Good Ole Debt!


wealthymattersThese days,equity investors are laughing their way to the bank because Sensex has generated 44% returns during the past one year. While the benchmark index has generated this return, there are several stocks that have risen by more than 100% during the same period.So, it’s natural for investors to get carried away when Dalal Street is on a roll, and the Sensex is making a habit of hitting record highs almost every other day. Suddenly, retail investors are flocking back to the market if inflows into equity schemes and the number of demat accounts opened recently are any indication.But here lies the catch: retail investors who are entering the ring now may not get the kind of returns from equities as seen in the recent past.

In some instances, it also doesn’t make much sense being a long-term investor in equities. A look at the Sensex returns chart in the past 20 years could be a bit disappointing even for a hard-core investor. The Sensex closed at 4,588 in August 1994 and despite being at a lifetime high of 26,420 now, it has only generated a mediocre annualised return of 9.15% during this 20-year holding period. Several debt products, like the Public Provident Fund (PPF), have generated better annualised returns of 10.46% in this period. Read more of this post

Be Careful Of Buying Diamonds


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In the past few months, the diamond bourse in Mumbai and several dealers of the stone have installed a small, black machine in their offices. The little device, which can be mistaken for a laser printer linked to a computer, is one that separates the natural rough diamonds from the much cheaper synthetic stones.

The timing is interesting and unmistakable. At the time, the Winsome group, India’s largest bank defaulter (with loan outstanding bigger than Kingfisher’s),emerged as the world’s largest maker of synthetic diamonds. While in India, banks have directed forensic audit on Winsome and government agencies are probing the money trail following the Rs 6,500 crore credit default, Winsome has consolidated its position as a leading player in man-made diamonds by operating from its bases in Singapore, Malaysia and the US. Read more of this post

Butterfly Trek Madone


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Surveys For The Wealthy


wealthymattersRegular people may get paid a dollar or maybe $5 to take a survey . The super-rich need a bigger incentive. For very high-net worth targets, research firm Spectrem Group promises $300. Survey firm Ipsos MediaCT antes up $500 for its highest-end surveys. For someone worth $20 million, that’s chump change — or 0.0025% of their net worth. But one of the cash’s functions is to get people to take the survey seriously.

It works. The rich who answer the surveys do take it seriously — at least the money part. Spectrem experimented with offering to send the money to a charity of the person’s choice. All respondents asked for the money to be sent to them instead and they’d handle the donation. Guess that’s why they are high-net worth.Some millionaires even call to complain if they don’t receive their cheques in a timely manner. Others just want to talk — about which private jets are better than others, or about difficult decisions (Bentley or Ferrari?). Read more of this post

Ganesha’s Jeweller


Ganesha's Jeweller

Girgaum resident Nana Vedak,is in the business of crafting ornaments for Ganesh idols. He inherited the business from his father in 1992.Ornaments created by Vedak adorn the deity at Siddhivinayak Temple.His fame grew after he started making jewellery for Lalbaugcha Raja and now he caters to various mandals spread across Maharashtra.