Snippets

NRI Woes

If you are a non-resident Indian (NRI) or intend to be one, brace up for the latest hit. As per the latest rules, people will have to close their public provident fund (PPF) accounts and encash their national savings certificates (NSCs) when they become NRIs. If they fail to do so, both instruments will only earn interest on a par with the post office savings account rate (currently 4 per cent) from the date when the person becomes an NRI till the last day of the month following which the account will be closed. NRIs are not allowed to invest in small savings schemes such as PPF or NSC. But before this notification, they were allowed to contribute to existing PPF accounts and used to earn the same interest rate as all other small savings schemes.

Sebi Ruling - Mutual Funds Redefined

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has come up with a regulation to standardise mutual funds (MFs) and cut through the current clutter. As per the new rule, MF schemes will fall under five broad categories - equity, debt, hybrid, solution-oriented and other. While solution-oriented schemes will include retirement or children's funds, equity schemes are further classified into 10 sub-categories such as large, mid, multicap, small cap, etc.; debt schemes can fall under 16 sub-categories, and hybrid funds can be classified under six sub-categories. An asset management firm can have only one scheme per category. Sector or thematic funds, closed-end funds and fund of funds are kept out of the purview of this classification. Fund houses have been given two months' time from the date of the circular to review their classifications and submit their proposals. If Sebi clears the proposals, the necessary changes will have to be made within three months.

SBI - Rate Cuts

State Bank of India (SBI) has revised its marginal cost-based lending rates (MCLR) as well as interest rates on deposits with effect from November 1. Now the MCLR for one year stands at 7.95 per cent instead of 8 per cent while it will be 7.90 per cent for a tenure of six months against the earlier 7.95 per cent. Fixed deposits for one year will now fetch an interest of 6.25 per cent instead of 6.50 per cent. Deposits for 2-10 years will earn 6 per cent instead of 6.25 per cent.

FII - Rs. 3055 crore

Net investment by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) in October 2017. After withdrawing close to `24,000 crore from Indian stock markets over the past two months, FIIs turned net investors in the month of October.

SIP inflow touches `5,516 crore

Inflow into mutual fund has seen a record surge in 2017. As the industry's average assets under management touched a lifetime high of `21 lakh crore in September, investments via SIP also touched a record high of `5,516 crore, says the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI). It shows the increasing participation of retail investors through SIP. As per AMFI data, about 8.80 lakh SIP accounts were added each month during FY2017/18, with an average size of `3,300 per account.

Age hike for NPS

Now you can join the lowest-cost pension scheme till you are 65. The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority of India has upped the age limit to 65 from the current 60 for joining the National Pension Scheme (NPS). People can continue with this scheme up to the age of 70. Annuity rates for the higher age bracket are also better compared to those aged 60 or less. NPS offers a slew of options, ranging from equity and government bonds to life-cycle funds. Equity investment can be as much as 75 per cent of your contribution if you choose to put your money in life-cycle funds. It also offers less risky options with a heavy component of fixed-income investment.