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gupta3 Time: 03-22-2024 20:39 Color:

THE ECONOMIC TIMES DO YOU NEED

‘CANCEL
FOR ANY
REASON’
COVER?
P8
www.etwealth.co | Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi, Pune | Volume 14 No. 13 | March 25-31, 2024 | 24 pages | `8

Several of these funds have

not fared well in Sebi’s
stress test. Find out what
this means for you. P2

EMS STOCKS WHAT IS SETTING

POISED FOR OPPORTUNITY GOALS
LONG-TERM COST? WITH BOSS
GROWTH
P10 P13
P6
 NG 3.7 PubDate: 25-03-2024 Zone: ETWealth Edition: 1 Page: ETWDP2 User: saurabh.gupta3 Time: 03-22-2024 20:36 Color:

cover story
02 The Economic Times Wealth March 25-31, 2024

ARE YOUR MID-

& SMALL-CAP
FUNDS SAFE?
Several funds in these categories have not fared well
GETTYIMAGES

in Sebi’s stress test. Find out what this means for you.

By Kumar Shankar Roy Based on initial test outcomes, some out whether investors need to be worried. problematic for a vehicle that promises T+2
and Sanket Dhanorkar funds have seemingly come out with settlement. Experts say that funds taking

F
rothy valuations, illiquid port-
folios and concentrated inves-
tor mix. These were among
the biggest concerns of market
regulator, Sebi, when it ordered
the mid- and small-cap funds to undergo
comprehensive stress tests recently. This
exercise—now slated to be a monthly af-
fair—is aimed at unearthing the latent risk
in a mid- or small-cap fund when the mar-
kets are under stress. The results came out
last fortnight, sparking swift judgements
on social media.
flying colours. These funds will be able
to offload a quarter or even half of their
holdings within a matter of 2-3 days, if the
need arises. On the other hand, there are a
few surprises. For instance, the SBI Small
Cap Fund may take up to 60 days to offload
half of its portfolio when under stress
(see graphic). These outliers are being
perceived as risky. Are investors drawing
the right conclusions? Are some funds ill-
prepared for a doomsday scenario? Should
you buy or exit a fund based on these test
results? We attempt to filter out the noise
around the much-hyped stress tests to find
Fund size matters
When small-cap funds were relatively
smaller in size, liquidity wasn’t a big con-
cern. But with the category now command-
ing a hefty AUM of nearly `2.5 trillion, the
impact of heightened market volatility on
portfolio liquidity cannot be ignored.
According to the stress test data com-
piled by AMFI, the estimated time taken to
liquidate 25% of small-cap portfolios varies
from a quarter of a day to as long as 30 days.
When offloading 50% of the portfolio, the
figure extends up to 60 days. This suggests
a long wait for redeeming investors and is
longer to liquidate is not necessarily a red
flag. “The smaller the AUM of a fund, the
shorter time it needs to liquidate. A large-
sized small-cap equity scheme usually does
not take a very high small-cap allocation,
but there can be exceptions,” says Amit
Kumar Gupta, Founder, Fintrekk Capital.
So, don’t be taken aback if the `46,000
crore Nippon India Small Cap takes 27 days
to sell 50% of its portfolio, when the `1,436
crore PGIM India Small Cap is estimated to
take just a day to do the same. In fact, small-
cap funds with at least `10,000 crore AUM
may take 30 days, on an average, to sell 50%

Some mid- and small-cap funds rank low on liquidity

Funds with larger assets under management are estimated to take longer to liquidate their holdings.

Mid-cap funds Number of days to liquidate Small-cap funds Number of days to liquidate

Fund AUM (` cr) Days 6 9 12 17 23 24 34 Fund AUM (` cr) Days 16 17 18 21 30 32 33 35 42 60

Kotak
Emerging 39,732 25% 50% SBI Small
25,534 25% 50%
portfolio portfolio Cap portfolio portfolio
Equity

SBI Magnum
16,467 25% 50% HDFC Small
28,597 25% 50%
Midcap Fund portfolio portfolio Cap portfolio portfolio

HDFC
Mid-Cap 60,194 25% 50% Tata Small
6,274 25% 50%
portfolio portfolio Cap portfolio portfolio
Opportunities

DSP Midcap 16,302 25% 50% Kotak Small

14,189 25% 50%
portfolio portfolio Cap portfolio portfolio

Axis Midcap 25,248 25% 50% DSP Small

13,703 25% 50%
portfolio portfolio Cap portfolio portfolio
Source: AMFI
 NG 3.7 PubDate: 25-03-2024 Zone: ETWealth Edition: 1 Page: ETWDP3 User: saurabh.gupta3 Time: 03-22-2024 20:34 Color:

cover story
The Economic Times Wealth March 25-31, 2024 03

of the portfolio. Large funds have longer

tails (95 stocks on an average), which Small-sized funds boast
means they require more time to sell these
holdings. higher liquidity
In the mid-cap space, the 10 biggest
funds could take 14 days to liquidate 50% These schemes are estimated to liquidate their portfolios
of their portfolios, compared to less than more quickly due to the smaller asset base.
three days for others. So, the biggest
scheme, the `60,000 crore HDFC Mid-Cap Mid-cap funds
Opportunities, taking 23 days should not
NUMBER OF DAYS TO LIQUIDATE
be a cause for alarm.
NAME AUM (` CR)
At the same time, if a fund with the same 25% portfolio 50% portfolio
or lower AUM requires more time to sell,
investors need to find out why. A case in LIC MF Mid Cap 0.05 0.09 243
point is `39,800 crore Kotak Emerging
Equity, which could take 34 days to offload Taurus Mid Cap 0.1 0.1 117
50% of its portfolio. “All things remaining
the same, if time taken to exit is materially ITI Mid Cap 0.09 0.18 714
longer, it could be a reflection of portfolio
liquidity,” says Yoganand D., an invest- Union Midcap 0.16 0.32 1,049
ment planner at Ladco Crest Wealth.

Flexibility in fund mandate

Bandhan Midcap 0.22 0.45 1,073
A mid- or small-cap fund has to invest a
minimum of 65% of its assets in mid- and Small-cap funds
small-cap stocks. It retains the flexibility
to invest the balance 35% in stocks of a NUMBER OF DAYS TO LIQUIDATE
NAME AUM (` CR)
different market-cap segment. Typically,
25% portfolio 50% portfolio
fund managers use this leeway to optimise
portfolio performance.
In some small-cap funds, a big chunk of
LIC MF Small Cap 0.45 0.22 212
this 35% gets parked in mid caps and even
in large caps, apart from cash holdings.
Baroda BNP Paribas
Small Cap 1 1 1,325

1 1
Others prefer to offer a true-to-label expe-
Quantum Small Cap 39
rience, limiting exposure to other market-

1.24 0.62
cap segments. A fund’s liquidity profile
should be judged in correlation with its
ITI Small Cap 1,766
market-cap distribution.
For instance, the HDFC Small Cap and
Union Small Cap 1.32 0.66 1,328
SBI Small Cap may take more time (42 days Source: AMFI
and 60 days, respectively) to offload half
of their stocks. This could be attributed
to their having over 10 percentage points
higher small-cap exposure, versus bigger
and like-sized peers. From a return per-
spective, higher small-cap exposure could Some larger funds also have good liquidity due to
work well during rallies, but will act as a
drag during downturns. high allocation to cash and large-caps stocks
“There is no way to know when an
adverse event will occur and, hence, one These liquid assets cushion the redemption pressure on the fund when markets are under stress.
cannot choose a small-cap scheme based
on its 35% allocation,” says Amol Joshi, Mid-cap funds Small-cap funds
Founder, PlanRupee Investment Services.
For investors, the best strategy is to keep DAYS TO DAYS TO
CASH + LARGE CASH + LARGE
LIQUIDATE LIQUIDATE
their small-cap allocation within reason- FUND CAP (AS % OF AUM (` CR) FUND CAP (AS % OF AUM (` CR)
25% 25%
PORTFOLIO) PORTFOLIO)
able limits and not chase past returns. PORTFOLIO PORTFOLIO

Bigger small-cap funds appear more

liquid when they have substantial large-
Motilal Oswal
Midcap 32.6 8,491 5 Quant Small Cap 33.9 17,233 11
cap allocation. For instance, the Nippon
(27 days) and Quant (22 days) offerings fare
better than many others largely due to 13%
Quant Mid Cap 30.4 5,443 3 Mahindra Manulife
Small Cap 24.8 3,533 1.51
and 28% large-cap allocation, respectively.
This is evident in their mid-cap offerings Axis Midcap 26.9 25,248 6 Motilal Oswal Small
Cap 18.9 1,492 2
too. Often perceived as high-risk strate-
gies due to their outsized returns, Quant
Mutual Fund’s schemes have astonished
Sundaram Mid
Cap 23.7 10,157 2 Bandhan Small Cap 17.9 4,385 1.31
many naysayers, thanks to big large-cap
allocations currently. ICICI Prudential
MidCap 21.0 5,486 1 Nippon India Small
Cap 17.9 46,030 13
Some small-cap funds seem to boast
adequate liquidity even without any large- Source: AMFI
cap allocation. These include offerings
from UTI Mutual Fund, Edelweiss Mutual days to offload 50% of its portfolio. small- or mid-cap fund has a relatively tiny of assets in Bandhan Small Cap, Motilal
Fund, PGIM India Mutual Fund and Union group of investors holding a large propor- Oswal Small Cap, Mahindra Manulife
Mutual Fund. The same journey can lead Investor concentration tion of assets, it is a cause for concern. Small Cap and ITI Small Cap (`1,500-4,400
to different paths. Zero large-cap expo- Another data point investors need to look Concentrated investor mix can make a crore AUM range). It is not uncommon for
sure may not work out that well for some out for is the level of investor concentra- fund more susceptible to lumpy redemp- smaller schemes to have higher investor
relatively smaller funds, such as the `6,200 tion in a fund. Unlike liquidity ‘scenarios’, tions. Even this comes with caveats. concentration, as they tend to have a small-
crore Tata Small Cap, which would need 35 concentration is a real number. If your On paper, the top 10 investors hold 11-22% er investor base. Larger funds, especially
 NG 3.7 PubDate: 25-03-2024 Zone: ETWealth Edition: 1 Page: ETWDP4 User: saurabh.gupta3 Time: 03-22-2024 20:34 Color:

cover story
04 The Economic Times Wealth March 25-31, 2024

those with a longer history, are typically
Why the spread across more investors, reducing
the risks of large redemptions happening
from Motilal Oswal Mutual Fund (23%) and
JM Mutual Fund (15%) exhibited higher
top 10 investor concentration.
Cap Fund, it won’t warrant significant
liquidation exercise. In the case of Motilal
Oswal Midcap Fund, the fund manager

stress test at one go. For instance, the SBI Small Cap,
which might seem less liquid due to the
If a fund’s AUM is spread across a larger
number of folios, chances of 25% or 50% of
may have to trim exposures to service the
redemption,” says Nirav Karkera, Head of

falls short longer period required to offload its port-

folio, has a top 10 investor concentration of
portfolio coming up for redemption at the
same time would also be lower. “If the top 10
Research, Fisdom.
To be sure, a granular study of investor
just 0.6%. In the mid-cap arena, offerings or 100 investors decide to exit the SBI Small mix is required in some funds with greater
At the outset, the Sebi prescribed ‘skin in the game’ from sponsors and fund
framework simulates how long it will managers holding significant stakes. The
take funds to exit 25% and 50% of the
portfolio. Experts point out this is a
highly unlikely scenario. Even during
Concentrated investor base is risky sensitivity to sudden and large redemp-
tions in a fund will largely be to the degree

periods of stress, redemptions are These funds will face lumpy redemptions if big investors exit together. of voluntary contributions from such
stakeholders.
typically far lower. Next, the available
liquidity at any point is calculated on Mid-cap funds No need to get stressed
the basis of trading volumes in the AUM (`cr) Top 10 investor concentration (%)
preceding three months. Healthy mar- Stress testing of small-cap and mid-cap
ket conditions during this time frame
will naturally make for a rosy assess-
Motilal Oswal
Midcap 8,491 23 funds is a good exercise in alerting inves-
tors about the potential liquidity risks in

ment of available volumes. These
volumes could disappear when the
JM Midcap
funds actually need to liquidate hold-
ings. Further, volumes under stress
WhiteOak Capital
Mid Cap
are assumed to be 3x those of the
preceding three months. The premise
is, trading volumes spike during
Tata Mid Cap
Growth
market panic. Again, this presumption
may be incorrect. Some stocks may, in
ICICI Prudential
MidCap
fact, see drying up of volumes when
conditions turn sour. Small-cap funds
The calculation also provides that
10% of a security’s available volume
will be at a single fund’s disposal on ITI Small Cap
any given day. However, under stress,
if several other equity funds, along
with retail and institutional inves-
Mahindra Manulife
Small Cap
tors holding the same stock, seek
an exit, this volume will simply not
Motilal Oswal
Small Cap
materialise. Finally, the framework
provides that the fund will retain its
Bandhan
Small Cap
most illiquid stocks aggregating to
20% of the portfolio, while liquidating
Quantum
Small Cap
the remaining portfolio. The number
of days required for the fund to liqui-
date its portfolio is derived from the
figure pertaining to the least liquid
stock from the remaining 80% of the
portfolio. This, again, is not realistic.
Some funds have pricey portfolios
To meet sudden redemptions, a fund These schemes hold stocks of companies that boast superior
manager will not sell the fund’s illiq-
uid shares first. He is likely to first dip
quality and growth, which, in turn, command high premiums.
into the cash reserves and then sell
highly liquid large-caps or mid-caps Mid-cap funds
to keep the impact cost low. In this
56.2
scenario, it will take much lesser time
for a fund to liquidate holdings.
Besides, the stress test results only
reveal how quickly a fund can liqui-
date its portfolio; they do not indicate
28.9
how this selling will impact the fund’s
NAV (net asset value). During times of
stress, the actual realisable fund NAV
can be lower than its calculated NAV.
This critical piece of puzzle is missing
in the stress test results. Bandhan
Midcap
Small-cap funds
47.9
28.9
15
these segments, but it remains purely a
813
hypothetical exercise.
1,627 5.9 Firstly, drying up of liquidity is more
common in bond markets than in equity
3,295 5.2 markets. It was evident in 2020, when a
severe liquidity crunch forced the winding
5,486 5 up of Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund’s
six debt schemes. Equity funds have so far
never faced any crisis of this magnitude.
Equity funds primarily attract retail par-
AUM (`cr) Top 10 investor concentration (%) ticipants, with individual investors hold-
ing 56% of equity fund AUM. Past trends
1,766 22 indicate that during market downturns,
retail investors tend to halt new invest-
3,533 14.3 ments, but refrain from immediately
redeeming from equity funds due to their
1,492 12.5 aversion to booking losses. “The depth of
the Indian capital markets has grown sig-
4,385 11.1 nificantly over the past decade and, hence,
the possibility of a self-perpetuating
39 6.8 vicious cycle during market crashes re-
mains slim,” suggests Varun Fatehpuria,
Source: AMFI
Founder, Daulat Wealth Management.
Second, the way it is designed, stress test
may not give an accurate picture of liquid-
ity (see box). The prescribed framework for
calculating liquidity is based on assump-
tions that could be far from reality. Funds
that are currently high on liquidity may
actually take far longer to liquidate hold-
Portfolio PE Benchmark PE ings. Similarly, funds with lower liquidity
reading may do far better or worse than
51.1 what the model predicts. As such, inves-
45.5 45.5 41.8
tors need to take these figures with a gen-
erous pinch of salt. In any grading or scor-
ing system, reducing complex attributes to
27 27 27 28.9 a single figure is potentially misleading.
The outcome of a simulated stress test
cannot be the sole reason to buy or exit
a fund. It is akin to buying or selling an
actual car after playing it in a virtual
video game. The test conditions are very
Motilal Oswal PGIM India Midcap Baroda BNP Canara Robeco
Midcap Opportunities Paribas Mid Cap Mid Cap low probability events. “How often does
it happen that 25% or 50% of the corpus of
an equity fund with very granular liabili-
Portfolio PE Benchmark PE ties comes up for redemption simultane-
ously?” asks Aashish P. Somaiyaa, CEO,
WhiteOak Capital Asset Management.
41.9 40.1 38.2 36.8 Even if the event were to materialise,
mutual funds would be able to liquidate
28.9 28.9 28.9 28.9 and meet redemptions within a reason-
able time frame. Regulations even permit
funds to borrow up to 20% of their assets
to address short-term liquidity require-
ments, which offers a substantial buffer.

