are drawn to genuine AT SALE You may believe you are too ances and groceries, assured that they will ucts in large quantities with a dis-
discounts, especially in electronic gadgets rational and disciplined to be swayed not be held up by a long waiting line to pay. counted price. Even as you are trapped
and appliances, they end up spending on by sales, and you may go online or to by the high discount offer, you easily
other things they could have done without. a mall with a list of things you want to overlook the fact that you may not
Still others are drawn to sales despite know- buy, but when you are bombarded with TRICKS USED BY RETAILERS need three bottles of toilet cleaner, or
ing that the discounts may not be genuine. thousands of items and discounts, it Not only are retailers expert at feeding on four packs of cookies you don’t par-
Says Jayant Pai, Chief Marketing Officer, will be nearly impossible to turn away shoppers’ cognitive biases (see box), but also ticularly like just because it’s a value
PPFAS Asset Management: “A slew of new without buying excessively. use subtle psychological tricks that make purchase.
product launches, 360 degree marketing by
FOMO (fear of missing out): “The sense of Cross-selling & upselling: Cross-selling
online portals, heightened buzz in offices
and social circles, all play a role in making urgency created by retailers during sales
Buying new things, is a widely used strategy to make you
people spend during these sales.” makes the customers fear that they will or even anticipating a buy more by showing bundled prod-
Here are some reasons consumers are so miss out on a great deal if they don’t buy im- ucts at the time of checking out. It taps
readily pulled in by these sales. mediately. This fear of missing out can push purchase, makes the into your innate need to want extra,
Feel-good factor: Buying new things, or
even the anticipation of an impending pur-
people to make impulsive purchases,” says
Dr. Kohli. The result is often bulk purchases
brain release dopa- complementary items after buying
something. Upselling shows up when
chase, is seen as a reward by the brain. This or buying things not really required. mine, which makes the salesperson suggests a product
releases dopamine, which makes you feel
very, very good. The advertisement blitz Lure of value purchase: Most people fall prey you feel very good. variant with added features for ‘just
`3,000 more’. In a festive mood and
during big sales, which creates anticipa- to the confirmation bias that because it’s needing the product anyway, you are
tion and complements the festive feel-good a sale, they are bound to land a good deal. them buy more during sales. Here are some likely to show no hesitation in upgrad-
environ, adds to your resolve to be a part of “Shoppers often perceive discounts as a way to take note of. ing to the more expensive item.
these sales. of maximising the value of their purchases. Price framing: Most retailers will highlight
Even if they suspect that the discounts or downplay the prices in a way that they Social proof: A very effective strategy,
Bandwagon effect: When everyone around are not significant, they still feel they are create an illusion of the item being cheaper it taps into the human need to be reas-
you is shopping at sales and posting it on getting a good deal compared to regular or offering higher discounts (see box). This sured about their choices and to do
social media as well, you instinctively want prices,” explains Dr. Kohli. is the reason MRPs are slashed, or most of what others are doing, or buying. This
to follow them and be a part of the process, prices end in .99, or some fonts are bigger is the reason reviews are put up, high-
irrespective of the fact that you don’t need Ease of payment: The many simple payment and bolder than the others. You will inevita- lighting people praising and using
those things. choices, some with credit facility, such as bly end up buying the ‘cheaper’ products. items that you were just considering.
cover story
In all likelihood, positive reviews will
Where’s the catch?

nudge you into buying the product.
Sense of loyalty: Free samples, reward

schemes and loyalty cards create a sense
While there are genuine discounts available during sales, more often than not, you will be
lured by faux rebates and e-retailer strategies that lead to excessive spending. of commitment and obligation, egging on
shoppers to buy more.
Biggest discounts! Savings up to Store layout: A meandering layout or the
`50,000 on
separate entry and exit in a mall store is
When the Big Billion Days,
not for your convenience or streamlining
Amazon Great Indian Festival
or Myntra Big Fashion Festival
exchange... traffic, but to take you through as many
Mobile phones, tabs, laptops, product categories and aisles as possible
sales are on, the sites may
are offered to lure you into buying something.
appear to offer some of the
biggest discounts in the online with high
savings and Nudging: “Helpful reminders, especially
space, but this is not true for all
exchange for FMCG products, to buy something you
products or categories.
values bought earlier, or because the price has
CATCH dropped by `10, will make you pick up the
during sales.
Check the real item,” says Pai.
price after CATCH
factoring in These
the minimum supposed HOW TO AVOID GOING OVER-
order value and savings may not be applicable Get 500 g extra! BOARD DURING SALES
delivery charges. to you as these could be for Several products, especially in groceries, Now that you understand which of your
These offers may specific products or on limited offer extra quantity for the same buttons are being pressed to make you
turn out to be credit cards. Many savings are price, say, 1 kg free detergent with 5 overspend, here are the steps you can take
more expensive in the form of membership kg purchase, which may seem like an to ensure you don’t.
than those offers, rewards or cashbacks exclusive offer by the site during a sale. Set a budget: Before the sale season sets in,
available on other on buying credit cards and
‘buy now, pay later’ activation, CATCH prepare a budget exclusively for the festive
sites or offline. For Such value additions are offered by the period, and stick to it. Discuss it with the
instance, an item cashbacks on more purchases,
brand or company, not the website. For family and ensure everyone adheres to it.
with the MRP of and partner offers, which
instance, a recent offer of 400 g extra Just because the child finds a gadget at a
`235 is currently could entail more spending.
with 1 kg of an item at an online sale was mouth-watering price or the wife wants to
on sale on Amazon for `189, The high exchange offers too
also available on every e-commerce site. pick grocery in bulk because of an amaz-
and seems to be the lowest in whittle down to a small amount
ing deal, don’t waver.
the online space. It is available depending on the brand and
for `212 on Blinkit, `211.50 on gadget condition. So an iPhone
BigBasket, and `216 on Flipkart. 13 exchange offer that states Price tracking and
However, after considering ‘save up to `45,000’ may be
valid for very few phones. It
comparison sites
the minimum order value and
delivery charges, it amounts gives `9,400-20,900 on an help you check the
to `250 on Amazon (minimum iPhone 12, while a Samsung Bundled products price history of
S22 will get `5,240-11,650
order) and `230 on Blinkit
(delivery charge). depending on the damage. during checkout... items or compare
Before you check out for payment,
most sites display a variety of bundled their prices across
Flat `200 off... 50% off on MRP...
products that are frequently bought by
other customers.
websites.
The pull of flat cash discounts The slashed MRP and CATCH Make a list: This is the top mantra for beat-
is hard to resist, especially if accompanying discount This appears to be a ing temptation. Make a list of the things
the amount is large. are usually interpreted by value addition that will you actually need, and buy only these.
CATCH customers as an offer
10 FF
save you money, but is simply “Focus on whether the product genuinely
exclusively offered by
O
%
Consider whether the a nudge to make you buy an additional meets your needs and if you are getting
offer is on a product the website. product and spend more. value, rather than just being swayed by
or total purchase value. If CATCH the discount,” says Dr. Kohli. “Go to the
`200 is off on a minimum order The slashed MRP is specific category or shop in mall that has
of `1,999, that’s a barely 10% just meant to anchor the product you want, and pick up only
discount. you to the higher that particular thing. Avoid window shop-
price to make you feel you ping or aimless scrolling if you want to
are getting a huge discount. In
No-cost EMI... reality, you can get similar or
avoid overspending,” adds Rohira.
Most people are pulled in by better offers from any number Research: When the retailer offers the
the offer, especially if they are of online and offline retailers, option to create a wishlist in the pre-sale
buying expensive electronic including company websites stage, collect the items you want to buy,
gadgets or white goods and and brand stores. and spend time to research the prices. Go
other appliances. to other sites, brand stores or company
CATCH websites, check in your local market, and
Such zero-cost EMI calculate the real discount after factoring
offers are only in the delivery charges and minimum or-
available on one or der value. “Also research the product’s ac-
two credit cards. tual value and price history to assess the
People mistakenly authenticity of discounts,” says Dr. Kohli.
assume it to be a
blanket offer on all Use price tracking & comparison websites,
cards and end up with apps: Such sites are a good tool to conduct
interest rates of over 13%. research on prices. For instance, pricee.
com and iSpyPrice.com help you
cover story
Cross-selling is a
Number tricks that make widely used strat-
egy to make you
you spend more! buy more things by
While displaying prices, the choice of numbers, placement and comparison
can be used to create an illusion and trick you into buying.
showing you bun-
dled products at the
9
Magic of number 9 time of checking out
Also called ‘charm price’, the number 9 has the ability to sell
more. So, items with prices ending in 9, say, 19, 99, 29.99,
on a website.
are bought more by customers, according to a study in the
Quantitative Marketing and Economics. In fact, in some cases, compare prices across retailer sites
these even outsell the lower priced items. This is because like Amazon and Flipkart, while
these numbers offer the illusion of being much lower than the tracking sites like Price History and
next number, even though the difference is just one. KaroBargain help you check price his-
tory and track bargains.
Sleep over it: If you are prone to making

Commas Decoy price impulsive purchases, the best course
Removing commas If a retailer offers of action is to sleep over your decision.
from prices makes customers two price choices If you are in a mall, roam around for
these appear less for an item, say, `25 and `45, shoppers will some time or return the next day. If you
expensive to the obviously opt for the former. If, however, the are shopping on a website, take a day to
brain. So, `1299 retailer wants to sell at a higher price, he can buy the item. Check if you already have
would seem to be introduce a third option that is slightly lower than the item, how long you are likely to use
a lower price than the highest price: `25, `42 and `45. This will make
it, and if it is worth the price you are
`1,299 and help customers more attracted to `45 as they will think
paying for it. “It’s important to let the
sell more. it offers more value for just `3 more.
moment pass and not be swayed by the
impulse,” says Rohira.
Whole Number syllables Delay payment, avoid credit cards: Don’t

number vs 149 99
The items whose prices have fewer pay with credit cards or have the card
information saved on the site. Try to
decimal syllables will appear to be less
expensive than those with more extend the payment process, say, by
Items priced using whole using Net banking, so that you have a
number of syllables even if the
numbers appear to customers to little extra time to think whether you
latter is less expensive. So, `38.72
be more expensive than the one really want to buy the item, and can
with seven syllables will seem more
with decimals whose leading see the amount depleting in your bank
expensive than `40.90 with five
digit is less. So `150 will seem account. “If you do use credit cards,
syllables to your brain.
to be much higher than use the one with the lowest limit. You
`149.99, and the latter items could also opt for UPI because you are
will be bought more. 38.72 40.90 then confined to the bank balance,
which is usually lower than one’s
credit limit,” says Pai.
Believe it or not, you’ll spend less with these simple choices

These tactics have Don’t Have mint Wear high Avoid soft Don’t touch Don’t take Avoid peak
a subconscious
impact on your
befriend gum or heels music As per a study by cart, carry times
purchase deci- sales staff candy According to a According to the a US consumer
marketing research
smaller You are likely
sions as countless
research studies
The more you Since senses play a study by Brigham
Young Univer-
European Journal
of Scientific firm, the more you bags to make rushed
decisions if you
interact with the big role in buying touch items on dis- If you don’t have
around the world sales staff, the decisions, includ- sity in the US, and Research, vari- are buying in a
have found. published in Jour- ous studies over play, the more you a cart or bag, you crowded place,
more you are like- ing smell, you are are likely to buy will be unable to
ly to be deluged likely to spend nal of Marketing the years have say, during sales
Research, wearing shown that stores them. The study carry too many in malls or stores.
with choices, and more if the mall or revealed that 30% things and will
the more difficult store has soothing high heels and the or malls with You will not only
effort to balance soft and popular of all products held end up only with be influenced by
you will find to fragrances. The were bought. Be- essentials, leaving
leave without buy- strong flavour of yourself helps music will make what others are
you take more you linger and sides, 56% of shop- out discretionary buying, but in a
ing because you mint nullifies these pers who hold an items. The minute
will feel obliged smells and sucking balanced stay longer, and hurry to buy and
buying deci- you’ll inevitably item in a specific you feel comfort- get out, you will
to the person for a mint candy or category buy from able with adding
helping you. So gum can help you sions and end up buying also end up buying
spending more things. that category. The items in a cart or more things, or
ask for help only if become less ame- figure rises to 62% bag, you are likely
you want a specific nable to buying less. those with wrong
if they touch more to buy stuff you fits or sizes.
thing, or a particu- from such than one item. could have done
lar size or option. stores. without.
spending
No more big rewards on

financial sector ratings, at ICRA. “Banks
are consolidating their customer base, but
there has been no real impact on either
card issuances or spends so far.”
credit card spending

Bankers have acknowledged that the
changes would boost profitability for the
business, but also added that these were
necessary to ensure that some anomalies
were fixed. “There have been changes be-
cause we felt that some customers were not
Credit card issuers have cut down reward points after the 250 bps hike in rates. using the benefits fully and others were
showing abnormal behaviour in spend-
ing,” said Sanjeev Moghe, Head of Cards &
by Rozebud Gonsalves & Payments, Axis Bank. “These changes will
Joel Rebello help us deal with the abnormal behaviour
E
and boost profitability for our business.”
ye-popping reward points, HDFC Bank CFO S.K. Vaidyanathan
hefty instant purchase
cashbacks and innumer- Bankers say the changes
able benefits, ranging from
accessing airport business will boost profitability, but
lounges to exotic vacations at little also add that these steps
cost, were, until recently, the perqui-
sites of swiping a credit card. These were necessary to fix some
perks haven’t gone away entirely, but anomalies in card usage.
banks straining to garner deposits
after recent rate increases are being said the changes were aimed at increasing
far less generous with such offers this usage and developing loyalties for the card
festive season. business. “This is a dynamic segment,
A study by Economic Times shows so things cannot remain static. They are
that banks have raised spending always tuned up and down to encourage
thresholds and caps while giving usage and deepen relationships,” he said.
benefits, indicating their profitability HDFC Bank, the country’s only lender
focus in a loan segment that’s climb- with a market value exceeding $100 billion,
ing in lockstep with increasing afflu- is the segment leader, cornering more than
ence across urban India. For instance, a quarter of card spends.
HDFC Diners Club Privilege Card “The changes reflect the altering mar-
discontinued its double reward points ket scenario. Inflation has been increasing
on weekend dining, vouchers of `1,000 and prices have risen. This impacts the
on spends of `40,000 per month, and seeking comment. Axis Bank’s Magnus card for every five reward points earlier. value of reward points offered by banks,”
reduced lounge access from 12 across raised its annual fee and discontinued its Analysts say that the move to devalue said Asutosh Mishra, Head of Institutional
the globe to two. SBI Cash Back Card 25,000 reward points on spends of `1 lakh, cards also signals that banks want to tight- Equities, Ashika Stock Broking.
halved the amount of cashback per which was a major attraction. Conversion en their belts. “They have built a customer
month to `5,000, and discontinued of reward points into air miles has also been base probably with offers that were too good,
domestic lounge access to customers. restricted to two air miles for every five but now there is some pressure on profitabil- Please send your feedback to
etwealth@timesgroup.com
SBI Card did not reply to an e-mail reward points, compared with four air miles ity,” said Karthik Srinivasan, Group Head,
Forum warns of more banking app scams

