Skip to main content

HSBC Suspends Mutual Fund, Insurance Sales in India

Economic Times Article (04 Nov 2012)

HSBC, the world's third-largest bank, has stopped selling insurance and mutual fund products in India. Amid mounting allegations of mis-selling and certain sharp practices, the London headquarters of the British bank, which carried out a "culture audit" of the Indian retail banking and wealth management practices, has ordered a suspension of sales.


HSBC Bank is the largest distributor of mutual funds in the country. The foreign bank, which has been doing business in India for close to 150 years, reported a 30% spurt in commissions on MF sales last fiscal — one of the toughest years for fund houses, life insurers and financial services brokerages.


The parent organization has given HSBC India two months to fix the system in order to ensure that customer complaints came down, said a source. Besides mis-selling of insurance policies, these complaints related to frequent churning of mutual fund portfolios of many well-heeled investors.


Emails from ET to HSBC went unanswered till the time of going to press.


Fund distributors often earn higher commissions by advising investors to shift from one mutual fund scheme to another. Indeed, capital market regulator Sebi in an earlier note had pointed out rampant portfolio churning by many banks. "Churning and mis-selling of insurance happen in other banks and brokerages as well, though the extent may differ. HSBC is possibly trying to correct its system to see that the nature of products meets customers' appetite," said a chartered accountant associated with a fund house.


In many markets, large financial services groups insist that all telephonic conversations between customers and personal bankers or wealth managers should take place on recorded lines. But this may be difficult in markets like India where bank or distributor officials use their mobiles to call clients after office hours.


According to a senior fund manager, HSBC officials recently told CEOs of top fund houses that it would go slow on sales, and in some cases stop selling till further notice.

Some of the best Tax Saving Mutual Funds available ( ELSS Mutual Funds )

1.      ICICI Prudential Tax Plan  Invest Online

2.      HDFC TaxSaver   Invest Online

3.      DSP BlackRock Tax Saver Fund   Invest Online

4.      Birla Sun Life Tax Relief '96 Invest Online

5.      Reliance Tax Saver (ELSS) Fund   Invest Online

6.      IDFC Tax Advantage (ELSS) Fund  Invest Online

7.      SBI Magnum Tax Gain Scheme 1993   Invest Online

8.      Sundaram Tax Saver   Invest Online

 

Happy Investing!!

We can help. Call 0 94 8300 8300 (India)

Leave your comment with mail ID and we will answer them

OR

You can write back to us at PrajnaCapital [at] Gmail [dot] Com

 

---------------------------------------------

Invest Mutual Funds Online

Transact Mutual Fund Online

Download Mutual Fund Application Forms from all AMCs

Download Mutual Fund Application Forms

Best Performing Mutual Funds

    1. Largecap Funds Invest Online
      1. DSP BlackRock Top 100 Fund
      2. ICICI Prudential Focused Blue Chip Fund
      3. Birla Sun Life Front Line Equity Fund
    2. Large and Midcap Funds Invest Online

      1. ICICI Prudential Dynamic Plan
      2. HDFC Top 200 Fund
      3. UTI Dividend Yield Fund
    1. Mid and SmallCap Funds Invest Online

      1. Reliance Equity Opportunities Fund
      2. DSP BlackRock Small & Midcap Fund
      3. Sundaram Select Midcap
      4. IDFC Premier Equity Fund
    1. Small and MicroCap Funds Invest Online

      1. DSP BlackRock MicroCap Fund
    1. Sector Funds Invest Online

      1. Reliance Banking Fund
      2. Reliance Banking Fund
    1. Tax Saver Mutual  Funds  Invest Online
      1. ICICI Prudential Tax Plan
      2. HDFC Taxsaver
      3. DSP BlackRock Tax Saver Fund
      4. Reliance Tax Saver (ELSS) Fund
    2. Gold Mutual Funds Invest Online

      1. Relaince Gold Savings Fund
      2. ICICI Prudential Regular Gold Savings Fund
      3. HDFC Gold Fund

 