Canara Robeco Nippon India PGIM India Baroda BNP Kotak

Small Cap Small Cap Small Cap Paribas Small Cap Small Cap Please send your feedback to
etwealth@timesgroup.com
Source: AMFI
 NG 3.7 PubDate: 25-03-2024 Zone: ETWealth Edition: 1 Page: ETWDP5 User: saurabh.gupta3 Time: 03-22-2024
Is liquidity more important
than a fund’s mandate?
Sebi’s call for stress tests for mid- and small-cap funds has put the spotlight on liquidity risk in these funds.
Sanket Dhanorkar asks experts if liquidity should be prioritised at the cost of diluting a fund’s mandate.
Liquidity necessary
to stay in the game
Sailesh
Raj Bhan
CIO – Equity
Investments,
Nippon India
Mutual Fund
Liquidity risk is an important variable that
guides investment decisions in small caps.
If it is not handled correctly, the portfolio’s
flexibility to retain its relevance in changing
business conditions can suffer, impacting
the investor’s experience. Hence, adequate
diversification across the underlying strat-
egy becomes very important and, here, the
in-house research capabilities can make a big
difference.
Nippon India Mutual Fund has one of
the largest equity investment and research
teams in the country, tracking over 475
stocks. This helps to diversify across high
quality businesses without diluting the core
investment strategy. Over the past decade
Need to remain
true to label
Vinit
Sambre
Head, Equities,
DSP Asset Managers
Remaining true to label is a fundamental
principle for small-cap funds because inves-
tors choose these funds specifically for expo-
sure to small-cap stocks and the potential for
higher returns associated with this segment.
However, strict adherence to small-cap stocks
may exacerbate liquidity issues during chal-
lenging market conditions.
However, it is possible to ensure liquidity
while staying true to the fund’s investment
mandate. Funds can use various strategies to
enhance liquidity without deviating from the
their core objective. These are:
Diversification: Investing in a broader range
of small-cap stocks across different sectors
can help mitigate liquidity risks. The im-
and more, we have demonstrated this
ability to maintain the true-to-label invest-
ment mandates without compromising on
liquidity, by managing large funds across
the small-, mid- and multi-cap categories.
Embracing the ‘right risk’ and avoiding
overpaying for growth have been key in-
vestment tenets at Nippon India MF. It’s a
combination of high-conviction investing
and prudent risk management.
Our investment and risk management
framework is designed to achieve optimal
diversification without dilution of the
mandate. The objective is to focus on risk
management without compromising on
the ‘alpha’ possibilities. This is achieved in
the following manner.
High-quality company selection, driven
by strong internal research.
Investing in businesses, not just prices
and momentum.
High-conviction investing. Market dis-
tortions like polarised valuations, false
narratives, macro shifts and structural
changes provide great investment oppor-
tunities without comprising on quality.
Well-defined input risk controls through
fund casing framework.
Output risk optimisation through factor
style analysis.
pact of illiquidity in any single stock is
reduced.
Active management: Vigilant monitoring
and active management of the portfolio
can help identify and adjust positions in
less liquid stocks. Fund managers can use
their expertise to navigate liquidity chal-
lenges effectively while maximising the
returns.
Selective investments: While remaining
committed to small-cap stocks, fund man-
agers can selectively invest in companies
with relatively higher liquidity.
Cash reserves: Holding a portion of the
portfolio in cash or cash equivalents pro-
vides liquidity buffers that can be utilised
during periods of stress. This ensures the
fund can meet redemption demands with-
out being forced to sell illiquid assets.
Proportionate selling: To mitigate high
redemption pressure, one could sell stocks
across the portfolio in proportion to their
holdings. This maintains liquidity without
significant disruption, thereby safeguard-
ing the interests of continuing investors.
By implementing prudent strategies
and maintaining discipline, small-cap
funds can strike a balance between liquid-
ity and remaining true to label, thereby
offering investors attractive long-term
returns.
20:33 Color:
The Economic Times Wealth March 25-31, 2024
Liquidity provides
comfort
Swarup
Mohanty
Vice-Chairman &
CEO, Mirae Asset
Investment
Managers (India)
It is very inconvenient if one needs cash
urgently and the ATM machine is unable
to dispense any. When it comes to money,
it’s not just about managing the customer
experience, but the enterprise’s (bank or
mutual fund) fiduciary duty to act solely
in the interest of the customer.
For mutual funds, balancing liquidity
and staying true to the fund’s mandate
are very important. At Mirae Asset, we
have internal guidelines that satisfy all
the prevalent liquidity norms, actively
monitored by the risk team. Fund man-
agers, too, are cognisant of the fact that
portfolio management is an endeavour to
provide adequate risk-adjusted returns
and liquidity for exiting investors.
The debate on liquidity in mid- and
small-cap funds is timely and will
strengthen the processes in the indus-
try. Just as the banks conduct periodic
asset quality reviews, mutual funds too
can periodically disclose the stress test
results in order to provide comfort to the
investors.
Investors must be vigilant and even as
they track performance, they must also
check consistency in track record across
such parameters.
cover story
05
Realisable returns
need liquidity
Nilesh
Shah
MD, Kotak
Mahindra Asset
Management
An investor’s success is dependent on
the equilibrium between greed and
fear. A fund’s success is dependent on
performance as well as the liquidity
of the portfolio. A sprinter can’t win a
marathon. Marathons require speed as
well as stamina. A winning fund will
have performance as well as liquidity.
It is possible to create performance
by buying illiquid shares, pushing pric-
es and creating a circular performance
loop which attracts money. This strat-
egy is like riding a tiger. It doesn’t last
long. Eventually, the fund has to pay the
price. Funds earn the investors’ trust
with not only decent performance, but
realisable returns. The portfolio’s li-
quidity is critical for earning realisable
returns.
In the short term, the market is like
a voting machine; flows and sentiment
can move the market. In the long term,
markets are like weighing machines;
fundamentals matter. If you are run-
ning a sprint in mutual funds, go for
performance at the cost of liquidity. But
if you are running a marathon, main-
tain a balance between speed (perfor-
mance) and stamina (liquidity).
 NG 3.7 PubDate: 25-03-2024 Zone: ETWealth Edition: 1 Page: ETWDP6 User: saurabh.gupta3 Time: 03-22-2024
stocks
06 The Economic Times Wealth March 25-31, 2024
EMS stocks poised for
long-term growth
Strong demand, government support and export opportunities are key drivers.
by Sameer Bhardwaj
T
he electronics manufactur-
ing services(EMS) sector is
set to witness high growth
in the coming years, led by
strong domestic demand,
government support and export op-
portunities. The market is likely to
grow at a CAGR of 16.1% between 2018-
19 and 2024-25, from $90 billion to $220
billion, according to an IBEF report.
The government’s PLI scheme has
provided strong support to EMS by
addressing cost challenges and im-
proving its global competitiveness.
The sector includes design, assembly
and testing of components for prod-
GETTY IMAGES
ucts ranging from IT, consumer elec-
tronics, industrial electronics and
auto to telecom equipment, lighting
and printed circuit board assembly
(PCBA).
Brokerage reports from Axis
Securities, JM Financial and a report
from EY have maintained a positive
stance on the sector. While most EMS
players are doing well in terms of rev-
enue, the margins are under pressure,
states the Axis Securities report. It is
hopeful the margins will improve as
bigger scale is achieved, component
ecosystem develops in India, and com-
panies develop advanced capabilities
and enter newer industries.
The JM Financial report lists ro-
bust infrastructure, import substitu-
tion, export focus, country’s skilled
labour force and China plus one strat-
egy, apart from government’s schemes
(PLI and SPECS) as key factors driv-
ing EMS industry. The report expects
India’s share in the global electronics
manufacturing industry to surge
from 2% in 2020-21 to 7% by 2026-27. It
expects electronics exports CAGR of
47.8% over 2020-21 and 2026-27.
The EY report states that EMS play-
ers engaged in application segments
like auto, industrial and medical tend
to generate higher margins. The focus
of EMS players is widening across the
value chain from plain vanilla box
build to areas like design and PCB
assembly. This will help in expanding
margins and capturing a larger share
of the profit pools, adds the report.
Declining prices and increased
mobile penetration in rural India are
driving the mobile segment, while
changing lifestyles and higher spend-
ing capacity are aiding the growth of
consumer electronics. The following
four EMS players are currently offer-
ing double-digit share price potential.
20:32 Color:
Kaynes Technology will be supported by its expertise in com-
plex sub-assemblies, which has resulted in
12-month Current 1-year target
strong customer relationships and sticki-
ness. Moreover, expansion in new areas
forward PE price (`) price (`)
like smart meters, A&D and IT, strong client
67.8 2,613 3,100 relationships, robust R&D, entry in the semi-
conductor value chain, and opportunities in
ANALYSTS’ RECOMMENDATIONS
the domestic market amid the government’s
Potential BUY HOLD SELL Atmanirbhar Bharat theme are the key
upside
strongholds of Kaynes.
18.6% 11 2 0
“The entry in OSAT, backward integration
in PCB manufacturing and government sup-
THE COMPANY REPORTED a 76% year-on-
port for component ecosystem shall prove
to be earnings accretive and enhance return
year jump in revenue growth in the Decem- ratios,” states the JM Financial report. The
ber quarter, aided by strong order backlog report lists strong financials, likely improve-
and traction in automotive, industrials and ment in RoCE/RoE, better working capital
railway segments. The order book stood visibility, strategic high-margin, low-volume
at `3,800 crore, which provides a decent model, and experienced promoters as key
revenue visibility. The growth momentum positives.
Cyient DLM which provides strong revenue visibility
for 2024-25. The working capital is likely
to improve in the March 2023 quarter and
12-month Current 1-year target will support free cash flow. While A&D
forward PE price (`) price (`)
has contributed to most of the growth, the
38.0 668 863 management expects industrial and medical
segments to witness improvement in 2024-
ANALYSTS’ RECOMMENDATIONS
25. It is also targeting inorganic growth
Potential BUY HOLD SELL opportunities for expansion.
upside
A PhillipCapital report that was released
29.2% 3 0 0
after the December quarter results expects
strong revenue growth in the future, led
by customer stickiness, current capaci-
THE COMPANY REPORTED strong perfor- ties, higher A&D portfolio in the industry,
mance in the December 2023 quarter, with increasing customer concentration, focus on
a 50% y-o-y jump in revenue growth. The value-added customers and strong industry
performance was aided by strong traction in tailwinds. The report estimates revenue and
the aerospace and defense (A&D) segment. PAT CAGR of 38% and 76%, respectively,
It has a strong order book of `2,290 crore, over 2022-23 and 2025-26.
Syrma SGS Technology
12-month
forward PE
Current
price (`)
1-year target
price (`)
46.7 474 605
ANALYSTS’ RECOMMENDATIONS
Potential BUY HOLD SELL
upside
27.5% 10 2 0
THE COMPANY REPORTED a strong 38%
y-o-y revenue growth in the December
quarter, but the EBITDA margins contracted
by 384 basis points due to higher commod-
ity costs and change in the revenue mix.
Despite subdued performance during the
quarter, the revenue visibility for 2024-25
remains strong due to planned capacity
expansion at Gurugram and Pune, and a
healthy order book of `4,500 crore, which is
executable over the next 12 months.
The management is confident of main-
taining revenue growth of 40-45% in
2024-25 and has onboarded high-volume
clients in the industrial space. The exports
are likely to grow over the years, supported
by new client additions and growth in
healthcare segment. A Motilal Oswal report
expects it to benefit from the industry’s
rapid growth prospects given its healthy
order book, growing exports and strong
execution capabilities. It estimates revenue
and adjusted PAT CAGR of 41% and 39%,
respectively, over 2022-23 and 2025-26.
Avalon Technologies
12-month Current 1-year target
forward PE price (`) price (`)
40.4 497 576
ANALYSTS’ RECOMMENDATIONS
Potential
upside
BUY HOLD SELL
16.1% 6 1 0
THE COMPANY REPORTED a weak perfor-
mance in the December 2023 quarter, with
an 8% y-o-y decline in revenue. The US
business dragged the overall performance
despite the strong performance of India
business. The order book stood at `1,275
crore at the end of the quarter. It witnessed
order inflows across power, industrial, auto-
motive, clean energy and railways segments
during the quarter. In the railways segment,
Kavach and Vande Bharat will be the key
growth drivers.
The management expects the US business
to rebound in the second half of 2024-25
and the company is expanding capacities to
drive domestic business. It aims to expand
the India manufacturing mix to 85%, from
the current 77%. A Systematix report states
that the company’s strong order book posi-
tion, newly added customers and higher
manufacturing mix from India will drive
revenue and margins in the future. It esti-
mates 14% and 32% revenue and PAT CAGR,
respectively, over 2022-23 and 2025-26.
EMS sector median 12-M forward PE: 43.6.
Current price as on 19 Mar 2024. Source: Reuters-Refinitiv
NG 3.7 PubDate: 25-03-2024 Zone: ETWealth Edition: 1 Page: ETWDP7 User: saurabh.gupta3 Time: 03-22-2024 20:31 Color:

guest column
The Economic Times Wealth March 25-31, 2024 07

Caught in their own trap

The allure of quick gains in stocks is such that scamsters often fool not only
their victims but also themselves, says Dhirendra Kumar.

DHIRENDR A KUMAR
CEO, VALUE RESE ARCH
M
umbai chartered accountant
Ambar Dalal flees with crores
of investors’ money’, ran the
headline. There was more de-
tail on social media, where the
victims formed a group to coordinate their ac-
tions. Social media action in such cases may
be a new phenomenon, but the story is a very
old one. An ‘investment consultant’ started
managing people’s money. For a while, he
generated great returns in the booming mar-
ket and paid back his clients, but when the
stock prices paused a bit, he stopped paying.
Sometimes such scamsters disappear and, at

money
other times, they confess. Some are caught,
GETTYIMAGES

some are not. The basic story, however, re-

mysteries mains the same. Dalal is hardly a player on

Investors and
scammers must
remember that there
are no shortcuts to
wealth creation.
Consistent, disciplined
investing in quality
assets over the long
term is the only
reliable path to
financial security.
Chasing quick returns
and entrusting your
hard-earned money to
unregulated entities is
a recipe for disaster.
the scale of Bernie Madoff; most reports claim
he managed around `50 crore, while some
quote figures like `500 crore or `1,000 crore.
However, this is the season for stock-related
scams, or rather, the season for stock-related
scams that fail and, therefore, come to light.
All types of Ponzi schemes and other frauds
can be kept going when the markets are boom-
ing. When the stock prices start hiccuping,
the scamsters fail to retain the illusion.
There are always variations. Some
scamsters start well and climb onto a ti-
ger’s back, from which they cannot get off.
So, perhaps, is Ambar Dalal. At the other
end of the spectrum were Raju brothers of
Satyam. Some are made of a different mettle.
For instance, Shivraj Puri was arrested in
2011, when he scammed bank customers in
Gurugram of about `400 crore while work-
ing as a Citibank relationship manager. He
skipped bail and was re-arrested six years lat-
er, running another scam. He died in prison
some years ago.
The lesson for investors is clear: if some-
thing seems too good to be true, it probably is.
In a bull market, it’s easy to get carried away
by the promise of high returns and ignore the
red flags. Funnily enough, some scammers
need to learn the same lesson. Puri was said
to have been caught because he used all the
money to trade in derivatives, which he then
lost. In another way, Raju was the same.
Perhaps, so is Ambar Dalal. Unlike normal
criminals, these people scammed themselves,
with the same stories. That’s how powerful
the allure of making quick money in the stock
markets is.
Investors, scamsters and potential
scamsters must all remember that there are
no shortcuts to wealth creation. Consistent,
disciplined investing in quality assets over the
long term is the only reliable path to financial
security. Chasing quick returns and entrust-
ing your hard-earned money to unregulated
entities is a recipe for disaster.
Despite the long history of investment
scams, the fundamental nature of the prob-
lem persists. Even individuals who regard
themselves as well-informed and astute inves-
tors fall prey to the allure of seemingly profit-
able investment opportunities. The standard
explanation points to a deficiency in financial
literacy—a lack of understanding about the
strategies that are effective and the ones
that are not. However, the truth could be
exactly the opposite. Rather than focusing
solely on learning what to do, it might be
more beneficial for individuals to under-
stand what not to do with their financial
resources.
The idea of focusing on what not to do is
powerful. This is where the concept of ‘via
negativa’ comes into play. It’s a philosophi-
cal principle that suggests we can often
achieve better outcomes by focusing on
what to remove or avoid, rather than what
to add or pursue. In investing, this means
learning to identify and avoid common
traps and mistakes.
The belief that you can consistently beat
the market leads to overconfidence, exces-
sive trading, and disregard for the power
of diversification and long-term holding.
By learning to avoid this trap and embrac-
ing humility and patience, investors can
improve their odds of success.
Please send your feedback to
etwealth@timesgroup.com