Bank of Baroda app scam is only the tip of the iceberg, states the platform that is seeking greater surveillance.
T
he Bank Bachao Desh Bachao our apprehension that the drive initiated by
Manch, a platform to raise pub- various banks to onboard customers on mo-
lic interest issues, has warned bile banking apps has resulted in customers
that the Bank of Baroda app scam is losing substantial amounts through frauds.
only the tip of the iceberg, and that The impossible targets set for branch level
more such scams are happening in functionaries often lead to irregularities,
cyber banking. According to news to which the authorities turn a blind eye
reports, Bank of Baroda officials had as long as the numbers are achieved,” the
linked bank accounts to unrelated Manch wrote to the RBI.
GETTYIMAGES
mobile numbers to achieve stiff tar- The forum wants independent informa-
gets of getting customers to join the tion security auditors to undertake an
app. Once the account holders linked in-depth investigation in all banks that use
their accounts to the app, the agents mobile banking apps to unearth facts, so
siphoned off money from the customer that the entire sector becomes attentive to
accounts through unauthorised the safety of clients’ savings. It also wants
transactions. the RBI to direct banks not to set very high
According to one report, about targets that could lead to unethical prac-
`22 lakh was fraudulently siphoned tices.
off by the scamsters. Last week, the
RBI directed Bank of Baroda to stop
Please send your feedback to
onboarding new customers on its app. etwealth@timesgroup.com
“The recent expose has vindicated
NG 3.7 PubDate: 23-10-2023 Zone: ETWealth Edition: 1 Page: ETWDP7 User: saurabh.gupta3 Time: 10-20-2023 18:47 Color:
guest column
Delusion of derivatives
It is best for individual investors to avoid trading in the futures and options
as it’s clearly a loss-making proposition, says Dhirendra Kumar.
I
n a research report brought out last
year, markets regulator Sebi showed
that the futures and options (F&O)
trading was a loss-making proposition
for investors. The report revealed that
89% investors lost money through these activ-
ities, and only 11% made profits. Separately,
in an interview with Zerodha CEO Nithin
GETTYIMAGES
DHIRENDR A KUMAR Kamath some time ago, I learnt that there are
CEO, VALUE RESE ARCH no more than 5 lakh derivatives traders in the
entire country. Since Zerodha is the largest
money broker by a large margin, Kamath’s statement
mysteries
should be trusted.
Considering the above two facts together,
one comes to the rather sad conclusion that
no more than 55,000 (11% of 5 lakh) individual
traders made money from trading in deriva-
tives. At least this is true of 2021-22, the period
All the talk about considered for the study.
The vast activity in futures and options
derivates being
trading adds to the enormous noise generated
beneficial for one
on business TV, YouTube, WhatsApp and National Stock Exchange wants to extend the ing industry and its ability to shape the
reason or another is just other social media, and only around 55,000 derivatives trading hours by adding another narrative, nothing is likely to change. The
propaganda. The growth people make money from it. If you study the trading session in the evening. According to growth of derivatives trading, and the sub-
of derivatives trading, Sebi report in detail, you will find that about reports, the markets will close at the normal sequent financial challenges that the indi-
and the subsequent half of those who make money earn trivial hour (3.30 p.m.), but then reopen from 6 p.m. vidual traders face, are likely to continue.
financial challenges profits of a few thousand rupees in a year. to 9 p.m. At a ‘later stage’, the exchange might Avoiding this potentially harmful activity
They would have earned more even with a extend the evening session to 11.30 p.m. It’s might be the best choice for individuals, as
that the individual
bank fixed deposit. clear that the brokers, exchanges, and those it seldom brings any benefits.
traders face, are likely
The craziest part of this story is that no lending stocks profit from this activity, which The facts speak for themselves: with
to continue. Avoiding one in the industry mentions one simple seems to be the primary objective. If inves- a vast majority of individual traders
this potentially harmful fact: unlike equity, which is backed by the tors trade round the clock, they can also lose reaping minimal, if any, benefits from
activity might be open-ended growth of the economy, F&O is a money round the clock, which is good for eve- F&O trading, one must ask if it is worth
the best choice for zero-sum game. Whenever someone earns a ryone else. the gamble. It’s not enough to be lured by
individuals. profit, it comes out of another trader’s pocket. As a reader of this publication, you are the glitzy allure of potential profits or be
The thought that a vast majority, over 90%, almost certainly an individual investor who swayed by the pervasive industry rheto-
of the derivative trading activity on Indian is interested in making money from invest- ric. Wisdom lies in taking a step back,
exchanges doesn’t generate collective wealth, ments. However, you should understand that analysing the facts, and making informed
is striking. If one party is prospering, it’s this activity is not designed for you to make decisions, in order to safeguard your fi-
because another party is facing a loss. So, if money. Instead, it is designed, managed and nancial future. As the saying goes, ‘It’s not
all the losses are someone else’s profits, who run to take your money away. about how much money you make, but how
is pocketing all the money that the ordinary All the talk about derivatives being benefi- much you keep.’
investors are losing? Take a guess. cial for one reason or another is just propa-
You must have read recently that the ganda. Considering the operations of the trad-
Check purity of gold jewellery using BIS app

Plan to buy gold or silver orna- gular BIS logo indicates that is unique for every jewellery
ments in the festive season? the purity of gold jewellery item and the customers can
Check whether the hallmark- has been checked at a BIS cer- easily verify its authenticity
ing on jewellery is genuine tified centre. and other details by down-
using the BIS app. All gold and Purity/fineness grade: The loading and using the BIS
silver jewellery is mandated second sign is that of purity Care app.
to have a six-digit alpha-nu- and shows the degree of purity First download the BIS
meric hallmark unique iden- of gold in a particular piece of Care app, and then go to the
tification (HUID) code. The jewellery. The purity of gold licencing details section to
jewellery is hand-stamped determines the price of that check the authenticity of
with the unique number at the piece. the product. Customers can
assaying and hallmarking Six-digit alpha-numeric code: verify the HUID number and
centre. The third sign of hallmarked get the jeweller’s registration
The BIS hallmark on gold gold jewellery is a six-digit number and other details as
jewellery and artefacts com- alpha-numeric code etched on well. This will ensure that
prises three parts. the product. This hallmark consumers are not sold poor
BIS standard mark: The trian- unique identification code quality jewellery.
review preview
product
How self-employed loan launches
seekers get evaluated

:: MUTUAL FUNDS
Axis Mutual Fund will launch the Axis
India Manufacturing Fund, an open-ended
thematic equity fund that will invest in
stocks from the manufacturing sector. Its
Visibility and regularity of income are key attributes that lenders look for. benchmark is the Nifty India Manufacturing
TRI. The minimum investment is `500. The
NFO will open on 1 December and close on
by Amarjeet Tiwari 15 November.
A
home loan can help an indi- Helios Mutual Fund has launched the Helios
vidual achieve his dream of Flexi Cap Fund, an open-ended diversified
owning a house. While taking equity fund that will invest in stocks across
a home loan is fairly easy for market capitalisations. Its benchmark is the
salaried people, it gets a bit Nifty 500 TRI. The minimum investment is
complicated for self-employed individu- `5,000. The NFO will close on 6 November.
als who don’t have fixed earnings. Banks
want to ensure that the applicant has a Bajaj Finserv Mutual Fund will launch the
stable and sufficient income to service Bajaj Finserv Banking and PSU Fund, an
the home loan EMIs. Here’s how a bank open-ended debt fund that will invest in
evaluates a self-employed person for fixed income and money market securities
home loans. issued by banks, PSUs, municipal bonds and
GETTY IMAGES
gilts. The minimum investment is `1,000.
Age of borrower The NFO will open on 25 October and close
Age is a crucial factor for those planning on 31 October.
to avail of a home loan. Younger self-
Bandhan Mutual Fund will launch the
employed applicants have better chances
Bandhan Nifty Alpha 50 Index Fund, an
because they also get a longer tenure, Business continuity and stability or personal costs routed through the
open-ended equity fund that will invest
which eases the financial responsibility Earnings vary from business to busi- business. This adjusted income provides
in stocks that make up the Nifty Alpha 50
of repaying the loan. The borrower’s age ness, depending on the market condi- a more accurate representation of one’s
Index in the same proportion. The minimum
indicates his potential earnings over the tions. Before they give a home loan, financial capacity. investment is `1,000. The NFO will open on
loan term. banks want to see a stable income stream 25 October and close on 6 November.
over a period of time. A business with a Estimating credit score
Proof of income long-standing presence, marked by sus- Before granting a home loan, banks also DSP Mutual Fund will launch the DSP Gold
Banks also look very closely at the docu- tainability and profitability, indicates examine existing loans, other debts and ETF FoF, an open-ended fund of funds
ments relating to income of the appli- a borrower’s capacity to repay the loan. any history of default in repayments. A that will invest in gold ETFs. The minimum
cant. These include income-tax returns, Banks also assess a business’s stability good credit score indicates creditworthi- investment is `100. The NFO will open on 3
balance sheets, and bank statements for and viability. This evaluation considers ness and improves the chances of secur- November and close on 10 November.
the past 2-3 years. These documents pro- factors such as the duration of one’s self- ing a loan on favourable terms.
vide insights into the financial health,
business performance, and cash flow
employment, industry trends, and future
growth prospects. A well-established Assessing non-traditional income
:: BANKING
RBL Bank has launched the GO Savings
trends over time and help the lender business with a track record of resilience sources Account, a zero-balance account with
evaluate the consistency and reliability can bolster a lender’s confidence in the If the income portfolio extends beyond multiple advantages. It offers interest
of income. stability of the income. It can enhance self-employment and includes other rates of up to 7.5%, a premium debit card,
the chances of home loan approval. incomes, such as rental income or in- vouchers of premier brands, comprehensive
Net income of applicant vestment income, make sure to collate cyber insurance cover, accident and travel
The net income of a self-employed indi- Reviewing business expenses the required documentation supporting insurance up to `1 crore and a free CIBIL
vidual is the most critical factor impact- While legitimate business expenses are these income streams. This could in- report. The subscription fee is `1,999 in the
ing the sanction of a home loan. It is typi- pivotal for income-tax purposes, banks clude rental agreement, lease contract, first year and annual renewal fee is `599.
cally calculated after subtracting busi- might recalibrate some expenses to or investment statements. The inclusion
ness expenses. This figure is important
because it indicates the actual income
determine the qualifying income. This
recalibration might involve adding back
of these diversified income sources can
elevate the overall financial profile.
:: INSURANCE
Ageas Federal Life Insurance has launched
available for EMI payments. depreciation, non-recurring expenses, The author is Head of Technology at SahiBnk
Super Cash Plan, a non-linked, participating
savings plan that offers regular income
along with life insurance. The plan offers
immediate liquidity through regular income
RBI fines Kotak Bank, ICICI Bank

which could start as early as the first month
of the policy, depending on when the
policyholder has opted to receive returns.
for flouting norms The plan also gives guaranteed boosters

after every fifth policy year and a lump-
sum maturity benefit at the end of the
T
he RBI has imposed penalties a.m. by recovery agents. The RBI also charged a foreclosure fee even though policy term.
on Kotak Mahindra Bank and found that the bank levied interest there was no clause in the loan agree-
ICICI Bank for flouting its guide- on disbursement due date, instead of ment for levying prepayment penalty. Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance is offering
lines on loan recoveries and reporting the actual date of disbursement, and ICICI Bank was fined for not com- Health Management Services to
frauds. Kotak Mahindra Bank was plying with the RBI guidelines on policyholders of its flagship Bajaj Allianz Life
fined `3.95 crore for non-compliance reporting of frauds. The bank report- eTouch term plan. Policyholders can consult
with the rules relating to outsourcing edly sanctioned loans to companies qualified medical professionals remotely,
of financial services and recovery in which two of its directors were also offering them immediate access to medical
expertise. They also get network discounts
agents. The bank failed to carry out directors. It also marketed and sold
applicable to medicines, lab test bookings,
an annual review and due diligence non-financial products and failed to
outpatient consultations, and in-patient
of the service provider. It also failed report frauds to the RBI within the
hospitalisations, reducing their annual
to ensure that customers were not prescribed timelines. Consequently, a
healthcare expenditure.
contacted after 7 p.m. and before 7 notice was issued to the bank.
financial planning
PAPER WORK
:: Mutual fund investments
in a single folio
A sound investing habit also involves
good housekeeping, so that all the
details of investments are accessible
and offer ease of transaction. We
often continue to invest in a fund at
different points in time and it can
lead to opening of different mutual
fund folios in the same fund house. It
makes sense to bring all these invest-
ments under one folio. Here is how
GETTY IMAGES
you can do this.
Consolidation form
Don’t risk long-term goals to

A mutual fund folio
consolidation form needs
to be obtained from the
fund house. The form can
meet short-term expenses

also be downloaded from the mu-
tual fund website. The form needs
to be signed by all unit holders and
submitted to the fund house.
S
Shruti and Ashish are both 40 years old. hruti and Ashish are mak- commitments and situation at that
ing the mistake of using time may not allow the higher contri-
The working couple likes to maintain their long-term savings for bution. Unless the couple is sure that Identify folios to
a good standard of living, splurging their short-term expenses. they will have the income and intent be consolidated
By doing this, they may be to make up later, it is best not to touch
once in a while on things they enjoy. Next, the investor
putting their long-term, important their long-term savings. needs to identify the mutual fund
Their primary savings are in ELSS and goals, such as retirement and educa- If Shruti and Ashish are not able to folios under the same mutual fund
PPF for tax saving under Section 80C. tion of their children, at risk. When find the savings for their short-term that need to be consolidated. One
they pull out money early from their requirements, it indicates a situation needs to specifically mention which
However, the couple has been dipping savings, they are losing out on the of poor budgeting or that they are folio should remain and which one
into these long-term savings every time benefits of compounding of returns aspiring to a lifestyle beyond their can be dissolved. These details
they need a lump sum to meet large on their investments, which would means. A financial plan will help need to be specified in the form.
have become a bigger component of them see their short- and long-term
expenses, such as admission costs for their overall corpus over time. For goals realistically in light of their
their children and Shruti’s sister’s wed- the benefit of compounding to work, ability to save. It will enable them to
the funds must remain invested for prioritise their goals while allocating Conditions
ding. They feel that it is perfectly fine to
a long period. When they withdraw their savings, based on urgency. It To be able to bring all
use these funds in times of need. They funds for their short-term expenses, will help them know the implications investments under the
are sure they can catch up and contrib- they are denying this advantage to of allocating more of their savings to same folio, the names
their investment. If their intention short-term, discretionary expenses, of all unit holders, mode of holding
ute more to their equity funds and other is to contribute when their income on the more important, long-term (single or joint) and holding pattern
long-term savings when their income is higher, the amount will have to goals. It will probably encourage them should be identical among the dif-
be much higher than that they have to change their spending and saving ferent folios.
is higher. What are the implications of
withdrawn in order to compensate habits so that their financial security
their way of of handling the finances? for the loss in compounding. Their is not at risk.
Content on this page is courtesy Centre for Investment Education and Learning (CIEL).
Contributions by Girija Gadre, Arti Bhargava and Labdhi Mehta.
smart things to know

Mahila Samman Saving Certificate Scheme
1
3
The Mahila
Samman
Saving
2
Only a
The mini-
mum deposit
amount is
`1,000 and
the maxi-
4 5
The maturi-
ty period of This
Certificate woman or mum deposit the Mahila scheme
is avail- the guardian amount is Samman has a fixed
able from of a minor `2 lakh for an Savings interest
April 2023 girl child account holder Certificate rate of
to March can open across all MSSC account is 7.5% per
2025. this scheme. accounts. two years. annum.
mutual funds
GETTYIMAGES
the RBI hinted at bond sales. Meanwhile,

the US Federal Reserve is expected to keep
policy rates higher for longer, with rate cuts
not anticipated until later next year.
While some fund managers are optimistic
that yields will start softening sooner, oth-
ers are watchful of sticky inflation, higher
oil prices and steep US bond yields. Suyash
Choudhary, Head, Fixed Income, Bandhan
MF, shifted his overweight stance to 9-14 year
government bonds, from the 5-6 year space
in active duration bond and gilt funds after
the news broke about India’s inclusion in JP
Morgan’s Emerging Market Global Bond
Index. Firm that policy rates have peaked
in India, he finds the risk-reward profile
more favourable in this segment. Likewise,
Sandeep Yadav, Head, Fixed Income, DSP
Mutual Fund reckons that market dynam-
ics in India point to lower yields, contrary
to global yield rise. “We prefer to invest in
our expectation of unbalanced reward of the
Indian bond market, rather than the noise
created by local issues in other countries.
Mixed signals from

