Formula Plans in Portfolio Management

The investor uses formula plans to facilitate him in making investment decisions for the future by exploiting the fluctuations in prices. The formula plans have sketched the basic rules and regulations for purchasing and selling of investments. The formula plans make the average investors superior to others. These formula plans in portfolio management  are based on the fact that the investors will not have the problem of forecasting fluctuation in stock prices and will continue to act according to formula. So, formula plans are a type of investment strategy that makes use of pre-determined rules for the nature and timing of change in one’s investment portfolio as the market rises or falls. Rules for Formula Plans These plans work according to a methodology which is related for the working of each plan These plans cannot be used for short periods of time. The longer the period of holding the investments, Continue reading

Financial and Economic Meaning of Investment

Investment is the employment of funds with the aim of getting return on it. In general terms, investment means the use of money in the hope of making more money. In finance, investment means the purchase of a financial product or other item of value with an expectation of favorable future returns. Investment of hard earned money is a crucial activity of every human being. Investment is the commitment of funds which have been saved from current consumption with the hope that some benefits will be received in future. Thus, it is a reward for waiting for money. Savings of the people are invested in assets depending on their risk and return demands. Investment refers to the concept of deferred consumption, which involves purchasing an asset, giving a loan or keeping funds in a bank account with the aim of generating future returns. Various investment options are available, offering differing Continue reading

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is the nodal agency to regulate the capital market and other related issues in India. It was established in 1988 as an administrative body and was given statutory recognition in January 1992 under the SEBI Act 1992 which came into force on January 30. The Act charged the SEBI, the first national regulatory body in India with comprehensive statutory powers over practically all aspects of capital market operations, “to protect the interests of the investors and to promote the development of, and to regulate the securities markets by such measures as it thinks fit.”  SEBI has been vested most of the functions and powers under the Securities Contract Regulation (SCR) Act, which brought stock exchanges, their members, as well as contracts in securities which could be traded under the regulations of the Ministry of Finance. It has also been delegated certain powers under Continue reading

Capital Market Reforms by Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has a primary responsibility of regulating and supervising the capital market. It has introduced a number of reforms for the control and supervision of capital market and investors protection. Primary Market Reforms by the SEBI The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has introduced various guidelines and regulatory measures for capital issues for healthy and efficient functioning of capital market in India. The issuing companies are required to make material disclosure about the risk factors, in their offer documents and also to get their debt instruments rated. Steps have been taken to ensure that continuous disclosures are made by firms so as to enable to investors to make a comparison between promises and performance. The merchant bankers now have greater degree of accountability in the offer document and the issue process. The due diligence certificate by the lead manager regarding disclosure made Continue reading

Diversification of Securities in Portfolio Investments

Reduction of Risk through Diversification of Securities The process of combining securities in an investment portfolio is known as diversification. The aim of diversification of securities is to reduce total risk without sacrificing portfolio return. To understand the mechanism and power of diversification, it is necessary to consider the impact of co-variance or correlation on portfolio risk more closely. We shall examine three cases: (1) when security returns are perfectly positively correlated, (2) when security returns are perfectly negatively correlated and (3) when security returns are not correlated. Diversification means, investment of funds in more than one risky asset with the basic objective of risk reduction. The lay man can make good returns on his investment by making use of technique of diversification. Main forms of Diversification of Securities Simple Diversification, Over Diversification, Efficient Diversification. 1.  Simple Diversification It involves a random selection of portfolio construction. The common man could Continue reading

Portfolio Analysis in Investment Portfolio Management

The main aim of portfolio analysis in investment portfolio management is to give a caution direction to the risk and return of an investor on portfolio. Individual securities have risk return characteristics of their own. Therefore, portfolio analysis indicates the future risk and return in holding of different individual instruments. The portfolio analysis has been highly successful in tracing the efficient portfolio. Portfolio analysis considers the determination of future risk and return in holding various blends of individual securities. An investor can sometime reduce portfolio risk by adding another security with greater individual risk than any other security in the portfolio. Portfolio analysis is mainly depending on Risk and Return of the portfolio. The expected return of a portfolio should depend on the expected return of each of the security contained in the portfolio. The amount invested in each security is most important. The portfolio’s expected holding period value relative Continue reading