31 Mar last date for updated tax return

Eligible taxpayers need to file
their updated income-tax re-
turn (ITR-U) for assessment
year 2021-22 by 31 March 2024.
ITR-U can be used to fix errors
like under-reporting or mis-
reporting of income, or other
mistakes in the previously
filed ITR. It can also be used
by individuals who did not file
ITR as per tax rules by due date.
Failure to do so could result in
penalties of up to 200% of the
payable tax.
“If an individual conceals
income and does not report
it, then effective from assess-
ment year 2017-18, under a new
Section 270A, a penalty of ei- if it leads to a lower tax liability mitting the updated return for
ther 50% or 200% of the tax pay- after filing it. “A taxpayer can- the financial year 2020-21 is 31
able would be levied. Until as- not file ITR-U that results in a March 2024,” says Surana.
sessment year 2016-17, refund or increases the refund ITR-U can’t be filed without
as per Section 271 previously due on the basis payment of additional tax,
of the Income- of an earlier income-tax depending on specific circum-
tax Act, 1961, return,” says Suresh stances. “The additional tax
the maxi- Surana, Founder, shall be equal to 50% of the ag-
mum pen- RSM India, a tax and gregate of tax and interest pay-
alty would business consulting able. If the ITR-U is furnished
be up to group. ITR-U can be after the expiry of due date of
300% of filed any time within filing belated or revised return,
the tax pay- 24 months of the end but before 12 months from the
able,” says S. of the relevant assess- end of the relevant assessment
Ravi, Founder, ment year. “In 2023-24, year, the additional tax payable
Ravi Rajan & Co, a a person can file an updated shall be 25% of the aggregate of
Delhi-based CA firm. return for AY 2021-22 and AY tax and interest payable,” says
A taxpayer cannot file ITR-U 2022-23. The deadline for sub- Surana. —ET Online
 NG 3.7 PubDate: 25-03-2024 Zone: ETWealth Edition: 1 Page: ETWDP8 User: saurabh.gupta3 Time: 03-22-2024
insurance
08 The Economic Times Wealth March 25-31, 2024
Do you need ‘cancel
for any reason’ cover?
Here are the things to keep in mind if you want to insure your trip for last-minute cancellations.
by Kumar Shankar Roy
T
wo days before his trip to
the Maldives, Raj’s dog fell
sick and had to be hospital-
ised. Delhi-based Raj can-
celled his trip, relying on
the Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR)
travel insurance on his credit card,
to reimburse his losses. However, his
`20,000 airfare claim was rejected
because he had overdue payment on
the card. While buying a CFAR cover
may be a good idea to deal with last-
minute trip cancellations, it may not
always work out for you. Here’s what
you should know about this travel
insurance before you buy one.
What is CFAR travel insurance?
A CONVENTIONAL TRAVEL INSUR-
ANCE may offer trip cancellation or
delay benefit, but only if there is a
medical emergency. So, while a stan-
dard plan requires a specific reason for
trip cancellation, CFAR travel insurance
allows cancellation for any reason,
covering change of mind, personal rea-
sons, work commitments, or relation-
ship change with a travel partner.
It covers unavoidable trip cancella-
tions due to sudden and unpredictable
events, including terrorism, natural
calamities, and serious injury or sud-
den sickness requiring minimum three
days’ hospitalisation of the insured
person, his spouse, parent or child,
who are also booked to travel with the
insured person.
The cancellation event must not
be publicly known before the policy
issuance date and should be before
the policy commencement. The ‘no
questions asked’ feature offers a more
flexible and broad coverage option.
This flexibility in cancellation has
led to CFAR becoming a `125 crore
premium market, with the potential to
reach `250-300 crore by 2024-25, as
per Howden Insurance Brokers India.
Q Where can you buy it?
ALMOST EVERY MAJOR general
insurer has this offering filed with the
regulator, but is generally not available
for sale because it’s a very high-priced
product and can be a loss-making
proposition for the insurer.
It is available as an independent
Q `23,000 (24% of ticket cost). For a Bengaluru-
GETTYIMAGES
Q What does the policy cover?
WHILE SOME PLANS cover both
domestic and international flights
(Bajaj Allianz General Insurance,
XCover.com), others cover only do-
mestic flights (TATA AIG Cancellation
Guard). “Typically, CFAR policies
cover up to 75% of trip expenses or
booking costs, though some cover
only 50% of the booking amount,”
says Manas Kapoor, Business Head,
Travel Insurance, Policybazaar.
CFAR policies only reimburse the
non-refundable amount on cancella-
tion of travel bookings. For instance,
redeeming of airline rewards and
getting miles redeposited do not
qualify for reimbursement. If you
are given a partial voucher/credit
for the trip or have leftover unreim-
bursed expenses, you can claim the
remaining amount. Some policies
may not refund if the tour operator
cancels the trip, as refunds are typi-
plan, but is more often offered as an
add-on or a supplementary product
tagged on with the regular travel insur-
ance. For instance, XCover.com’s CFAR
plan is sold by EaseMyTrip for its flight
tickets.
It is also offered as a benefit with
20:30 Color:
cally handled by the operators.
CFAR coverage varies among
insurers. So Bajaj Allianz’s CFAR
includes expenses like accommoda-
tion charges, travel expenses, and
pre-booked events for both domes-
tic and international trips. In con-
trast, TATA AIG’s coverage focuses
on domestic air travel cancellation
and rescheduling.
Some policies cover cancellations
done at least 24 hours prior to the
travel/stay date. “Depending on
policy terms, the cancellation win-
dow before flight departure varies,”
says Amrish Dubey, Vice President,
Travel Insurance, TATA AIG General
Insurance. It’s best to raise the claim
two days before the trip start date.
For bus trips, some online platforms
reimburse non-refundable, prepaid
amounts no less than six hours
before departure.
credit cards that partner with insurance
brokers, and is free up to a certain
limit. For instance, credit cardholders
of IDFC FIRST Bank, which has tied up
with insurance broker, Howden, for this
facility, are covered for the non-refund-
able amount of flight/hotel booking.
Q How much does it cost?
THE FLEXIBILITY THAT CFAR insurance offers
comes for a price. The premium for CFAR
policies can be as high as 20 times that for a
regular travel policy. For instance, according to
Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, a normal over-
seas policy with a sum insured of US $50,000
(with a trip cancellation cover of $1,000) will
cost around `1,000. However, the same policy
with a CFAR cover, without co-payment, will
have a premium of above `20,000.
Some plans offer lower premiums with a
20% co-payment option, which means you will
receive 80% of the approved claim amount. A
Bengaluru-Abu Dhabi return flight ticket worth
`95,000 can be protected for CFAR by paying
Delhi return flight (business class) costing
`75,000, the CFAR cost will be `15,250 (20%
cost of ticket).
Q What are the exclusions?
THE GOLDEN RULE is that the occurrence leading
to trip cancellation must not be known or publicly
disclosed before the policy issuance date. “An ex-
ample of such an event is the trip cancellation due
to visa refusal,” says Aashish Sethi, Head, Health
SBU and Travel, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance.
Importantly, cancellations due to government
mandates, grounding of common carriers, or
widespread events like pandemics or epidemics,
fall outside the coverage of the CFAR policy, cau-
tions Dubey of TATA AIG.
Q When can the claim be rejected?
IF THE INSURER IS able to prove that the trip can-
cellation reason was known or publicly disclosed
before policy issuance, the claim can be rejected.
In cases of customer-induced flight cancella-
tions due to serious injury or sudden sickness of
the insured person/spouse/parent/child, proof of
a minimum of three days’ hospitalisation may be
required, and failure to do so could see your claim
being denied.
In credit cards, there are a lot more stringent
rules and additional eligibility conditions, possibly
because these are free. These include maintaining
an active card with at least one transaction in the
preceding calendar month, no overdue amount on
any card issued to the primary holder and add-on
cardholders, and CFAR coverage being limited to
hotel bookings for 4/5 star properties. If you do not
fulfil these conditions, your claim can be rejected.
If you pick the cover from an insurer, the claim
rejection is not very high because the product of-
fers very broad coverage.
 NG 3.7 PubDate: 25-03-2024 Zone: ETWealth Edition: 1 Page: ETWDP9 User: saurabh.gupta3 Time: 03-22-2024
Will small savings rates
be hiked next week?
Long-term bond yields, to which the PPF and other rates are linked,
have stayed decidedly above 7% for the past several quarters.
W
hile the capital markets
await a cut in policy
rates, investors in small
savings schemes are
looking forward to a hike. As per the
formula laid down by the Gopinath
Committee in 2011, small savings
GETTY IMAGES
rates should be 25-100 basis points
higher than the average yields of
government securities of the same du-
ration. The benchmark 10-year bond
yield has averaged 7.15% in the past
12 months. Going by the formula, the
PPF rate should be at least 8%.
While the interest rates for the
Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana and the
Senior Citizens’ Savings Scheme were
hiked in the previous rate reviews,
the PPF rate has remained at 7.1% for
the past five quarters.
For investors, the big draw in the
PPF is the triple tax exemption it
offers. Contributions get tax deduc-
tion under Section 80C, the interest
earned is tax-free and the matu-
rity amount is also tax-free on with-
drawal. These tax benfits assume
importance since the tax net has now
been extended to many other tax-free
instruments and incomes.
Some investors are pinning their
hopes on the general elections sched-
20:11 Color:
uled for next month and expect a hike
in small savings rates. If these rates
are hiked, investors in the RBI float-
ing rate bonds also stand to benefit.
The interest rate of these bonds is
linked to that of NSCs. They offer 35
bps more than NSCs. The prevailing
rate of NSCs is 7.7%, so the RBI float-
ing rate bonds are currently offering
8.05%. If the NSC rate is hiked to 8%,
the interest rate of these bonds will go
up to 8.35%, which is comparable to
the deposit rates offered on bank fixed
deposits.
Though bank deposits are very
safe and each depositor is insured up
to `5 lakh by the DICGC, they cannot
match the sovereign guarantee that
comes with RBI bonds. While bank
deposits have a fixed rate, the RBI
bonds have a floating rate that gets
reset every six months.
review preview
The Economic Times Wealth March 25-31, 2024 09
product launches
:: MUTUAL FUNDS
Bandhan Mutual Fund will launch the Bandhan Innovation
Fund, an open-ended thematic equity fund that will
invest predominantly in stocks of companies focused
on innovation. Its benchmark is the Nifty 500 TRI. The
minimum investment is `1,000. The NFO will be open
from 10 to 24 April.
PGIM India Mutual Fund will launch the PGIM India
Retirement Fund, a multi-cap equity fund that will invest in
a mix of stocks, REITs, InvITs and fixed income securities.
Its benchmark is the S&P BSE 500 TRI. The minimum
investment is `5,000. The NFO will be open from 26
March to 9 April.
:: BANKING
SBI Card and Titan Company have launched a co-branded
credit card. The Titan SBI Card offers several benefits,
including cashbacks, Titan gift vouchers and reward
points. Cardholders get exclusive benefits if they use the
card to spend over `2 lakh in a year.
:: INSURANCE
Tata AIA Life Insurance has launched the Tata AIA Rising
India Fund, which will invest in key sectors and companies
driving the Atmanirbhar Bharat story. The fund will invest
in companies across market caps and would be sector-
agnostic, enabling the fund manager to harness diverse
opportunities driving India’s growth engine. The NFO is
open till 31 March.
 NG 3.7 PubDate: 25-03-2024 Zone: ETWealth Edition: 1 Page: ETWDP10 User: saurabh.gupta3 Time: 03-22-2024
financial planning
10 The Economic Times Wealth March 25-31, 2024
What is opportunity cost?
When it comes to utilising our money, opportunity cost is the amount we are potentially letting go of when
we favour one investment choice over the others that are available to us, says Uma Shashikant.
UMA SHASHIK ANT
IS CHAIRPER SON,
CENTRE FOR INVES TMENT
EDUC ATION AND LE ARNING
If there is an alternate
use to which money
can be put, a decision
to ignore it and do
what one set out to do,
creates an opportunity
cost. If I leave money
idle in the bank
because I worry that
the equity markets will
crash, I make a choice.
The opportunity cost
of this choice is the
difference between the
market return of, say,
8%, and the 3% that my
money earns.
A
friend’s teenage son came over to
meet me this past weekend. His
father had asked him to read the
column where I ask young people
to get into the groove with personal
finance. “What does opportunity cost mean?”
the boy asked. “My mother tells me every time
I eat that I must consider the starving children
before I waste even a morsel. That somehow
never appeals to me,” he confessed. “Now this
opportunity cost is staring me in the face, and I
think it is something similar given the way my
dad has positioned it,” he explained.
Opportunity cost is a very interesting
idea in economics, with many implications.
“Would you think a lot before drinking a glass
of water?” I asked him. He wondered if I was
talking about how water scarcity threatens
many global cities. That is the next level of
concern, but would he give some thought to the
basic simple act, I persisted. Nope. Scarcity is
a precondition for opportunity cost to be con-
sidered. In a world without scarcity, everyone
would get everything they wanted in unlim-
ited quantities, and there would be no oppor-
tunity cost to worry about. In the real world,
resources are scarce. Therefore, the question
of choice arises, especially with money that
is the focus of this column. Except for govern-
ments that can print money (with its own peril-
ous consequences), everyone else works with a
limited amount of money.
However, not everyone experiences scar-
city with every decision about money. A daily
wager who wastes his earnings on gambling
or at the liquor bar makes choices with a very
scarce resource that deprives his family of
a basic meal, good health and nutrition. As
one moves up the ladder of wealth, these basic
choices become easy. There is enough money
20:10 Color:
GETTY IMAGES
to buy food, and as our recent consumer spend-
ing surveys show, we seem to be doing better.
We see that choices with respect to many goods
and services are being made by ordinary folks
with ease, as they don’t see themselves run-
ning out of money after those indulgences and
expenses. However, each level of wealth has its
constraints with respect to money decisions.
Opportunity cost is this constraint.
If there is an alternate use to which money
can be put, a decision to ignore it and do what
one set out to do, creates an opportunity cost. If
I leave money idle in the bank because I worry
that the equity markets will crash, I make a
choice. The opportunity cost of this choice
is the difference between the market return
of, say, 8%, and the 3% that my money earns.
There are implications to this comparison,
but we will come to that later. At a broad level,
every decision is one of many choices. There
is no end to comparisons and confusion. It is,
therefore, important to break down the idea
of opportunity cost and work with its specific
attributes.
First, opportunity cost is specific to the per-
son making the decision. It must matter to that
person, otherwise it is not part of his thinking.
If the young teenager had been told to eat or
he would go hungry, he would understand the
consequence as something that affects him. To
choose to eat, rather than starve, has a specific
impact on him. A generalised morality that his
mother attempted is noble, but not in his realm
of choices.
Second, opportunity cost comparisons are
about what a person would have specifically
done instead, or the most valuable choices he
had while making a decision. A child receiving
a gift of `1,000 could list every item in every
store that could be bought with that money.
The parent might nudge the child to buy
some books, but the child could be consider-
ing whether he can eat one grand meal at a
favourite restaurant or many small treats
at various outlets. That is his relevant uni-
verse of choices. In the earlier case of money
lying in the bank, if I am not an equity
investor, I would compare my choice with
the fixed deposit rate of 5%, and my oppor-
tunity cost would be lower.
Third, opportunity cost exists only until
a decision is made. It then ceases to matter.
If a young woman has to choose a college for
higher studies, the universe of choice first
narrows down to the colleges that accept
her for admission. After she joins one, all
else ceases to matter. She runs with what
she has because what she does not have can
never be a part of her experiences.
The young man seemed quite interested
in the concept and summarised thus: “The
gist is that when I have a limited amount of
money (which, I reminded him, he always
will), I should consider the choices that mat-
ter to me and decide after evaluating what I
am giving up.” Absolutely.
“So, why is my father always pointing out
what I could have done instead?” he asked.
That is the celebrated sunk cost fallacy, I
told him. We all suffer from it in various
ways. Rationally, once we make one of the
many choices, all other choices lose rel-
evance. It does not matter to the outcome at
all, but we are unable to give up that easily.
Suppose we book a show in advance, but
are unable to go. We feel upset. Whether
we go or not, we cannot recover the money
that has already been spent. Let’s consider
a simpler example. We go to the show as
planned. We do not enjoy it, but we choose to
stay till the end and suffer it. We have paid
anyway, we tell ourselves, though we are
free to leave and utilise the time better. This
is why we finish the food that we don’t rel-
ish, read the books that we can’t finish, and
remain in jobs we don’t enjoy because we
believe we have invested too much to quit.
Rationally speaking, the decision to quit
has nothing to do with the first decision
to begin. What is sunk can’t be recovered.
So why do we suffer? Behavioural finance
offers many interesting explanations. We
are averse to losses; we can’t let go of what
we have spent. We frame our decision nega-
tively if we quit; we feel positive if we per-
sist. We dislike waste and feel irresponsible
about not utilising an investment.
“What can we do about this fallacy?” he
asked. “We can consider the opportunity
cost,” I told him. “Aha,” he exclaimed.
That is why opportunity cost is a beauti-
ful idea.
Please send your feedback to
etwealth@timesgroup.com
 NG 3.7 PubDate: 25-03-2024 Zone: ETWealth Edition: 1 Page: ETWDP11 User: saurabh.gupta3 Time: 03-22-2024 20:29 Color:

financial planning
The Economic Times Wealth March 25-31, 2024 11

Making up for PAPER WORK

:: NPS partial withdrawal
The primary objective of the Nation-

a shortfall in al Pension System (NPS) is to build

a retirement corpus, but subscribers
may need funds before this. The NPS
has a provision for partial withdraw-

goal value al under specific conditions without

requiring a closure of account.

Eligibility criterion
To be eligible for a partial
withdrawal, the subscriber
should have been enrolled in the NPS
for a minimum of three years.

Limit & frequency

The withdrawal limit is 25%
of the subscriber’s contribu-
tion. They can make up to three partial
withdrawals, with a five-year gap,
throughout the life of their NPS account.

GETTY IMAGES
Permissible reasons
 Education or marriage
expenses for children.
 Buying/construction of first house.

S
Shannon has been working for the past hannon is just a few years
away from utilising the cor-
15 years and has a goal to start her own pus to meet her cherished
digital media venture by the time she is goal of becoming an entre-
preneur. Increasing the allocation
40 years old. She has been investing dili- to a wealth creation asset class such
gently to create a corpus that is sufficient as equity may expose her portfolio
to more risk at this crucial stage
to take care of her household expenses in
when she is so close to the goal.
the time that it takes her business to sta- Since Shannon is planning to
bilise revenues. Shannon is 35 years old use the corpus when she is 40 years
old, she may not have the adequate
and has recently conducted a review of investment horizon necessary
her investment plan. She has discovered to manage a possible correction
in equity. It is not her age but the
at this stage that she has fallen short of holding period available for invest-
her target. She is now wondering how to ment that is relevant in making
catch up with her goal value. One option an appropriate investment choice.
Moreover, the additional return
that she is considering, given her relative- from investment in these assets
ly young age, is to increase the allocation for the remaining five years may
not significantly change the final
to equity to 100%, given the good returns corpus value.
in the past couple of decades. Is this an op- It may be prudent for Shannon
to consider postponing her entre-
tion that can help Shannon? Will this be preneurial plans by a few years in
enough to make up for the shortfall? order to give her investment the
time it requires to grow. This will
give her investments the benefit of
compounding due to the additional
time available. She could also con-
sider topping up her investment
amount through systematic invest-
ing in the coming years in order to
increase the targeted corpus.
Shannon must ensure that as she
approaches the time she intends to
start drawing from the corpus, she
must move it to less risky invest-
ments so that they don’t lose value
when the money is required. This
would be her way of protecting the
goal corpus from any major erosion
in value.
Extending her investment ho-
rizon, while also topping up her
regular allocation towards equity,
might be a better way to pursue
her dream of entrepreneurship.
Though she may end up being a
little late in achieving her goal, it
will be better than jeopardising the
entire plan by making the wrong
investment choice in haste.
 Medical treatment for the sub-
scriber or immediate family.
 Pursuing some skill development
or self-improvement activities as
approved by the PFRDA.
 Starting an entrepreneurial
venture or startup in line with the
PFRDA regulations.
Medical conditions
Eligible conditions include
cancer, kidney failure, heart
surgery, accident, etc. Here,
the condition of five-year gap between
withdrawals does not apply.
Process
A withdrawal request, with
a self-declaration of the
purpose and supporting documenta-
tion, must be submitted to the point of
presence (PoP), nodal office, or associ-
ated entities. In case of illness, a family
member can also submit the request.