Sooner or later, yields have to reflect the
Indian economy. Hence we are invested in
higher duration,” he says.
Puneet Pal, Head, Fixed Income of PGIM
India MF, expects that the RBI, akin to global
bond fund managers

central banks, will be on a long pause. The
rate cutting cycle in India will start only
when the developed market central banks
have addressed the challenge of inflation
effectively. “Investors with medium- to long-
term investment horizons can look at funds
The contrasting positioning of various dynamic bond funds indicates having duration of three-four years with
predominant sovereign holdings as they of-
that the fund managers are not aligned on interest rates. fer a better risk-reward profile currently,”
asserts Pal. Nikhil Kabra, Fund Manager,
Fixed Income, ICICI Prudential MF also
by Sanket Dhanorkar
Dynamic bond funds: Disparate stance feels rate cuts are far away. “We are in a state
M
of interest rate neutrality. Unless there is
utual fund managers While some funds are primed for softer yields, others are awaiting a slowdown in economic growth and infla-
seem to have starkly clarity on inflation and external risks. tion fails to cool off materially, the RBI is
divergent views on the unlikely to cut interest rates. Duration is not
outlook for the bond very attractive as the yield curve is flat with
market. The disparate AVG MATURITY (YRS) MODIFIED DURATION (YRS) close to no term premium built in currently,”
positioning of various dynamic bond he says.
funds, which are considered a proxy DSP Strategic Bond 18.98 7.58 The investors seeking a play on interest
for the fund house’s fixed income Bandhan Dynamic Bond 11.35 7.44 rates also face a dilemma. Kirtan Shah,
stance, indicates that fund managers Founder of Credence Wealth Advisors, feels
UTI Dynamic Bond 11.17 7.02 the positioning of dynamic bond funds may
are not aligned on interest rates.
The positioning of dynamic bond Canara Robeco Dynamic Bond 9.97 6.58 not necessarily represent the fund house’s
funds is best explained by the portfolio actual stance. “Dynamic bond funds are
Quantum Dynamic Bond Fund 9.68 6.27
duration or average maturity. Both perceived to be very nimble in their posi-
reflect the sensitivity of the portfolio to Baroda BNP Paribas Dynamic Bond 5.32 4.06 tioning, but it is not as straightforward.”
interest rate changes. Bond prices and ICICI Pru All Seasons Bond 4.86 2.68 He explains that dynamic bond funds’
interest rates are inversely related. agility is often constrained by the liquid-
Longer tenure bonds are particularly ITI Dynamic Bond 4.71 3.05 ity in underlying bonds. High exposure to
sensitive to interest rate changes. Mirae Asset Dynamic Bond 3.31 2.79 corporate bonds may stymie the ability to
When fund managers expect rates to easily switch between long-term and short-
fall, they increase the portfolio dura-
JM Dynamic Bond 2.16 1.81 term bonds in alignment with the fund
tion or average maturity by switching Data as on 30 Sept | Source: Accord Fintech manager’s stance. This manoeuverability
to longer tenure bonds. This allows the gets tricky without persistent inflows. “Not
fund to fully capture capital apprecia- average portfolio maturity of 3.3 years and within this broad range. A couple of funds are all dynamic funds are true to label,” con-
tion in underlying bonds. When inter- 4.51 years, respectively. PGIM India Dynamic following a roll-down strategy, by investing in curs Rushabh Desai, Founder, Rupee with
est rates are likely to climb, fund man- Bond Fund and ICICI Prudential All Seasons bonds maturing near a target date and hold- Rushabh Investment Services. He reckons
agers typically reduce the duration or Bond Fund have also opted for a conservative ing till maturity. that fund managers may wait for further
average maturity by moving to shorter stance with a preference for shorter tenure The divergence in funds’ positioning RBI commentary before taking a decisive
duration bonds. This protects against bonds. Meanwhile, DSP Strategic Bond Fund comes at a time when there is broad consen- call. Some might choose to alter positioning
erosion in value from marked-to-mar- and Bandhan Dynamic Bond Fund are sitting sus that interest rates are near the terminal closer to the start of the actual rate cut cycle.
ket hit on underlying bond prices. at the other end of the yield curve, running rate in the current cycle. Central banks Till that time, investors would possibly do
We looked at what dynamic bond an average portfolio maturity of 18.98 years across the world have opted for a breather in well not to go all in and remain mid-segment
funds are actually hinting at. The and 11.35 years, respectively. This aggressive the rate hike cycle. Domestically, the RBI, (four-seven years) on the yield curve.
maturity profiles of dynamic bonds positioning suggests that the funds are target- in its last policy review, kept the repo rate
paint a contrasting picture. Mirae ing capital appreciation from longer tenure unchanged at 6.5% and maintained its fiscal
Asset Dynamic Bond Fund and UTI bonds in anticipation of lower interest rates. 2024 inflation forecast at 5.4%. The 10-year etwealth@timesgroup.com
Dynamic Bond Fund are running an The other funds’ positioning is scattered benchmark yield shot up to nearly 7.4% after
interview
“Correction is not a worry, but a

bubble in small caps could be”
Since small-cap funds were getting too much money, Tata AMC stopped accepting lump-sum investments
to prevent the fund manager from making mistakes, Rahul Singh tells Babar Zaidi.
7% growth rate because that will need too Fortunately, or unfortunately, our mid-cap
many things to go right. This isn’t neces- fund is small. We have a `2,300 crore fund,
sarily the case today. If it achieves 7%, it’s whereas our small-cap fund now has `6,500
good for us, but I don’t think we are going crore. So the urgency to do something in
back to 4%. small caps for us was much greater. Some
fund houses have large-sized mid-cap funds
The sovereign debt has shot up in the of `15,000-20,000 crore. They should be the
past few years. Is that a worry? ones to stop accepting investments, not just
No, not really. Any debt is sustainable if as lump sums, but all inflows.
the nominal GDP growth rate is higher
than the interest rate. In such a case, the What about large caps? Is there still a lot
debt is serviceable and you’re not in a debt of headroom for these to grow?
trap. The nominal GDP growth rate today Yes, in the near-term, large caps are looking
is 10%, while the 10-year bond yield is at more reasonably priced. Some of these, espe-
7.35%. So we are not in a debt spiral, which cially a few banks, are still trading at valua-
is what seems to be the case in the US. In tions that are at 10-year average.
the past 2-3 years, the fiscal deficit has I would recommend a decent allocation
tilted towards capex, not just subsidy. So to balanced advantage funds (BAFs). BAF
the spending is going in the right place. returns have been as good as Nifty, with
much lesser volatility. The way markets
If capex is taking off, can we expect the are positioned today, global risks are rising
infrastructure sector to benefit? and volatility is high. These developments
I would like to qualify this by saying that are unpredictable. Ukraine happened
our traditional understanding of infra- overnight, and now the Middle East conflict
structure is very different from what exist- could become bigger.
ed 10-12 years ago. Today, we have a mix of
power stocks, PSUs, railways, defence com- We have already seen oil prices go up
panies, which are generally low on debt 10% since the conflict started. What’s
and good on governance, compared to 10-12 your view on this?
years back. Of course, the valuation always Yes, this is where India is impacted the most.
seems to run ahead of the fundamentals. So This is where inflation, fiscal deficit, cur-
one needs to constantly evaluate the kind rent account deficit, everything goes for a
of stocks, companies and sectors you want. toss. That’s why BAFs are a good option in
today’s market. Most BAFs, including ours,
The small-cap segment has seen mas- currently have around 50% equity alloca-
sive inflows. What’s your take on this? tion. If there is a correction, we can go up to
I sincerely hope that we don’t create a bub- 60-70%, even 80%. BAFs are best positioned
ble. My biggest fear is not a correction. It to take advantage of the volatility.
is a sharp rally in small caps because that
Rahul Singh Of late, the markets have been very vola-

tile. Do you expect this to continue?
will create a bubble. We are not in a bubble
zone yet, but we are not too far away.
Gold does well in times of uncertainty,
but it has not performed. Why?
We are quietly optimistic and quite excited. I don’t have an answer as to why gold has
CIO, Equities, Tata In fact, as fund managers, we have been wait- Do you think investors in small caps slipped when there are so many reasons for
understand the risk involved?
Asset Management ing for this kind of market. The economy is
not dependent on consumption anymore. It Nobody really factors it in, and when the
it to go up. Gold will go up only if there is a
big global recession, which is not happen-
is now being driven by the revival in invest- correction finally happens, everyone asks ing. Initially, everyone thought that the US
ment cycle, both private and government. the same questions that they should not would go into a recession. While the US econ-
Once this happens, it leads to two things. be asking if they had invested in small omy has slowed down, it has not gone into a
One, the growth rate becomes more sustain- caps. There are some things that are in our recession. There was also a de-dollarisation
able. Two, the market becomes more broad- hands, and some that are not. What we can theory, which suggested that everyone
based. The sectors that start doing well are do is prevent the bubble from being formed. would move away from the dollar, but there’s
not the sectors that did well in the last uptick. Our small-cap fund was getting too much no alternative to the dollar yet.
Therefore, even if the markets remain flat or money, but we were able to deploy only At the same time, one should not give up
move 5% up from here, there will be humon- 20-30% of the inflows. We did not want our on gold as an asset class. It’s like insurance.
gous opportunities to generate alpha and cre- fund manager to be pushed into making You buy and keep it, and one fine year it
ate outperformance. mistakes, so we stopped accepting lump- might give 25% return. As to which year this
sum investments about 2-3 months back. will be, you can’t predict.
Does the slowdown in the GDP growth It’s not that we are negative on small caps,
rate worry you? but we don’t want to commit mistakes.
I think India’s GDP growth rate will be in the
5.5-6% range. Remember that the world is Even mid-cap funds have seen a lot of
slowing down and, in this scenario, 5.5-6% inflows. Are you planning to make some
is a very good number. I don’t believe in a 6.5- adjustments there too?
stocks
Downside resistance of stocks

a good bet against volatility
With volatility expected to intensify in the near term, investors with a
weaker risk appetite can opt for stocks with a lower loss ratio.
mance. The loss ratio (expressed in per-
GETTYIMAGES
centage) was as low as 28% and as high as

70% in the past year among the constitu-
ent stocks of the Nifty500 index. For the
five-year period, loss ratio among the
selected group of stocks ranged between
40% and 57.4%. The range depicts the
volatility profile of the stocks. The stocks
that are at the lower end of the range
have a low volatility profile compared to
those that are at the upper end.
The loss ratio is defined as the number
of time intervals of negative returns as a
percentage of the total number of defined
time intervals. This rate is calculated
using rolling returns. For instance, the
one-year weekly rolling returns were
negative for 24 weeks out of 52 weeks for
3M India, which leads to a loss rate of
46.1%. It implies that the stock has deliv-
ered negative returns in 4.6 weeks out
of every 10 weeks in the past year. Such
returns are calculated between the start
of the week and end of the week.
The Indian markets are expected to
remain unstable in the short term due to
factors such as rising US bond yields, ge-
opolitical unrest in the Middle East, vol-
atility in crude prices, China’s economic
growth concerns and expectations that
interest rates will remain elevated for an
extended period.
The analysis of loss rate can help in-
vestors identify and choose stocks based
by Sameer Bhardwaj bility in the financial markets. However, were 2.69% and 2.58%, respectively, in on their risk preferences. Those with a
G
Indian stock markets have shown resil- the past five years. Similar resilience was lower risk appetite can opt for stocks that
lobal markets have witnessed ience compared with the world markets in also visible in the standard deviations have a loss ratio at the lower end of the
a gradual increase in volatility terms of volatility. calculated for the past year. The data has range. ET Wealth tried to identify such
over the past few years as they The standard deviation (measure of risk been compiled from the Reuters-Refinitiv stocks across multiple time intervals.
transitioned through multiple or volatility) of the MSCI India Index cal- database, and the standard deviations are The loss rates were worked out on
shocks. The US-China trade culated on weekly returns from October not annualised. weekly rolling returns for one-year,
war, Covid, high inflation, Russia-Ukraine 2018 to October 2023 stood at 2.46%. Despite doing better overall than the three-year and five-year time intervals
war and global monetary tightening are Comparatively, the standard deviations of global markets, individual stocks have for the constituent stocks of Nifty 500
some of the events that have created insta- MSCI World and MSCI Emerging Markets shown a lot of variability in their perfor- index. The latest weekly return is for
the week ending 10 October 2023. Only
those stocks with a five-year stock price
INTERGLOBE AVIATION 12-month Current 1-year target

history were included to maintain
consistency. The companies with loss
THE CARRIER forward PE price (`) price (`) 100
UPSIDE ratios lower than the median ratio of the
IS set to benefit 16.6 2,598 2,961 148.31
POTENTIAL selected group of companies (Nifty 500
from the growing
13.9
Interglobe Aviation universe) across the defined three time
% domestic demand ANALYSTS’ RECOMMENDATIONS
periods were identified.
for air travel, BUY HOLD SELL 117.90 There are 85 such companies. In
healthy PLF (passenger load factor), Nifty 500
18 2 1 the past one, three and five years, the
rising market share, continuing group of these companies has delivered
network improvement and increasing to Reuters-Refinitiv estimates. average point-to-point returns (not an-
international demand. The company’s However, the company has introduced 14 Oct 2022 17 Oct 2023 nualised) of 49.5%, 279% and 269%, re-
performance in the September quarter a fuel charge recently to pass on the spectively. Comparatively, the Nifty 500
will be impacted by the seasonality continuous hike in ATF prices. A recent points. A second quarter preview report index delivered 17.2%, 81.4% and 99.4%
and rise in crude oil prices. It is Emkay report foresees yields improving for the aviation sector by Elara Securities returns, respectively, during the same
expected to report a standalone 10% in the third quarter of 2023-24 on believes that the company will derive periods. The data is based on 17 October
net profit of `541.6 crore in the a q-o-q basis, partly driven by strong benefits from continued aircraft delivery 2023 values. The following are the five
September quarter against a net loss seasonality and fuel charge. The company based on the previous order book, airfare stocks (out of 85) that are covered by a de-
of `1,585.5 crore in the corresponding aims to improve its international presence discipline, grounding of GoFirst fleet, strong cent number of analysts and are offering
period of the previous year, according through strategic partnerships and loyalty balance sheet and healthy liquidity position. a double-digit price potential.
stocks
CAN FIN HOMES 12-month Current 1-year target pick-up in the festive season. The
slippages have gone up during
THE HOUSING FINANCE company reported forward P/BV price (`) price (`)
a mixed September 2023 100 the quarter and are expected to
2.1 768 857 rise further in the coming quarter.
UPSIDE quarter with net profit 152.60
POTENTIAL Can Fin Homes However, the management is sure of
missing Reuters-Refinitiv ANALYSTS’ RECOMMENDATIONS
11.5 % estimates by 4.8%. The

performance was hit by
BUY HOLD SELL 117.90
keeping the NPAs below 1%.
A recent DAM Capital report says
11 4 1 Nifty 500 CanFin has one of the best visibilities
higher provisions and elevated operational
expenses. However, NIMs improved by of sustained healthy growth due
28 basis points on a q-o-q basis due to management expects to cover the shortfall to its superior CoF in the housing
improvement in loan yields. in the third and fourth quarters and is 14 Oct 2022 17 Oct 2023 finance space. “Impaired visibility on
The disbursements were muted during confident of achieving `10,000 crore Aavas, which was the priciest HFC
the quarter due to negative sentiments disbursals for 2023-24. 24 supported by growth from existing till recently, enhances the prospects
on account of Ambala branch fraud and The management has maintained a loan branches, high-ticket loans under the APF for CanFin in terms of preferred
operational refinement. However, the growth guidance of 18-20% for 2023- (approved project files) segment, and a ownership among investors,” adds
the report.
HDFC BANK led to traction in loan growth, while growth FORTIS HEALTHCARE
THE PRIVATE SECTOR
in term deposits supported the overall THE HEALTHCARE
UPSIDE deposit growth. The bank aims to increase UPSIDE PROVIDER’S performance
bank’s net profit in the POTENTIAL
POTENTIAL deposits through branch banking and plans in the September quarter
26.6
September 2023 quarter
% surpassed Reuters-
to double its branches in the next 3-4 years.
The bank is witnessing post-merger
12.9 % will be supported by
sector tailwinds in the
Refinitiv estimates by
synergies in terms of deeper penetration, form of improved occupancy, seasonality,
8.1%, supported by strong momentum in
improved sales processes, faster turnaround and expected high ARPOB (average
loans and deposits. Wholesale and CRB
time, larger customer base, wider revenue per occupied bed) on a y-o-y
(commercial and rural banking) segments
distribution network and higher cross- basis. There is a strong scope for earnings
selling opportunities. Its subsidiaries—HDB growth due to its significant stake in India’s
12-month Current 1-year target Financial, HDFC AMC, HDFC Ergo—also top five diagnostic franchises and hospital
forward P/BV price (`) price (`) reported decent operating performance footprint across tier 1 and tier 2 cities.
during the quarter. It plans to add around 1,500 beds over
2.5 1,543 1,953 The management expects strong demand 2023-24 and 2026-27. It is also looking
ANALYSTS’ RECOMMENDATIONS across products and focuses on increasing for opportunities for inorganic capacity
BUY HOLD SELL the share of retail book in the overall additions. The extended bed capacity
The company will also benefit
portfolio. It reiterated its 2023-24 RoA will help improve revenues, ARPOB and
39 4 0 guidance range of 1.9-2.1% for the merged occupancy rate.
from the rising share of international
patients as the high share of Delhi/
entity. The bank has also maintained
NCR region in bed count has helped
100 sufficient provision buffers to guard against
12-month Current 1-year target the company to gain from medical
future contingencies.
forward PE price (`) price (`) tourism compared to most peers. Also,
The stock has underperformed the sector
35.1 338 381 its diversified case mix with multi-
benchmark in the past year. According to
speciality hospitals augurs well for
107.19 a recent JM Financial report, the current
ANALYSTS’ RECOMMENDATIONS long-term growth. Furthermore, the
HDFC Bank valuations offer an attractive risk-reward
BUY HOLD SELL company’s credibility has improved
profile, while sustained healthy growth
after the IHH takeover due to better
117.90 momentum, improvement in profitability 11 0 0
transparency and fading legal issues.
Nifty 500
metrics with revival in NIMs, and robust
A recent Prabhudas Lilladher
asset quality is expected to reverse the
100 second quarter healthcare sector
14 Oct 2022 17 Oct 2023 stock’s underperformance
preview report says that the
company’s improving operational
performance and efficiency has
123.23 been visible in margins despite no
Fortis expansion in the past three years.
Healthcare
The company’s brownfield expansion
plan, improving case and payor mix,
117.90
cost rationalisation initiatives and
Nifty 500
divestment of non-profitable assets
14 Oct 2022 17 Oct 2023 will aid its growth momentum.
130.03
CCL PRODUCTS 12-month Current 1-year target
CCL
Products
SDC (spray dried coffee) in India
and FDC (freeze dried coffee) in
THE COFFEE forward PE price (`) price (`)
UPSIDE Vietnam, which are expected to be
MANUFACTURER is 26.7 638 714 100
POTENTIAL commercialised in 2024-25. The
expected to report a
11.9 % revenue and PAT growth
of 22.3% and 17.4%,
ANALYSTS’ RECOMMENDATIONS
BUY HOLD SELL
overall capacity will more than double
in 2024-25. The management has
117.90 guided 20% volume CAGR over 2002-
respectively, on a y-o-y basis in the
6 4 0 Nifty 500 23 and 2025-26.
September quarter, according to Reuters-
A September 2023 top picks report
Refinitiv estimates. It is expected to benefit
by Axis Securities remains positive
from the growing global coffee market. The global companies looking to de-risk their
14 Oct 2022 17 Oct 2023 on the company due to its strong
management has guided 30-40% growth in supply chains since the Russia-Ukraine war.
footing in the international markets,
domestic business for 2023-24 and targets Also, the acquisition of six coffee brands
cost-efficient business model, capacity
to double its domestic revenue over 2022- from Lofbergs is providing access to the UK drive volumes and earnings and will also
expansion across Vietnam and India,
23 and 2024-25. market and enhancing the growth prospects lead to market share gains in the future.
and foray into high-margin branded
The international operations are thriving of the international business segment. The company is expanding capacities in
retail business.
as CCL has emerged as a choice for many The capacity expansions are likely to
Current price as on 17 October 2023. Nifty 50 12-M forward PE: 19.05. Source: Refinitiv.
financial planning
India’s individual enterprise

