Money - 7 good reasons to invest in SIP's

Fact No. 1: Over a long term horizon, equity investments have given returns which far exceed those from the debt based instruments. They are probably the only investment option, which can build large wealth.
Fact No. 2: In short term, equities exhibit very sharp volatilities, which many of us find difficult to stomach.

Fact No. 3: Equities carry lot of risk even to the extent of loosing ones entire corpus.

Fact No. 4: Investment in equities require one to be in constant touch with the market.

Fact No. 5: Equity investment requires a lot of research.

Fact No. 6: Buying good scrips require one to invest fairly large amounts.

Systematic Investing in a Mutual Fund is the answer to preventing the pitfalls of equity investment and still enjoying the high returns. And it makes all the more sense today when the stock markets are booming.

1)It's an expert's field – Let's leave it to them
Management of the fund by the professionals or experts is one of the key advantages of investing through a mutual fund. They regularly carry out extensive research - on the company, the industry and the economy – thus ensuring informed investment. Secondly, they regularly track the market. Thus for many of us who do not have the desired expertise and are too busy with our vocation to devote sufficient time and effort to investing in equity, mutual funds offer an attractive alternative.

2. Putting eggs in different baskets Another advantage of investing through mutual funds is that even with small amounts we are able to enjoy the benefits of diversification. Huge amounts would be required for an individual to achieve the desired diversification, which would not be possible for many of us. Diversification reduces the overall impact on the returns from a portfolio, on account of a loss in a particular company/sector.

3. It's all transparent & well regulated

The Mutual Fund industry is well regulated both by SEBI and AMFI. They have, over the years, introduced regulations, which ensure smooth and transparent functioning of the mutual funds industry. This makes it safer and convenient for investors to invest through the mutual funds.
4. Market timing becomes irrelevant One of the biggest difficulties in equity investing is WHEN to invest, apart from the other big question WHERE to invest. While, investing in a mutual fund solves the issue of 'where' to invest, SIP helps us to overcome the problem of 'when'. SIP is a disciplined investing irrespective of the state of the market. It thus makes the market timing totally irrelevant. And today when the markets are high, it may not be prudent to commit large sums at one go. With the next 2-3 years looking good from Indian Economy point of view, one can expect handsome returns thru' regular investing.
5. Does not strain our day-to-day finances Mutual Funds allow us to invest very small amounts (Rs 500 – Rs 1000) in SIP, as against larger one-time investment required, if we were to buy directly from the market. This makes investing easier as it does not strain our monthly finances. It, therefore, becomes an ideal investment option for a small-time investor, who would otherwise not be able to enjoy the benefits of investing in the equity market.
6. Reduces the average cost In SIP we are investing a fixed amount regularly. Therefore, we end up buying more number of units when the markets are down and NAV is low and less number of units when the markets are up and the NAV is high. This is called rupee-cost averaging. Generally, we would stay away from buying when the markets are down. We generally tend to invest when the markets are rising. SIP works as a good discipline as it forces us to buy even when the markets are low, which actually is the best time to buy.

7. Helps to fulfill our dreams
The investments we make are ultimately for some objectives such as to buy a house, children's education, marriage etc. And many of them require a huge one-time investment. As it would usually not be possible raise such large amounts at short notice, we need to build the corpus over a longer period of time, through small but regular investments. This is what SIP is all about. Small investments, over a period of time, result in large wealth and help fulfill our dreams & aspirations.