Content on this page is courtesy Centre for Investment Education and Learning (CIEL).
Contributions by Girija Gadre, Arti Bhargava and Labdhi Mehta.

smart things to know

Section 80G of Income Tax Act

1
Section
80G allows
taxpayers
to claim de-
duction for
2 3 4 5
All taxpayer
categories Deduction
Donations can
be made via Form 10BE
donations are eligible to can be of four cash, cheque is required
to eli- claim deduc- types: 100% or or electronic as evidence
gible fund, tion under 50%, without modes. How- to support
institution this Section any maxi- ever, cash the deduc-
or trust, to if they have mum limit, donations over tion to be
encourage opted for or subject to `2,000 are not claimed
philan- the old tax a maximum eligible for while filing
thropy. regime. limit. deduction. the ITR.
 NG 3.7 PubDate: 25-03-2024 Zone: ETWealth Edition: 1 Page: ETWDP12 User: saurabh.gupta3 Time: 03-22-2024
interview
12 The Economic Times Wealth March 25-31, 2024
“Those serious about retirement
aren’t attracted to NPS tax gain”
While retaining its sharp focus on term plans, Policybazaar is now looking to sell annuity products
without much concern for competition from the NPS, Santosh Agrawal tells Riju Mehta.
What do you think of Irdai’s proposal on
Santosh increase in surrender charges?
Agrawal It’s a customer-friendly move, but in the
short term, the industry will face challenges.
There will be a rebalancing from a commer-
CBO, Life cial perspective because there will be lesser
Insurance, left for the distributor and manufacturer. We
will have to make products more customer-
Policybazaar friendly because only then will insurance
penetration go up. It’s a step in the right
direction and the sooner we accept and man-
age it, the better it will be.
We are giving all our partner-manufac-
turers the confidence that the entire margin
hit will not be taken by them alone. We will
also absorb the margin. There will be an
impact on distributor payout also and not all
distributors will be forthcoming in accept-
ing this change. So, of course, there will be
a balancing act and it will happen in two or
three stages. It may not be factored in fully
in this particular change, and may take
another iteration or so for it to happen. From
the industry perspective, there have been a
few shocks in the recent past (`2.5 lakh limit
on Ulips, `5 lakh limit on traditional plans),
so absorbing a shock every year becomes dif-
ficult. The industry will accommodate and
20:10 Color:
adjust, but it will happen over time.
Are people informed enough to make
online life insurance purchases from ag-
gregators like Policybazaar?
If you are coming to an online platform on
your own, it suggests you have the ability
to make an online purchase, which is an
indicator that you are Internet-savvy and
educated. So everything has to be written on
the platform because we are not depending
on an individual to communicate. Product
features are mentioned on the website and
enough literature is available to make an
informed decision. The information is non-
jargonised and in a language that is easily
consumable for a layman. Plus, assistance is
provided on recorded calls, so we ensure that
the information is factual and correct.
What is the percentage share of life insur-
ance plans sold on Policybazaar?
Nearly 40% of our business is term insur-
ance, and of the remaining 60%, almost 90%
is Ulips and 10% is non-participating plans.
Why is your term plan sale much higher
than traditional plans, which is the case
for most life insurers?
There was a reason we started Policybazaar.
Our vision on protection is very clear and
we invest a lot in it. Unlike most distribution
houses, where the same adviser or agent
is tasked to sell life insurance, we have an
earmarked term department, which is an
independent entity that only sells term in-
surance. So you cannot substitute term for
any other product. Almost 25% of the coun-
try’s retail term plans are bought through
Policybazaar. Manufacturers also depend a
lot on Policybazaar for term insurance sale.
We do not sell participating plans because
customers do not understand these fully
and it’s subject to misselling. Ulips make for
most of our sales because we sell for the long
term of over 10 years, and there is no nega-
tive 10-year cycle in the market. Ulips have a
very low margin, but we are able to sustain
because we sell in volumes. We’ve been in
operation for 15 years and have broken even
for the first time in the last quarter. It’s a
long-term game for us.
On the non-participating side, tax was one
reason people were buying these plans and
that’s not a sustainable reason to buy. The
product should be able to stand on its feet.
Along with Ulips, annuity is a customer-
friendly product. We are trying to see how
to sell annuity, though we have younger cus-
tomers because of the online buying mecha-
nism. We are releasing a TV campaign on
retirement and, if it does well, we should be
able to get more customers above 45 years.
Won’t you face competition from the NPS?
NPS is a good product, but it’s just accumula-
tion and then it invests in annuity. People
know of the NPS because of tax benefit, but
`50,000 is not a meaningful amount. The peo-
ple who are serious about retirement are not
attracted by `50,000. They plan how much
pension they need and invest accordingly.
What innovations are likely in life plans?
One thing that the life insurance sector
wants to do is health insurance. There are, of
course, indemnity plans that health insur-
ance companies sell, but there are critical
illness benefits that life insurers can sell.
An indemnity plan can cover you for `10-20
lakh, but if you have a serious illness like
cancer, for which the treatment cost is very
high, having a specific cancer cover is a good
idea. Through life insurance fixed benefit
products, you can buy a large cover at a very
reasonable price. If you see globally, life in-
surance companies sell health, and general
insurance is a different category. So health
is a big area that remains unexplored.
The other area is retirement, with a lot of
scope for innovation. Companies are launch-
ing annuity plans where you can surrender
the plan and get 100% of your money back.
There’s something called balance of premi-
um, where the amount you invest in annuity
will come back to you even if you die early. So
a lot of creativity and innovation is required
because our industry has not really focused
on pension and retirement.
What’s the average size of term plans sold?
The average life cover we sell is `94 lakh, up
from `87 lakh two years ago. A lot of people
also buy `1 crore cover even though they
have high incomes. The thumb rule is to buy
a cover that is 10 times your annual income,
but `1 crore has become a number to go to
and people are underinsuring themselves.
So we are trying to educate them to buy the
right amount of cover.
Most products we sell are to salaried indi-
viduals, but now we are trying to insure the
self-employed, where penetration is very low
because we ask for traditional income docu-
ments. We’re trying to arrive at the right in-
come through surrogates of lifestyle, credit
score, etc. The other area is to give term
insurance to women, especially housewives.
We should acknowledge that they generate
income, maybe indirectly, and add value.
We’ve seen a healthy shift from 7-8% of wom-
en buyers to 13% at this year’s exit.
Please send your feedback to
etwealth@timesgroup.com
 NG 3.7 PubDate: 25-03-2024 Zone: ETWealth Edition: 1 Page: ETWDP13 User: saurabh.gupta3 Time: 03-22-2024
Setting goals with boss
Take charge of the most important discussion of the year, says Devashish Chakravarty.
Y
ou are in the middle of the annual
performance appraisal season,
which is a critical time not only
for salary discussions, but also
for shaping your professional tra-
jectory in the coming year. This is the time
for annual goal setting that will determine
how you will be measured next year, your
likelihood of success or failure and your
prospects for growth. Ignore this exercise at
your own peril or make it your own to suc-
ceed. Here’s how.
Preparing for conversation
Do not enter this discussion without prepa-
ration. Reflect on your achievements and
contributions as well as obstacles and chal-
lenges in the previous year, and how you
faced them. Now introspect about the skills
and competencies you would like to build.
Consider your manager’s style of commu-
nication. Does he prefer a straightforward
data-driven discussion or a more conversa-
tional approach? Plan your conversation to
resonate with the manager’s preferred style.
Gold star for manager
Marc Cenedella, CEO of job portal, Ladders,
advises considering how you can help your
manager get a gold star on his review next
year. Thinking about what will help your
manager succeed in his role puts you in the
best position for the chat. You get a better
perspective of the business beyond your
own needs. Your goals are more likely to be
accepted when they include the manager’s
and team’s success. By thinking about your
manager’s interests, you train yourself to
grow into his shoes when he gets promoted.
Art of S.M.A.R.T
Whether you are setting professional goals
with your manager or personal ones, use the
time-tested S.M.A.R.T. framework. Make
sure your goals are ‘specific’, with clearly
defined achievements; ‘measurable’, mean-
ing there are metrics to track progress;
‘achievable’ and ‘relevant’, implying they
are realistic and challenging, but not over-
whelming, while they align with your job
and employer’s objectives; and ‘time-bound’,
with specific deadlines.
Long and short of it
Think not just about what you want for your-
self this year, but also about your long-term
direction. Examine what your employer
needs over the next few years, along with the
immediate priorities. Use both long-term
and short-term needs to make your list of
goals for the year. So, if you are setting sales
targets with your manager, also talk about
brand building projects, which will pay back
your employer in the long term, while broad-
ening your skillsets.
The eager beaver
Initiate the goal-setting conversation with
your manager ahead of appraisal meeting.
Express your eagerness for the discussion
and for his inputs and guidance. If a goal-set-
ting discussion is not part of your appraisal
meeting, request a separate conversation
afterwards. When you bring enthusiasm to
the table, your manager is also pulled into
investing time and agreeing to the goals.
The big picture
You can’t talk only about how a goal helps
your career or meets your interests. Where
does the organisation’s objectives fit into
this? To get your manager’s attention, pre-
sent the big picture of company’s needs, in-
terests of different teams involved, manag-
er’s targets and your own goals. Within this
context, your goals are easy to understand,
accept and agree to. Practise and rehearse
your narrative before you present.
Nail it down
No plan will be executed without the re-
quired resources. Your first aim is to reach
20:09 Color:
career
The Economic Times Wealth March 25-31, 2024 13
ART OF SELF-
ADVOCACY
KNOW THYSELF
1 If you don’t speak up for
yourself, no one else will. It is
your job, not your manager’s, to
track and progress your career.
The first step towards self-
advocacy is to know yourself.
Start your self-awareness jour-
ney by figuring out your values,
strengths and weaknesses and,
thus, create your goals.
SUCCESS DIARY
2
GETTYIMAGES
The foundation of self-
confidence is built on evidence,
not by faking it. Write down
your success diary by list-
ing your achievements and
successes. Relate them to how
these impacted your team or
employer. Refer to your list of-
ten to remind yourself of what
you can do and how far you
have come.
an agreement on which goals to pursue.
KNOCK ON
The second aim is to agree on and commit
to the resources for each goal. Nail down
3 THE DOOR
the details on manpower, budget, training, You do not know which doors
mentoring and technologies required, and are open unless you knock on
the timeline for each. If required, schedule them. Share your career goals,
a follow-up meeting to iron out differences. and look for opportunities
Seek closure on clear and firm commitment and projects that will take you
from your manager. forward. Figure out how to posi-
tion yourself as the most suit-
Things will go wrong able person for the opportunity.
Irrespective of how well you plan, things Then go ahead and make your
will go wrong. So, step forward and talk case with the manager.
about what could go wrong during the year
POWER OF
that could derail each goal. Your manager
will appreciate that you have taken the time 4 PERSISTENCE
to think through potential obstacles. Talk If only you believe that you are
about your contingency plans to overcome suitable, then it is a lonely bat-
the challenges and the support that you will tle. However, if you enroll your
require from him. Ask your manager if you environment to the possibility
have missed anything. You would have dem- of your success, then others
onstrated both foresight and collaboration. will open doors for you. Self-
advocacy is not a single sales
The feedback loop pitch but an ongoing journey of
To paraphrase management guru Peter walking the talk and building a
Drucker, what gets measured, gets done. reputation that speaks for you.
How will you set up systems for you and your
KEEP IT ROLLING
5
manager to track and measure projects and
goals? Have you put in both feedback loops Winning at a long
in the system, wherein if the measurement career game means learning
is encouraging, you will press the accelera- to compromise in some short-
tor, and if the measurement is discouraging, term games. Self-advocacy
you will hit the brakes? means learning to negotiate
and creating mutually beneficial
Criticism or growth fuel? outcomes when there is a clash
Criticism from your manager is never an of interests. Each occasion then
easy pill to swallow even if it is constructive. is an opportunity to learn, im-
Learn to recognise that it is your best source prove and keep the ball rolling.
for professional growth. Criticism is a nega-
tive feedback loop, which can give you valu-
able inputs on what you should discontinue
and what you can change. First, practice ig-
noring both the tone and messenger. Second,
analyse the message to find valuable step- THE WRITER IS FOUNDER & CEO,
SALARYNEXT.COM, A JOB LOSS
ping stones to grow and succeed. Remember,
ASSUR ANCE COMPANY.
feedback fuels growth.
 NG 3.7 PubDate: 25-03-2024 Zone: ETWealth Edition: 1 Page: ETWDP14 User: saurabh.gupta3 Time: 03-22-2024
your queries
14 The Economic Times Wealth March 25-31, 2024
I received a demand notice for income
tax filed for assessment year 2023-24
due to a tax credit mismatch. It claimed
that I hadn’t accounted for all the
receipts listed in my Form 26AS. The
mismatch was due to a system error
that had counted a house property sale
receipt three times due to a transaction
reversal. Is there a platform to bring
this discrepancy to the attention of the
tax department?
We understand that you have received
the demand notice under Section 156 of
the Income-tax Act, which appears to
have been issued erroneously by the tax
department due to multiple transactions.
To address this issue, you can submit a
rectification request via the income-tax
portal, in accordance with Section 154 of
the Act. This can be done within four
years of the end of the financial year in
which the order sought to be rectified
was passed.
You also need clarity regarding the fo-
rums where you can escalate the matter.
To ensure effective resolution, we recom-
mend resending e-mails to the jurisdic-
tional tax officer’s e-mail address, outlin-
ing the issues comprehensively and pro-
viding appropriate documentation. You
can get the e-mail ID of the respective tax
department official by logging into the e-
filing portal and checking the jurisdiction
details. You also have the option to regis-
ter your grievance through the tax portal.
Seeking professional assistance is advis-
able to ensure proper resolution
through appropriate chan-
nels.
Amit Maheshwari
Partner, AKM Global
I recently sold two residential properties to
finance the purchase of another property. I
still own one property. Am I eligible for cap-
ital gains tax exemption by reinvesting in
another residential property?
Section 54 of the Income-tax Act, 1961,
does not prohibit the sale of two resi-
dential properties and purchase of a sin-
gle property to save capital gains tax.
Hence, you can reinvest the capital gains
derived from the sale of two houses in
one house. Since the Income-tax Act is
silent on this, there are various ITAT
judgements to support this view as well.
Under Section 54, you can reinvest
the gains from a residential property in
another residential property, irrespec-
tive of the number of houses you own
on the date of sale of the residence in
question. There is, however, a restric-
tion on the number of houses you own
on the date of sale of assets, but that is
under Section 54F. You shall be availing
of Section 54, not Section
54F.
Shubham Agrawal
Senior Taxation Adviser,
TaxFile.in
20:31 Color:
QA
&
Our panel of experts will answer
questions related to any aspect of
personal finance. If you have a
query, mail it to us right away.
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
I’m 41 and have daughters aged seven and
five. I plan to retire at 60-62 years. My invest-
ments are as follows. For retirement, I have
`1.6 crore in the Nifty 50 index fund and an
EPF balance of `10 lakh, with a monthly con-
tribution of `75,000. For children’s foreign
education and weddings, I have a fully paid
Ulip worth `50 lakh in large-cap equity funds,
and another Ulip worth `8 lakh, with `22,500
monthly contribution for four years. I expect
to inherit an ancestral property worth `1
crore. My monthly expenses are `2 lakh,
including `60,000 home loan EMI for 19
years. I have no investible surplus. Is the cor-
pus enough to help meet my future needs?
Assuming 12% CAGR returns in equity and 6% in fixed
income, you can amass around `19 crore for retirement
after 20 years, with the help of `1.6 crore in equity MF
and `10 lakh (with `75,000 monthly contribution) in the
EPF. Considering your current expenses (removing EMI
expense) and adjusting for 7% annual inflation, your re-
tirement corpus should help you sustain on fixed in-
come products, assuming a life expectancy of 80 years.
Studying abroad is expensive and costs can range
from $50,000 to $1,00,000 per annum, per head, which
is around `42-84 lakh in today’s value. This will vary for
different countries and universities. Weddings can also
be costly. The surplus of `1.58 crore (Ulips, property)
may not be enough for foreign education and weddings
costs for both children. Education and wedding inflation
can be 10-12% per annum.
It is also advisable to avoid Ulips as they are hybrid
products. These will only give you partial benefit from
the investment and insurance buckets. To maximise the
benefits, it is important to keep your investment and in-
surance portfolios separate. This will help you generate
optimum returns from your investments and get full
benefit from insurance by securing yourself and your
family. Since you are 41 years old and have a long time
horizon, you should venture into well-diversified flexi-
cap mutual funds, instead of going for pure large-cap
funds. Many of these funds have 50-60%, or more, allo-
cation to large caps. Having some exposure to mid
caps and small caps is important to maxim-
ise your returns over the long term. How-
ever, if you are unable to stomach much
volatility, then sticking to pure large-
cap funds makes sense.
Rushabh Desai
Founder, Rupee With Rushabh
Investment Services
I am 38 years old and my monthly income is
`1 lakh. I have equity mutual funds worth
`10 lakh (with a `35,000 monthly SIP) and
`40 lakh in the Provident Fund. How much
should I invest via SIPs in the next 10 years
to create a `2 crore equity corpus? I have an
aggressive risk appetite.
As you have indicated a high risk appetite, let’s
consider two return scenarios. If we assume 12%
market returns on your investment, the lump sum
of `10 lakh and SIP of `35,000 will help build a
corpus of close to `1.09 crore in 10 years. To reach
your target of `2 crore in 10 years, you’ll need to
increase the monthly SIP by `40,000, taking it to
`75,000. Alternatively, you could consider raising
the SIP to `50,000 per month and gradually in-
creasing it by 10% each year.
Even if we assume a higher return of 15%, the
current investment will not suffice and you will
fall short by `68 lakh, instead of `91 lakh in the
first case. This is because the time for compound-
ing to work is less and even higher returns cannot
compensate for this. Even with higher returns, an
incremental investment of `25,000 per month
(monthly SIP of `60,000) will be required.
However, if you continue to invest for 15 years,
providing more time for compounding, you can
amass around `2.2 crore with your original invest-
ment. A step-up by 10% each year will boost the
corpus to `3.4 crore in 15 years. Reaching your
target in 10 years is ambitious, and you will have
to increase the current SIP and ex-
tend the investment horizon to
achieve it.
Prableen Bajpai
Founder, FinFix Research and
Analytics
I’m 18 and want to start investing. I need
guidance on how to allocate `2,000 across
mutual funds and gold bonds for the long
term. What is the right age to purchase health
and term insurance to secure my finances?
If you are planning to invest for eight years or
more, you can explore a combination of ELSS and
index funds. Index funds simply mirror the re-
turns of an index like Nifty or Sensex. ELSS is an
actively managed fund that has a lock-in period
of three years and is among the best instruments
for long-term investment. To start with, you can
consider the Nifty 50 fund or an ELSS tax-saver
from a reputed fund house. Consider gold only as
a hedge and do not park more than 5-10% of
your investment in it. Before you start investing,
keep 3-6 months’ expenses as an emergency
fund to protect your long-term savings.
If you have student loans or are an earning
member of the family, consider getting term in-
surance and increase the amount over time as
your responsibilities grow. As for health insur-
ance, most family floater plans cover adult chil-
dren till the age of 25. So, if your parents have a
floater plan, chances are that you will not need
one right away. However, read the terms and
conditions carefully to understand the
extent of coverage and age limit.
Adhil Shetty
CEO, BankBazaar
Have a question for the experts?
etwealth@timesgroup.com
 NG 3.7 PubDate: 25-03-2024 Zone: ETWealth Edition: 1 Page: ETWDP15 User: saurabh.gupta3 Time: 03-22-2024 20:28 Color:

SMART STATS
The Economic Times Wealth
March 25-31, 2024

In This Section
MUTUAL FUNDS - P16
LOANS AND DEPOSITS - P18
ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENTS- P19

ET WEALTH TOP 50 STOCKS

Every week we put about 3,000 stocks through four key filters and rate them on a mix of factors. The end result
of this is the listing of the top 50 stocks based on the composite rating to help ease your fortune hunt.

