Exchange Traded Funds

Retirement fund body EPFO has invested Rs 34,207.93 crore in exchange traded funds (ETFs) during the April-October period this fiscal year, Parliament was informed on Monday. According to a written reply to Lok Sabha by Minister of State for Labour & Employment Shobha Karandlaje, the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) had invested Rs 57,184.24 crore in the ETFs. The total corpus of various funds managed by EPFO was Rs 24.75 lakh crore as on March 31, 2024, including debt investments of Rs 22,40,922.30 crore and Rs 2,34,921.49 crore in ETFs. The minister told the House that the EPFO does not invest directly in any of the individual stocks in the equity market. The EPFO regularly invests in equity markets through ETFs replicating BSE-Sensex and NSE NIFTY-50 indices, she stated. In addition, EPFO has also invested from time to time in ETFs constructed specifically for disinvestment of shareholding of the Government of India in body corporates, namely ETFs tracking Bharat .

The board also approved the rollout of the centralised payment system by Dec 31 which will allow pensioners to withdraw money from any branch of any bank nationwide

Investors should approach ETFs as long-term investments and avoid frequent trading

Among passive fund categories, sectoral funds are the top choice, according to the surveyed investors

The WGC, an industry body grouping global gold miners, said North American gold demand was boosted by uncertainty around the US presidential election

Indian bonds have attracted $15.7 billion of inflows this year, the most in Asia behind China, South Korea and Japan, data compiled by Bloomberg show

Opt for passive funds to reduce fund manager risk and capitalise on their lower costs

These schemes invest at least 80 per cent in shares of technology companies. As of August 31, 2024, 26 technology sector schemes managed assets worth Rs 45,637 crore.

The fund house, backed by Union Bank of India and Dai-ichi Life Holdings, said that the early signs of rural consumption and the festive season are positive

'Easier concentration norms, higher leverage, and approval for securities currently outside MF scope'

While gold, silver, and international exchange-traded funds (ETFs) will qualify for the 12.5 per cent LTCG taxation in 12 months as they are listed on exchanges

Capital markets regulator Sebi's proposal for introducing a new asset class for high-risk profile investors can help them gain access to a newer set of strategies including long-short equity fund and inverse Exchange-traded Fund (ETF). The new asset class is aimed at bridging the gap between mutual funds and Portfolio Management Services (PMS) in terms of flexibility in portfolio construction. The Sebi's consultation paper floated on Tuesday on 'new asset class' and creating a structure for differentiated, higher risk strategies looks very promising, Radhika Gupta, MD and CEO of Edelweiss Mutual Fund said. "India is finally opening up to different investment products, styles and approaches. Passive, factor, inverse ETFs, alts and more. There is no single way to invest," she added. In its consultation paper, the regulator said the new asset class will provide a regulated product with features like SIP (Systematic Investment Plan), higher risk-taking capability, and a higher ticket .

Silver investors must take note of its industrial use

The RBI move goes against the trend of allowing more flexibility and therefore, retrograde

Volumes up 3x post Covid; 2/3rd participation by prop traders

Das reiterated that there have been no changes to RBI's policy, emphasising that the necessity of underlying exposure has always been a fundamental aspect

"In view of feedback received and recent developments, it has been decided that these directions will now come into effect from Friday, May 03, 2024," RBI said

Over two-thirds of active largecap schemes outperform Nifty 100 TRI

Switching between cash and equity and back becomes seamless

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