Prajna Capital - An Investment Guide

The other day, I received a WhatsApp message from a senior citizen whose returns from a fixed deposit have gone down by 25%. This difference has come about between a five-year deposit that he made in 2012, and when he renewed it upon maturity in August 2017.   To those who are just reading the headline numbers on interest rates, this may not make sense. Depending on when you are measuring, interest rates have gone down by 2 or 3%. However, here's the exact message: "I was being paid Rs 35,352 every month (subject to income tax) enabling me to lead a worry-free life. Now on maturity I have reinvested the amount in the same bank and I will be paid Rs 26,489   The interest rate on his FD may have gone done by just about 2.5%, but his income is down by 25%. In fact, this is an obfuscation in the way reduction of interest rates is announced and carried in the media. A reduction in the interest rate on a particular kind of deposit from, say, 10 to 8% is a reduction of 20%. If you we...

The status of an income tax return or ITR can be checked once the return has been filed and verified. Taxpayers should regularly check the status of their income tax return to ensure that the ITR has been accepted and processed. If your return is filed properly and processed by the department, the status reflected in your account will be 'ITR processed'. However, if some discrepancies are found or some changes are proposed by Centralized Processing Centre (CPC), Bengaluru, there can be different return status such as defective return or case transferred to assessing officer. The taxpayer can provide a suitable reply to the income tax department with respect to the status pending in the account so as to avoid any complications in the future There are two ways to check the status of ITR:- Using the login credentials 1. Log into income tax department's e-filing website ( https://www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/home ) 2) Click on dashboard 3. Select View Return/Forms option...

Life insurance is the most secure way to provide safety to your loved ones, get returns and achieve financial goals. There are various types of life insurance plans that serve different needs of customers. Still, a huge number of Indians are grossly underinsured now. This despite the fact that there are multiple benefits that an effective life insurance plan offers. Such a plan can help you beat several unwanted emergencies effectively and keep you and your family secured. A life insurance plan will not only provide the needful safety cover, but will also allow you to get good returns (in some cases) that will assist in achieving your financial goals in the long run. Nowadays, however, there are many life insurance companies in India and to pick the best one out of all is pretty much difficult. The first thing that people should look for is the timely claim settlement. As per the IRDAI, insurance companies have to settle the non-early claims within 15 days ...

How to file a revised Income Tax Return? The mode of filing and method of verification for a revised return is similar to that for an original return. The only difference being the revised return will carry the changes proposed to be made and also details of the earlier return filed i.e. date of filing of earlier return and the acknowledgement number There is no restriction on the number of times a return can be revised, provided it fulfils the stipulated criterion. However, one has to file the revised return in the same mode in which the original return was filed. That means if the original return was filed electronically, the revised return too has to be filed electronically. Similarly, if the original return was filed physically, the revised return should also be filed physically. There is no separate form to file a revised return, but make sure you tick the space that specifies that this is a revised return. Also, mention the acknowledgement number of the original return. Once a re...

ICICI Prudential Large & Midcap Fund was earlier called ICICI Prudential Top 100 Naren has 25+ years of experience in research and fund management and has been associated with ICICI Mutual Fund for the last 13 years. Naren is known for being a contrarian and has a good understanding of "value" stocks. Naren follows a disciplined investment process and an active portfolio management approach. The fund has a large cap bias with a focus on stocks which have significant long term growth potential. He aims to generate alpha by active sector rotation through a top-down approach. Within the chosen sectors, Naren makes use of relative valuation parameters to invest in large-cap stocks he believes are attractively priced relative to their growth prospects. While picking stocks, he focuses on the financial strength of the company and knocks out stocks with high leverage. He favours companies with attractive fundamentals, shifting away from ones where he thinks valuations are stretc...

Aditya Birla SunLife Short Term Investment Strategy Maneesh Dangi heads the fixed income team at Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC and is also the co-CIO at the AMC. He has 15+ years of experience in research and fund management and has been with Aditya BSL AMC since 2006. Dangi is an experienced portfolio manager and we view his in-depth understanding of the macro-economy as being an advantage. The fund house runs one of the largest teams on the Fixed Income side, consisting of a 12-member analyst team. This includes four portfolio managers who also double up as analysts. Analysts too take on dual/multiple roles based on their expertise. The fund typically invests in high quality debt papers and has not taken active credit bets in the past. The issuer-selection process on the corporate bond side is extremely detailed and based on a well defined set of processes. The team relies on their internal ratings and processes as opposed to external credit rating agencies. Given their focus on quality ...

Assets under management: Rs 1,745 crore Fund Manager: Gautam Sinha Roy Top 3 equity holding: HDFC, Bajaj Finance, Maruti 1-year return: 8.12 per cent Motilal Oswal Dynamic Fund decides equity allocation using an amalgamation of price/earnings, price/book and dividend yield of Nifty 50 Index. Depending on market levels net equity exposure can vary between 30-100 per cent. Given that valuations are steep now, the fund manager has curtailed equity exposure to 40-45 per cent. Stock selection is done using a multicap strategy and debt is conservatively managed. SIPs are Best Investments as Stock Market s are move up and down. Volatile is your best friend in making Money and creating enormous Wealth, If you have patience and long term Investing orientation. Invest in Best SIP Mutual Funds and get good returns over a period of time. Know which are the Top SIP Funds to Invest Save Tax Get Rich - Best ELSS Funds For more information on Top SIP Mutual Funds co...

Tax time is here again. Several taxpayers will be e-filing tax returns on their own. While filing your returns , a question is likely to cross your mind about how your tax dues are calculated? It's important to understand this calculation, so you can review your return and check whether tax is due from you or a refund shall be paid to you. Income tax is payable when your income exceeds Rs 2.5 Lakhs. Income is aggregated from all sources. And deductions under section 80 of the income tax act are allowed from such aggregate income. Your income tax return cannot be successfully submitted unless tax has been duly paid. If you are salaried most of your tax dues are taken care of via TDS or tax deducted at source by your employer . However, if you have earned interest income or any other income such as rent or capital gains, you'll have to calculate tax yourself. The most important thing to remember while calculating your taxes is to always calculate it on your aggregate in...

Reliance Equity Opportunities Fund Is now called Reliance Multicap Fund How has Reliance Equity Opportunities Fund performed?  With a 10-year return of 13.4%, the fund has outperformed both the category average (10.1%) and the benchmark index (6.8%). The fund has comfortably beaten both its category average and index over the past decade.   Should you buy Reliance Equity Opportunities Fund? This fund has no market-cap bias, but retains higher exposure to mid- and small-caps relative to peers. While it was a fairly consistent outperformer until a few years ago, it has been erratic in recent years. The fund manager has a penchant for placing large bets on niche themes or sunshine sectors, which paid rich dividends earlier but may have backfired during the market rally of the last few years.   Reliance Equity Opportunities Fund has hiked its presence in large-caps, diluting its heavy mid-cap bias. It has spread exposure to sectors evenly, without the distinct tilt towards financials exhib...