RANK PRICE ` GROWTH%* VA LUAT I O N R AT I O S RISK R AT I N G

Value
Current Previous Stock Net Div Downside Bear No. of Consensus Research
Rank Rank Price Revenue Profit PE PB Yield PEG Risk Beta Analysts Rating Stock Rating

Bandhan Bank 1 1 180.45 24.55 84.87 13.24 1.48 0.84 0.16 1 0.97 28 4.21 
1 Fast growing stocks
LIC Housing Finance 2 2 591.35 31.56 61.66 11.25 1.20 1.49 0.19 1 1.53 32 3.94 
Top 5 stocks with the highest
Aurobindo Pharma 3 3 1,028.25 25.86 95.53 31.18 2.24 0.44 0.33 1 0.54 31 4.13 
revenue growth (%)
Axis Bank 4 6 1,035.60 10.50 105.07 23.71 2.13 0.10 0.24 1 1.00 49 4.80 
Aptus Value
Samvardhana Motherson 5 4 115.25 46.23 140.77 52.35 3.49 0.58 0.35 1 1.57 22 4.64 
Housing Finance 49
Kalpataru Projects Intnl. 6 5 1,084.30 45.49 147.41 37.75 3.78 0.65 0.26 1 1.36 15 4.33  Samvardhana
Motherson 46
Maruti Suzuki India 7 7 11,908.15 30.66 70.58 43.87 5.83 0.75 0.62 1 1.23 50 4.38 
Kalpataru
45
Apollo Tyres 8 9 461.00 11.24 92.10 26.58 2.28 1.00 0.29 1 0.75 28 3.64  Projects Intnl.
Balrampur Chini Mills 9 8 366.35 32.22 90.80 26.37 2.56 0.84 0.27 1 1.23 10 4.10  Adani Ports 44
& SEZ
Larsen & Toubro 10 10 3,560.00 37.09 58.21 47.90 5.62 0.85 0.77 1 0.48 35 4.43 
Can Fin Homes 42
Hero MotoCorp 11 11 4,519.90 21.62 60.41 32.30 5.45 2.99 0.54 1 1.00 44 3.61 

Somany Ceramics 12 13 631.20 17.28 97.09 37.14 3.37 0.47 0.37 2 0.91 22 4.68 

Adani Ports & SEZ 13 12 1,262.45 44.48 98.58 51.41 5.99 0.40 0.52 1 1.14 22 4.73 
2 Least expensive stocks
IndusInd Bank 14 14 1,484.10 23.35 23.50 13.30 1.90 0.97 0.58 1 2.07 49 4.71  Top 5 stocks with the lowest
Can Fin Homes 15 16 738.20 41.83 36.27 15.86 2.70 0.56 0.43 2 1.47 22 4.36  price-earnings ratio
Federal Bank 16 17 149.95 27.75 29.87 9.98 1.43 0.68 0.60 1 1.83 41 4.49  Federal Bank 9.98
NMDC 17 15 207.80 30.73 56.15 10.84 2.68 5.59 0.21 1 2.53 20 3.10  NMDC 10.84
EPL 18 19 183.50 19.13 49.55 25.74 2.94 2.36 0.52 1 0.87 10 4.50 
LIC Housing
11.25
Blue Star 19 20 1,247.25 41.04 129.77 61.42 18.11 0.49 0.18 1 0.10 25 3.96  Finance

Cyient 20 18 1,986.80 35.64 59.40 42.31 6.35 1.40 0.75 2 0.98 23 4.30  Bandhan Bank 13.24

UltraTech Cement 21 21 9,600.75 23.37 80.73 54.74 5.10 0.40 0.70 1 0.93 43 4.39  IndusInd Bank 13.30
UTI Asset Management Co 22 23 824.95 26.84 47.57 23.99 2.71 2.69 0.50 1 1.67 15 3.67 NA
Best PEGs
Cipla India 23 25 1,448.70 22.89 60.96 41.66 4.99 0.60 0.69 1 0.15 39 3.77
3


Zydus Lifesciences 24 24 993.15 21.66 89.66 51.24 5.73 0.62 0.59 1 0.55 34 3.68 
Top 5 stocks with the least
M&M Financial 25 27 268.20 25.54 23.15 15.85 1.77 2.30 0.67 1 1.42 39 3.62  price earnings to growth ratio
Aptus Value Housing Fin 26 26 313.60 49.24 48.93 30.93 4.66 0.65 0.63 1 0.90 17 4.00 NA NMDC
Blue Star
Jindal Stainless 27 22 680.70 31.73 84.25 26.64 4.72 0.53 0.29 2 3.04 10 4.30 

PCBL India 28 42 249.95 28.26 28.44 21.39 3.34 2.24 0.59 2 2.02 12 4.67 
0.16 0.18 0.19 0.21 0.24
Ramco Cements 29 29 813.85 24.40 124.60 59.15 2.80 0.25 0.48 1 1.32 36 3.31 

Shree Cement 30 28 25,361.40 27.42 104.85 72.04 4.91 0.42 0.69 1 0.55 42 2.93 
Bandhan LIC Housing Axis Bank
Torrent Pharmaceuticals 31 36 2,554.40 26.03 64.27 69.04 13.87 1.19 1.06 1 0.14 36 4.25  Bank Finance

Income generators
Orient Cement 32 33 200.00 21.04 103.30 33.40 2.56 0.89 0.33 2 1.83 13 3.31 

Ajanta Pharma 33 38 2,125.90 25.72 60.05 46.15 7.92 1.97 0.75 1 0.95 16 4.19  4
Alkem Laboratories 34 39 4,795.95 22.46 96.91 58.32 6.34 0.94 0.60 1 0.95 28 3.14  Top 5 stocks with the highest
dividend yield (%)
Eicher Motors 35 34 3,933.65 26.28 50.49 36.92 7.18 0.96 0.73 1 1.00 41 3.39 
Embassy Office
5.87
Alembic Pharmaceuticals 36 32 965.05 25.02 108.92 55.58 4.35 0.85 0.51 1 1.21 19 3.11  Parks REIT

NTPC 37 35 325.00 8.86 26.56 18.66 2.15 2.39 0.70 1 1.52 23 4.39  NMDC 5.59

Bajaj Auto 38 37 8,750.60 36.87 36.88 41.24 8.44 1.62 0.99 1 1.06 45 3.40  Hero MotoCorp 2.99
UTI Asset
Sun Pharmaceutical 39 40 1,565.20 24.17 31.65 44.45 6.72 0.81 1.47 1 0.36 42 4.43  2.69
Management Co
Grasim Industries 40 41 2,205.55 22.61 35.59 21.28 1.85 0.46 0.62 1 0.94 10 4.40  NTPC 2.39

Embassy Office Parks REIT 41 -- 374.90 15.54 27.86 49.53 1.51 5.87 1.56 1 0.24 16 4.88 NA Least risky
Mahindra & Mahindra 42 46 1,865.85 22.98 17.88 20.28 4.29 0.88 0.97 1 1.73 41 4.61  5 Top 5 stocks with the lowest
Bharti Airtel 43 43 1,220.80 14.21 137.54 82.60 9.28 0.32 0.62 1 -0.01 30 4.20  downside risk
Maruti UltraTech
Orient Electric 44 48 197.65 30.05 88.33 55.21 7.17 0.77 0.65 1 1.61 19 3.95 
Suzuki India Cement
Greenply Industries 45 -- 228.65 38.35 51.55 30.91 4.39 0.22 0.65 1 1.51 15 4.60 

JK Lakshmi Cement 46 45 839.75 19.94 70.24 27.46 3.51 0.24 0.43 1 1.38 19 3.95 
0.71 0.73 0.76 0.81 0.84
Gateway Distriparks 47 44 100.85 23.82 27.51 20.61 2.78 1.53 0.82 1 1.64 13 4.61 NA
Endurance Technologies 48 47 1,779.00 32.94 78.74 52.14 5.67 0.40 0.66 1 0.24 18 3.61 
Sun Bharti Grasim
Exide Industries 49 -- 305.80 15.27 51.92 31.64 2.34 0.66 0.61 1 1.98 24 3.71  Pharmaceutical Airtel Industries
SEE DOWNSIDE RISK AND BEAR BETA COLUMNS
Birlasoft 50 49 738.95 24.50 114.14 61.81 8.30 0.63 0.53 1.33 0.20 14 3.64 
IN THE ADJACENT TABLE.

*REVENUE AND NET PROFIT GROWTH BASED ON CONSENSUS ANALYSTS' EXPECTATIONS. NR: NOT IN THE RANKING. DATA AS ON 21 MARCH 2024. SOURCE: BLOOMBERG
 NG 3.7 PubDate: 25-03-2024 Zone: ETWealth Edition: 1 Page: ETWDP16 User: saurabh.gupta3 Time: 03-22-2024 20:27 Color:

smart stats
16 The Economic Times Wealth March 25-31, 2024

LAGGARDS & LEADERS

Taking a long-term view of fund returns, here is a list of 10

ETW FUNDS 100

funds in each category—five leaders (worth investing) and
five laggards (that may be a drag on your portfolio).

LAGGARDS LEADERS

BEST FUNDS TO BUILD YOUR PORTFOLIO Equity: Large cap 5-year returns
12.34 20.92
ET Wealth collaborates with Value Research to identify the top-performing Groww Large Cap Fund Quant Focused Fund
funds across categories. Equity funds and equity-oriented hybrid funds are 12.52 20.72
PGIM India Large Cap Fund BHARAT 22 ETF
ranked on 3-year returns while debt-oriented hybrid and income funds are 13.04 20.58
ranked on 1-year returns. Franklin India Bluechip Fund ICICI Prudential BHARAT 22 FOF
RETURNS (%) 13.10 17.39
Value Research Net Assets Expense
Fund Rating (` Cr) 3-Month 6-Month 1-Year 3-Year 5-Year Ratio (%) LIC MF Focused 30 Equity ICICI Prudential Bluechip Fund

EQUITY: LARGE CAP

13.14 17.08
JM Focused Fund Baroda BNP Paribas Large Cap Fund
Nippon India Large Cap Fund
Quant Focused Fund


22,766.78
732.85
6.81
12.09
14.05
22.95
42.74
50.33
22.87
21.69
16.70
20.92
1.66
2.30
22.87%
THE 3-YEAR

Equity: Flexi cap 5-year returns
DSP Nifty 50 Equal Weight Index Fund - Regular Plan 1,118.15 6.22 14.79 41.24 19.99 16.81 1.00
RETURN
ICICI Prudential Bluechip Fund  51,554.28 8.43 16.89 40.89 19.97 17.39 1.45 OF NIPPON
HDFC Top 100 Fund  31,653.32 5.13 14.10 38.29 19.70 15.10 1.65 INDIA
Baroda BNP Paribas Large Cap Fund  1,806.39 9.29 17.00 38.90 17.32 17.08 2.09
LARGE CAP 9.80 28.09
FUND IS ABSL Bal Bhavishya Quant Flexi Cap Fund
Kotak Bluechip Fund - Regular Plan  7,679.25 4.70 11.03 31.32 15.06 15.54 1.76 THE
Canara Robeco Bluechip Equity Fund - Regular Plan  12,185.22 4.95 11.42 31.57 14.30 16.41 1.69 HIGHEST 9.88 22.42
SBI Bluechip Fund  43,355.25 2.10 6.93 27.11 14.21 14.82 1.55
IN ITS ABSL Retirement Fund Parag Parikh Flexi Cap Fund
CATEGORY.
EQUITY: LARGE & MIDCAP 11.76 21.51
ICICI Prudential Large & Mid Cap Fund  11,333.37 8.37 16.52 43.01 24.75 20.23 1.74 Axis Focused 25 Fund JM Flexicap Fund
HDFC Large and Mid Cap Fund - Regular Plan  16,756.88 4.25 12.97 46.41 23.80 19.47 1.69 12.24 20.80
Motilal Oswal Large and Midcap Fund - Regular Plan  3,476.97 2.53 12.68 43.17 21.87 — 1.88 Motilal Oswal Flexi Cap 360 ONE Focused Equity Fund
SBI Large & Midcap Fund  20,632.89 3.98 8.84 32.45 20.56 17.94 1.66 12.26 20.17
Kotak Equity Opportunities Fund - Regular Plan  19,092.30 6.54 12.01 38.38 19.78 18.42 1.63 Taurus Flexi Cap Fund HDFC Retirement Savings Fund Equity
Mirae Asset Large & Midcap Fund - Regular Plan  33,711.38 3.69 9.81 37.50 17.00 18.85 1.56

EQUITY: FLEXI CAP

HDFC Focused 30 Fund  9,918.47 6.71 15.85 39.88 26.63 18.38 1.73 26.63% Equity: Mid cap 3-year returns
ICICI Prudential Retirement Fund - Pure Equity Plan  607.89 9.96 20.45 53.51 25.96 19.82 2.30 THE 3-YEAR 14.11 33.72
Bank of India Flexi Cap Fund - Regular Plan  683.42 7.78 21.66 54.64 24.84 — 2.33 RETURN
OF HDFC DSP Midcap Fund Quant Mid Cap Fund
HDFC Flexi Cap Fund  49,659.20 6.91 15.82 42.11 24.68 18.59 1.51
HDFC Retirement Savings Fund Equity Plan  4,705.30 5.20 12.19 38.55 24.48 20.17 1.82
FOCUSED 16.45 32.20
30 FUND
LIC MF Midcap Fund Motilal Oswal Midcap Fund
JM Flexicap Fund  1,656.84 8.49 19.63 53.51 24.42 21.51 1.99 IS THE
ICICI Prudential Focused Equity Fund  7,231.99 9.21 17.16 43.68 21.56 18.83 1.77 HIGHEST 17.03 27.23
IN ITS
Parag Parikh Flexi Cap Fund - Regular Plan  58,900.52 6.89 16.08 39.20 21.25 22.42 1.31 Axis Midcap Fund HDFC Mid-Cap Opportunities Fund
CATEGORY.
Franklin India Flexi Cap Fund  14,470.61 5.73 14.70 41.87 20.69 17.83 1.75 18.55 25.84
Franklin India Focused Equity Fund  10,946.30 7.00 12.88 38.42 20.13 17.58 1.79 PGIM India Midcap Motilal Oswal Nifty Midcap 100 ETF
360 ONE Focused Equity Fund - Regular Plan  6,636.20 3.25 10.13 34.01 18.30 20.80 1.84
18.72 25.67
Union Flexi Cap Fund  1,982.61 4.13 12.22 38.31 17.89 17.82 2.07
UTI Mid Cap Fund Nippon India Growth Fund
EQUITY: MID CAP
Quant Mid Cap Fund  5,421.74 14.27 23.96 62.43 33.72 28.92 1.83 33.72%
Motilal Oswal Midcap Fund - Regular Plan
HDFC Mid-Cap Opportunities Fund


8,481.46
60,186.52
7.59
4.69
18.84
13.91
52.19
52.05
32.20
27.23
24.92
22.29
1.75
1.44
THE 3-YEAR
RETURN
Equity: Small cap 3-year returns
 OF QUANT
Nippon India Growth Fund 24,480.78 0.43 11.82 50.58 25.67 23.04 1.67
MID CAP 17.89 38.86
Edelweiss Mid Cap Fund - Regular Plan  5,066.57 4.30 15.50 46.18 23.29 22.74 1.82
FUND IS THE ABSL Small Cap Fund Quant Small Cap Fund
SBI Magnum Midcap Fund  16,458.73 1.96 7.44 37.22 22.72 21.49 1.70 HIGHEST
IN ITS
20.62 32.28
Kotak Emerging Equity Fund - Regular Plan  39,738.35 1.65 8.39 34.07 20.57 21.08 1.48
CATEGORY. ITI Small Cap Fund Nippon India Small Cap Fund
EQUITY: SMALL CAP
21.24 29.86
Nippon India Small Cap Fund  46,044.13 1.15 10.35 50.67 32.28 27.61 1.52
Kotak Small Cap Fund HDFC Small Cap Fund
Tata Small Cap Fund - Regular Plan  6,289.22 0.52 8.01 36.00 27.86 24.63 1.76
ICICI Prudential Smallcap Fund  7,415.35 0.98 8.58 40.16 26.16 24.13 1.76
21.79 29.82
Edelweiss Small Cap Fund - Regular Plan  3,147.36 -0.09 8.77 43.67 25.40 25.99 1.89 UTI Small Cap Fund HSBC Small Cap Fund
Axis Small Cap Fund - Regular Plan  19,606.42 -0.60 6.24 35.36 24.40 24.78 1.64 22.31 28.57
SBI Small Cap Fund Franklin India Smaller Companies
EQUITY: VALUE ORIENTED
SBI Contra Fund  25,324.93 7.40 16.20 45.55 28.74 24.42 1.62
ICICI Prudential Value Discovery Fund  40,653.33 9.09 17.08 43.20 26.07 21.70 1.58 Hybrid: Aggressive 5-year returns
Bandhan Sterling Value Fund - Regular Plan  8,448.81 7.50 13.76 42.34 26.01 20.10 1.76
JM Value Fund  554.60 5.76 16.87 53.58 24.96 20.90 2.40
9.20 23.23
Templeton India Value Fund  1,800.03 6.80 14.91 41.86 24.56 19.28 2.10 ABSL Retirement Fund Quant Absolute Fund
EQUITY: ELSS 10.25 19.88
Quant ELSS Tax Saver Fund  7,769.92 10.07 21.90 51.55 29.16 29.53 1.77 29.16% Nippon India Equity Hybrid Fund ICICI Prudential Equity & Debt Fund
SBI Long Term Equity Fund - Regular Plan  21,202.78 12.72 21.64 55.91 25.69 20.23 1.65 THE 3-YEAR 10.32 19.80
Bank of India ELSS Tax Saver Fund - Regular Plan  1,149.51 8.04 19.58 50.96 22.39 23.74 2.18 RETURN OF
PGIM India Hybrid Equity Fund Bank of India Mid & Small Cap Equity
Bandhan ELSS Tax Saver Fund - Regular Plan  6,139.72 6.00 11.17 38.26 21.50 19.08 1.75
QUANT ELSS
TAX SAVER 10.41 17.05
Parag Parikh ELSS Tax Saver Fund - Regular Plan  2,997.16 4.78 11.42 32.82 20.69 — 1.82 FUND IS LIC MF Aggressive Hybrid JM Aggressive Hybrid Fund
DSP ELSS Tax Saver Fund  14,147.00 3.68 12.07 38.17 19.09 18.09 1.66 THE HIGH-
EST IN ITS 10.94 15.89
Kotak ELSS Tax Saver - Regular Plan  5,050.36 7.18 12.07 35.15 19.09 17.85 1.79
CATEGORY. Axis Children’s Gift Baroda BNP Paribas Aggressive
Union ELSS Tax Saver Fund  823.70 3.83 10.97 35.93 18.23 17.98 2.33
Mirae Asset ELSS Tax Saver Fund - Regular Plan  21,301.58 3.59 9.57 34.55 16.27 17.94 1.58
ANNUALISED RETURNS IN % AS ON 20 MAR 2024.
 NG 3.7 PubDate: 25-03-2024 Zone: ETWealth Edition: 1 Page: ETWDP17 User: saurabh.gupta3 Time: 03-22-2024 20:27 Color:

smart stats
The Economic Times Wealth March 25-31, 2024 17

ETW FUNDS 100 Value Research Net Assets

RETURNS (%)
Expense
Fund Rating (` Cr) 3-Month 6-Month 1-Year 3-Year 5-Year Ratio