The crowded Indian economy bustling with small entrepreneurs needs to evolve a system that can enable
and empower these players by providing them the right education and opportunity, says Uma Shashikant.
matches one’s ambition and abilities. The
deployment of capital, both monetary and
human, varies with the scale and design of
the enterprise. As long as taxes are paid and
incomes earned circulate in the economy
through consumption, all-round economic
growth happens. The challenge for policy is
to manage the money supply implications of
the dominance of private consumption over
all other components. That is not all.
This economic model is neither the
socialistic equal division of benefits that
spectacularly failed, nor the pure capitalis-
tic celebration of growth, enterprise value,
and ownership incentives. The market for
control is non-existent in this small private
enterprise model that maximises profits
and doesn’t care much about maximising
shareholder value. Shareholders and, there-
fore, the entire edifice of corporate govern-
GETTY IMAGES
ance does not exist in this model.
Lazy investors like you and me who
latch on to the shares of a thriving busi-
ness to earn capital gains will be left by the
D
wayside. These innovative entrepreneurs,
riving through the roads of es, build housing colonies and pay secure sala- who are providing products and services at
Mumbai, it is hard to miss the ries, we have transformed into a nation that is every nook and corner of the economy, will
triumph of the individual spirit. driven by the all-pervasive entrepreneurial not seek capital from investors like us. Nor
There is only so much road for spirit. We want to be in charge of our lives, and will they let us view their audited accounts
so many to use. Everyone claims a country of a billion-and-a-half people offers to analyse their growth strategies. There is
their share, utilising literally every inch that the opportunity and freedom to pursue that ob- no dividend to earn as passive income, nor is
is available. To the newcomer, it would seem jective to the best of our ability. People are no there scope to participate as lenders. There
chaotic; to some indulgent others like me, it is longer sitting and complaining, but getting to are only producers and consumers.
a brilliant illustration of coexistence under do what they visualise as a viable business. Like any other evolving economic model,
tough conditions. It is not the rule of law that defines indi- this will also make corrections for inef-
UMA SHASHIK ANT One plods along with fellow humans, inde- vidual effort and reward. Privilege rules. The ficiencies with respect to costs, property
IS CHAIRPER SON, pendent or irreverent to the other’s chosen inequality of opportunity, access, comfort, rights, social costs and benefits, as long as
CENTRE FOR INVES TMENT these limitations do not hurt the core that
mode of transport, speed and efficiency. and incomes stares one in the face at every
EDUC ATION AND LE ARNING
Everyone is equal when the road determines turn. One drives through squalor and enters holds a self-centered individual who wants
the maximum moving speed. There is utter the urban bubble of a living community, where to maximise his income. The ‘greed is good’
selfishness in the bikers’ nudges that happen luxury resides. The rich have solved for their argument of the capital markets is much
unexpectedly from both sides of the vehicle. needs by carving out their living spaces amidst hated for celebrating the speculative trader.
But the overall effect is that everyone moves the dust and grime, unapologetic about the opu- But this model of self-motivated pursuit of
ahead, cheek by jowl, optimising the space. lence. Everyone carves their slice of the city, profits has its feet in the real economy. It en-
While one routinely The road must take along everyone who man- dwelling within the realms of their means. gages with the society at its everyday opera-
hears stories of small ages to fit in, moving ahead alone being the In this potpourri of classes and conditions tional level, engaging and paying resources,
businesses becoming objective. In a city of migrants, egalitarian ac- blooms the fruit of economic endeavour. While creating goods and services, and selling to
big, these are not the commodation is the cultural norm. one routinely hears stories of small businesses real consumers to generate its profits. It is
real big story. There Individual enterprise shines through as becoming big, these unicorns that list on the interesting for this reason.
are a million or more one walks the pavements and shopping areas. stock exchanges too soon after their revenues The anarchy of apparent unruly traffic,
small businesses Outside the luxury retail store is the cart that soar, are not the real big story. There are a mil- which also mimics the crowded economy
that won’t ever list. sells 20 types of dosas, on a plate lined with lion or more small businesses that won’t ever with bustling entrepreneurs claiming their
They will remain paper torn from a roll. Food has long crossed list. They will remain privately owned by their share of space, should evolve into a system
those simple boundaries of convenient ethnic proprietors, who also roll up their sleeves to that enables a larger number of participants
privately owned by
cuisines. Innovation rules in every menu work through their ideas and implementation. to stay on track and reach their destina-
their proprietors,
across the city. Paneer fills a taco made with They will innovate and modernise, strategise tions. While it does so, it must inspire and
who will innovate and
theplas; spicy chillies adorn the pizza; and the and specialise, but remain unlisted. lift those on the sidelines who need health,
modernise, strategise
humble spaghetti is sautéed in a peanut and What happens then to the capitalistic education and opportunity to participate in
and specialise, but
lime tadka. models of wealth creation and its distribu- the economy. Will this fiercely private and
remain unlisted. tion? What does one do with the little islands self-driven juggernaut also be benevolent at
That is the story I want to tell this week. The
story of how India moves ahead by sheer grit, that generate revenues and profits which are heart? Will india lift itself out of the scarcity
determination, and enterprising attitude of shared privately? How does one address the orientation to generosity, fuelled by these
individuals. We solve our everyday problems ethical questions that arise when individual many economic successes? I remain an in-
without waiting for the government to come in avarice dominates social well-being? What veterate optimist.
and do it for us. That transformation over the about the inequalities of income?
years is an economic miracle that warrants This model of economic growth is so easy to
detailed documentation. From a nation that romanticise. The overarching assumption is
looked up to the government to set up business- that one pursues an economic enterprise that
SMART STATS
The Economic Times Wealth
October 23-29, 2023
In This Section
MUTUAL FUNDS - P16
LOANS AND DEPOSITS - P18
ET WEALTH TOP 50 STOCKS

ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENTS- P19
Every week we put about 3,000 stocks through four key filters and rate them on a mix of factors. The end result
of this is the listing of the top 50 stocks based on the composite rating to help ease your fortune hunt.
RANK PRICE ` GROWTH%* VA LUAT I O N R AT I O S RISK R AT I N G

Current Previous Stock Net Div Downside Bear No. of Consensus
Rank Rank Price Revenue Profit PE PB Yield PEG Risk Beta Analysts Rating
1 Fast growing stocks

Bandhan Bank 1 -- 229.05 21.42 82.17 17.48 1.96 0.63 0.21 1.44 0.55 28 4.36
Kalpataru Projects Intnl. 2 1 702.60 31.67 87.42 24.15 2.42 1.00 0.32 1.30 0.99 15 4.60
Samvardhana Motherson 3 2 96.30 30.75 134.36 43.60 2.91 0.67 0.33 1.28 1.10 22 4.64 Top 5 stocks with the highest
revenue growth (%) over the
LIC Housing Finance 4 4 467.95 19.11 47.67 8.96 0.96 1.81 0.20 1.24 1.22 31 3.84
previous year
Natco Pharma 5 3 834.00 41.19 73.69 21.30 3.12 1.06 0.29 1.07 0.36 15 3.47
PSP Projects 44
Manappuram Finance 6 5 141.80 27.28 39.14 8.04 1.25 2.15 0.23 1.76 1.94 20 4.40
Zydus Lifesciences 7 7 590.15 17.37 65.31 30.17 3.37 1.03 0.50 0.85 0.23 36 3.69 Bajaj Finance 44
Somany Ceramics 8 9 688.45 19.24 97.02 40.74 3.70 0.43 0.42 1.41 0.45 22 4.64 Natco Pharma 41
Apollo Tyres 9 6 385.05 10.26 65.10 22.08 1.89 1.18 0.35 1.21 0.51 29 3.52 Ujjivan Small 37
Balrampur Chini Mills 10 10 423.15 29.76 104.65 30.40 2.95 0.59 0.29 1.31 0.95 11 3.91 Finance Ban
Maruti Suzuki 33
Maruti Suzuki India 11 8 10,762.20 33.23 46.25 39.69 5.27 0.83 0.85 0.71 0.76 49 4.16 India
Steel Authority of India 12 11 88.25 2.99 90.50 16.76 0.67 1.14 0.17 1.26 1.63 26 3.12
Adani Ports & SEZ
Larsen & Toubro
13
14
12
13
794.75
3,052.90
28.96
23.52
70.44
41.05
32.27
40.88
3.76
4.79
0.63
0.99
0.45
0.97
2.13
0.80
2.83
0.31
20
37
4.80
4.62
2 Least expensive stocks
Top 5 stocks with the lowest
Endurance Technologies 15 14 1,614.60 27.51 75.77 47.13 5.12 0.43 0.62 0.97 -0.04 20 4.30 price-earnings ratio
M&M Financial 16 17 283.00 27.09 24.33 16.74 1.87 2.13 0.66 1.27 1.50 40 3.72 Manappuram
8.04
Finance
Aurobindo Pharma 17 19 884.20 16.83 60.02 27.11 1.95 0.33 0.44 1.27 0.50 30 3.83
CESC 8.93
Bajaj Auto 18 32 5,487.00 24.89 24.42 24.18 4.95 2.73 0.86 0.80 0.02 47 3.68
LIC Housing
UPL 19 20 613.85 5.74 24.79 13.55 1.56 1.61 0.45 0.94 0.72 29 4.31 Finance 8.96
PSP Projects 20 16 780.00 43.99 52.67 21.25 3.50 0.33 0.40 1.13 1.91 12 4.58 Ujjivan Small 9.62
Finance Ban
EPL 21 22 196.40 19.83 44.19 27.42 3.14 2.17 0.64 1.29 0.59 11 4.45
Federal Bank 9.80
IndusInd Bank 22 15 1,447.75 10.08 24.14 13.22 1.93 0.99 0.56 1.18 2.20 48 4.75
3 Best PEGs
Cipla India 23 23 1,224.00 17.82 41.76 34.87 4.17 0.70 0.79 0.84 0.28 40 4.10
Mahindra & Mahindra 24 36 1,569.90 17.41 10.57 17.04 3.47 1.03 0.64 0.99 1.12 43 4.61
Top 5 stocks with the least
NTPC 25 30 239.45 6.21 23.84 13.78 1.59 3.00 0.64 0.84 0.86 24 4.79 price earnings to growth ratio
Voltas 26 24 838.45 25.71 80.08 204.49 5.06 0.51 0.51 1.02 0.63 44 3.43 LIC Housing Manappuram
Finance Finance
CESC 27 26 90.30 16.76 14.64 8.93 1.10 4.97 0.79 0.95 0.21 14 4.64
UltraTech Cement 28 31 8,515.00 16.77 68.21 47.13 4.39 0.46 0.72 0.78 0.89 45 4.11
0.17 0.20 0.21 0.23 0.29
Cyient 29 25 1,763.80 27.47 44.31 36.56 5.48 1.55 0.86 1.47 0.19 19 4.16
HeidelbergCement India 30 34 191.00 12.22 147.16 43.61 2.96 3.66 0.30 1.02 1.38 18 2.72
Steel Authority Bandhan Bank Natco Pharma
Orient Cement 31 21 205.35 18.27 88.68 34.29 2.62 0.73 0.39 1.52 1.28 13 3.54
of India
Jindal Steel & Power 32 33 676.25 6.94 97.86 21.83 1.77 0.29 0.37 1.37 1.47 26 4.08
Hero MotoCorp
Kajaria Ceramics
33
34
28
37
3,264.25
1,260.90
13.67
22.18
35.37
63.82
22.97
58.57
3.88
8.67
3.17
0.71
0.66
0.92
0.93
1.03
1.10
0.18
46
35
3.61
4.14
4 Income generators
Top 5 stocks with the highest
Federal Bank 35 27 146.90 20.78 25.59 9.80 1.41 0.68 1.22 1.14 1.69 39 4.67 dividend yield (%)
Embassy Office
Ajanta Pharma 36 41 1,774.80 18.81 45.70 38.51 6.61 1.39 0.82 1.10 0.25 16 4.50 7.03
Parks REIT
Alembic Pharmaceuticals 37 38 807.80 18.86 85.67 46.81 3.66 0.98 0.55 1.09 0.90 19 3.21 CESC 4.97
Torrent Pharmaceuticals 38 35 1,917.95 20.73 51.14 52.11 10.47 1.15 1.02 0.84 0.01 33 4.27 HeidelbergCement
3.66
India
UTI Asset Management Co 39 46 785.55 12.29 36.43 23.40 2.65 2.73 0.65 1.17 0.47 15 4.07 Hero MotoCorp 3.17
Eicher Motors 40 39 3,499.95 24.12 34.15 33.04 6.42 1.06 0.95 1.01 0.68 44 3.80 NTPC 3.00
5 Least risky
Ujjivan Small Finance Bank 41 45 58.00 36.84 14.88 9.62 2.79 2.19 1.06 1.51 1.93 15 4.87
Suprajit Engineering 42 44 373.85 18.14 62.62 34.63 4.30 0.60 0.55 1.21 0.76 10 4.40
Top 5 stocks with the lowest
VRL Logistics 43 42 676.95 26.95 46.48 36.54 6.22 0.73 0.85 1.35 0.48 13 4.54
downside risk
Finolex Industries 44 43 223.45 10.99 135.13 54.95 2.80 0.67 0.41 1.41 0.99 18 3.83 Embassy Office
Parks REIT Larsen & Toubro
Aptus Value Housing 45 47 295.45 16.10 36.45 29.00 4.37 1.35 0.82 1.40 0.00 17 4.41
Blue Star 46 40 941.00 30.11 52.86 46.37 13.67 0.64 0.82 0.97 -0.46 23 4.00
0.71 0.73 0.78 0.80 0.80
Embassy Office Parks 47 29 307.40 11.32 38.33 51.96 1.21 7.03 1.36 0.73 0.04 14 4.93
Bajaj Finance 48 -- 7,840.95 43.91 44.71 41.29 8.74 0.38 0.93 0.99 0.96 35 4.14
Maruti Suzuki UltraTech Bajaj Auto
Ramco Cements 49 -- 995.05 19.91 132.89 71.75 3.40 0.20 0.55 1.02 1.18 36 3.17 India Cement
JK Lakshmi Cement 50 49 675.10 14.74 47.64 22.23 2.84 0.55 0.43 1.45 1.50 20 4.05 SEE DOWNSIDE RISK AND BEAR BETA COLUMNS
IN THE ADJACENT TABLE.
*REVENUE AND NET PROFIT GROWTH IS BASED ON CONSENSUS ANALYSTS' EXPECTATIONS. NR: NOT IN THE RANKING. DATA AS ON 19 OCTOBER 2023. SOURCE: BLOOMBERG
smart stats
LAGGARDS & LEADERS

