Till a few weeks ago, the rupee was one of the worst performing currencies in Asia as it depreciated around 14 per cent per cent against the dollar this year to touch a record low of 74.3875 on October 11. However, since then, it has managed a good recovery. One US dollar was trading at `71.18 on November 22, 2018.
The depreciation was largely on account of rising crude oil prices that touched $86 barrel a couple of months ago from less than $40 a barrel in 2014 and hardening interest rates in the US. Robust economic growth has propelled US rates to their highest in seven years. As investors in the US get a higher rate on their fixed income securities domestically, and that too without any exchange rate risk, this leads them to pull out funds from emerging markets. As interest rates in the US have not changed much since then, the recent recovery of the rupee can be attributed to softening crude oil prices. Brent crude oil, which was trading above $86 per barrel on October 3, 2018, was trading at $61.82 per barrel on November 23, 2018.
MUTUAL FUNDS
SEBI caps MF expenses
The equity market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, or Sebi, has brought down the cap on expense charged by asset management companies to give investors the benefit of economies of scale. The assets under management, or AUM, of mutual funds have grown manifold over the past two decades to `23.15 lakh crore but the expense ratio rate hasn't been revised since 1996. Now, the maximum total expense ratio an equity fund can charge investors is 2.25 per cent for the first `500 crore of AUM. As the AUM grows further, the expense ratio will come down; it will be 1.05 per cent after the AUM crosses Rs50,000 crore. For non-equity schemes, the expense ratio has been capped at 1 per cent, while for closed-ended funds, it has been capped at 1.25 per cent. Also, now, AMCs can't give upfront commission to distributors from their own pockets. insurance
Apollo Munich introduces cancer plan
Apollo Munich Health insurer has launched its cancer plan- ican - last month. The plan provides for both indemnity as well as loss. Under this plan, the policyholder will get 60 per cent of the sum assured as lumpsum on the very diagnosis of cancer and 100 per cent on the diagnosis of the advanced stage of cancer or in case of recurrence. This is apart from the cost of hospitalisation. Under the policy lifelong renewals are also possible despite the claim and health status of the policyholder. The policy also covers pre and post hospitalisation expenses. insurance
Bajaj Allianz policy with critical illness cover
Bajaj Allianz Life has launched a critical illness cover, Bajaj Allianz Life Health Care Goal. It covers a family with up to six members under one policy. The plan has other unique features designed to help Indians manage most of the expenses arising due to critical illnesses. The plan offers to provide cover for 36 critical illnesses to each family member. It comes with a return of premium feature. Here, at the end of policy term, the company is offering to return all the premium paid towards the policy in case no claim has been filed. investi ng
NSE Launches goBID
The National Stock Exchange, or NSE, has introduced an online bid collection facility called goBid for its members to enter bids of eligible retail investors. Trading members of the capital market segment are eligible to participate in non-competitive bidding through the e-Gsec platform. In November 2017, the Reserve Bank of India, or RBI, had permitted stock exchanges in to act as aggregators/facilitators in the facility of non-competitive bidding in government securities. The facility allows retail investors to participate on "non-competitive" basis in auction of Government of India Dated Securities (G-Sec) and Treasury Bills (TBills) conducted by the RBI.