HYBRID: EQUITY SAVINGS

HDFC Equity Savings Fund  3,900.46 3.99 7.92 18.40 11.33 10.10 1.95
1 Top 5 SIPs
Top 5 equity schemes based
UTI Equity Savings Fund - Regular Plan  331.12 3.30 7.31 18.69 11.16 10.14 1.54
on 10-year SIP returns
Kotak Equity Savings Fund - Regular Plan  4,614.97 3.36 8.66 18.43 11.15 10.29 1.86
Mirae Asset Equity Savings Fund - Regular Plan  899.05 2.18 5.86 17.80 9.98 11.16 1.28 Quant Small Cap Fund
SBI Equity Savings Fund - Regular Plan  4,182.93 1.53 4.77 19.93 9.92 10.23 1.19
25.59
ICICI Prudential Equity Savings Fund  9,428.67 2.07 4.23 11.66 8.36 8.16 0.97
Quant ELSS Tax Saver Fund
HYBRID: AGGRESSIVE (EQUITY-ORIENTED)
24.49
ICICI Prudential Equity & Debt Fund  32,429.17 8.69 16.23 39.17 24.23 19.88 1.63 24.23% Nippon India Small Cap Fund
Quant Absolute Fund  1,787.77 11.50 17.61 35.00 22.92 23.23 2.05 THE 3-YEAR
JM Aggressive Hybrid Fund  202.40 8.56 17.92 46.14 20.83 17.05 2.31 RETURN OF 23.83
Edelweiss Aggressive Hybrid Fund - Regular Plan  1,353.32 5.00 11.99 32.77 17.95 15.87 2.06 ICICI PRU
EQUITY & DEBT Quant Flexi Cap Fund
UTI Aggressive Hybrid Fund - Regular Plan  5,243.15 4.54 10.30 31.97 17.66 14.78 1.95 FUND IS THE 23.05
HDFC Children's Gift Fund  8,452.01 1.95 8.69 26.89 17.48 15.68 1.77 HIGHEST IN ITS
Mahindra Manulife Aggressive Hybrid Fund  1,033.50 5.85 11.13 32.11 16.76 — 2.17 CATEGORY. Quant Mid Cap Fund
HDFC Retirement Savings Fund - Hybrid Equity Plan  1,338.49 3.83 9.00 28.97 16.15 14.96 2.12 22.91
Baroda BNP Paribas Aggressive Hybrid Fund  968.54 7.30 13.67 32.75 15.21 15.89 2.18
SIP: SYSTEMATIC % ANNUALISED RETURNS
HDFC Hybrid Equity Fund  22,642.92 3.16 6.99 22.50 14.90 13.72 1.69
INVESTMENT PLAN AS ON 20 MARCH 2024
Kotak Equity Hybrid Fund - Regular Plan  5,045.35 2.69 7.72 24.70 14.63 15.76 1.83

HYBRID: CONSERVATIVE (DEBT-ORIENTED)

SBI Magnum Children's Benefit Fund - Savings Plan
HDFC Hybrid Debt Fund


108.44
3,092.53
1.86
3.45
6.21
7.05
18.92
16.92
12.30
11.03
10.36
10.10
1.19
1.76
18.92%
THE 1-YEAR
2 Top 5 MIPs
Top 5 MIP schemes based on
Kotak Debt Hybrid Fund - Regular Plan  2,301.97 2.98 7.16 16.36 10.41 10.99 1.72 RETURN OF
SBI Conservative Hybrid Fund  9,538.16 2.72 4.56 14.49 10.20 10.14 1.12 SBI MAGNUM 3-year SWP returns
ICICI Prudential Regular Savings Fund  3,396.68 3.00 5.73 14.25 9.08 9.32 1.71 CHILDREN’S
BENEFIT Bank of India Conservative Hybrid Fund
Aditya Birla Sun Life Regular Savings Fund - Regular Plan  1,410.40 1.43 3.78 11.29 8.20 8.51 1.91
FUND IS THE 14.62
DEBT: MEDIUM TO LONG TERM HIGHEST
IN ITS SBI Magnum Children’s Benefit Fund
ICICI Prudential Bond Fund  2,973.52 2.01 3.77 8.25 5.62 7.10 1.03 CATEGORY.
SBI Magnum Income Fund  1,728.85 1.99 3.49 7.76 5.48 7.44 1.46 12.47
UTI Medium to Long Duration Fund - Regular Plan  303.49 2.09 3.19 7.15 9.64 4.68 1.63 HDFC Hybrid Debt Fund
11.32
DEBT: MEDIUM TERM
Nippon India Strategic Debt Fund  119.81 1.80 3.18 7.97 9.31 -1.04 1.98 SBI Retirement Benefit Fund
Axis Strategic Bond Fund  1,976.60 2.16 3.81 7.87 6.11 6.75 1.09 11.19
SBI Magnum Medium Duration Fund  6,560.11 1.90 3.44 7.64 5.70 7.45 1.22
ICICI Prudential Income Optimizer
ICICI Prudential Medium Term Bond Fund  6,408.06 1.82 3.47 7.42 6.07 7.28 1.40
Aditya Birla Sun Life Medium Term Plan - Regular Plan  1,887.26 1.82 3.23 7.29 12.49 8.57 1.58 10.50

DEBT: SHORT TERM SWP: SYSTEMATIC % ANNUALISED RETURNS

WITHDRAWAL PLAN
7.76%
AS ON 20 MARCH 2024
HDFC Short Term Debt Fund  14,612.39 2.05 3.63 7.76 5.63 6.97 0.62
ICICI Prudential Short Term Fund  18,987.37 1.86 3.49 7.70 5.92 7.14 1.07
THE 1-YEAR
UTI Short Duration Fund - Regular Plan  2,503.35 2.08 3.75 7.60 7.10 5.07 0.95 RETURN OF
Aditya Birla Sun Life Short Term Fund - Regular Plan
Axis Short Term Fund
Sundaram Short Duration Fund



7,274.50
8,277.91
191.48
1.84
1.93
1.82
3.40
3.50
3.35
7.26
7.26
7.19
5.65
5.34
7.48
6.86
6.66
5.17
0.97
0.90
0.84
HDFC SHORT
TERM DEBT
FUND IS
3 ELSS : Cash holdings
THE HIGH-
EST IN ITS 20.86
DEBT: DYNAMIC BOND CATEGORY. 18.07
360 ONE Dynamic Bond Fund - Regular Plan  734.99 2.66 4.34 8.79 6.41 6.50 0.52
Quantum Dynamic Bond Fund - Regular Plan  97.09 2.57 4.14 8.49 6.00 7.10 0.96 13.36
SBI Dynamic Bond Fund  3,023.25 2.30 3.79 8.11 5.45 7.33 1.44
9.82 9.70
ICICI Prudential All Seasons Bond Fund  11,810.07 1.80 3.59 7.82 6.05 7.64 1.31
Aditya Birla Sun Life Dynamic Bond Fund - Regular Plan  1,717.47 2.07 3.58 7.51 6.60 5.69 1.23

DEBT: CORPORATE BOND

ICICI Prudential Corporate Bond Fund  26,050.61 1.92 3.43 7.91 5.97 7.17 0.55
Nippon India Corporate Bond Fund  2,613.23 2.10 3.71 7.89 6.03 6.66 0.71 Samco Bank Parag Quant Shriram
Expense as on 29 February 2024 ELSS Tax of India Parikh ELSS ELSS Tax ELSS Tax
Aditya Birla Sun Life Corporate Bond Fund  21,535.48 2.06 3.59 7.81 5.88 7.29 0.51
Kotak Corporate Bond Fund - Standard Plan  11,422.68 1.97 3.50 7.55 5.55 6.60 0.66
Returns as on 20 March 2024 Saver ELSS Tax Tax Saver Saver Saver
Assets as on 29 February 2024 Fund Saver Fund Fund Fund
Axis Corporate Debt Fund - Regular Plan  5,241.71 2.02 3.51 7.42 5.41 6.23 0.95 Fund
Rating as on 29 February 2024
% OF ASSETS AS ON 29 FEB 2024
All equity funds ranked on 3-year returns. Debt funds ranked on 1-year returns.
Did not find your fund here?

4 Debt: Corporate bond

Log on to www.wealth.economictimes.com for an exhaustive list.

Methodology EQUITIES (figures over the past one year)

FUND
RAISER
funds less than three years
old have been excluded. This Large-cap: Mostly invested long-term; invest in gilt 0.54 0.55 0.55
The Top 100 includes only
ensures that all the funds 0.51 0.51
those funds that have a 5- or in large-cap companies. securities.
have existed long enough to

4-star rating from Value
Research. The rating is
determined by subtracting a
fund’s risk score from its return
score.
The result is assigned stars
according to the following
distribution: (Not covered option of funds that reinvest
in ETW
Top 10%
Funds 100
Next 22.5% listing)
Middle 35%
Next 22.5%
Bottom 10%
Fixed-income funds less than
18 months old and equity
59.85
Multi-cap: Mostly invested Equity-oriented: Average
be tracked for consistency of
in large- and mid-cap equity exposure more
performance. Given the focus
companies. than 60%.
on long-term investing, liquid
funds, short-term funds and Mid-cap: Mostly invested Debt-oriented aggressive:
CRORE
FMPs are not part of the list. in mid-cap companies. Average equity exposure
For the same reason, we have between 25-60%.
Small-cap: Mostly invested
considered only the growth in small-cap companies. Debt-oriented conserva- Federal Bank shares held by
tive: Average equity expo- equity diversified funds in Aditya Sunda- DSP Cor- HDFC ICICI
returns instead of offering Tax planning: Offer tax
sure less than 25%. Birla Sun ram Cor- porate Cor- Prudential
dividends that increase the rebate under Section 80C. February 2024. It’s the highest
Life Cor- porate Bond porate Corporate
Arbitrage: Seek arbitrage
NAV of funds. International: More than among all companies, followed porate Bond Fund Bond Bond Fund
opportunities between
Despite these rigorous filters, 65% of assets invested Bond Fund Fund
abroad.
equity by Bharat Electronics Fund
the list includes 2/3 funds of and derivatives.
and Zomato. % AS ON 29 FEB 2024
each category to maximise Income: Average maturity
Asset allocation: Invest % EXPENSE RATIO IS CHARGED ANNUALLY.
choice from the best funds. varies according to objec-
fully in equity or debt
The fund categories are: tive. METHODOLOGY OF TOP 100 FUNDS ON
as per SOURCE: ACE MF
WWW.WEALTH.ECONOMICTIMES.COM
Gilt: Medium- and market conditions.
 NG 3.7 PubDate: 25-03-2024 Zone: ETWealth Edition: 1 Page: ETWDP18 User: saurabh.gupta3 Time: 03-22-2024 20:26 Color:

loans and deposits

18 The Economic Times Wealth March 25-31, 2024

LOANS & DEPOSITS

ET WEALTH collaborates with ETIG to provide a comprehensive ready reckoner of loans and fixed-income
instruments. Don’t miss the information on investments for senior citizens and a simplified EMI calculator.

Top five bank FDs

Interest rate (%) What `10,000
HOME LOAN RATES
TENURE: 1 YEAR compounded qtrly will grow to With effect from October 2019, all banks have made the transition to
IndusInd Bank 7.75 10,798 external benchmarks for pricing new home loans. Most banks have
RBL Bank 7.50 10,771 picked the RBI repo rate as the external benchmark.
Bandhan Bank 7.25 10,745
DCB Bank 7.25 10,745 REPO RATE: 6.50%
YES Bank 7.25 10,745 FOR SALARIED FOR SELF-EMPLOYED (%)
BANK
TENURE: 2 YEARS RLLR (%) FROM (%) TO (%) FROM (%) TO (%) WEF
RBL Bank 8.10 11,740 Bank of India 9.25 8.30 10.60 8.30 10.75 1 March 2024
IDFC First Bank 7.75 11,659 Bank of Maharashtra 9.30 8.35 10.40 8.45 10.90 Not Given
IndusInd Bank 7.75 11,659 Union Bank of India 9.25 8.35 10.75 8.35 10.75 11 Dec 2023
DCB Bank 7.55 11,614
Indian Bank 9.20 8.40 9.80 8.80 10.20 7 Feb 2024
Bandhan Bank 7.25 11,545
Punjab National Bank 9.25 8.40 10.10 8.90 10.60 9 Feb 2023
TENURE: 3 YEARS
IndusInd Bank -- 8.40 10.50 8.40 10.50 Not Given
DCB Bank 7.60 12,534
Indian Overseas Bank 9.35 8.40 10.50 8.50 10.60 13 Oct 2023
RBL Bank 7.50 12,497
Bank of Baroda 9.15 8.40 10.60 8.40 10.60 14 Feb 2023
Bandhan Bank 7.25 12,405
IDFC First Bank 7.25 12,405 IDBI Bank 9.10 8.40 10.75 8.50 12.25 12 Feb 2023
YES Bank 7.25 12,405 UCO Bank 9.30 8.45 10.30 8.45 10.30 15 Mar 2023

TENURE: 5 YEARS
Punjab & Sind Bank 8.45 8.50 10.00 8.50 10.00 16 Feb 2024
DCB Bank 7.40 14,428 Canara Bank 9.25 8.50 11.20 8.55 11.25 12 Feb 2024
IndusInd Bank 7.25 14,323 HDFC Bank -- 8.70 9.30 8.70 9.30 Not Given
YES Bank 7.25 14,323 Kotak Mahindra Bank -- 8.70 9.35 8.75 9.60 Not Given
RBL Bank 7.10 14,217 Karnataka Bank -- 8.75 10.60 8.75 10.60 1 March 2024
Karur Vysya Bank 7.00 14,148 Federal Bank -- 8.80 10.25 10.20 10.30 16 Feb 2024
Karur Vysya Bank 10.00 9.00 11.05 9.00 11.05 12 Feb 2024
Top five senior citizen bank FDs J & K Bank 9.10 9.10 9.50 9.10 9.50 10 Dec 2023
Interest rate (%) What `10,000 SBI Term Loan 9.15 9.15 9.65 9.15 9.65 1 Feb 2024
TENURE: 1 YEAR compounded qtrly will grow to
Bandhan Bank -- 9.16 13.33 9.16 13.33 Not Given
IndusInd Bank 8.25 10,851
RBL Bank 8.00 10,824 ICICI Bank -- 9.25 9.90 9.40 10.05 Not Given
Bandhan Bank 7.75 10,798 Dhanlaxmi Bank 8.50 9.35 10.00 9.85 10.50 10 Jan 2024
YES Bank 7.75 10,798 DCB Bank 9.75 9.75 9.95 9.75 9.95 31 Jan 2024
DCB Bank 7.65 10,787

TENURE: 2 YEARS
RBL Bank 8.60 11,855
Your EMI for a loan of `1 lakh
IDFC First Bank 8.25 11,774 TENURE 5 YEARS 10 YEARS 15 YEARS 20 YEARS 25 YEARS
IndusInd Bank 8.25 11,774
@ 7% 1,980 1,161 899 775 707
DCB Bank 8.05 11,728
ICICI Bank 7.75 11,659 @ 8% 2,028 1,213 956 836 772
TENURE: 3 YEARS
DCB Bank 8.10 12,720
@ 9% 2,076 1,267 1,014 900 839
RBL Bank 8.00 12,682
@ 10% 2,125 1,322 1,075 965 909
YES Bank 8.00 12,682
Bandhan Bank 7.75 12,589 FIGURES ARE IN `. USE THIS CALCULATOR TO CHECK YOUR LOAN AFFORDABILITY.
FOR EXAMPLE, A `5 LAKH LOAN AT 10% FOR 15 YEARS WILL TRANSLATE INTO AN EMI OF `1,075 X 5 = `5,375
Bank of Baroda 7.75 12,589

TENURE: 5 YEARS
YES Bank 8.00 14,859
Post office deposits Interest (%)
Minimum
investment (`)
Maximum
investment (`)
Features
Tax
benefits

DCB Bank 7.90 14,787 Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana 8.20 250 `1.5 lakh p.a. One account per girl child 80C
Axis Bank 7.75 14,678
IndusInd Bank 7.75 14,678 Senior Citizens' Savings Scheme 8.20 1,000 `30 lakh 5-year tenure, minimum age 60 yrs 80C
RBL Bank 7.60 14,571
Public Provident Fund 7.10 500 `1.5 lakh p.a. 15-year tenure, tax-free returns 80C

Kisan Vikas Patra 7.50 1,000 No limit Can be encashed after 2.5 years Nil
Top five tax-saving bank FDs 5-year NSC VIII Issue 7.70 1,000 No limit No TDS 80C
Interest What `10,000
TENURE: 5 YEARS AND ABOVE rate (%) will grow to
Time deposit 6.9-7.50 1,000 No limit Available in 1, 2, 3, 5 year tenures 80C#
DCB Bank 7.40 14,428
IndusInd Bank 7.25 14,323 Post Office Monthly Income
Single `9 lakh 5-year tenure, monthly returns Nil
YES Bank 7.25 14,323 7.40 1,000
Scheme
Joint `15 lakh 5-year tenure, monthly returns Nil
RBL Bank 7.10 14,217
IDFC First Bank 7.00 14,148 Recurring deposits 6.70 100 No limit 5-year tenure Nil

Savings account 4.00 500 No limit `10,000 interest tax-free Nil

ALL DATA SOURCED FROM ECONOMIC TIMES INTELLIGENCE GROUP
(ETIGDB@TIMESGROUP.COM) Data as on 20 March 2024 #Benefit available only for 5-year deposit
 NG 3.7 PubDate: 25-03-2024 Zone: ETWealth Edition: 1 Page: ETWDP19 User: saurabh.gupta3 Time: 03-22-2024 20:25 Color:

market watch
The Economic Times Wealth March 25-31, 2024 19

ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENT
RETURNS MONITOR
The scope and attractiveness of alternative investments is increasing. Here’s a weekly tracker of returns from such investments. But don’t
compare these with returns from traditional investments since the proportion and purpose of alternative investments is vastly different.