ETW FUNDS 100
BEST FUNDS TO BUILD YOUR PORTFOLIO
Taking a long-term view of fund returns, here is a list of 10
funds in each category—five leaders (worth investing) and
five laggards (that may be a drag on your portfolio).
LAGGARDS LEADERS
Equity: Large cap 5-year returns

ET Wealth collaborates with Value Research to identify the top-performing
11.07 17.37
funds across categories. Equity funds and equity-oriented hybrid funds are Taurus Largecap Equity Fund BHARAT 22 ETF
ranked on 3-year returns while debt-oriented hybrid and income funds are 11.13 17.26
LIC MF Nifty Next 50 Index Fund ICICI Prudential BHARAT 22 FOF
ranked on 1-year returns.
11.24 16.63
ICICI Prudential Nifty Next 50 Quant Focused Fund
RETURNS (%)
Value Research Net Assets Expense 11.25 16.2
Fund Rating (` Cr) 3-Month 6-Month 1-Year 3-Year 5-Year Ratio (%)
Groww Large Cap Fund Nippon India Large Cap Fund
EQUITY: LARGE CAP

11.44 15.83
Quant Focused Fund  394.16 3.5 17.62 14.5 25.96 16.63 2.38 25.96% UTI Nifty Next 50 Index Fund Canara Robeco Bluechip Equity Fund
ICICI Prudential Bluechip Fund  41,833.39 3.29 16.11 18.49 23.63 15.28 1.58
THE 3-YEAR
UTI Nifty 50 Index Fund - Regular Plan*  12,596.83 -0.20 12.09 13.27 19.70 14.42 0.41 RETURN OF
HDFC Index Fund Nifty 50 Plan  9,828.80 -0.22 12.02 13.16 19.52 14.19 0.40 QUANT Equity: Flexi cap 5-year returns
Kotak Bluechip Fund - Regular Plan  6,511.83 1.45 13.3 14.28 19.29 15.12 1.79 FOCUSED
Bandhan Nifty 50 Index Fund - Regular Plan  929.37 -0.27 11.91 12.89 19.27 14.29 0.60 FUND IS THE 10.77 24.25
HIGHEST
HDFC Index Fund - S&P BSE Sensex Plan  5,467.73 -1.19 11.13 12.7 18.95 14.36 0.40 Axis Focused 25 Fund Quant Flexi Cap Fund
IN ITS
 CATEGORY.
ICICI Prudential S&P BSE Sensex Index Fund 1,105.67 -1.18 11.15 12.7 18.88 14.43 0.35
10.82 21.19
Nippon India Index Fund - S&P BSE Sensex Plan  518.80 -1.21 10.99 12.33 18.67 14.07 0.58
Shriram Flexi Cap Fund 360 ONE Focused Equity Fund
Canara Robeco Bluechip Equity Fund - Regular Plan*  10,335.66 0.63 13.16 13.22 18.05 15.83 1.71
10.96 20.35
EQUITY: LARGE & MIDCAP
Motilal Oswal Flexi Cap Parag Parikh Flexi Cap Fund
HDFC Large and Mid Cap Fund - Regular Plan  11,810.08 6.76 23.71 25.3 31.76 18.65 1.78
ICICI Prudential Large & Mid Cap Fund  9,177.04 5.56 18.75 20.8 31.55 17.6 1.8
11.12 19.88
SBI Large & Midcap Fund  15,705.95 2.74 14.82 15.51 27.24 17.5 1.75 Taurus Flexi Cap Fund JM Flexicap Fund
Kotak Equity Opportunities Fund - Regular Plan  15,500.47 5.40 19.11 21.11 24.42 18.51 1.66 11.46 19.26
Mirae Asset Emerging Bluechip Fund - Regular Plan  29,024.00 5.89 19.86 19.55 24.2 19.14 1.6 Nippon India Retirement HDFC Retirement Savings Fund Equity
Tata Large & Mid Cap Fund - Regular Plan  5,331.34 2.65 16.31 17.43 23.97 17.95 1.86
EQUITY: FLEXI CAP

HDFC Flexi Cap Fund  39,794.33 4.43 18.00 21.84 33.02 17.6 1.59
33.03% Equity: Mid cap 3-year returns
JM Flexicap Fund  640.69 8.72 26.75 30.23 30.84 19.88 2.36
THE 3-YEAR 20.08 38.15
Franklin India Focused Equity Fund  9,529.06 3.81 18.05 16.69 29.89 17.83 1.8 RETURN OF
HDFC FLEXI DSP Midcap Fund Quant Mid Cap Fund
HDFC Retirement Savings Fund Equity Plan  3,746.40 3.58 18.12 25.12 29.78 19.26 1.87
CAP FUND 23.13 36.93
ICICI Prudential Retirement Fund - Pure Equity Plan  367.57 5.25 22.83 22.83 29.43 — 2.4
IS THE
Franklin India Flexi Cap Fund  12,141.15 7.19 21.1 20.43 28.62 16.65 1.76 HIGHEST Axis Midcap Fund Motilal Oswal Midcap Fund
ICICI Prudential Focused Equity Fund  5,382.93 2.66 17.19 19.39 26.23 15.55 1.85 IN ITS 23.62 34.79
360 ONE Focused Equity Fund - Regular Plan  4,629.87 4.98 18.09 20.49 24.42 21.19 1.88 CATEGORY.
LIC MF Midcap Fund HDFC Mid-Cap Opportunities Fund
Parag Parikh Flexi Cap Fund - Regular Plan  42,784.56 4.64 16.24 23.31 22.83 20.35 1.41
23.72 34.73
Union Flexi Cap Fund  1,634.04 4.00 19.21 17.64 22.41 16.97 2.09
HSBC Midcap Fund SBI Magnum Midcap Fund
PGIM India Flexi Cap Fund - Regular Plan  5,816.46 -0.85 12.87 11.34 20.8 18.09 1.78
Canara Robeco Flexi Cap Fund - Regular Plan*  10,307.83 0.81 13.15 12.64 18.77 15.9 1.72 26.13 34.60
Franklin India Prima Motilal Oswal Nifty Midcap 100 ETF
EQUITY: MID CAP
Quant Mid Cap Fund  3,140.30 11.84 26.99 26.00 38.15 25.17 1.92 38.15%
Motilal Oswal Midcap Fund - Regular Plan  5,953.05 6.9 24.34 21.36 36.93 22.31 1.79 THE
SBI Magnum Midcap Fund  13,244.51 6.3 22.84 22.30 34.73 22.31 1.78 3-YEAR Equity: Small cap 3-year returns
Nippon India Growth Fund  19,247.23 10.47 29.21 29.33 34.03 22.45 1.69 RETURN OF
QUANT MID 26.09 45.48
Mirae Asset Midcap Fund - Regular Plan  12,172.62 9.06 26.4 22.96 32.2 — 1.71
CAP FUND
Edelweiss Mid Cap Fund - Regular Plan*  3,797.54 7.06 21.87 20.08 31.14 20.67 1.86 IS THE ITI Small Cap Fund Quant Small Cap Fund
Kotak Emerging Equity Fund - Regular Plan  33,918.27 8.24 21.89 22.33 31.13 21.54 1.52 HIGHEST 30.98 44.80
IN ITS
PGIM India Midcap Opportunities Fund - Regular Plan  9,342.34 2.7 15.16 9.19 29.13 23.22 1.71 Aditya Birla Sun Life Nippon India Small Cap Fund
CATEGORY.
EQUITY: SMALL CAP 32.5 42.33
Quant Small Cap Fund  9,089.12 10.14 28.82 36.99 45.48 29.51 1.76 Bandhan Emerging Businesses HSBC Small Cap Fund
Nippon India Small Cap Fund  37,374.40 10.83 32.65 35.89 44.8 26.12 1.55 32.92 40.96
Tata Small Cap Fund - Regular Plan  6,134.53 7.89 26.02 29.97 40.11 — 1.76
SBI Small Cap Fund HDFC Small Cap Fund
Edelweiss Small Cap Fund - Regular Plan*  2,455.27 9.39 28.56 27.32 37.8 — 1.95
Kotak Small Cap Fund - Regular Plan  12,439.62 7.26 24.4 21.82 36.01 24.53 1.68
33.08 40.36
Axis Small Cap Fund - Regular Plan  16,175.33 7.7 24.81 23.76 33.08 25.64 1.66 Axis Small Cap Fund Franklin India Smaller Companies
EQUITY: VALUE ORIENTED

SBI Contra Fund  16,337.09 6.65 21.16 27.28 38.38 22.57 1.73 38.38% Hybrid: Aggressive 5-year returns
Bandhan Sterling Value Fund - Regular Plan  6,846.79 4.5 20.18 22.37 36.02 18.43 1.81 THE 3-YEAR
ICICI Prudential Value Discovery Fund  33,938.64 6.56 18.38 25.35 30.85 18.28 1.64 RETURN OF 21.09
SBI CONTRA
9.21
EQUITY: ELSS FUND IS Nippon India Equity Hybrid Quant Absolute Fund
Quant Tax Plan  4,924.99 6.3 19.98 12.5 34.4 25.89 1.85 THE HIGH- 9.61 17.91
Bandhan Tax Advantage (ELSS) Fund - Regular Plan  5,160.17 3.9 19.85 20.48 30.32 18.19 1.79 EST IN ITS
CATEGORY.
PGIM India Hybrid Equity ICICI Prudential Equity & Debt Fund
DSP Tax Saver Fund*  12,085.93 5.03 18.09 19.01 25.14 17.97 1.69
Bank of India Tax Advantage Fund - Regular Plan  888.58 7.35 18.81 19.06 24.21 20.46 2.25 9.63 17.85
PGIM India ELSS Tax Saver Fund - Regular Plan  568.45 -0.26 11.53 13.2 24.12 15.69 2.32 LIC MF Aggressive Hybrid Bank of India Mid & Small Cap Equity
Kotak Tax Saver Regular Plan  4,198.60 4.47 17.04 18.49 23.87 17.5 1.8 10.02 15.75
Union Tax Saver (ELSS) Fund  708.49 3.6 18.26 16.48 23.18 17.3 2.35 Bandhan Asset Allocation Kotak Equity Hybrid Fund
Parag Parikh Tax Saver Fund - Regular Plan  2,064.97 6.03 15.76 18.72 23.08 — 1.86
10.11 15.55
Mirae Asset Tax Saver Fund - Regular Plan  17,985.39 3.47 16.92 17.68 22.67 17.84 1.61
Canara Robeco Equity Tax Saver Fund - Regular Plan*  6,139.98 0.72 13.27 11.7 20.3 17.41 1.74
Shriram Aggressive Hybrid HDFC Children’s Gift Fund
ANNUALISED RETURNS IN % AS ON 18 OCT 2023.

smart stats
ETW FUNDS 100 Value Research Net Assets

RETURNS (%)
Expense
1 Top 5 SIPs
Fund Rating (` Cr) 3-Month 6-Month 1-Year 3-Year 5-Year Ratio
HYBRID: EQUITY SAVINGS

HDFC Equity Savings Fund  3,110.80 2.34 7.96 10.34 14 9.42 2.01 Top 5 equity schemes based
SBI Equity Savings Fund - Regular Plan  3,062.01 5.07 12.95 13.64 13.11 10.49 1.19 on 10-year SIP returns
UTI Equity Savings Fund - Regular Plan*  291.56 2.24 8.6 12.71 13.02 9.31 1.5
Nippon India Small Cap Fund
Mirae Asset Equity Savings Fund - Regular Plan  712.31 1.78 8.61 10.44 12.04 — 1.38
Kotak Equity Savings Fund - Regular Plan  3,154.13 2.43 8.04 11.56 11.08 9.54 1.96 24.58
ICICI Prudential Equity Savings Fund  7,068.60 2.21 6.64 10.08 10.78 8.3 0.99 Quant Small Cap Fund
HYBRID: AGGRESSIVE (EQUITY-ORIENTED) 23.21
ICICI Prudential Equity & Debt Fund  26,324.58 6.75 17.18 20.95 31.72 17.91 1.68 31.72% Quant Tax Plan
Quant Absolute Fund  1,378.11 1.95 10.61 6.49 26.81 21.09 2.1 THE 3-YEAR
RETURN OF 22.49
JM Equity Hybrid Fund  74.45 10.11 24.06 28.33 24.45 14.73 2.4
ICICI PRU SBI Small Cap Fund
Edelweiss Aggressive Hybrid Fund - Regular Plan*  904.21 3.58 14.83 17.69 21.51 14.58 2.21 EQUITY & DEBT
HDFC Children's Gift Fund  7,402.71 1.82 13.41 19.25 21.46 15.55 1.79 FUND IS THE 22.42
Mahindra Manulife Aggressive Hybrid Fund  820.79 3.24 15.54 16.56 21.14 — 2.24 HIGHEST IN ITS HDFC Small Cap Fund
CATEGORY.
HDFC Hybrid Equity Fund  21,045.90 0.7 10.65 15.1 20.97 14.09 1.71
20.79
HDFC Retirement Savings Fund - Hybrid Equity Plan  1,149.32 2.61 14.4 19.98 20.49 14.7 2.16
Kotak Equity Hybrid Fund - Regular Plan  4,266.69 2.79 12.52 14.67 20.36 15.75 1.84 SIP: SYSTEMATIC % ANNUALISED RETURNS
Baroda BNP Paribas Aggressive Hybrid Fund - Regular Plan  848.67 2.86 13.5 14.63 17.63 14.97 2.23 INVESTMENT PLAN AS ON 18 OCT 2023
Canara Robeco Equity Hybrid Fund - Regular Plan*  9,033.69 1.21 11.36 11.83 15.62 13.77 1.75
2 Top 5 MIPs
HYBRID: CONSERVATIVE (DEBT-ORIENTED)
SBI Magnum Children's Benefit Fund - Savings Plan  100.74 4.67 9.93 13.07 14.24 10.2 1.23
13.07%
HDFC Hybrid Debt Fund  2,892.57 2 7.12 11.69 12.19 9.81 1.8
THE 1-YEAR Top 5 MIP schemes based on
SBI Conservative Hybrid Fund  8,962.82 2.3 7.59 10.71 12 10.61 1.12 RETURN OF 3-year SWP returns
Kotak Debt Hybrid Fund - Regular Plan  1,987.03 1.32 6.63 9.5 10.89 10.68 1.76 SBI MAGNUM
ICICI Prudential Regular Savings Fund  3,295.25 1.96 6.77 9.25 9.15 9.29 1.72 CHILDREN’S SBI Magnum Children’s Benefit Fund
Canara Robeco Conservative Hybrid Fund  1,037.75 1.14 5.21 7.51 7.93 9.22 1.81 BENEFIT IS
THE HIGH- 13.96
DEBT: MEDIUM TO LONG TERM EST IN ITS
Bank of India Conservative Hybrid Fund
SBI Magnum Income Fund  1,677.61 0.69 2.98 7.2 4.57 7.58 1.46
CATEGORY.

