I-T pegs tax evasion by insurance companies, intermediaries at ₹30,000 cr

New Delhi: Insurance companies and their intermediaries allegedly evaded nearly ₹30,000 crore in income tax since July 1, 2017 (since inception of GST) by suppressing income and showing fake expenditure, according to an internal income tax department assessment.

Life insurance firms’ new business declines 13% in first half of FY24
The life insurance industry has reported a lacklustre performance in the first six months of the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) with the new business premium falling 12.97 per cent, mainly due to the decline in premium mobilisation by Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) and the changes in the tax structure in high value policies.

MO Alternates, Temasek, Paragon to invest Rs 800 crore in Niva Bupa
Health insurer Niva Bupa on Thursday said a clutch of private equity funds have committed to invest Rs 800 crore in the company. India Business Excellence Fund IV (MO Alternate Investment Advisors), Temasek and Paragon Partners Growth Fund II will be investing the money for a minority stake in the company, as per an official statement.

Why are insurance advisors still much needed in the growing digital insurance world?
In the last few years, India witnessed how digital is transforming the insurance sector in the country, as well as worldwide. Digital has been phenomenal in bridging the traditional insurance gaps; reducing the turnaround time for insurance buying, serving and claim settlements; increasing consumer outreach to smaller parts of the country.

SEBI member urges AIFs to self-regulate
 

People are not just chasing past returns but looking to diversify across caps: Sunil Subramaniam
Sunil Subramaniam, MD & CEO, Sundaram Mutual, says “balanced advantage, aggressive hybrid as well as equity savings and then multi-asset funds are gaining popularity. They are essentially balanced advantage plus gold or silver or other commodities. All of these are replacing the erstwhile debt segment in an individual investor's mind and I would see them gaining traction over the next few months also.”

Invest through SIP, stay in diversified funds like flexi or multi cap: Anthony Heredia of Mahindra Manulife MF
Many mutual fund investors have started noticing the impressive performance of Mahindra Manulife Mutual Fund in 2023. Mutual Fund advisors also say they get a lot of queries about Mahindra Manulife schemes these days. After looking at the impressive performance of the fund house, ETMutualFunds reached out to Anthony Heredia, MD & CEO of Mahindra Manulife Mutual Fund, to find out more about the investment strategy, future plans of the fund house. We also asked him about his readings about interest rates and the market.

Edited interview.

Baroda BNP Paribas Large Cap: Why you should invest in this fund
In the current volatile conditions, it is advisable for investors with a medium risk appetite to re-examine their portfolios. Investors’ interest in mid- and small- cap stocks and funds has been growing recently due to the positive momentum in these segments. However, investing in small- and mid-caps does involve a fair degree of risk. Besides, there is a need for large cap funds in a portfolio to achieve diversification and long-term stability and thus, achieving financial goals.

HDFC AMC Q2FY24 results: Profit rises 20% to 436.52 crore, revenue up 18.1%
HDFC Asset Management Company on Thursday posted profit for the second quarter of FY24 at Rs 436.52 crore, up 20 per cent in comparison to Rs 363.85 crore during the same period last year. It posted revenue from operations at Rs 643.08 crore, up 18.1 per cent as against Rs 544.72 crore during the second quarter of FY23.

Debt MFs continue to log outflow; see Rs 1 lakh crore withdrawal in September
Debt-oriented mutual fund schemes witnessed a net withdrawal of Rs 1.01 lakh crore in September, making it the second consecutive month of the outflow, primarily due to advanced tax requirements of corporates and correction in equity markets.

Debt mutual funds continue to log outflow; see Rs 1 lakh crore withdrawal in September
Debt-oriented mutual fund schemes witnessed a net withdrawal of Rs 1.01 lakh crore in September, making it the second consecutive month of the outflow, primarily due to advance tax requirements of corporates and correction in equity markets. The segment saw an outflow of Rs 25,873 crore in August. Before this, the debt schemes attracted Rs 61,440 crore in July, data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi) showed.

HDFC Mutual cuts 2% stake in Persistent Systems
Chennai: HDFC Asset Management Co. Ltd has offloaded over 2 per cent stake in Persistent Systems. In a disclosure to the stock exchanges, the Pune-based IT firm said that HDFC Mutual through its various schemes reduced its holding from 5.14 per cent to 3.06 per cent.

PPFAS Mutual Fund to launch Parag Parikh Arbitrage Fund

PPFAS Mutual Fund has decided to launch Parag Parikh Arbitrage Fund, an open-ended scheme investing in arbitrage opportunities.

Mutual funds offload Jio Financial shares worth Rs 2,850 crore in September

Jio Financial Services, the company which was carved out of Reliance Industries (RIL) and listed on the exchanges on August 21, 2023, saw mutual funds sell shares worth Rs 2,850 crore in September according to estimates given by brokerage house Nuvama. A lion's share of it was offloaded by SBI Mutual Fund (MF) followed by UTI MF, Nippon MF, and HDFC MF, while Axis Mutual Fund shopped for the stock in the month gone by.

Flexi cap funds offer 15.33% in 2023; JM Flexicap Fund give 23.30%

Flexi cap funds have offered an average return of 15.33% in 2023 so far, a study of returns showed. There are around 32 schemes in the flexi cap category, and 24 schemes have managed to beat their respective benchmarks in this year. Around eight schemes have failed to beat their benchmarks.

We do notice “pockets of irrational exuberance” in mid and small-cap space: Trideep Bhattacharya

“While broader markets are still investible, we do notice “pockets of irrational exuberance” in mid and small-cap space,” says Trideep Bhattacharya, CIO-Equities, Edelweiss MF.

‘Quantum MF sees ample opportunity in small-cap despite recent run-up’

“Typically, these large fund houses are forced to either sit on cash or to invest incremental inflows into mid or large-cap names, which is not in line with the objective of small-cap funds,” he added at an event to launch Quantum Small Cap Fund here on Thursday. “We are completely aware of challenges in running small-cap and will not hesitate if the AUM size to an optimal level and it becomes incrementally difficult to build a liquid portfolio of promising small-cap businesses.” he said.

More than 40 million invest in MFs; monthly SIP investment at Rs 16K crore
 

PE investments in real estate down 12% to USD 2.3 billion in April-September
Private equity investments in real estate fell 12 per cent to USD 2.3 billion during the first six months of this fiscal year, according to Anarock.

Adani Ports sees more offers at dollar bond buyback than planned
India's Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone has received offers worth about $213 million under its dollar bond buyback, but will accept only $195 million as announced earlier, the company said in an exchange filing on Thursday. The company had late September initiated buyback of 3.375% senior notes maturing in July 2024 and had said it plans to keep buying the outstanding notes over the next three quarters for cash.

RBI may need to use multiple price g-sec sales again for better rate transmission

Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), seeking better transmission of interest-rate increases, may need to reverse a Covid-era emergency measure to facilitate better price discovery in the government bond market - a key barometer of monetary policy signals.