Gold (995) (`) Silver (`) Platinum ($/troy ounce) WTI Crude ($/barrel)
58,951 66,646 68,499 75,045 974.78 913.29 69.33 81.06
21 MAR 2023 21 MAR 2024 21 MAR 2023 21 MAR 2024 21 MAR 2023 21 MAR 2024 21 MAR 2023 21 MAR 2024

PRICE OF 10 GM GOLD PRICE OF 1 KG SILVER

CHANGE
X 1 WEEK 2.12% 1 WEEK 1.71% 1 WEEK -1.52% 1 WEEK -0.25%
X 1 YEAR 13.05% 1 YEAR 9.56% 1 YEAR -6.31% 1 YEAR 16.92%

PENNY STOCKS UPDATE

Penny stocks as a recommended non-traditional investment? Not exactly. ET WEALTH
neither has the expertise nor does it recommend investing in such stocks. But since the
relatively ‘low’ cost of investment attracts some investors to penny stocks, we provide
a weekly snapshot of this most volatile and uncertain type of stock investing.

Top price gainers Top volume gainers

MARKET 1-WEEK (%) 1-MTH (%) 1-MONTH AVG 1-MONTH AVG MKT CAP MARKET 1-WEEK (%) 1-MTH (%) 1-MTH AVG 1-MONTH AVG MKT CAP
STOCK PRICE (`) CHANGE CHANGE VOL (LAKH) VOL CHG (%) (`CR) STOCK PRICE (`) CHANGE CHANGE VOL (LAKH) VOL CHG (%) (`CR)

Vandana Knitwear 4.29 26.55 53.21 1.04 -45.55 45.9 Sunshine Capital 3.75 -6.25 28.42 0.78 2,683.78 390.64
Vuenow Infratech 8.46 27.22 40.07 0.04 81.45 15.06 Adcon Capital Services 0.9 16.88 -44.44 28.53 1,162.51 16.8
Viaan Industries 1.04 -21.21 31.65 2.01 24.22 11.46 Bombay Talkies 4.36 22.82 20.78 0.04 621.69 23.54
Tarapur Transformers 7.94 -6.92 28.48 0.27 115.36 15.48 Shashijit Infraprojects 6.37 31.88 16.88 3.22 609.98 32.93
Sunshine Capital 3.75 -6.25 28.42 0.78 2683.78 390.64 Gen Pharmasec 2.34 -11.36 -42.22 20.55 584.57 129.57
Viji Finance 3.34 -5.65 25.09 0.97 -33.21 27.56 Scanpoint Geomatics 7.2 8.43 18.03 5.22 565.64 99.79
Bombay Talkies 4.36 22.82 20.78 0.04 621.69 23.54 Metalyst Forgings 4.52 -13.24 6.1 0.29 554.43 19.68
Amin Tannery 2.53 4.55 18.78 0.75 34.34 27.32 Risa International 0.67 -6.94 -14.1 6.44 534.82 10.69
Scanpoint Geomatics 7.2 8.43 18.03 5.22 565.64 99.79 Standard Capital Markets 1.95 -8.88 -34.56 77.32 488.64 286.65
Paras Petrofils 2.98 -9.15 17.79 1.61 37.31 99.59 Integra Essentia 3.5 -9.09 -30.14 21.65 487.31 319.94

Top price losers Top volume losers

Growington Ventures 6.65 -20.26 -55.9 15.87 50.23 106.8 Siti Networks 0.69 -6.76 -17.86 1.91 -94.20 60.17
Tatia Global Venture 3.76 -13.16 -48.42 3.44 -42.91 57 KCL Infra Projects 1.90 6.74 -8.65 8.9 -90.45 32.09
Toyam Sports 3.52 -18.33 -44.65 44.92 60.55 149.95 Arshiya 6.81 -12.13 -20.54 2.85 -86.25 179.44
Adcon Capital Services 0.9 16.88 -44.44 28.53 1162.51 16.8 Radhe Developers 3.22 -5.57 -12.26 8.95 -86.12 162.16
Unitech 9.24 -5.42 -42.39 39.39 -69.02 2417.46 Seacoast Shipping 4.09 -2.39 -29.48 15.84 -84.98 220.33
Gen Pharmasec 2.34 -11.36 -42.22 20.55 584.57 129.57 RattanIndia Power 8.48 1.19 -18.3 27.18 -84.90 4553.85
Indian Infotech & Software 1.46 -7.59 -41.6 81.74 -10.9 184.98 Ashnisha Industries 6.87 -3.51 -16.01 3.49 -84.85 20.75
GACM Technologies 1.18 -11.28 -41 5.96 128.19 33.78 Murae Organisor 1.73 -11.73 -35.45 9.05 -80.97 53.35
Modulex Construction 8 -15.25 -38.46 1.58 -3.63 41.04 Vikas Lifecare 5.32 -2.56 -18.03 15.27 -80.77 859.29
Orchasp 3.44 -11.79 -37.45 3.83 -59.23 38.85 Visesh Infotecnics 0.49 -10.91 -31.94 12.41 -79.03 184.95

STOCKS HAVE BEEN SELECTED USING THE FOLLOWING FILTERS: PRICE LESS THAN `10, ONE-MONTH AVERAGE VOLUME GREATER THAN OR EQUAL TO 1 LAKH, AND MARKET
CAPITALISATION GREATER THAN OR EQUAL TO `10 CRORE. DATA AS ON 21 MAR 2024. SOURCE: ETIG DATABASE AND BLOOMBERG.
 NG 3.7 PubDate: 25-03-2024 Zone: ETWealth Edition: 1 Page: ETWDP20 User: saurabh.gupta3 Time: 03-22-2024 19:32 Color:

mutual funds
20 The Economic Times Wealth March 25-31, 2024

HDFC MID-CAP OPPORTUNITIES

Superior returns despite its size

ET Wealth collaborates with Value Research to analyse top mutual funds. We examine the key fundamentals
of the fund, its portfolio and performance to help you make an informed investment decision.

HOW THE FUND HAS PERFORMED Top 5 sectors in portfolio (%)

Point-to-point returns (%) BASIC Financials 22.58

FUND BENCHMARK CATEGORY AVERAGE

FACTS Capital goods 12.83

Healthcare 10.45
DATE OF LAUNCH
50.11 50.18
45.90 25 JUNE 2007 Technology 8.40
CATEGORY
27.36 24.81 EQUITY Services 7.47
22.35 22.30 23.06 20.56 TYPE
MID CAP Financials and capital goods are the fund’s
biggest overweight sector positions.
AUM*
`60,187 crore AS ON 29 FEB 2024
1-YEAR 3-YEAR 5-YEAR
AS ON 19 MARCH 2024 BENCHMARK
NIFTY MIDCAP 150 TOTAL
The fund has fared much better than its Top 5 stocks in portfolio (%)
RETURN INDEX
peers in the past 1 and 3 years.
The Indian Hotels
Company 4.54

Rolling returns (%) FUND BENCHMARK WHAT IT Apollo Tyres 3.61

1-YEAR
24.46 COSTS Tata
Communications 3.23

Max Financial 3.12

23.65 NAV** Services
GROWTH OPTION
The Federal Bank 3.09
`150.06
20.25
3-YEAR IDCW** The fund portfolio is reasonably diversified
19.20 `45.78 with modest positions in top bets.
MINIMUM INVESTMENT
`100 AS ON 29 FEB 2024
18.39 MINIMUM SIP AMOUNT
5-YEAR `100
16.21
EXPENSE RATIO # (%)
AS ON 19 MARCH 2024
1.44 Recent portfolio changes
The fund’s long-term track record indicates EXIT LOAD New entrants
healthy outperformance over 5-year time frames.
1% for redemption ACC, PB Fintech (Dec).
Note: Different benchmark (S&P BSE 150 MidCap TRI) has been used due to non-availability of stated benchmark data. within 365 days
Returns have been rolled daily over the past decade for relevant time frames.
*AS ON 29 FEB 2024
**AS ON 19 MAR 2024
#AS ON 29 FEB 2024
Complete exits
WHERE THE FUND INVESTS RBL Bank (Dec).
Shriram Finance (Jan).
Portfolio asset
Fund
allocation
style box
Growth Blend Value
How risky is it?
Fund Category Index
93.21%
Large

Equity
Standard Deviation 13.00 13.81 14.15
CAPITALISATION

Large cap 13.89

70.45 1.68
Medium

Mid cap Sharpe Ratio 1.29 1.43

Small cap 15.65

Cash 6.79
FUND Mean Return 26.80 22.91 25.29
Small

MANAGER BASED ON 3-YEAR PERFORMANCE.

INVESTMENT STYLE DHRUV MUCHHAL/ The fund boasts a superior

CHIRAG SETALVAD (PIC) risk-return profile among its peers.
The fund’s large-cap exposure has
AS ON 29 FEB 2024 8 MONTHS / AS ON 29 FEB 2024
increased even as it retains its mid-cap tilt. 16 YEARS, 9 MONTHS
Source: Value Research

Should This mid-cap fund has now earned the

distinction of being the largest pure
maintaining its core mandate. Despite its
ballooning size, it has managed to keep its
managed to engineer a smart turnaround
after 2022. It has consistently delivered
You equity fund in the country. In recent portfolio holdings constant and has not superior returns compared to many of its

Buy times, it has reduced its exposure to

mid caps in favour of large caps, while
opted for further diversification. After
years of tepid performance, the fund has
peers, alleviating any concerns regarding
its increasing size.
 NG 3.7 PubDate: 25-03-2024 Zone: ETWealth Edition: 1 Page: ETWDP21 User: saurabh.gupta3 Time: 03-22-2024 19:34 Color:

pick of the week

The Economic Times Wealth March 25-31, 2024 21

AU Small Finance Bank: Growth focus

Steady asset quality, merger synergies, brand building and reasonable valuations will drive performance.

T
he small finance bank reported weak performance asset quality in the December quarter was mainly due to an Fundamentals
in the December 2023 quarter, with net earnings increase in slippages in the credit card segment. The man- CONSENSUS
ACTUAL
missing Reuters-Refinitiv consensus estimates by agement says that such slippages are in line with industry ESTIMATE
8.9% due to elevated credit costs, higher slippages, standards. It has also taken several steps in the recent past to 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25
high cost-to-income ratio and accelerated provisions. manage the concentration risk and delinquency trends. The Revenue (` cr) 4,085.49 5,504.69 6,870.00 9,960.00
The subdued quarterly performance, coupled with pres- merged entity aims to cap the unsecured book at 15-20% at the Op. income (` cr) 1,312.37 1,908.92 -- --
sures on asset quality and integration concerns about the portfolio level to manage its asset quality. Net profit (` cr) 1,030.65 1,458.92 1,690.00 2,040.00
merger (with Fincare Small Finance Bank), has dented the The bank is making investments in brand building, digital
EPS (`) 16.28 22.21 -- --
stock price performance. The price has tanked over 30% initiatives, technology, process optimisation and branch
since the second week of January. expansion. These investments, coupled DIVIDEND
The RBI has recently approved the with merger-related costs, are expected
Valuations PBV PE YIELD (%)

merger and the amalgamation will Analysts’ views to keep the cost-to-income ratio el- AU Small Finance Bank 3.45 23.84 0.18
be effective from 1 April 2024. evated at 63-64% in 2024-25. The Motilal HDFC Bank 3.79 18.60 0.97
Reports from Motilal Oswal, 8 Oswal report states that an expected ICICI Bank 3.59 17.91 0.74
DAM Capital, Nirmal Bang, Axis Sell 11 turnaround in rate cycle and gradual State Bank of India 2.00 10.41 1.52
Buy
Securities and JM Financial have reduction in funding costs should con- Kotak Mahindra Bank 3.15 20.20 0.08
turned optimistic after the recent 8 tribute to margin improvement and
Hold
analyst meet of the bank, where it
presented the three-year road map
will lead to a gradual reduction in cost
ratios from 2025-26 onwards. The sub-
Brokerage calls TARGET
RECO DATE RESEARCH HOUSE ADVICE PRICE (`)
and outlook for the merged entity. stantial price correction has made the
19 Mar 2024 Motilal Oswal Buy 720
After the merger, the bank aims valuations reasonable and risk-reward
19 Mar 2024 DAM Capital Buy 700
to improve its RoA (return on as- favourable. However, the stock lacks
sets) by focusing on high-yielding near-term triggers. Analysts believe 19 Mar 2024 Centrum Broking Add 809
AU Small Finance Bank anticipates 20-25% rise in
loans (vehicle loans, MFI, gold and that the stock provides an adequate 19 Mar 2024 Nirmal Bang Buy 721
asset base over three years, which will increase the
small business loans) and expand- balance sheet to `2 lakh crore by 2026-27. margin of safety given its operational 18 Mar 2024 JM Financial Buy 675
ing in new geographical areas. The strength and focus on growth.
merger will also provide the bank with a larger customer Selection methodology: We pick the stock that has shown Relative performance SENSEX
125.1
base, improved distribution network, cross-selling opportu- the maximum increase in ‘consensus analyst rating’ during
100 MARKET PRICE: `566.05
nities and opportunities for diversifying its business mix. the past month. The consensus rating is arrived at by averag- 114.5
The management anticipates a 20-25% jump in asset base ing all analyst recommendations after attributing weights
over the next three years, which will increase the balance to each of them (5 for strong buy, 4 for buy, 3 for hold, 2 for sell
sheet size to `2 lakh crore by 2026-27. Moreover, the merger and 1 for strong sell). An improvement in consensus analyst
will enable the merged entity to meet its priority sector lend- rating indicates that the analysts are getting bullish on the 97.6
ing target as Fincare is a rural-focused small finance bank stock. Only stocks with at least 10 analysts covering them are
with an 85% share of priority sector lending advances. considered. You can see similar consensus analyst rating
21 MAR 2023 ET BANKS AU SMALL FINANCE BANK 21 MAR 2024
The bank maintains strict underwriting standards and changes during the past week in ETW 50 table.
AU Small Finance Bank is compared with ET Banks and Sensex. Stock price and
has a healthy asset quality track record. The deterioration in —Sameer Bhardwaj index values normalised to a base of 100. Source: ETIG and Bloomberg

WHAT EXPERTS ADVISE

BUY RESEARCH STOCK 1-YEAR TARGET POTENTIAL
*STOCK PRICES AS ON 21 MARCH

STOCK ADVICE COMMENT

HOUSE PRICE* (`) PRICE (`) UPSIDE (%)

Initiate with ‘buy’ due to its dominant share in core products across segments, robust R&D capabilities, op-
Shriram Pistons & Rings Emkay Buy 1,444 2,450 69.7 portunities in ICE and engine upgrades, strong balance sheet, and attractive valuations.

Maintain ‘buy’ with an upgraded target price due to its strong revenue potential fuelled by market share
Indo Count Industries Nuvama Buy 295 430 45.8 gains in the US, sufficient capacity to fulfill incremental demand, operating leverage advantages, and
growing contribution from value-added segments.
Rate ‘buy’ as diversification in new areas, entry in the braking business, alongside past expansions
Antique Stock
Suprajit Engineering Buy 395 517 30.9 through both organic and inorganic routes, as well as enhancements in foreign operations, aftermarket,
Broking and electronic divisions are expected to propel growth and improve margins in the future.
Initiate with ‘buy’ as future revenue growth is poised to be bolstered by new product additions and long-
BlueJet Healthcare ICICI Securities Buy 344 450 30.8 term contracts. Healthy return ratios, net debt-free status, and valuation discount are other positives.

Rate ‘buy’ as proposed merger of subsidiary Aditya Birla Finance will streamline corporate structure, bolster
Aditya Birla Capital Jefferies Buy 180 225 25.0 CRAR, and resolve the issue of its mandatory listing. Removal of holding company discount lifts valuation.

Initiate with ‘buy’ as the company is likely to maintain its industry-leading outperformance due to its em-
DOMS Industries JM Financial Buy 1,430 1,710 19.6 phasis on innovation and backward integration, unique offerings and potential export opportunities.

SELL RESEARCH STOCK 1-YEAR TARGET POTENTIAL

STOCK ADVICE COMMENT
HOUSE PRICE* (`) PRICE (`) DOWNSIDE (%)

Retain ‘sell’ as the benefits from anti-dumping duties on PTSB are expected to be modest. Uncertainties
Vinati Organics Kotak Securities Sell 1,634 1,100 -32.7 in demand recovery in ATBS, anisole derivatives, and anti-oxidants are major concerns.
 NG 3.7 PubDate: 25-03-2024 Zone: ETWealth Edition: 1 Page: ETWDP22 User: saurabh.gupta3 Time: 03-22-2024 19:34 Color:

tax optimiser
22 The Economic Times Wealth March 25-31, 2024

Save `1.9 lakh tax with HRA, NPS

Sudhir Kaushik of TaxSpanner.com tells readers how they can
optimise their tax by rejigging their incomes and investments.