Popular posts from this blog

ICICI Prudential Balanced Fund

 ICICI Prudential Balanced Fund scheme seeks to generate long-term capital appreciation and current income by investing in a portfolio that is investing in equities and related securities as well as fixed income and money market securities. The approximate allocation to equity would be in the range of 60-80 per cent with a minimum of 51 per cent, and the approximate debt allocation is 40-49 per cent, with a minimum of 20 per cent. An impressive show in the last couple of years has propelled this fund from a three-star to a four-star rating. The fund has traditionally featured a high equity allocation, hovering at well over 70 per cent, which is higher than the allocations of the peers. But in the last one year, the allocation has been moderated from 78-79 per cent levels to 66-67 per cent of the portfolio. ICICI Prudential Balanced Fund appears to practise some degree of tactical allocation based on market valuations. Within equities, well over two-thirds of the allocation is parked i...
Read more

Mutual Fund Review: Religare Tax Plan

Tax Plan is one of the better performing schemes from Religare Asset Management. Existing investors can redeem their investment after three years. But given the scheme's performance, they can continue to stay invested   Given the mandated lock-in period of three years, tax saving schemes give the fund manager the leeway to invest in ideas that may take time to nurture. Religare Tax Plan's investment ideas revolve around 'High Growth', which the fund manager has aimed to achieve by digging out promising stories/businesses in the mid-cap segment. Within the space, consumer staples has been the centre of attention for the last couple of years and can be seen as one of the key reasons for the scheme's outperformance as compared to the broader market. It has, however, tweaked its focus and reduced exposure in midcaps as they were commanding a high premium. The strategy seems to have worked as it returned a 22% gain last year. Religare Tax Plan has outperformed BSE 100...
Read more

Stock Dividend Yields

During a bull run, it’s very easy to ignore stocks with high dividend yields. After all, what could be more enticing than a growth stock? But in times of crisis, these boring ones tend to be the most sought after. The reason being that not only do dividends provide a cushion when the market is in the doldrums but such stocks also tend to fall less. The lure of dividend yield stocks is not easy to ignore. These stocks offer capital appreciation as well as cash payments. But logically, any company that pays a substantial portion of its earnings in dividends is reinvesting less and, therefore, would grow at a slower pace. So the trade-off is between higher dividend yields for lower earnings growth. On the other hand, companies with high growth potential and volatile earnings tend to pay less by way of dividends, if at all. Such companies would rather reinvest their earnings to sustain their growth. The capital appreciation of growth stocks is obviously higher than in dividend yield ones. ...
Read more

Women need to plan for Retirement

Plan for Retirement Online       Higher life expectancy, lower pay and fewer work years necessitate thorough planning.   Women have raced ahead of men in various fields but, when it comes to retirement planning, they tend to lag behind. Despite saving a higher proportion of their salary, compared to men, women generally do not take retirement planning seriously. Below are some of the reasons why they should: According to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, in India, the life expectancy of women is 69 years and, of men, it's 66 years. Due to this, a woman will need an additional `55 lakh to manage her living expenses (see table).Besides, usually, women work fewer years compared to men to take care of children and family.Further, a recent study by Korn Ferry Hay Group shows that women in India earn 18.8% less than men. Not to mention, a higher life expectancy can also mean higher medical expenses as the likelihood of health ailments such as diabetes, high...
Read more

Tax Planning: Income tax and Section 80C

In order to encourage savings, the government gives tax breaks on certain financial products under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act. Investments made under such schemes are referred to as 80C investments. Under this section, you can invest a maximum of Rs l lakh and if you are in the highest tax bracket of 30%, you save a tax of Rs 30,000. The various investment options under this section include:   Provident Fund (PF) & Voluntary Provident Fund (VPF) Provident Fund is deducted directly from your salary by your employer. The deducted amount goes into a retirement account along with your employer's contribution. While employer's contribution is exempt from tax, your contribution (i.e., employee's contribution) is counted towards section 80C investments. You can also contribute additional amount through voluntary contributions (VPF). The current rate of interest is 8.5% per annum and interest earned is tax-free. Public Provident Fund (PPF) An account can be opened wi...
Read more
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Invest in Tax Saving Mutual Funds Download Any Applications
Transact Mutual Funds Online Invest Online
Buy Gold Mutual Funds Invest Now