Technology- Digital printing market in India

It’s a war out there to grab a share of the growing digital printing market in India. The printing and graphics industry is expected to turn a shade brighter in 2007-08. The Indian digital printing industry is projected to grow to $17 billion by 2010, from an estimated $11 billion in 2005 (as per print and packaging research organisation, Pira International). Gone are the vendors’ obsessions with niches where digital printers might be lucky enough to find a hundred thousand impressions per month. For that matter, a number of the digital print providers who pursued those niches are gone, too.
A buoyant industry estimates that between 2006 to 2015 digital printing products (world-over) will account for almost 30-35 per cent of the overall printing market. In 2005-06, the emphasis shifted from the niches for digital printing to sheer volumes as vendors ramped up shipments of new high-capacity digital colour presses with lower operating costs. The resulting explosion in volume was no surprise. “Digital colour printing is finally on the threshold for the explosive volume growth that monochrome digital printing experienced in the last decade.
In its endeavour to spread awareness about the digital printing industry, Xerox India along with Karnataka State Printers Association and the Government of Karnataka announced a joint tie-up for setting up the first-of-its kind print testing and training centre in Bangalore and has also set up a Xerox Innovation & Technology Excellence Centre with an investment of Rs 5 crore. Expecting growth for personalised print jobs, print-on-demand, shorter run lengths, Xerox and HP hope to tap verticals such as banking, telecom, insurance, retail, manufacturing and graphic arts. HP also intends to play an important role in all the e-governance projects defined by the government of India. Lexmark, on the other hand, is aiming for the Internet companies, BPOs and KPOs to fuel its growth. “With India being one of the world’s largest IT hot-beds, the demand for digital printing equipments is bound to escalate. With one third of digital work expected to be personalised by the end of 2006, personalisation and customisation are the two big trends where Xerox, HP, Lexmark and Canon hope to play a key role.
In an industry dominated by low-cost conventional printing technologies such as offset, flexography, and gravure, it is not surprising to note the demand for digital printing is shaping out to be highly elastic in nature. Applications like Web-to-print, variable data printing and short-run digital printing have been a hit among creatives and publishers, telecom and financial institutions. “Innovation from a product generation perspective would continue to be around the three vectors — cost of printing (a combination of equipment media and ink), image quality and speed.” HP has recently revealed a breakthrough technology, Edgeline, which, it claims will change the way enterprise customers look at printing. The penetration of digitised variable data printing is facilitated due to the need for regional or local messaging (in B and C class cities) either on the telephone bills, tax statements, and receipts that no offset printer can manage. Digital monochrome and colour printing together account for less than 3 per cent of the volume of publication and commercial printing in 2006 but is predicted to reach 25 per cent by 2010. Nevertheless, digital printing is not going to overpower the traditional industry anytime soon. However, the digital segment will soak up most of the growth across the total market. That sure is great news for those print providers who are going digital and is also a challenge for the rest to get moving.

Money- Why to worry on Hedge funds

Indian financial regulators get skittish when the word “hedge fund” is used. Recent announcements suggest some movement by Sebi and the ministry of finance in their favour, while the RBI continues to argue against. One source of fear of hedge funds is the notion that all hedge funds act in concert. However, the global hedge fund industry is highly competitive. Over $1 trillion is managed by more than 8,000 hedge funds, each of which fights to gain an edge over the others. Coordination between such a large number of adversarial entities is impossible. Though a herd mentality can set in, on any given day some hedge funds will buy and some hedge funds sell.

The customers of hedge funds are institutions and sophisticated individuals. They have the wherewithal to monitor hedge funds, and shift assets to the best return-to-risk ratio. They keep the hedge fund manager on his toes. Marketing gimmicks targeting retail investors can put money into the hands of an incompetent manager. Such gimmicks do not work in the hedge fund sector, which is meritocratic and performance-driven. Fearful third world regulators like the RBI harp on the LTCM episode of 1999. Just as one plane crash does not render all plane travel useless, the case for hedge funds is not invalidated by one problem. The recent demise of Amaranth—where losses bigger than LTCM took place—shows improving institutional structures. From a regulatory viewpoint, Amaranth was a pleasant episode. A few rich men lost money, while hedge funds as a whole continued to trade every day, making markets more efficient.
There are two alternative strategies for regulation. On the one hand is the US path, where the government is not involved in the relationship between the hedge fund and his customer. Alternatively, in the UK and in Scandinavia, there is some light-touch regulation. In either case, the activities of hedge funds in securities markets have to comply with all margin requirements, position limits, etc. In India, given the penchant for turning a whiff of regulation into an onerous licence-permit raj, the US route would be better. A US-style policy framework needs to be created, to support both foreign and domestic hedge funds. The international consensus today says that hedge funds engage in rational trades and supply liquidity. The smartest analytical financial economics, the best Ph.D.s, and the best computer technology for trading are now in the hands of hedge funds. India needs their risk-taking, their liquidity provision, their analytical minds, and their systems. Foreign hedge funds are useful since they would not get shaken by the ups and downs of the market in the way that local investors do. On the interest rate and currency markets, India has failed to build meaningful markets; the active and intelligent trading of hedge funds can induce a paradigm shift. On the equity market also, the volatility of May 2006 has given a drop in liquidity which has still not been erased. Monthly traded volumes in equity spot and derivatives markets have dropped sharply. The gutsy retail liquidity providers of India have been shaken by the volatility of May 2006. Globally diversified hedge funds are a useful source of liquidity provision in Indian financial markets.

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