P
une-based software profes-
sional Sudhir Dhawle has a
high income, but more than
20% of it goes in tax because
he doesn’t claim exemptions
and deduction available to him. His pay INCOME
structure is also not very tax-friendly.
TaxSpanner estimates that Dhawle’s tax
FROM EMPLOYER
can be reduced by nearly `1.9 lakh if he
claims exemption for HRA, opts for the
NPS benefit offered by his company and
INCOME HEAD CURRENT SUGGESTED
his pay structure is rejigged to include
some tax-free perks. He should also in- Basic salary 16,50,000 16,50,000
vest in NPS on his own and buy health
insurance for his parents. House rent allowance 8,25,000 8,25,000 Reduce this taxable
As a first step, Dhawle should claim portion of the pay
package.
exemption for his HRA. Although he Special allowance 3,30,000 1,17,000
pays a rent of `30,000 per month, he does Replace this taxable
not claim HRA exemption because he is Transport allowance 1,32,000 0 perk with other tax-
not aware of the procedure. As per tax free emoluments.
rules for HRA, he can claim an exemp- Telephone reimbursement 0 12,000 These emoluments
tion of `1.8 lakh, which will save him are tax free subject
about `56,000 in tax. Meal coupons 0 26,000 to reasonable limits
Next, he should opt for the NPS benefit and submission of
from his company. Under Sec 80CCD(2),
Books and periodicals 0 12,000 actual bills.
up to 10% of the basic salary put in the Items bought for
Gadget allowance 0 70,000 personal use are
NPS on behalf of the employee is tax-free.
If his company puts `13,750 (10% of his taxed at 10% of the
LTA 0 60,000 value.
basic) in NPS on his behalf every month,
he will save `51,500 in tax. Employer's contribution to Provident Fund 1,98,000 1,98,000 This is tax free if
Dhawle should also get the taxable claimed twice in a
conveyance allowance in his pay re- block of four years.
Contribution to NPS under Sec 80CCD(2) 0 1,65,000
placed with some tax-free allowances. Up to 10% of basic
Telephone allowance of `1,000, newspa- TOTAL 31,35,000 31,35,000 put in NPS is tax
per allowance of `1,000 and meal coupons free.
worth `2,200 per month will reduce his
tax by around `16,000. Under Section
17(2), gadgets bought in company’s name INCOME FROM OTHER SOURCES
and given to the employee for personal
use are taxed at only 10% of their value. Interest income 4,500 0 Avoid FDs and go
Gadget allowance of `70,000 will cut his Capital gains 0 0 for debt funds to
tax by about `22,000 and LTA of `60,000 defer tax laibility.
will cut tax by `18,700. Rental income 0 0
Health insurance for parents can cut TOTAL 4,500 0
his tax by another `7,800.
All figures are in `

Denotes suggestion to increase Denotes suggestion to reduce

Tax-saving investments
INVESTMENT CURRENT SUGGESTED
OPTION (`) (`)

Provident Fund & VPF 1,98,000 1,98,000

PF enough to
save tax. Don’t
ELSS funds 20,000 0 lock up money Sudhir Dhawle’s tax
Life insurance 10,000 10,000
in ELSS.
TAX ON TAX ON TOTAL TAX SAVED WRITE
Consider TAX ON OTHER CAPITAL TO US
NPS under Sec 80CCD(1b)

TOTAL ADMISSIBLE 1,50,000

0 50,000

2,00,000
investing in
NPS to save
tax.
SALARY INCOME

CURRENT
GAINS
`1,88,604 FOR HELP
PER YEAR Paying too much
tax? Write to us
`6,55,824 1,404 0 at etwealth@
Other deductions `6,57,228 TAX RATIO timesgroup.com with
‘Optimise my tax’
(Total tax as % of annual income)
EXEMPTION OR CURRENT SUGGESTED Claim HRA as the subject. Our
DEDUCTION (`) (`) SUGGESTED experts will tell you
exemption for EXISTING SUGGESTED
rent paid. how to reduce your
HRA exemption 0 1,80,000 `4,68,624 0 0 tax by rejigging your
Take health 20.9% 14.9% pay and investments.
Medical insurance 10,000 35,000 insurance for `4,68,624
parents as
TOTAL ADMISSIBLE 10,000 2,15,000 well.
 NG 3.7 PubDate: 25-03-2024 Zone: ETWealth Edition: 1 Page: ETWDP47 User: saurabh.gupta3 Time: 03-22-2024 19:57 Color:

mutual funds
The Economic Times Wealth March 25-31, 2024 23

PORTFOLIO
DOCTOR

Set up an emergency Not many

investors

BCCL
fund, take term insurance
know
whether
they have
invested in
Businessman Brijesh Jain is saving for his child’s goals and retirement. Here’s what the doctor says: the right
funds and if their
1 2 3 4
PORTFOLIO EMERGENCY FUND CHILD’S EDUCATION CHILD’S MARRIAGE RETIREMENT INCOME:
fund portfolio is on
CHECK-UP 10 years 18 years 17 years track. The Portfolio
GOALS

IMMEDIATE
Has been investing PRESENT COST: `18 lakh PRESENT COST: `30 lakh PRESENT COST: `25 lakh CURRENT NEED: `3 crore Doctor assesses the
in debt instruments (`1.2 lakh a month)
FUTURE COST: FUTURE COST: FUTURE COST: health of the fund
and equity funds for N.A. `77.8 lakh `84.5 lakh CORPUS NEEDED: `9.47 cr
the past 15 years. portfolio, examines the
Started with ELSS schemes and their
AMOUNT EXISTING RECOMMENDED ACTION NEW
funds to save tax INVESTMENT suitability with regard to
INVESTED (`) SIP (`) SIP (`)
and then moved to
other schemes. the goals and, if
Hold these fixed deposits till maturity and then
Fixed deposits 15,36,000 0 transfer proceeds to UTI Short Duration Fund. 0 required, recommends
Also holds a sizeable
investment in stocks 1
Start 1-year SIP of `12,500 in this short duration fund corrective measures. The
directly. UTI Short Duration 0 0 to build the emergency corpus. 12,500
advice given is based on
Holds too many
funds with overlap- Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana 6,73,000
Keep contributing to this tax-friendly assured returns
12,500 scheme to build education corpus. 12,500
the performance of the
ping portfolios. funds, the risk profile of
Invests in funds but Continue SIPs in this outstanding large- and mid-cap the investor as well as
Mirae Asset Large & Midcap 1,97,000 7,500 fund. 7,500
doesn’t monitor per-
formance, or review 2 his financial goals.
Hold this stable equity-oriented hybrid fund for the
portfolio. HDFC Hybrid Equity 1,78,000 0 long term. 0
Funds are mostly
good, but laggards
Assumptions used
HDFC Index - Sensex Plan 69,000 3,000 Continue SIPs in this index fund. 3,000
and irrelevant funds in the calculations
need to be removed.
3 Axis Small Cap 3,21,000
Continue SIPs in this outstanding small-cap fund but
10,000 keep a close eye on performance. 10,000 INFLATION
Runs a business, so Education For all
must save more expenses other goals
aggressively for his Canara Robeco Emerging Equities 90,000 5,000 Continue SIPs in this stable large- and mid-cap fund. 5,000
retirement.
Open account in NPS
10% 7%
Parag Parikh Flexi Cap 2,85,000 16,500 Continue SIPs in this outstanding flexi-cap fund. 16,500
to save tax and build
RETURNS
retirement corpus.
DSP ELSS Tax Saver 1,92,000 5,000 Continue SIPs in this ELSS fund for tax savings. 5,000 Equity funds Debt options
Set up an emergency
fund to take care of
5-6 months’ house- Nippon India ELSS Tax Saver 63,000
Fund has underperformed. Switch to Canara Robeco
0 Emerging Equities after the lock-in period ends. 0 12% 8%
hold expenses.
Continue SIPs in this outstanding ELSS fund, but
Quant ELSS Tax Saver 1,92,000 15,000 reduce amount to `8,000. 8,000
Note from PORTFOLIOS
the doctor SBI Blue Chip 1,02,000 0 Restart SIPs of `10,000 in this stable large-cap fund. 10,000
ANALYSED BY

Don’t buy too many RAJ KHOSLA,

funds. Just 7-8 funds
are enough for all 4 ICICI Pru India Opportunities
goals.
Take insurance of at
least `2 crore to
safeguard goals.
Opt for a balanced
allocation to equity
and debt funds in
the NPS.
Review investments
and rebalance at
least once in a year.
Reduce risk when
goal is near so that
you don’t miss the
target.
Managing Director
This thematic fund is cluttering the portfolio. Switch
5,000 5,000 SIPs and corpus to SBI Bluechip. 0 and Founder,
MyMoneyMantra
Direct stock investments are risky. Consider moving
Direct stock investments 30,00,000 0 to equity funds instead. 0
WRITE
Post Office MIS 5,00,000 0 Switch to debt funds after maturity to defer tax. 0 TO US
FOR HELP
LIC endowment policy 2,00,000 20,000 Use maturity amount for retirement. 20,000 If you want your portfolio examined,
write to etwealth@timesgroup.com
with ‘Portfolio Doctor’ as the subject.
NSCs 7,00,000 0 Reinvest the proceeds when these mature. 0 Mention the following information:
 Names of the funds you hold.
Start contributing `10,000 per month to this low-cost  Current value of the investment.
NPS 0 0 10,000  If you have SIPs running in any
scheme. Hike amount by 10% every year.
of them.
 The financial goals for which you
PPF (self, spouse and child) 17,00,000 37,500
Contribution in minor child's PPF account is to be
25,000 invested.
clubbed with parent. Reduce to avoid penalty.  How much you need for each
financial goal.
, The goals can be reached using the mutual
TOTAL `10,00,3,000 `1,37,000 funds marked in the same colour. `1,45,000  How far away is each goal.
 NG 3.7 PubDate: 25-03-2024Zone: ETWealthDelhi Edition: 1 Page: DETWDPBP User: saurabh.gupta3 Time: 03-22-2024
your feedback & more...
24 The Economic Times Wealth March 25-31, 2024
Readers’ response, online and in print, to ET Wealth stories has been enlightening.
We pick some that add information and perspective to our articles from previous issues.
Apropos of the cover story ‘Restructure
your salary now’, there is no escape from
income tax for government employees as
even the PF contribution is taxable. This
administration appears intent on extract-
ing every ounce of the hard-earned money
from its employees and the middle class.
P. Kumar
Uma Shashikant’s column, ‘Money train-
ing for young adults’, is a must-read for all
parents. Just as developing economies rec-
ognise the perils of fiscal irresponsibility,
individuals should prioritise financial pru-
dence. It’s essential for parents to engage
their children in preparing family budgets,
and help them understand the challenges
of earning money in the real world. This
will equip children with crucial skills for the
future and foster a sense of responsibility,
ultimately contributing to the cultivation of
responsible citizens. The economic progress
of a nation relies heavily on the financial lit-
eracy and mindfulness of its people.
S. Ramakrishnasayee
I disagree with Dhirendra Kumar’s col-
umn, ‘Beware of gold & Bitcoin’. Over the
past 25 years, both gold and the Sensex
Now, alter your credit card billing cycle
by Anulekha Ray
M
issing the due date on your credit
card bill can not only have an im-
pact on your credit score, but you
also end up paying a hefty late payment
fee. Sometimes, people get credit cards
with bill due dates that don’t match their
personal cash-flow cycles, increasing
the risk of missing the payment. Can you
choose or change your credit card billing
cycle and due date? The answer is, yes.
The Reserve Bank of India has asked
credit card issuers to provide customers
an option to modify their credit card bill-
ing cycle at least once. In an amendment
to the ‘Master Direction—Credit Card
and Debit Card—Issuance and Conduct
Directions, 2022’ released on 7 March
2024, the central bank stated, “In order to
provide flexibility in this regard, card-
holders shall be provided the option to
modify the billing cycle of the credit
card at least once, as per the cardhold-
ers’ convenience.”
Earlier, this provision stated, “In
order to provide flexibility in this regard,
cardholders shall be provided a one-time
option to modify the billing cycle of the
credit card as per their convenience.” So,
from the earlier ‘one-time option’ for cycle
change, it has changed to ‘at least once’.
How will it benefit customers?
A billing cycle or billing period is the
The Economic Times Wealth is available at an invitation price of ` 8/issue. To book your copy, contact your newspaper vendor or call 011 - 39898090; Email: crm.delhi@timesgroup.com; SMS ETWS to 58888
The Economic Times Wealth, published by Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. exercises due care and caution in collecting the data before publication. In spite of
this, if any omission, inaccuracy or printing errors occur with regard to the data contained in this newspaper, The Economic Times Wealth will not be held
responsible or liable. The content hereof does not constitute any form of advice, recommendation or arrangement by the newspaper. The Economic Times
Wealth will not be liable for any direct or indirect losses caused because of readers’ reliance on the same in making any specific or other decisions. Readers
are recommended to make appropriate enquiries and seek appropriate advice before making any specific or other decisions.
Salary restructuring
can help retain talent
The cover story ‘Restructure your salary
now’ highlighted how to minimise tax
liability by restructuring perks and com-
pensation. The Income-tax Act encour-
ages savings, investments and employee-
friendly benefits by offering tax rebates,
deductions and exemptions. While job
creation remains government’s priority,
companies should proactively adjust sala-
ry structures to attract and retain talent.
Reimbursement of actual expenses and
house building advance repayments offer
tax benefits. Professionals and consult-
ants can also benefit from presumptive
tax schemes under Section 44ADA, along
with reduced TDS and deductions out-
lined in Chapter VI of the Income-tax Act.
Vinod Johri
have yielded similar returns. While gold
holds intrinsic value akin to cash, digital
assets are perceived as having no inherent
worth. After the 2008 crisis, the mutual
time between two statement dates. A state-
ment date is when your credit card bill for
the ongoing month is generated. The due
date of your credit card bill is usually 15-20
days after your credit card statement date.
So, credit card users usually get an inter-
est-free period of 45-50 days. When you
change your billing date, the due date of
your credit card payment will also change
accordingly.
“Card issuers do not follow a standard
billing cycle for all cards. To provide flex-
ibility in this
20:02 Color:
fund industry gave modest returns of 5-6%
till 2014. It’s essential to recognise the cy-
clical nature of markets. Gold stands out as
a hedge against inflation, providing stabil-
regard, cardholders shall be provided the
option to modify the billing cycle of the
credit card at least once, as per the card-
holders’ convenience,” says Sameer Singh
Jaini, Founder and CEO, Digital Fifth, a
fintech consulting firm.
Set your credit card due date when
you have a high cash flow
To avoid default on your credit bill, your
credit card due date should be at a time
when you have enough money to pay it. So,
select a date after your salary is credited,
and avoid choosing one at the end of the
month when you may face a cash crunch. If
you have a business or are self-employed,
you can analyse your monthly earnings
and expenses and pick a date accordingly.
Even if you set a daily reminder or auto-
debit option, managing multiple credit
card due dates could be cumber-
some. For some, paying multi-
ple credit card bills at one go
can save time and hassle.
For others, it could impose
financial strain at the
start of the month. So, pay-
ing one bill on the 5th and
another on the 20th is an
easier option. “Consumers
must carefully consider their
financial needs and obligations
before asking for adjustments to
their billing cycles,” says Jitendra
Dhaka, Founder of BankSathi.
Published for the proprietors, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. by Rajeev Yadav at Times House, 7, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi-110
002, Phone: 011-23322000, Fax: 011-23323346 and printed by him at The Times of India Press, 13 & 15/1, Site IV, Industrial Area, Sahibabad, UP.
Regd. Office: Dr Dadabhai Naoroji Road, Mumbai 400 001. Editor: Babar Zaidi (Responsible for selection of news under PRB Act). © Repro-
duction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. All rights reserved.
RNI No. DELENG/2011/37994. MADE IN NEW DELHI
ity in uncertain times.
Kiran Kumar
Dhirendra Kumar’s critique indicates a lack of
grasp on technological advancement. Critics
like him have been vocal since Bitcoin’s incep-
tion in 2010, yet it’s undeniable that Bitcoin’s
value surged from $1 to $70,000. While
Bitcoin’s volatility is acknowledged, the same
applies to stocks, which are advocated by the
writer. Those averse to volatility may opt for
fixed deposits instead. Dismissing Bitcoin’s
potential based on outdated notions seems
shortsighted.
Ashgin
I appreciate the effort of team ET Wealth in
providing financial information to retail
investors in simple language. While I have
primarily invested in mutual funds since
2009, I’ve been relying on your tips and arti-
cles for over a year now. I have noticed that
your weekly top funds’ list doesn’t include
sectoral/thematic categories for compari-
son. These funds have delivered excellent
returns in 2023-24. I would recommend
incorporating this category in the list for a
more comprehensive analysis.
Surendra Gaware
How can you make the change?
The process of changing credit card bill-
ing cycle or due date will differ from one
bank to another. Most banks could provide
options to make the change online via
Net banking. You can call the customer
care department of your bank and inquire
about the process. Banks can also have
their own rules to change billing cycles. So
check with your bank.
How many times can you change?
Kunal Varma, CEO and Co-Founder at
Freo, says, “While banks can offer the
flexibility to change your billing cycle, the
RBI guideline specifies that cardholders
should be allowed to modify their billing
cycle at least once as per their conveni-
ence. It doesn’t explicitly state banks must
offer this option more than once.”
“However, some of the issuers may of-
fer this option more than once to ensure
customer convenience and better experi-
ence,” says Prithwish Ray, Chief Business
Officer, Hyperface.
Adds Laksh Dua, Co-Founder at
WeCredit, a startup that provides quick
and hassle-free loans: “Whether banks
give you the option to change your billing
cycle more than once might depend on
their specific policies and practices. While
the regulation mandates offering at least
one opportunity, banks may choose to pro-
vide additional flexibility. It’s best to check
with your bank regarding its policies.”