13.01
UTI Bond Fund - Regular Plan* 311.19 -0.17 2.03 6.13 8.27 4.02 1.62
HDFC Hybrid Debt Fund
DEBT: MEDIUM TERM
11.17
SBI Magnum Medium Duration Fund  7,042.91 1.08 3.11 7.42 4.97 7.68 1.22
Axis Strategic Bond Fund  1,916.87 0.71 2.8 6.82 5.46 6.83 1.09 SBI Conservative Hybrid Fund
Aditya Birla Sun Life Medium Term Plan*  1,897.20 0.74 2.67 6.81 12.36 8.18 1.58 10.92
ICICI Prudential Medium Term Bond Fund  6,504.55 0.93 2.95 6.8 5.52 7.22 1.4
ICICI Prudential Income Optimizer Fund
DEBT: SHORT TERM
10.77
ICICI Prudential Short Term Fund  18,689.00 1.39 3.46 7.18 5.28 7.29 1.07 7.18%
SWP: SYSTEMATIC % ANNUALISED RETURNS
HDFC Short Term Debt Fund  12,405.74 1.18 3.13 6.98 4.8 7.09 0.74 THE 1-YEAR
WITHDRAWAL PLAN
UTI Short Term Income Fund - Regular Plan*  2,388.88 1.08 3.06 6.66 6.24 5.05 0.95 RETURN OF AS ON 18 OCT 2023
ICICI PRU
Aditya Birla Sun Life Short Term Fund*  5,465.99 1.03 2.9 6.58 4.89 6.97 1.09
SHORT TERM

3
Sundaram Short Duration Fund 196.19 0.96 2.78 6.58 6.64 5.3 0.84 FUND IS
Axis Short Term Fund  7,366.58 0.95 2.74 6.53 4.54 6.82 0.99 THE HIGH-
EST IN ITS
Small Cap: Cash holdings
DEBT: DYNAMIC BOND CATEGORY.
ICICI Prudential All Seasons Bond Fund  11,096.97 1.1 3.3 7.13 5.41 7.76 1.31
SBI Dynamic Bond Fund  2,965.72 0.32 2.69 6.81 4.22 7.39 1.44
15.33
Quantum Dynamic Bond Fund - Regular Plan  91.30 0.16 2.36 6.69 4.52 6.96 0.96
Aditya Birla Sun Life Dynamic Bond Fund  1,712.27 0.39 2.41 6.32 5.6 5.56 1.23 10.88 10.24 9.89
360 ONE Dynamic Bond Fund - Regular Plan  744.85 0.31 2.68 6.07 5.29 6.34 0.52
8.21
DEBT: CORPORATE BOND
ICICI Prudential Corporate Bond Fund  23,379.83 1.6 3.78 7.43 5.36 7.36 0.53
Expense as on 30 Sept 2023
Nippon India Corporate Bond Fund  2,458.21 1.11 3.15 7.21 5.4 6.74 0.67
* : Expense as on before 30
Aditya Birla Sun Life Corporate Bond Fund*  17,915.33 1.19 3.22 7.11 5.09 7.47 0.5
September 2023
Kotak Corporate Bond Fund - Standard Plan  10,717.87 1.14 3.14 6.68 4.7 6.76 0.67 Quant Axis ICICI Pru- Tata PGIM
Returns as on 18 Oct 2023
Small Cap Small Cap dential Small India
Assets as on 30 Sept 2023 Fund Fund Smallcap Cap Fund Small Cap
All equity funds ranked on 3-year returns. Debt funds ranked on 1-year returns. Rating as on 30 Sept 2023 Fund Fund
Did not find your fund here? % OF ASSETS AS ON 30 SEPT 2023
Log on to www.wealth.economictimes.com for an exhaustive list.
Methodology
The Top 100 includes only those funds that have a 5- or
4-star rating from Value Research. The rating is determined
EQUITIES (figures over the past one year)
Large-cap: Mostly invested in large-cap companies.
FUND
4 Debt: Corporate bond
Multi-cap: Mostly invested in large- and mid-cap
RAISER
by subtracting a fund’s risk score from its return score.
The result is assigned stars according to the following companies. 0.57
0.51 0.53
distribution: Mid-cap: Mostly invested in mid-cap companies. 0.50 0.50
 Top 10% Small-cap: Mostly invested in small-cap companies.
59.4%
 Next 22.5% Tax planning: Offer tax rebate under Section 80C.
(Not covered
 Middle 35% in ETW Funds International: More than 65% of assets invested abroad.
 Next 22.5% 100 listing) Income: Average maturity varies according to objective.
 Bottom 10% Gilt: Medium- and long-term; invest in gilt securities.
of 173 equity-diversified funds
Fixed-income funds less than 18 months old and equity funds Equity-oriented: Average equity exposure more
less than three years old have been excluded. This ensures than 60%. have the highest exposure to
that all the funds have existed long enough to be tracked for the banking sector (in terms DSP Aditya Sunda- ICICI Pru- UTI Cor-
Debt-oriented aggressive: Average equity exposure Corporate Birla Sun ram Cor- dential porate
consistency of performance. Given the focus on long-term between 25-60%. of their respective AUMs) in Bond Life Cor- porate Corporate Bond
investing, liquid funds, short-term funds and FMPs are not
part of the list. For the same reason, we have considered only Debt-oriented conservative: Average equity exposure September 2023. Fund porate Bond Bond Fund Fund
less than 25%. Bond Fund
the growth option of funds that reinvest returns instead of Fund
offering dividends that increase the NAV of funds. Arbitrage: Seek arbitrage opportunities between equity % AS ON 30 SEP 2023
and derivatives. SOURCE: ACE MF. % EXPENSE RATIO IS CHARGED ANNUALLY.
Despite these rigorous filters, the list includes 2/3 funds of
each category to maximise choice from the best funds. Asset allocation: Invest fully in equity or debt as per METHODOLOGY OF TOP 100 FUNDS ON
WWW.WEALTH.ECONOMICTIMES.COM
The fund categories are: market conditions.
loans and deposits

LOANS & DEPOSITS

ET WEALTH collaborates with ETIG to provide a comprehensive ready reckoner of loans and fixed-income
instruments. Don’t miss the information on investments for senior citizens and a simplified EMI calculator.
Top five bank FDs

Interest rate (%) What `10,000
HOME LOAN RATES
TENURE: 1 YEAR compounded qtrly will grow to With effect from October 2019, all banks have made the transition to
IndusInd Bank 7.50 10,771 external benchmarks for pricing new home loans. Most banks have
Bandhan Bank 7.25 10,745
picked the RBI repo rate as the external benchmark.
YES Bank 7.25 10,745
DCB Bank 7.15 10,734 REPO RATE: 6.50%
Kotak Mahindra Bank 7.10 10,729 FOR SALARIED FOR SELF-EMPLOYED (%)
BANK
TENURE: 2 YEARS RLLR (%) FROM (%) TO (%) FROM (%) TO (%) WEF
DCB Bank 7.55 11,614 Bank of Baroda 9.15 8.40 10.60 8.40 10.60 14 Feb 2023
IDFC First Bank 7.50 11,602 HDFC Bank -- 8.50 9.40 8.50 9.40 Not Given
IndusInd Bank 7.50 11,602
Indian Bank 9.20 8.50 9.90 8.50 9.90 14 June 2023
RBL Bank 7.50 11,602
Punjab National Bank 9.25 8.50 10.10 8.50 10.10 9 Feb 2023
Indusind Bank -- 8.50 10.55 8.50 10.55 Not Given
TENURE: 3 YEARS
Bank of India 9.25 8.50 10.60 8.50 10.75 1 Aug 2023
DCB Bank 7.60 12,534
IDBI Bank 9.10 8.55 10.75 8.65 12.25 12 Feb 2023
Bank of Baroda 7.25 12,405 Union Bank of India 9.30 8.55 10.80 8.55 10.80 11 Aug 2023
IDFC First Bank 7.25 12,405 Bank of Maharashtra 9.30 8.60 10.30 8.80 10.80 8 June 2023
YES Bank 7.25 12,405 SBI Term Loan 8.75+CRP 8.70 9.65 8.70 9.65 1 July 2023
TENURE: 5 YEARS Kotak Mahindra Bank -- 8.75 9.35 8.80 9.60 Not Given
DCB Bank 7.40 14,428 Karnataka Bank -- 8.75 10.43 8.75 10.43 1 Aug 2023
IndusInd Bank 7.25 14,323 Federal Bank -- 8.80 10.25 10.20 10.30 Not Given
YES Bank 7.25 14,323
Indian Overseas Bank 9.35 8.85 9.55 8.85 9.55 8 Feb 2023
Axis Bank 7.00 14,148
UCO Bank 9.30 8.85 10.40 8.85 10.40 15 Mar 2023
HDFC Bank 7.00 14,148
Canara Bank 9.25 8.85 11.20 8.90 11.25 12 July 2023
Punjab & Sind Bank 8.54 8.95 9.95 8.95 9.95 9 Feb 2023
Top five senior citizen bank FDs J & K Bank 9.10 9.10 9.50 9.10 9.50 10 May 2023
Interest rate (%) What `10,000 Bandhan Bank -- 9.15 13.32 9.15 13.32 Not Given
TENURE: 1 YEAR compounded qtrly will grow to
IndusInd Bank 8.25 10,851 Karur Vysya Bank 9.60 9.23 12.13 9.23 12.13 10 Feb 2023
Bandhan Bank 7.75 10,798 ICICI Bank -- 9.25 9.90 9.40 10.05 Not Given
YES Bank 7.75 10,798 Dhanlaxmi Bank 8.50 9.35 10.00 9.85 10.50 25 Feb 2023
DCB Bank 7.65 10,787 DCB Bank 9.75 9.75 9.95 9.75 9.95 13 Feb 2023
J & K Bank 7.60 10,782
TENURE: 2 YEARS
Your EMI for a loan of `1 lakh
DCB Bank 8.05 11,728 TENURE 5 YEARS 10 YEARS 15 YEARS 20 YEARS 25 YEARS
RBL Bank 8.00 11,717
@ 7% 1,980 1,161 899 775 707
IDFC First Bank 7.75 11,659 @ 8% 2,028 1,213 956 836 772
TENURE: 3 YEARS
DCB Bank 8.10 12,720
@ 9% 2,076 1,267 1,014 900 839
@ 10% 2,125 1,322 1,075 965 909
YES Bank 8.00 12,682
Bandhan Bank 7.75 12,589 FIGURES ARE IN `. USE THIS CALCULATOR TO CHECK YOUR LOAN AFFORDABILITY.
FOR EXAMPLE, A `5 LAKH LOAN AT 10% FOR 15 YEARS WILL TRANSLATE INTO AN EMI OF `1,075 X 5 = `5,375
Bank of Baroda 7.75 12,589
TENURE: 5 YEARS
Post office deposits Interest (%)
Minimum
investment (`)
Maximum
investment (`)
Features
Tax
benefits
YES Bank 8.00 14,859 Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana 8.00 250 `1.5 lakh p.a. One account per girl child 80C
DCB Bank 7.90 14,787
Axis Bank 7.75 14,678 Senior Citizens' Savings Scheme 8.20 1,000 `30 lakh 5-year tenure, minimum age 60 yrs 80C
RBL Bank 7.60 14,571
Public Provident Fund 7.10 500 `1.5 lakh p.a. 15-year tenure, tax-free returns 80C
Kisan Vikas Patra 7.50 1,000 No limit Can be encashed after 2.5 years Nil
Top five tax-saving bank FDs 5-year NSC VIII Issue 7.70 1,000 No limit No TDS 80C
Interest What `10,000
TENURE: 5 YEARS AND ABOVE rate (%) will grow to
Time deposit 6.9-7.50 1,000 No limit Available in 1, 2, 3, 5 year tenures 80C#
DCB Bank 7.40 14,428
IndusInd Bank 7.25 14,323 Single `9 lakh 5-year tenure, monthly returns Nil
Post Office Monthly Income
YES Bank 7.25 14,323 7.40 1,000
Scheme
Joint `15 lakh 5-year tenure, monthly returns Nil
RBL Bank 7.10 14,217
ICICI Bank 7.00 14,148 Recurring deposits 6.70 100 No limit 5-year tenure Nil
Savings account 4.00 500 No limit `10,000 interest tax-free Nil

ALL DATA SOURCED FROM ECONOMIC TIMES INTELLIGENCE GROUP
(ETIGDB@TIMESGROUP.COM) Data as on 19 October 2023 #Benefit available only for 5-year deposit
market watch
ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENT
RETURNS MONITOR
The scope and attractiveness of alternative investments is increasing. Here’s a weekly tracker of returns from such investments. But don’t
compare these with returns from traditional investments since the proportion and purpose of alternative investments is vastly different.
Gold (995) (`) Silver (`) Platinum ($/troy ounce) WTI Crude ($/barrel)
50,035 59,700 55,606 71,324 887.34 884.06 85.55 88.32
19 OCT 2022 19 OCT 2023 19 OCT 2022 19 OCT 2023 19 OCT 2022 19 OCT 2023 19 OCT 2022 18 OCT 2023
PRICE OF 10 GM GOLD PRICE OF 1 KG SILVER
CHANGE
X 1 WEEK 3.09% 1 WEEK 2.33% 1 WEEK 1.54% 1 WEEK 6.53%
X 1 YEAR 19.32% 1 YEAR 28.27% 1 YEAR -0.37% 1 YEAR 3.24%
PENNY STOCKS UPDATE

Penny stocks as a recommended non-traditional investment? Not exactly. ET WEALTH
neither has the expertise nor does it recommend investing in such stocks. But since the
relatively ‘low’ cost of investment attracts some investors to penny stocks, we provide
a weekly snapshot of this most volatile and uncertain type of stock investing.
Top price gainers Top volume gainers

MARKET 1-WEEK (%) 1-MTH (%) 1-MONTH AVG 1-MONTH AVG MKT CAP MARKET 1-WEEK (%) 1-MTH (%) 1-MTH AVG 1-MONTH AVG MKT CAP
STOCK PRICE (`) CHANGE CHANGE VOL (LAKH) VOL CHG (%) (`CR) STOCK PRICE (`) CHANGE CHANGE VOL (LAKH) VOL CHG (%) (`CR)
Diligent Media Corp 5.60 4.28 83.61 3.35 650.38 65.91 Newtime Infrastructure 9.91 -8.49 -9.91 1.77 6,456.26 190.97
Jackson Investments 0.52 23.81 79.31 0.39 -100 15.12 VR Woodart 9.24 10 10 0.01 933.33 13.76
IL&FS Transportation 4.93 -14.26 68.84 1.02 294.81 162.18 Sarveshwar Foods 4.72 -5.60 -4.65 3.05 890.47 461.99
Premier 4.20 20.69 59.70 0.17 50.61 12.76 Diligent Media Corp 5.60 4.28 83.61 3.35 650.38 65.91
Zenith Steel Pipes 6.49 15.28 57.91 3.72 470.33 92.34 Kaushalya Infra 9.55 9.39 50.63 1.13 643.67 33.07
Kaushalya Infra 9.55 9.39 50.63 1.13 643.67 33.07 DCM Financial Services 5.66 -22.25 30.11 0.44 516.58 12.53
Vintron Informatics 6.04 16.38 49.88 0.97 -28.19 47.35 Akshar Spintex 7.21 10.58 -5.01 0.47 499.33 180.25
Avance Technologies 2.01 8.06 48.89 11.58 13.84 79.67 Kanani Industries 8.47 -1.97 7.22 1.52 497.61 83.77
Minal Industries 6.09 9.93 45.69 0.27 13.51 116.87 Zenith Steel Pipes 6.49 15.28 57.91 3.72 470.33 92.34
Darshan Orna 4.38 46 43.61 2.56 248.10 21.92 Super Spinning Mills 9.62 18.47 16.89 1.44 412.12 52.91
Top price losers Top volume losers

IFL Enterprises 8.27 -41.18 -46.85 48.98 376.69 188.06 Colorchips New Media 4.21 -0.71 0.48 1.04 -93.50 35.81
Scanpoint Geomatics 7.11 -4.69 -28.47 1.73 256.26 49.27 Shalimar Productions 0.49 0 0 2.58 -87.96 48.23
Veerkrupa Jewellers 2.10 -8.30 -24.19 1.91 -58.87 27.53 Visesh Infotecnics 0.45 -2.17 -10 34.94 -87.67 169.85
Future Lifestyle Fashions 3.09 -1.90 -23.70 1.02 41.75 62.34 KBC Global 2.61 -1.14 -0.76 4.56 -86.10 160.52
Diligent Industries 7.03 -3.96 -23.09 1.42 -1.03 80.42 Kenvi Jewels 8.34 0.60 -4.36 2 -84.07 105.42
GTL Infrastructure 0.94 -7.84 -21.01 338.29 -51.97 1186.59 Bhandari Hosiery Expo. 6.60 10 2.17 1.09 -79.64 107.84
Integra Essentia 5.96 -0.67 -19.68 1.63 -19.94 272.37 Excel Realty N Infra 0.35 -12.50 -12.5 5.89 -78.18 49.38
Baroda Extrusion 2.60 -2.99 -18.24 1.38 -10.29 38.74 Seacoast Shipping 2.96 -1.66 1.72 28.53 -77.96 159.46
Future Retail 3.03 -4.11 -17.21 3.06 -28.71 164.32 ACI Infocom 1.20 -1.64 -14.29 1.63 -76.26 13.26
RO Jewels 3.93 1.29 -16.74 5.98 58.42 19.83 Prismx Global Ventures 1.86 4.49 6.29 5.51 -75.38 81.62
STOCKS HAVE BEEN SELECTED USING THE FOLLOWING FILTERS: PRICE LESS THAN `10, ONE-MONTH AVERAGE VOLUME GREATER THAN OR EQUAL TO 1 LAKH, AND MARKET
CAPITALISATION GREATER THAN OR EQUAL TO `10 CRORE. DATA AS ON 19 OCT 2023. SOURCE: ETIG DATABASE AND BLOOMBERG.
mutual funds
HSBC ELSS
Sustained performance needed

