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| Amit Tandon is a self-proclaimed couch potato who has a penchant to being clued in to the recent happenings. For the moment, the current market rally has caught his fancy and he periodically checks out the index moments.
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| Ask him on the recent credit policy and he says that though the policy had been disappointing for banking stocks, which had run up on anticipation of a rate cut, there are some positive aspects on foreign currency borrowings and addressing fiscal deficit.
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| On the interest rate scenario, Tandon says rates are near their all time lows and the debt market yield curves have been one of the flattest in a long time.
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| So, the risk of a rise in interest rates is very much alive. Another factor that he feels works in favour of a turnaround in interest rates is that the time gap since the last rate cut has been large if one looks at the variations in the last three years.
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| Besides, Tandon feels that Indian companies are showing one of the finest corporate performances round the globe.
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| If one looks at the key ratios like debt-equity ratio and coverage ratio, the performance of an A-rated security now is on par with what a AA-rated security would have been a few years ago, says Tandon.
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| A management graduate from FMS Delhi, Tandon also has a degree in development economics from The University of Cambridge.
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| He started off his innings with ICICI in 1984 and was handling corporate finance and investment banking before joining Fitch Ratings two years ago as its managing director.
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| Apart from work, Tandon has taken to reading non-fiction books of late. Tandon confesses that he is not much into sports and channel surfing is the only exercise he indulges in.
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| The debt markets were not exactly tickled after the mid-term review of the monetary and credit policy 2003-04 failed to churn out a rate cut. Still Sandesh Kirkire, head of debt funds at Kotak AMC, is not pessimistic: "Interest looks to fall in the short term if the inflation comes down as expected and the liquidity overhang that currently exists continues."
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| But he is cautious when it comes to talking about returns on debt funds. He says investors in the debt segment have enjoyed five years of phenomenal returns and this may be the time for a sobering up.
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| "A debt fund bouquet may yield between 4.5-6 per cent going forward," says Kirkire. That may do little to attract inflows into his funds, but Kirkire couldn't be worried. After all, that is a reality today.
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| Last year, his fund K-Bond (wholesale) was adjudged the best-managed fund in the open-end income fund category in the Crisil Best Fund Awards. Kirkire has been with Kotak for the last 10 years, handling Kotak's debt funds since inception.
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| Prior to that, he had a two-year stint at SBI Caps, handling the corporate-leasing portfolio. Kirkire holds an engineering degree from REC Durgapur and a management degree from Jamnalal Bajaj.
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| At this point, Kirkire feels that investors should decide between debt and equity depending on the investment level and ideally have a diversified portfolio.
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| He says the ideal timeframe for an investor in the debt markets should be a little over a year. Kirkire says that time of entry does not matter if the investors has that timeframe in mind.
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| A travel buff, Kirkire counts his recent sojourn in Europe as a memorable experience. Tennis is his favourite game and when he is not watching a game on TV, one may find him serving a few aces himself on the tennis courts. |
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