wealthymatters

Balanced Mutual Funds

January 18, 2012 2 Comments

wealthymatters.com

Balanced funds are mutual funds that invest in both equities and debt instruments.They normally keep their equity component in the range of 60%-75% and the rest in debt products or cash.Some balanced mutual funds are considered to be more aggressive in that they have a larger equity component.For example, HDFC Prudence keeps its equity allocation around 75% in most of the cases and rest 25% in debt or cash. However,others like Reliance Regular Savings Balanced are considered less aggressive and have a lower equity component around 60-65% .

From the taxman’s point of view, any mutual fund which has equity component more than 65% is considered as an “Equity Fund” and so long term capital gains from sale of balanced mutual fund units too are exempted from tax after one year just like in the case of pure equity mutual funds . Read more of this post

Filed under Paper Assets, Theory Tagged with asset allocation, balanced fund, debt, equities, equity funds, HDFC Prudence, HDFC top 200, long term capital gains tax exempt, long term investment, lump sum investment, Mutual Funds, postaday, rebalancing portfolio, Reliance Regular Savings Balanced, SIP

……. and the Pursuit of Happiness

January 18, 2012 Leave a comment

wealthymatters.com The Institute of Economic Affairs,UK, has brought out an interesting report recentlycalled ‘……and the Pursuit of Happiness’.You can download your copy from here: http://www.iea.org.uk/publications/research/and-the-pursuit-of-happiness

Following are the excerpts I found particularly interesting:-

‘Contrary to popular perception, new statistical work suggests that happiness is related to income. This relationship holds between countries, within countries and over time. The relationship is robust and also holds at higher levels of income as well as at lower levels of income. This calls into question the assertion that people are on a ‘hedonic treadmill’ that prevents them becoming happier as their income rises beyond a certain level of income.’ Read more of this post

Filed under Theory, Tool Kit Tagged with avoiding poverty, book review, employment, income and happiness, Institute of Economic Affairs UK, marriage, postaday, religious belief, wealth and happiness, Wealthy

The Mark Mobius View

January 15, 2012 Leave a comment

wealthymatters.com Here is a recent interview from Forbes India to counteract all the gloom and doom

Mark Mobius: Debt crisis will help emerging markets

Dr Mark Mobius, executive director, Templeton Emerging Markets Group, tells Pravin Palande and Shishir Prasad that he is optimistic about India and in many cases, a weak rupee may actually benefit some companies in the country.

Dr Mark Mobius

Profile: Executive director, Templeton Emerging Markets Group

Career high point: Consistently voted as one of the most influential investment managers in the world

Last vacation: Doesn’t take any.

Known for: Travelling a lot; comic book based on his life

The idea of a single currency (euro) for differing political units seems to be in trouble. What does it mean for global currency markets? Read more of this post

Filed under Tidbits Tagged with China, emerging markets, EU, Euro, France, Germany, Greece, India, Indian Rupee, Ireland, Mark Mobus, Portugal, postaday, Spain, US dollar, Zimbabwe

Of Skyscrapers And Recessions

January 15, 2012 Leave a comment

I came across an interesting hypothesis by Andrew Lawrence in today’s ET.

Lawrence explains that “high buildings are typically driven by cheap and available capital-high land values,high construction costs-and therefore marks the cyclical peak of the credit cycle.The higher the building the often more abundant and cheaper capital is relatively.”

“Skyscraper building booms do not appear in every economic upturn,but simply in those with strong expansion and typically driven by cheap credit.So when you see a skyscraper boom it should signal concern over the extent,nature of the upswing and the extent of the downturn.”

Mmm…..food for thought isn’t it?Mumbai today seems to have a couple of new towers coming up in almost every street.