ET Wealth collaborates with Value Research to analyse top mutual funds. We examine the key fundamentals
of the fund, its portfolio and performance to help you make an informed investment decision.
HOW THE FUND HAS PERFORMED Top 5 sectors in portfolio (%)
Point-to-point returns (%)

BASIC Financials 29.36
FUND BENCHMARK CATEGORY AVERAGE FACTS Capital

goods
15.70
23.43 22.78 Technology 11.29

DATE OF LAUNCH
19.87
17.35 18.00 18.94 27 FEBRUARY 2006 Automobiles 9.34
16.25 15.63
CATEGORY
12.07 Consumer
EQUITY staples 6.53
TYPE
ELSS The fund’s biggest overweight
stance is in capital goods.
AUM*
1-YEAR 3-YEAR 5-YEAR `3,316 crore
AS ON 17 OCTOBER 2023 Top 5 stocks in portfolio (%)
The fund has lagged the index BENCHMARK
and peers in recent years. NIFTY 500 TOTAL HDFC Bank
7.40
RETURN INDEX
Larsen & Toubro 5.23
Rolling returns (%) WHAT IT ICICI Bank 5.20
COSTS
FUND BENCHMARK
Cholamandalam
15.48 Investment & Fin. 4.09
1-YEAR NAV** KPIT 3.68
16.24 Technologies
GROWTH OPTION
`92.51 The portfolio is well diversified, with
13.55 IDCW** healthy positions in top bets.
3-YEAR `25.39
14.17 MINIMUM INVESTMENT Recent portfolio changes
`500 New entrants
13.28 MINIMUM SIP AMOUNT
360 One Wam, Avalon Technologies, Can Fin Homes,
5-YEAR
`1,000
Craftsman Automation, Jio Financial Services,
13.07 EXPENSE RATIO # (%) Safari Industries (India), The Federal Bank, United
AS ON 17 OCTOBER 2023
1.92 Spirits, Zensar Technologies(Jul). Coforge, Max
The fund’s long-term track record indicates underperfor- EXIT LOAD Healthcare Institute, Polycab India (Aug). Bikaji Foods
mance over 3 years and mild outperformance over 5 years. 0% International, Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India,
Mankind Pharma, Maruti Suzuki India (Sept).
Note: Different benchmark (S&P BSE500 TRI) is used due to non-availability of stated benchmark data.
Returns are rolled daily over past decade for relevant time frames. *AS ON 30 SEPT 2023
**AS ON 17 OCT 2023
Complete exits
#AS ON 30 SEPT 2023 Housing Development Finance Corporation,
WHERE THE FUND INVESTS

Motherson Sumi Wiring India, NTPC, SRF (Jul).
Increasing allocation
Portfolio asset Bank of Baroda, HDFC Bank, Samvardhana

Fund Motherson International (Jul). 360 One Wam,
allocation
style box Cipla, Safari Industries (India) (Aug). Hindustan
Aeronautics, Polycab India, Shriram Finance (Sept).
Growth Blend Value
98.63% How risky is it?

Large
Equity
Fund Category Index
CAPITALISATION
Large cap 60.86

25.50 Standard Deviation 13.69 13.75 14.40
Medium
Mid cap
Small cap 13.64
Sharpe Ratio 1.11 1.29 1.28
Cash 1.37 FUND
Small
Mean Return 19.60 22.04 22.90
INVESTMENT STYLE
MANAGER BASED ON 3-YEAR PERFORMANCE.
CHEENU GUPTA / The fund’s risk-return profile is

The fund takes a large-cap tilt. GAUTAM BHUPAL weaker than many of its peers.
AS ON 30 SEPT 2023
2 YEARS, 2 MONTHS/ 10 MONTHS
Source: Value Research
Should Earlier known as L&T Tax Advantage, this

fund is now run under the HSBC Mutual
or market-cap bias. It looks to own scal-
able businesses with strong execution
witnessed chronic underperformance for
the past few years, lagging both the index
You Fund banner after the merger, even as
HSBC Tax Saver fund was discontinued.
capabilities, proven management track
records and strong financials. The fund
and peers. While the fund’s year-to-date
performance has improved, it needs to
Buy It scouts for the best opportunities that
the market presents, without any sector
portfolio is reasonably diversified with
large positions in its top bets. The fund has
sustain outperformance in a longer time
frame to prove its credentials.
pick of the week

Muthoot Finance: Glittering prospects

Strong demand for gold, attractive gold loan features and high customer centricity to drive performance.
T
he gold loan NBFC is expected to report a standalone and customer service through digital adoption. The company’s Fundamentals
net profit growth of 20.4% on a y-o-y basis in the mobile apps are enhancing customer service by enabling on- CONSENSUS
ACTUAL
September 2023 quarter, according to Reuters- line loan applications, repayments, top-ups and digital KYC. ESTIMATE
Refinitiv estimates. The performance will be support- The apps are also improving internal efficiency by enabling 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25
ed by traction in gold loans, continued marketing initiatives field agents to generate leads, increasing debt recovery rates Revenue (` cr) 7,929.06 7,688.49 8,224.24 9,419.80
and digital adoption. and transparency. Op. Income (` cr) 5,357.63 4,845.44 5,883.18 6,812.19
The largest gold financing company in India also offers An analysis by a recent Ambit Capital report rates Muthoot Net profit (` cr) 4,017.07 3,612.30 4,203.31 4,766.91
multiple services through its subsidiaries, including money Finance better in terms of customer centricity (lowest number
EPS (`) 100.06 89.98 106.04 123.86
transfer, business loans, personal of complaints), efficiency (highest
loans, corporate loans and collec-
tion services. The company enjoys a Analysts’ views
AUM per branch) and internal con-
trols (lower number of frauds) rela-
Valuations PBV PE
DIVIDEND
YIELD (%)
competitive advantage through high tive to peers. The report believes its Muthoot Finance 2.32 13.17 1.76
4 Bajaj Finance 8.73 36.20 0.38
brand recall and a strong distribu-
Sell 15 product market leadership will help
tion network. Most analysts are con- Buy achieve an AUM CAGR of 15% over Shriram Finance 1.62 11.08 1.86
fident about its growth prospects due 2022-23 and 2025-26, compared to 9% Sundaram Finance 3.67 25.11 0.83
to multiple reasons. over 2020-21 and 2022-23. L & T Finance Holdings 1.59 18.11 1.45
First, the company will ben- 5 Fifth, various subsidiaries of
efit from the rising gold prices and
strong affinity for gold in India.
Hold
the company are performing well.
Muthoot Homefin and Belstar
Brokerage calls TARGET
RECO DATE RESEARCH HOUSE ADVICE PRICE (`)
India’s economic growth prospects, Microfinance witnessed the highest
12 Oct 2023 Elara Capital Buy 1,520
urbanisation, ongoing Russia- y-o-y jump in PAT growth in the June
11 Oct 2023 Systematix Buy 1,550
Ukraine conflict, safe haven appeal, 2023 quarter. The stock has outper-
and global growth concerns are some formed the market benchmark in the 8 Oct 2023 Nirmal Bang Accumulate 1,460
The rural population holds 65% share of the entire
of the factors that will continue to gold stock in the country, which indicates a strong past year. It delivered 20.2% returns, 6 Oct 2023 Ambit Capital Buy 1,599
drive the demand for gold. scope for gold loans from the segment. compared to the BSE Sensex with 4 Oct 2023 DAM Capital Buy 1,500
Second, the opportunities for gold 11.7% returns.
loan business are significant in rural and semi-urban areas as Selection methodology: We pick the stock that has shown Relative performance 123.2
a large portion of the segment has limited access to credit facili- the maximum increase in ‘consensus analyst rating’ during
100 MARKET PRICE: `1,251.85
ties. Moreover, features like attractive interest rates, quick the past month. The consensus rating is arrived at by averag-
processing, liquidity, and no requirement for income proof and ing all analyst recommendations after attributing weights to
credit score increase the attractiveness of gold loans. each of them (5 for strong buy, 4 for buy, 3 for hold, 2 for sell and 120.3
Third, the company has undertaken aggressive marketing 1 for strong sell). An improvement in consensus analyst rating SENSEX
111.3
and branding campaigns in the past three years to address indicates that the analysts are getting bullish on the stock.
high competition and attract new customers. Such efforts have Only stocks with at least 10 analysts covering them are consid-
helped the company improve its AUM, active customer base ered. You can see similar consensus analyst rating changes
18 OCT 2022 ET NBFC MUTHOOT FINANCE 19 OCT 2023
and tonnage accretion in the June 2023 quarter. during the past week in ETW 50 table. —Sameer Bhardwaj
Muthoot is compared with ET NBFC and Sensex. Stock price and index values
Fourth, the company is taking steps to improve efficiency normalised to a base of 100. Source: ETIG and Bloomberg.
WHAT EXPERTS ADVISE

BUY RESEARCH STOCK 1-YEAR TARGET POTENTIAL
*STOCK PRICES AS ON 19 OCTOBER
STOCK ADVICE COMMENT

HOUSE PRICE* (`) PRICE (`) UPSIDE (%)
Maintain ‘buy’ due to rising fee income, likely jump in NIMs in the future, re-pivoting of the loan book to-
Federal Bank Yes Securities Buy 149 190 27.5 wards higher yield assets, expected decline in the cost of deposits and strong asset quality.
Maintain ‘buy’ due to its sharp execution skills, steadily improving e-commerce business, strong growth
Avenue Supermarts Centrum Broking Buy 3,936 5,006 27.2 prospects of organised grocery retail, likely increase in new store openings in the near future and expected
benefits of ongoing store size rationalisation.
Antique Stock Maintain ‘buy’ due to decent performance in the second quarter, low net slippages, healthy loan growth,
Karur Vysya Bank Buy 138 175 26.8
Broking strong balance sheet, lower credit costs, high RoA and comfortable liquidity.
Retain ‘buy’ due to its strong core competencies, high technical capabilities, strong order book, high cus-
Cyient DLM Motilal Oswal Buy 689 870 26.3 tomer stickiness, strong promoter heritage and expectations of an improvement in the market share.
Maintain ‘buy’ due to healthy demand in domestic market, strong margin improvement in the second
Ceat JM Financial Buy 2,195 2,750 25.3 quarter, steady working capital, fall in total debt and likely jump in export volumes.
Retain ‘long’ due to its healthy performance in the first half of 2023-24, healthy run rate in structured
Anand Rathi Wealth Equirus Securities Long 1,884 2,270 20.5 products, robust growth in trail income, strong RoE profile and increase in management guidance on
revenue and PAT.
SELL RESEARCH STOCK 1-YEAR TARGET POTENTIAL

STOCK ADVICE COMMENT
HOUSE PRICE* (`) PRICE (`) DOWNSIDE (%)
Downgrade to ‘sell’ as lower CET1 will limit loan growth. Expected jump in retail loan delinquencies,
State Bank of India UBS Sell 588 530 -9.9 likely rise in credit costs in 2024-25 and moderation in profits and return ratios are key negatives.
QA
your queries
&
I am a 17-year-old student pursuing a I am 42 and a single mother of an eight-year-old

diploma in computer science. I have a sur- child. I have two term plans worth `4 crore. I also
plus of `3,000 to invest every month. have Tata AIA NRI and Bajaj Allianz life plans for
Should I invest it in the stock market or 20 years. I have recently invested `25,000 in five
opt for mutual funds? mutual funds. How can I improve my investment
portfolio? Which LIC policy will be good for me?
I recommend mutual funds over stocks, es- As a single mother, first ensure adequate insur-
pecially when you start investing. They al-
low you to invest in a bouquet of stocks,
Our panel of experts will answer ance via term and health plans. You already have
two term plans worth `4 crore, but still get a finan-
spreading risk across stocks and sectors. If questions related to any aspect of cial planner to check its adequacy. Get sufficient
one doesn’t perform well, the others will
give good returns. They also allow you to personal finance. If you have a health insurance, if you don’t have a plan already.
Build a contingency fund, which should be equiva-
start small and keep increasing over time.
Finally, as you invest every month, you
query, mail it to us right away. lent to 12 months worth of living expenses, includ-
ing premiums, investments and EMIs.
Next, list your financial goals. Decide on a figure
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
will get the benefit of cost averaging. Start
with a passive fund, such as Nifty 50 or for your child’s college and identify the target cor-
100, from a reputed fund house. The aver- pus needed after 10 years. If `25 lakh is today’s
age CAGR for a passive fund is 10-15%, fee, then with 8% education inflation, the target
corpus will be `54 lakh. Assuming 11% return, a
which is very good after accounting for in-
monthly SIP of `25,000 in equity funds will suf-
flation and tax. Equity investments should I am 51 and not in a position to work any longer. fice. For retirement, if your household expenses
be for the long term for best results. Short- My savings are worth `85 lakh and I have a are `40,000 a month, the sum needed will grow to
term investments of 1-2 years may lead to `1.15 lakh at 60 (with 6% inflation). Assuming 11%
loss of capital if the market falls when you
moderate risk appetite. I own a house and my
return till 60, and post-retirement return of 6%,
need to liquidate your in- current monthly expenses are `25,000. I have a you will need `3.5 crore, for which an SIP of
vestments. health plan of `10 lakh. My major future expens- `50,000 will be needed. Don’t mix insurance and
es include `4 lakh annually over the next four investments. You can continue with the two non-
years for my kid’s education and `50 lakh for term insurance plans, but avoid any
Adhil Shetty marriage after six years. Please suggest the best more of these. Use equity funds
CEO, BankBazaar as a long-term investment tool.
investment options for me.
Earmarking `16 lakh over four years for your child’s

higher education will reduce the corpus for other Prableen Bajpai
Founder FinFix® Research & Analytics
I am 31 years old. My wife is a homemak- goals. So consider taking an education loan and repay
er and we have a two-year-old daughter. I when your child starts earning. If you want to bear
earn `92,000 a month and don’t have the expenses, create four fixed deposits of `3.5-4
health insurance, term plan or emergency lakh each for 1-4 year tenures, and use each on matu- I’m 34 and earn `86,000 a month. I have mutual
fund. My savings are nil. Please suggest
rity when fee is needed over the next four years. funds (`10.88 lakh), sovereign gold bonds
how to plan for my child’s education, mar-
This leaves about `70 lakh for other goals. One (`58,900), US stocks (`1.68 lakh), NPS (`13.46
riage and retirement.
goal is income generation of about `25,000 a month. lakh), PPF (`5.25 lakh), FDs (`3 lakh), and debt
For this, put `45 lakh in bank FDs, and/or Post Office funds (`1.6 lakh). My wife is 30 and earns
Monthly Income Scheme. Assuming 7% rate offered `80,000 a month. She has `20 lakh of FDs. I
want to be financially independent in 10 years.
Start by curtailing your expenses and by banks, it will provide `3.2 lakh interest income an-
How should I proceed?
saving for health and term insurance. The nually. This will be your first bucket for income gen-
emergency fund should be able to take eration. The FD portfolio can also act as an emergen-
care of all expenses, including health care, cy/medical fund and an ongoing liquidity reserve. You can use FDs and debt funds to build an
for at least 1-2 years. Then start building For the child’s marriage, `50 lakh is very high cor- emergency corpus of six months’ expenses. You
an investment portfolio for your kid’s ed- pus value given your limited asset base. It is strongly will need a retirement corpus for 36 years, but
ucation, marriage, and your retirement. advised to reduce your contribution to this goal and have not given details of expenses and require-
Calculate the future value of goals and have your child pitch in as well. Remember that your ment in retirement. We have assumed 70% of
time horizon to decide how much to save child can get loans for education and marriage, but your monthly income as requirement in retire-
and invest. Ideally, limit expenses to 50- you don’t have any back-up for retirement. ment. After adjusting for 6% inflation, this will
60% of your net income and the rest can For the remaining `25 lakh, which will be part of rise to `1.08 lakh a month. Your current invest-
be allocated to emergency fund, invest- the second bucket, it is advisable to consider investments are worth `55 lakh. Assuming 8% annual
ment portfolio and other needs. Of this, ing a portion in equity funds to generate inflation- grow over 10 years, the corpus will grow to
20-30% should be allocated to long-term beating returns, and increase the corpus longevity. `1.18 crore. To achieve financial independence,
equity fund SIP investments. Since a lot of Since you have a moderate risk appetite, consider in- you will need `3.4 crore to support your month-
information is missing in your query, the vesting `12.5 lakh in an aggressive hybrid fund, ly expenses in your lifetime. The remaining cor-
percentage allocation could be different `6.25 lakh in a large-cap/flexi-cap fund, and another pus needed is `2.23 crore, which can be
for you. I advise getting a detailed finan- `6.25 lakh in a short-duration fund. Do not invest in amassed via monthly SIPs of `97,000 in flexi-
equity/hybrid funds at one go. This deployment can cap and multi-cap funds. Your combined month-
cial plan made on the basis of your in-
be done in a staggered manner over the next 1-2 ly income is `1.66 lakh and monthly SIP of
come, expenses, goals, risk appetite, etc.
years to average out the entry in equity allocation. `97,000 comes to 58% of your monthly income.
For emergency fund, invest in high credit
After a few years, inflation will make the interest Also, if you don’t have any term insurance, buy a
quality debt funds from liquid, ultra
plan worth `3 crore each for both of you. In case
short-duration and low-duration catego- income from the first bucket insufficient for reg-
a monthly SIP of `97,000 is not feasible, then
ries. For equity fund portfolio, invest 60% ular expenses. To tackle such a scenario,
you are advised to you defer your re-
in flexi-cap, 20% in pure mid-cap and 20% you will need to periodically rebal-
tirement by a few more years.
in pure small-cap strategy. ance the second bucket, using the
gains from the second bucket to
move to the first bucket.
Anupam Guha
Business Head- Private Wealth
Rushabh Desai Management, ICICI Securities
Founder, Rupee With Rushabh
Investment Services
Dev Ashish
Founder, StableInvestor, and
Sebi-registered investment adviser Have a question for the experts?
tax optimiser
NPS, perks can cut tax by `1 lakh

Sudhir Kaushik of TaxSpanner.com tells readers how they can
optimise their tax by rejigging their income and investments.
H
yderabad-based techni-
cal writer Vipin Kukreja
earns well, but a big
chunk of his salary goes
INCOME
in tax. TaxSpanner esti- FROM EMPLOYER
mates that Kukreja can reduce his tax
outgo by more than `1 lakh if his com-
pany offers him the NPS benefit and he
gets some tax-free perks. INCOME HEAD CURRENT SUGGESTED
Kukreja should start by checking
whether his company offers the NPS
Salary 18,50,000 18,50,000
benefit. Under Sec 80CCD(2), up to Reduce this taxable
House rent allowance 7,40,000 7,40,000
10% of basic salary put in the NPS is portion of pay
Special allowance 4,40,000 1,09,000 package.
tax-deductible, but Kukreja is not sure
because he joined the company only
recently. If his company puts `15,417 Telephone reimbursement 15,000 15,000
(10% of his basic pay) in the NPS every Books and periodicals 12,000 12,000
month, Kukreja’s annual tax will re-
duce by nearly `58,000. Travel expense reimbursement 1,44,000 1,44,000 Gadgets and
At 33, Kukreja should opt for an ag- appliances bought
gressive allocation and put the maxi- Leave travel allowance 1,00,000 1,00,000 for personal use are
taxed at 10% of the
mum 75% in equity funds.
Gadget allowance 0 1,20,000 value.
Kukreja gets some basic perks
like reimbursement of telephone, Meal coupons 0 26,000 This perk is tax-free
conveyance and newspaper bills. subject to actual
He should ask his company for some Performance linked bonus 4,00,000 4,00,000
use and within
more tax-free perks, such as gadget reasonable limits.
Employer's contribution to Provident Fund 2,22,000 2,22,000
allowance and meal coupons. Under
Section 17(2), gadgets bought in the Contribution to NPS under Sec 80CCD(2) 0 1,85,000 Up to 10% of basic
name of the company and given to the salary put in the
employee for personal use are taxed TOTAL 39,23,000 39,23,000 NPS is tax-free.
at only 10% of the value. This perk be-
came very important during the ‘work
from home’ phase after the outbreak of
Covid. If Kukreja buys items (comput-
INCOME FROM OTHER SOURCES
ers, furniture, AC) worth `1.2 lakh in a
Interest income 2,600 0
year, his tax will be reduced by almost
`34,000. Capital gains 22,000 22,000
Meal coupons worth `26,000 in a
Rental income 0 0
year will reduce the tax further by
roughly `8,000. More tax can be avoid- TOTAL 24,600 22,000
ed if he closes his fixed deposits and
All figures are in `
goes for debt funds instead.
Denotes suggestion to increase Denotes suggestion to reduce
Tax-saving investments
INVESTMENT CURRENT SUGGESTED
OPTION (`) (`)
Provident Fund 2,22,000 2,22,000
Life insurance 21,000 21,000

Vipin Kukreja’s tax
NPS under Sec 80CCD(1b) 50,000 50,000
TAX ON TAX ON TOTAL TAX SAVED WRITE
TAX ON OTHER CAPITAL TO US
`1,00,339
TOTAL ADMISSIBLE 2,00,000 2,00,000 SALARY INCOME GAINS
Shift from
fixed FOR HELP
CURRENT deposits
PER YEAR Paying too much
to debt
Other deductions `6,80,550 811 0 funds
to avoid
tax? Write to us
at etwealth@
TAX RATIO timesgroup.com with
EXEMPTION OR CURRENT SUGGESTED
`6,81,361 tax on ‘Optimise my tax’
DEDUCTION (`) (`) interest. (Total tax as % of annual income)
as the subject. Our
SUGGESTED EXISTING SUGGESTED experts will tell you
HRA exemption 3,55,000 3,55,000 how to reduce your
`5,81,022 0 0 tax by rejigging your
Medical insurance 18,750 18,750 17.3% 14.7% pay and investments.
`5,81,022
TOTAL 3,73,750 3,73,750
NG 3.7 PubDate: 23-10-2023Zone: ETWealthDelhi Edition: 1 Page: DETWDPBP User: satyam.shukla Time: 10-20-2023 19:17 Color:
your feedback & more...

Readers’ response, online and in print, to ET Wealth stories has been enlightening.
We pick some that add information and perspective to our articles from previous issues.
thDelhi Edition:
1 Page: DETWD
THE ECONOMIC
FP User: satyam
.shukla Time: 10-13-20
23 19:14 Color:
TIMES
Dhirendra Kumar’s column ‘Ignore noise STATE SECRET
‘How to make a smooth career switch’
S:
while investing’ observes that ‘a well-in-
formed investor writes the most success-
Bigger canvas of www.e twealt
h.co | Ahmed
abad, Benga luru,
Chenn ai, Hydera
bad, Kolkat
a, Mumb ai,
New Delhi,
NAGALAND P21
rightly focuses on the implications
of such a move. While one’s career
debt portfolio
Pune | Volum
e 13 No. 42
| Octobe r
16-22, 2023
ful stories’. This is undoubtedly true, but graph is important, a hasty shift can
| 24 pages
| `8
in order to become a well-informed inves- be hazardous. Sometimes, lucrative

tor one must also experience a lot of fail- The cover story ‘How to diver- offers abroad can spoil one’s career
ures. Sometimes, these prove to be costly sify your debt portfolio’ was if the cost of shifting and future pros-
too. As the saying goes, ‘Experience is a very informative. It not only pects are not considered. Pay pack-
school where a man learns what a fool he helped reveal the bigger can- age should not be the only criterion to
has been’. vas of debt portfolio in terms HOW TO consider, but adjustments for family
S. Ramakrishnasayee of the options available, but DIVERSIFY and children’s education should also
also how these can be used by YOUR DEB
PORTFOLIOT
be prioritised. The obsession for a
My current job doesn’t allow me to read retail investors. The graphics quick buck can often leave an over-
about the markets regularly, but going in the article, especially on the With fixed inco
me inst
attractive retu ruments offering
ambitious person high and dry.
rns,
through ET Wealth has helped me a lot. I second page, were also very build a strong find out how to
debt portfolio.
P2
Vinod Johri
would like to thank Uma Shashikant for her attractive and conveyed the in- HOW TO
SIMPLIFY OPT FOR
PORTFOLIOS FIRMS LIKELY HOW TO
recent column, which talks about ETFs. As a formation in a clear manner. WITH ETFs TO DO WELL
IN SEPT
MAKE A Dhirendra Kumar seems to have
P8 SMOOTH
QUARTER
new investor, I often invest in ETFs because Sridhara Banavara P10
CAREER
SWITCH perceived the BSE Index’s growth
P12
I am confused about which stocks to pick. from 1982 to 2023 very pessimisti-
Avinash Dange cally at 9.23%. Actually, the index
has grown from 218 to about 66,428
Thank you for the story ‘Why companies the gap between the scrip’s demand and to sell 2-3% of their personal shares for at 15% CAGR. Thus `1 lakh invested
buy back shares’. In my view, there are supply. The consequent increase in share philanthropic causes. Buyback of shares in the BSE Index in 1982 would have
a lot of benefits that result from this price can lead to wealth maximisation often results in better prices than the grown to `3.04 crore, not `37 lakh, as
exercise. Buyback leads to a reduction for the remaining shareholders. We have stock market. mentioned in the column.
of floating stock and this could shrink seen in the past that some promoters like C. S. Karthick Varadarajan Shrikant Joshi
100% CASHLESS HEALTH says Parthanil Ghosh,

President, Retail
Business, HDFC
CLAIMS LIKELY SOON

ERGO General
Insurance.
The regulator
is also planning
to roll out a 100%
cashless health
The insurance regulator and General Insurance Council also plan to insurance claim
settlement system.
introduce a common network of hospitals for all medical claims. Currently, the cashless
settlement is roughly
65-70% of total claims.
The Insurance Regulatory and of your health A bad claim experience in
Development Authority of India insurance policy? health insurance often deters
(IRDAI) is working with industry “Industry-level pricing for this many prospective buyers from
players to introduce a common unified network should result buying a health insurance policy
network of hospitals for all health in more competitive pricing as they do not find insurance
insurance policies and a 100% for medical services. A lot of policies completely reliable. Any
cashless settlement system. frauds that happen through the significant improvement on this
Right now, cashless settlement is reimbursement channel can front can restore policyholders’
available in 49% of hospitals in be arrested. There will also be confidence. Rupinderjit Singh,
India. Insurers regularly change consolidated and structured Vice-President, Retail Health,
their list of associated hospitals industry-level data for better ACKO General Insurance, says,
due to high medical bills and analytics. All these can lead to a “This will also ensure uniform
fraudulent claims. The insurance reduction in the overall cost of access to hospitals, irrespective of
regulator and the General claims. This could reduce prices or the provider, to enable more trust,
Insurance Council (GIC) intend at least partly mitigate the impact thus increasing penetration of
to come up with a nationwide of medical inflation,” says Ghosh. insurance in the country.”
common cashless hospital network “The industry would work “This is a transformative
to ease the health insurance claim together to ensure that all initiative with significant benefits
settlement process. hospitals are available as part of for policyholders. The nationwide
The GIC has set up a rates between different hospitals network will benefit customers. the cashless network to ensure cashless settlement system will
committee to establish a common and insurance companies. “We will be able to ensure that the that the out-of-pocket expenses not only ease the claims process,
empanelment of hospitals. The “Once fully implemented, every claims experience is seamless and are minimised greatly and the but also reduce financial burden
committee is also planning to insurance company’s customer will hassle-free. Irrespective of which quantum of frauds are minimised. for the insured, while also
have a uniform rate at which all have access to a single, integrated insurance they hold, they will have This would also ensure that the contributing to the mitigation of
hospitals will be on-boarded by network,” says Shanai Ghosh, MD access to all cashless hospitals of genuine customers face minimal fraud,” says Tapan Singhel, CEO of
insurers, instead of the current & CEO of Zuno General Insurance. the industry,” she says. inconvenience while availing of Bajaj Allianz General Insurance.
separate agreements with varied Ghosh says a single integrated Will this bring down the price medical treatments at hospitals,” — Anulekha Ray
The Economic Times Wealth is available at an invitation price of ` 8/issue. To book your copy, contact your newspaper vendor or call 011 - 39898090; Email: crm.delhi@timesgroup.com; SMS ETWS to 58888
The Economic Times Wealth, published by Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. exercises due care and caution in collecting the data before publication. In spite of Published for the proprietors, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. by Rajeev Yadav at Times House, 7, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi-110
this, if any omission, inaccuracy or printing errors occur with regard to the data contained in this newspaper, The Economic Times Wealth will not be held 002, Phone: 011-23322000, Fax: 011-23323346 and printed by him at The Times of India Press, 13 & 15/1, Site IV, Industrial Area, Sahibabad, UP.
responsible or liable. The content hereof does not constitute any form of advice, recommendation or arrangement by the newspaper. The Economic Times Regd. Office: Dr Dadabhai Naoroji Road, Mumbai 400 001. Editor: Babar Zaidi (Responsible for selection of news under PRB Act). © Repro-
Wealth will not be liable for any direct or indirect losses caused because of readers’ reliance on the same in making any specific or other decisions. Readers duction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. All rights reserved.
are recommended to make appropriate enquiries and seek appropriate advice before making any specific or other decisions. RNI No. DELENG/2011/37994. MADE IN NEW DELHI

The Economic Times Wealth - October 23 2023

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

The Economic Times Wealth - October 23 2023

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

NG 3.7 PubDate: 23-10-2023 Zone: ETWealthDelhi Edition: 1 Page: DETWDFP User: satyam.

shukla Time: 10-20-2023 20:33 Color:

THE ECONOMIC TIMES

MIXED ‘CORRECTION IS DOWNSIDE

BANDWAGON EFFECT Cognitive biases at work in sales ANCHORING BIAS

This is the tendency to

In all likelihood, positive reviews will

Where’s the catch?

Sense of loyalty: Free samples, reward

Biggest discounts! Savings up to Store layout: A meandering layout or the

Sleep over it: If you are prone to making

Whole Number syllables Delay payment, avoid credit cards: Don’t

Believe it or not, you’ll spend less with these simple choices

No more big rewards on

credit card spending

Forum warns of more banking app scams

money broker by a large margin, Kamath’s statement

Check purity of gold jewellery using BIS app

seekers get evaluated

RBI fines Kotak Bank, ICICI Bank

for flouting norms The plan also gives guaranteed boosters

Don’t risk long-term goals to

meet short-term expenses

smart things to know

the RBI hinted at bond sales. Meanwhile,

Mixed signals from

bond fund managers

“Correction is not a worry, but a

Rahul Singh Of late, the markets have been very vola-

Downside resistance of stocks

centage) was as low as 28% and as high as

INTERGLOBE AVIATION 12-month Current 1-year target

11.5 % estimates by 4.8%. The

India’s individual enterprise

ET WEALTH TOP 50 STOCKS

RANK PRICE ` GROWTH%* VA LUAT I O N R AT I O S RISK R AT I N G

1 Fast growing stocks

LAGGARDS & LEADERS

Equity: Large cap 5-year returns

EQUITY: LARGE CAP

EQUITY: FLEXI CAP

EQUITY: VALUE ORIENTED

ANNUALISED RETURNS IN % AS ON 18 OCT 2023.

ETW FUNDS 100 Value Research Net Assets

HYBRID: EQUITY SAVINGS

loans and deposits

LOANS & DEPOSITS

Top five bank FDs

Savings account 4.00 500 No limit `10,000 interest tax-free Nil

PRICE OF 10 GM GOLD PRICE OF 1 KG SILVER

PENNY STOCKS UPDATE

Top price gainers Top volume gainers

Top price losers Top volume losers

Sustained performance needed

HOW THE FUND HAS PERFORMED Top 5 sectors in portfolio (%)

Point-to-point returns (%)

FUND BENCHMARK CATEGORY AVERAGE FACTS Capital

23.43 22.78 Technology 11.29

Rolling returns (%) WHAT IT ICICI Bank 5.20

WHERE THE FUND INVESTS

Portfolio asset Bank of Baroda, HDFC Bank, Samvardhana

98.63% How risky is it?

Large cap 60.86